Basic Productivity Tools (BPT)

Lesson Idea Name: The Lives of the Cherokee Indians

Content Area: Social Studies – Historical Understandings
Grade Level(s): 2nd Grade
Content Standard Addressed: SS2H2 Describe the Georgia Creek and Cherokee cultures of the past in terms
of tools,clothing, homes, ways of making a living, and accomplishments.
a. Compare and contrast the Georgia Creek and Cherokee cultures of the past to those of Georgians today.

Technology Standard Addressed: 1. Creativity and Innovation

Selected Technology Tool: Sway

URL(s) to support the lesson (if applicable):

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):

☐ Remembering ☐ Understanding ☐ Applying ☒ Analyzing ☐ Evaluating ☐ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration:

☐ Infusion Level: Students may work at a higher Bloom’s Level, but they do not have any “Voice or Choice”
during the activity and most of the decisions are made by the teacher.

☒ Integration Level: We would like to see ALL lessons/activities reach this level. The project is student-
driven. Students have “Voice and Choice” in the activities, selecting the topic of study and determining the
technology tool to demonstrate mastery of the standard. The teacher becomes more of a facilitator.
☐ Expansion Level: The projects created are shared outside of the classroom, publishing student work and
promoting authorship. This could be reached by showcasing the project on the school’s morning
newscast, posting the project to the classroom blog, or publishing via an outside source.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL):

The Universal Design for Learning includes providing multiple means of representation, multiple means of
action and expression, and providing multiple means of engagement. For this lesson, students will use
productivity tools to show what they know. For my example, I choose to use Office 365 Sway. This tool allows
students to choose how they are engaged and allows for them to have choice in action and expression. Sway
allows students to create products using text and multiple forms of media such as audio and video to
represent what they have learned. Students can go at their own pace depending on what they are
comfortable with. This makes is usable and obtainable for all students. Some students might only feel
comfortable using text and others may be more comfortable linking videos and audio. Either way allows all
types of students to show what they have learned and gives all students the opportunity to create.

Lesson idea implementation:

At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to explain the lives of the Cherokees and their
accomplishments. To introduce the lesson, I will start with a simple question to activate their prior knowledge
and spark curiosity. I will ask if the students know how people lived a long time ago. After hearing the
students responses, I will play a video that introduces the Cherokee Indians and how they lived. I will then ask
the students to work in groups to develop a compare and contrast chart to show the similarities and
differences between our lives now and there lives back then. After working in groups, the students will meet
with me as a large group to discuss our ideas. Allowing students to talk amongst each other allows for
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 Basic Productivity Tools (BPT)
collaboration and the formation of new questions. As a class we will discuss the specific ways Cherokees
raised their children, how they obtained food, and how they built their homes.

As the teacher, I know my students learn best when multiple forms of engagement are used. At this point in
the lesson we have worked in small groups and as a class. I will bring in clay and popsicle sticks and ask the
students to build a small home that can stand on its own. This gives students a fun engaging activity while
showing them a small scale of how the Cherokees use to build their homes called Wattles. This lesson should
take three to four days. At the end of the lesson students will use sway to tell the story of the Cherokee
Indians and their lives, and how as students their lives are different then theirs. Sway allows for differentiated
instruction because sway allows multiple forms of students to show what they know. Students who want to
show what they know through writing can use sway to do so, or students who like to use videos and audio
can use sway to share the story. Students will use sway as a story telling productivity tool to show the
Cherokee Indians lives. For students that need expansion I will ask them to collaborate with others to create a
story as well. To end my lesson, I will ask each student to share their story so that each child can learn from
each other. To give feedback to my students I would ask questions like “How do you think the Cherokee
children learned if they did no have school buildings like ours?” This will keep students engaged while also
letting them know I am interested about what they have created.

Reflective Practice:
The activities I created can impact student learning by giving them voice and choice in what they create.
Allowing them to use Sways features as much or as little as they like can show them that they can choose how
they learn and how they show what they know. This gives them confidence in their learning and shows them
that they can take control. Allowing the students to work with groups allows questions to be asked and allows
for students to collaborate with each other to discover new ideas that they might not have had on their own.
To further extend the project I can ask students to use a word document or google document to create a
more formal writing piece on the Cherokee Indians. They can include graphs and pictures through these
applications.

SBooker, 2020