Instructional Software

Lesson Idea Name: Living vs. Non-living Organisms

Content Area: Science

Grade Level(s): K-3

Content Standard Addressed: SKL1.a, b: This standard discusses and explains what is and is not alive. The
children will be able to compare and contrast the characteristics of plants that are fake, healthy-living, and
dead. By the end of the lesson, the children will know what makes certain plants be labeled as “living”.

Selected Technology Tool: BrainPOP Jr.

URL(s) to support the lesson (if applicable and goes directly to the lesson):
https://jr.brainpop.com/science/plants/livingandnonlivingthings/

Type of Instructional Software:

☐ Drill and Practice X Tutorial ☐ Simulation ☐ Instructional Game ☐ e-books/e-references

Features of this software (check all that apply):

X Assessment Monitoring/Reporting

X Allows teacher to create customized lessons for students

X Multi-user or collaborative functions with others in the class

☐ Multi-user or collaborative with others outside the class

☐ Accessible to students beyond the school day

X Accessible via mobile devices

X Multiple languages

X Safety, security and/or privacy features

Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy Level(s):

TFrazier, 2021
 Instructional Software
X Remembering X Understanding X Applying X Analyzing X Evaluating X Creating

Levels of Technology Integration:

X 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): This activity and the technology tools will support and enhance the
learning experience for my students in the classroom because they will have an understanding that there is
more than one way of learning something, and it does not have to just be a lecture. Having the children watch
a video, and possibly do an interactive game, that could keep the children engaged in the lesson and they will
not get bored.

Lesson idea implementation: For the standards, the teachers and students will. I will introduce this project
with a video, and I believe that it will take almost an hour, or hour and a half, to complete a lesson. The
children’s learning will be assessed by me asking them questions, mainly because I want to make sure that the
children understand what they were taught. And if they did not do so well, then I will go back figure out
another technique to explain the topic. The final product will be used to inform/differentiate learning because
I could have the children make a presentation of what they learned. In addition to that, I can extend the
student learning to a higher level by using specific vocabulary words while also answering questions that the
students may have. I will conclude the lesson by having the children discuss with their peers what they
learned and after a few minutes, we can come together and talk about what each table said. That gives the
children an opportunity to collaborate and interact with one another.

Reflective Practice: I believe that this lesson I created would help with a child’s critical thinking and if I were
to further extend the lesson, I would create a matching game that pertained to the lesson. Some other
technology tool that we could use in the classroom would be YouTube Kids and ClassDojo. With YouTube Kids,
I can find a song about living and non-living plants; and with ClassDojo, I could create a mini game.

TFrazier, 2021