Beyond-the-Basic Productivity Tools (BBPT)

Lesson Idea Name: Map Your Favorite Story

Content Area: English – Language Arts
Grade Level(s): 2nd Grade

Content Standard Addressed: ELAGSE2RL5 Describe the overall structure of a story including describing how
the beginning introduces the story, the middle provides major events and challenges, and the ending
concludes the action.

Technology Standard Addressed: 1. Creativity and Innovation – Students demonstrate creative thinking,
construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and process using technology.

Selected Technology Tool: Popplet

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 use of Popplet supports UDL in the classroom. Popplet allows all students to express their ideas no matter
how they learn. Students are asked to pick their favorite story book and create a diagram or concept map.
The students can choose how they express their ideas about their analysis of the beginning, middle, and end
of there story. The students can work individually or with a partner or groups. This activity provides multiple
means of engagement because students can choose how they participate. Students can talk with others to
analyze the story they have chosen or choose multiple stories to compare.

Lesson idea implementation:

To begin the lesson, I will talk to the students as a large group and ask them to share their favorite stories. I
will then ask if they know the three parts of a story and why they are important to know and features of
them. These questions will begin to get students thinking. To introduce the project, I will ask students to
choose to work as a individual, with a partner, or with a group of four. The student(s) will then pick a book of
there choosing. I will ask the students to analyze the story and decide which parts are included in the
beginning, middle and end. Once students have dissected the book, I will ask them to present their
information using Popplet. This lesson should take two days to complete. The first day for describing how
stories have a beginning, middle, and end and the second day for students to complete the Popplet. To assess
student learning I will ask question as the project progresses. For example: why is this sentence the beginning
of the story and not the middle? To extend the learning to a higher level I will ask what part of the story the

SBooker, 2020
 Beyond-the-Basic Productivity Tools (BBPT)
climax is in. I will also ask students to analyze the characters in the story.
The final product will be used to differentiate learning because each student has a voice and choice for how
they represent the information. Students from start to finish have control of how they learn. Students who do
best individually can choose to do so, and like wise students who like working in groups can as well. To
conclude the lesson, I will ask students to talk amongst each other to see if they see any patterns within each
part of the story. For example a pattern can be that in most beginnings of story’s, the main character is
introduced. To provide feedback to the students I will ask each student what they thought of there story and
the outcome of their project. This will let me know which students still have trouble and in which ways I can
help.

Reflective Practice:
I feel that the activity I created can greatly impact student learning. Giving students the option to choose who
they work with and what story they work with gives them independence. It gives them confidence and a
central control of their own learning. It shows students that they can seek information and that there way of
learning is not being ignored. To further extend the lesson I can start adding more elements like sentence
patterns and Antagonist and Protagonist. There are many tools that can further this project like ebooks and
google slides.

SBooker, 2020