Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities

Lesson Idea Name: Migration Trackers

Content Area: Earth Science
Grade Level(s): Second Grade
Content Standard Addressed: S2E3. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about how
weather, plants, animals, and humans cause changes to the environment.
Technology Standard Addressed: 5 Computational Thinker

Selected Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity: Journey North

URL(s) to support the lesson: https://journeynorth.org/

Describe how you would incorporate an Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity in your
classroom:
I would incorporate online projects into my classroom by finding different collaboration websites to use for
different standards I was teaching. I would then research the website or forum to make sure they were safe
and appropriate for the age group utilizing them. I would then explain what the online learning project was in
an email to all my students’ parents and get the okay from them before introducing it to the kids. After
getting the okay from parents, I would introduce the concept to the students.
I would have a day where I would introduce the learning standard to my students and then I would enrich the
concepts using the online project or collaboration site. I would show the students how to use the websites so
they would be able to replicate working on the project at home. We would all come up with fake names to
use online and I would teach the students the importance of being safe online.
What technologies would be required to implement this proposed learning activity in a classroom?
I would give the students iPad, so when they are observing different habitats they can type it out and later
enter their findings into the database.
Describe how the following features are addressed in this learning experience (note: all of them may not be
addressed in the project, but most should be if you are reaching a high LoTi Level).
a. Collaboration with peers, near-peers, mentors outside their classroom and often beyond their
school: This website allows for student to post their data findings and students are able to view other
students work.

b. Student-centered learning and knowledge creation (creating original data and or producing original
products as a result of engaging in a project): The students in this case are the scientists and are going
to be going out and finding their own data. Since it is their own data it is their original work this would
be the student publishing their findings.

c. Higher-order thinking: Students will compare their findings with students from other regions and
point out the differences of the environments based on their regions.

d. Students publishing their original work to others who will use/care about their product: The students
are publishing their observations online and sharing them. That way other students can view their
findings and compare to them.
Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):
☒ Remembering ☒ Understanding ☒ Applying ☒ Analyzing ☐ Evaluating ☐ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level):

☐ Level 1: Awareness ☐ Level 2: Exploration ☐ Level 3: Infusion ☐ Level 4: Integration

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 Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities
☒ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL):

This particular lesson we can apply the Universal Design for Learning to. This lesson engages students by
giving my students a choice in what they want to observe and report on. That way the students are doing
meaningful work because it is something they care about. Since we are sharing our findings it gives students a
voice and the lesson is more impactful.
Lesson idea implementation and Internet Safety Policies:
In order to keep my students safe, I will ensure that their parents are fully aware of what websites the
students will be using in class. If it asks us to put our names in we will use “fun names” where the students
create a profile online without their name so it cannot be linked to them. Since we will be putting information
into a data base we will not use the exact area we are in but we will use the closest major city.
Reflective Practice:
When students are able to produce their own product it makes a lesson a lot more meaningful. The kids
having the opportunity to act as a real life scientist will be really memorable for them and help them
internalize the concepts in our standards. This would be the introduction to our studies of habitats. We can
use this activity to reinforce the concepts that are in our science books by comparing them to the things we
see around us. I think to extend this we could make a movie about our environments. I could have the
students record what they see around them. Then they could use terms from our book to relate them to their
own environment.

Spring 2018_SJB