Basic Productivity Tools (BPT)

Lesson Idea Name: Learning on Cloud Nine

Content Area: Science
Grade Level(s): 4th
Content Standard Addressed: S4E3. Students will differentiate between the states of water and how they
relate to the water cycle and weather. a. Demonstrate how water changes states from solid (ice) to liquid
(water) to gas (water vapor/steam) and changes from gas to liquid to solid. b. Identify the temperatures at
which water becomes a solid and at which water becomes a gas. c. Investigate how clouds are formed. d.
Explain the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, and precipitation). e. Investigate different forms of
precipitation and sky conditions. (rain, snow, sleet, hail, clouds, and fog).

Technology Standard Addressed: 3 - Knowledge Constructor

Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative
artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.

Selected Technology Tool: PowerPoint

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

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):

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

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level): (Select the best level)

☐ Level 1: Awareness ☒ Level 2: Exploration ☐ Level 3: Infusion ☐ Level 4: Integration
☐ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL): For students with hearing disabilities, this tool could be extremely
helpful. While the Electronic mini-book does incorporate sound, there is another really awesome option to
make this a beneficial learning tool for students who cannot hear. Rather than saving the PowerPoint as a
slideshow or MP4 file, I could print out the slides and make it into an actual mini-booklet. Since I could easily
print multiple versions of it and create other books with different content, students could check out the mini
books and take them home with them to study. This will help children obtain a deeper understanding of the
content since they can access them at school and at home, and reread them as many times as they’d like.
Lesson idea implementation: To introduce students to the content, I would take them outside our classroom
and ask them to look up at the sky and describe what they see, emphasizing what clouds they see. Once we
returned to the classroom, I’d pass out markers and construction paper and ask the students to draw the
clouds they saw. When they are finished with their pictures, we would start the lesson on what different
clouds look like and what weather patterns they indicate when they are in the sky. After we are finished
defining the different types of clouds and what they mean, I would split the students into groups and pass out
the printed mini-booklets to each group. Once each group has a book, I would put the “Learning on Cloud
Nine” MP4 on the smartboard and ask students to follow along as it plays.
Since many students may struggle saying cumulonimbus at first, the video will help them learn how to
pronounce the different wacky cloud names because they can listen to the teacher pronounce it as many
times as they want to watch the video. As students flip through the pages of the mini-booklet, watch the
images on the screen, and hear the names of the clouds pronounced, they will learn more efficiently since
their senses of touch, sight, and hearing are all engaged through this project. Students will also learn more
efficiently simply because the teacher is differentiating her lessons so they will be excited and engaged!

Spring 2018_SJB
 Basic Productivity Tools (BPT)
Reflective Practice: To take this lesson a step further, I could have added more slides to the video. I could
have inserted images of rainy, sunny, overcast days, etc and described what weather patterns associate with
each different cloud type. Another way I could enhance this lesson would be to have students create their
own PowerPoint mini-book. This could be an end of the year project, in which students choose their favorite
thing they learned throughout the year and created a movie about it. This gives students the ability to choose
what they want to make their book about, and they can decide whether they want their finished project to be
a MP4 file or a printed mini-booklet.

Spring 2018_SJB