Basic Productivity Presentation Tool

Lesson Idea

Lesson Idea Name: The National Rules

Grade Level/Content Area: 4th Grade/Social Studies
Content Standard Addressed:
SS4H2) Analyze the challenges faced by the framers of the Constitution.
b. Evaluate the major issues debated at the Constitutional Convention: the
weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, the rights of states to govern
themselves (federal system), the Great Compromise, and slavery (Three-Fifths
Compromise).
ISTE Technology Standard Addressed: What would you like students to know and
be able to do by the end of this lesson:
Knowledge Constructor -
Curate Information 1.3. “I can…
Students curate information from -Recognize and remember
digital resources using a variety major leaders from the
of tools and methods to create Constitutional Convention
collections of artifacts that
demonstrate meaningful
connections or conclusions. -Analyze the obstacles
related to creating the
Constitution

What is the student learning goal for this lesson idea?

After watching the ebook that I created, which discusses the general concepts
revolving the Founding fathers and their involvement with the Consitutional
Convention, my students will make their own digital story books. Their books
will explain the challenges that arose during the creation of the U.S
Constitution, while also demonstrating their understanding of a new
technological tool.

Selected Basic Productivity Tool: Microsoft Sway

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

Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy Level(s):

☑ Remembering ☑ Understanding ☑ Applying ☑ Analyzing ☐ Evaluating ☑ Creating
 Basic Productivity Presentation Tool
Lesson Idea

How will this lesson be implemented? Check all that apply.

☑ Teacher-directed: There is no student voice and choice in the activities. Students are guided by the
teacher's direction and expectations.

☐ Student-Led: Students are given voice and choice in the activities. They may select the topic for
presentation and/or determine the tool they will use to meet the learning goal. Products of
learning will be uniquely designed. Teacher simply facilitates the learning in a lesson like this.

☑ Project-based and/or Publishable: Students are completing projects to demonstrate their learning
and the projects can be shared outside of the classroom. This objective could be reached by
displaying the project on the school’s morning newscast, posting the project to the classroom blog,
presenting it to another class, or publishing it via an outside source.

Lesson idea implementation:

We will start this lesson by having a class discussion about the class
rules, which I can relate the US Constitution to their understanding of the
national “rules”. Then to learn more about the Consitution, I’ll suggest a
book that we can read that will tell us more information (the book will be my
ebook that I’ve already created). This will be their first introduction to
their future assignment that will connect our content standard to their
technology standard, using Microsoft Sway. After we finish reading my ebook,
I’ll tell them about how they are going to create their own digital books with
a partner about the creation of the Constitution using Sway. We can go over
the specific details that needs to be found in their books and I’ll encourage
them to be creative as the pairs work and design their online books. They’ll
have time to do this over the next 3 day, and they’ll add information after
they learn more about the content over the learning span. I’ll be around to
give guidance regarding the software and feedback on their wording but I’ll
allow them the freedom to design as they please. This assignment can also act
as an assessment of their learning and they will
receive a grade based on the initial requirement we spoke about earlier.

Managing the technology/engagement: Describe a way to use this technology in a way that
gets students actively involved in authentic tasks and contexts? How will you manage the
classroom behaviors on the technology:

So before the students are allowed to go ahead to the full-on creation aspect
of this lesson, I will require each of the pairs to collaborate with one
another and fill out a printed storyboards that will demonstrate everything
that they plan to include in their book. Once I have approved all their
written work, they will move onto the online creation portion of the lesson.
On the first day of instruction for this lesson, I’m going to encourage them
to try and finish their storyboards within the first day’s instructional work
 Basic Productivity Presentation Tool
Lesson Idea

time. Then once they get into the creation of their digital books, I’ll
supervise their collaborative work as they co-use their technology. And
throughout the process, i’ll have some soft focus music playing that will
hopefully keep them on track, but will also act as a timer for me to keep time
on how long we’re doing this task.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL):

These digital books will ultimately be a great demonstration of how well my
students are taking in the information I’m teaching them while also providing
them the opportunity to put their own creativity into their work. I believe
using Sway as a production tool enhances the kids’ learning by making them an
active part in their learning through creation. This activity also
demonstrates the Representation aspect of the UDL framework. As the children
make their digital books, they will also be including a voice over narration
of their story AND captions. This will provide assistance for my
ELL/struggling reader kids with following along with their classmates’
stories.

Reflecting on enhanced learning:

I think this activity will elevate the type of learning that my

students could be experiencing in the classroom. Instead of giving
them another worksheet to fill out or having them complete some
type of assessment to prove they are learning the content, I’m
pushing them to use creativity to display their understanding of
what they are learning through a digital medium. I am looking
forward to seeing how each collaborating pair of students will
display their personalities together in their books.