|
SCS |
 |
Ideas
Incorporating Information Technology |
Idea Group 3
The following are activities or thematic units that include information technology in the process of learning. Click on an idea in the table below or scroll down the screen. Each idea includes the following information:
Idea Title includes the title name; suggested grade levels; name of individual or organization who created the idea, and expected length to complete as either Short term activity (expected completion time could be done in a day or spread out over several days with short exposures) vs. Unit based project (taking weeks to complete vs. a day or days); and teachers name who generated the idea if known. PT = a performance task created by local area teachers through a VITA-Learn NW project in the spring of 2004 specifically for the Information Technology Vermont Grade Expectations (GE).
Description outlines a basic concept and possible resources.
Content Areas are suggested.
Standards include references to the Vermont Grade Expectations (GE) for Information Technology; the ISTE NETS "Foundation Standards for Students"; and the Vermont Frameworks of Standards (possible selections related to Information Technology and Content standards). For more information regarded the GE, NETS, or Frameworks (including a description of information technology related standards) click HERE.
Please e-mail with comments or suggestions. Thank you.
| Idea Title | Brief Description/Content Areas/Standards |
|
Graphing Weather |
Description:
Students will enter daily temperature into
existing Excel spreadsheet (created by teacher). Students will take
the data collected and create a graph of their data using Excel (as well
as other non-technological means).
Students will paste this representation into
a multimedia presentation Content Areas: Math, Science Download Lesson Plan, Detailed Description and Rubric Word or Acrobat Standards: |
|
Underground Railroad |
Description: This six
week, integrated unit incorporates social studies, reading, and writing.
Throughout this unit students will research, reflect, and create projects
around slavery and the slaves’ quests for freedom by way of the Underground
Railroad. By the end of the unit students will be able to identify factors
involving the movement of slaves in the Underground Railroad. They will
research and form their own concept of why democratic values of equality and
freedom were something slaves wanted for themselves. Students will also
develop and understanding of the effects of prejudice and the need for
respect in our world today.
Students will be reading books about the Underground Railroad in small, differentiated reading groups. Based on these books they will write a response to literature essay. Prior to beginning the unit the students will also take a pre-assessment, which is given again at the end of the unit to help determine growth. During this unit students will choose one of several projects, based on Multiple Intelligences, to show their learning. Each project has different research questions. Students will create an offline search prior to conducting their internet research. They will research using search engines, a mini-homepage I created, CDs, and online encyclopedias. Once they have gathered all of the necessary information, they will analyze their findings, and create their projects for presentation. Content Areas: Social Studies, Language Arts Download Lesson Plan, Detailed Description and Rubric Word or Acrobat Standards: |
|
Weather and Geography |
Description:
This integrated unit
combines two core units and technology. We will have students complete two
technology projects. During the first half of the unit, we will teach the
skills needed for the completion of the second task. We focused first on
weather and climate. Then as students developed background knowledge through
regions reading, we circled back to weather and climate through small groups
working together to demonstrate weather concepts. Students spend time
developing a search strategy for both projects and site reliability was
reinforced too. Content Areas: Social Studies, Science Download Lesson Plan, Detailed Description and Rubric Word or Acrobat Standards: |
|
Alphabet Book |
Description:
Students were introduced to
KidPix®
and asked to create a picture including a letter from the alphabet, a
graphic representing the letter (such as an apple for the letter A) and the
spelling of the object represented in the picture. At the end of the
activity, the teacher displayed each of the student’s work in a slide show
via an LCD projector. Each file was printed and an alphabet book was
created (each page could be hung on the wall in alphabetical order too). Content Areas: Language Arts To view a more detailed explanation including examples, click HERE.
Standards: |
|
Birds Web Site |
Description:
Students researched information on a
specific local bird, wrote down specific facts, and created art work
reflecting their bird. Most students worked in pairs during the research of
their bird. Once the information was written down, each report was keyed
into a single Word Ò
file by a teacher or teacher intern. Pictures were scanned and saved as a
digital picture. A web page template was created by a school technical
support person. A teacher, or student teacher then copied the text in to
the template from Word Ò
and inserted the scanned pictures into the web page via FrontPage
Ò.
Students then viewed the final web page and described their work to the
entire class during a group presentation. The site can be seen at:
http://www.scsvt.org/teams/explor/birds/birds.htm. NOTE: Although students did not participate directly with the word processing or scanning of pictures, both could be included given extra time, thereby meeting the standards below. Content Areas: Science, Language Arts, Art To view a more detailed explanation including examples, click HERE. Standards: |
|
Colonial American Slide Show |
Description:
Students visited Shelburne Farms while studying
Colonial America. Each student was asked to create a picture related to
their learning. Younger students labeled their picture while older students
wrote a short description. At the end of the unit, the teacher linked each
student's slide together and shared the work with the entire class via an
LCD projector. Content Areas: Social Studies, Language Arts, Art To view a more detailed explanation including examples, click HERE. Standards: |
|
U.S. Studies: Capital Comparisons |
Description: The
purpose of the first lesson is to discuss what quality of life means to 5th
and 6th grade students. Have the students write down a piece of
paper what makes their lives enjoyable and what types makes them feel safe
in their community. After the students have been given about ten minutes to
do this, break them up into small group of four to five students. Each
group member will be given time to share their ideas of what makes them have
a high quality of life. After each student has given their ideas, the group
will generate categories to place each of the ideas in. (Example: low
murders, burglaries, etc would fall in a category of crime rate) The groups will now present their categories to the class as a whole, while you write their given categories on the board. Each group should give one category at a time because there tends to be quite a bit of repetition. After each group has exhausted their categories, discuss which categories are the most essential to sustaining a high quality of life for us today. By the end of the lesson, the class should whittle the categories down to the top six or eight. These categories will be ones that the students research for their assigned US state capital using the Internet and e-mail. Information gathered is entered into a database and finally students present each capital in the form of a short multimedia presentation. Content Areas: Social Studies Download Lesson Plan, Detailed Description and Rubric Word or Acrobat Standards: |
|
U.S. States Newsletter |
Description:
Students will choose a
US state and research one or two focus areas. They will use a teacher
provided graphic organizer to layout the newsletter. Using teacher provided
brochures of their chosen state they will choose three pictures to include
in their newsletter. They will scan the pictures and copy them to a word
document. The newsletter will include a student created map with scale and
legend. The document will have a heading, date, and two columns. Students
will place pictures as desired and include information that they have
learned from their research. Text will be formatted to square layout for
text wrap. Content Areas: Language Arts, Social Studies Download Lesson Plan and Detailed Description Word or Acrobat Standards: |
|
Vermont Brochure |
Description:
This unit is a sixteen-week study of Vermont. Having it occur during the
early fall months allows for many wonderful field trip connections. The
culmination of the lessons/activities will be a published Vermont Brochure,
which each student will make to share their learning of content and
technology skills. Three historical
fiction books will be read; Sign of the Beaver, by Elizabeth George
Speare, Cave of Falling Water, by Janice Ovecka, and Green
Mountain Hero, by Edgar N. Jackson. A response to literature will be
written at the end of each book. At least one response will be related to
how the book is connected to what they are learning about Vermont. Students will be reading and writing poetry. Their final piece will be a poem about Vermont. They will gather leaves from the forest behind school, identifying what kind of tree(s) they came from. They will be pressed and used to add a decorative touch to their final copies of the poems that will be displayed. Another copy of their poems will be inserted into their brochure. A combination of expository books and video will be used to generate discussion about the original Vermonters. At this time, note making strategies will be introduced. Teacher generated Vermont Fact packets will focus students on gathering specific information. This information will be gathered using a number of different sources. Map skills will be reviewed. Students will use Vermont maps to review locating keys, direction, borders, landscape, and other physical features. Other maps to be used include maps of Vermont lakes, rivers, and counties. Students will experience numerous field trips throughout this unit. During each trip, students will bring digital camera to capture their experiences. Students will rename images and insert selected ones into their brochures. They will also choose one photo to write about in greater detail. These pages will be bound together to make a class book of our related field trips. Content Areas: Social Studies, Language Arts Download Lesson Plan Word or Acrobat Standards: |
|
French Family Tree |
Description:
Students were
asked to create a family tree using a
visual organizer program
while labeling the tree with French terms. Each family member included a
short sentence in French describing the person and a picture representing
something unique about them. On the last day, students presented their
family tree to the class in French. Content Areas: Non-Native Language To view a more detailed explanation including examples, click HERE. Standards: |
Back to the Ideas Main Web Page
Created by Greg Thweatt
Home Page maintained by SCS Web Master
Last updated:
June 20, 2007