Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities

Lesson Idea Name: Number the Stars

Content Area: Reading
Grade Level(s): 4th grade
Content Standard Addressed: ELAGSE4RL3: Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or
drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).

Technology Standard Addressed: Creative Communicator: Students communicate clearly and express
themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platform, tools, styles, formats and digital media
appropriate to their goals.

Selected Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity: KidPub

URL(s) to support the lesson: http://kidpub.com/

Describe how you would incorporate an Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity in your
classroom:
The students will be assigned the book Number the Stars to read in class. As a class, we will create a
character traits chart that describes their assigned character based on the evidence that they gather from the
text. Students will also work in groups to gather that evidence and review it. The teacher will then have the
students divide into pairs or threes to write their own story based on their given character from the book.
The teacher should provide ample time for the students to accomplish this activity. Two or three
reading blocks should be given for this activity. If they have not finish, they will be given the opportunity to
work at home and finish their projects. The students will then participate in a writing workshop in class to edit
and finalize their pieces. After the teacher approves their stories and the parents give permission, the
students will then upload their work to KidPub.
What technologies would be required to implement this proposed learning activity in a classroom?
The technology required for this learning activity is a laptop or iPad for each group and internet access.
Describe how the following features are addressed in this learning experience (note: all of them may not be
addressed in the project, but most should be if you are reaching a high LoTi Level).
a. Collaboration with peers, near-peers, mentors outside their classroom and often beyond their
school: The students will be collaborating with peers in the class by finding evidence and reviewing the
chart in a group, working in pairs or threes to create a story, and participating in a writer’s workshop.

b. Student-centered learning and knowledge creation (creating original data and or producing original
products as a result of engaging in a project): The students will be creating their own original stories
based on a character from the book Number the Stars.

c. Higher-order thinking: Students are creating a product and publishing the product that is created. This
requires higher-order thinking because the students have to work together and organize their thoughts
to do this.

d. Students publishing their original work to others who will use/care about their product: After the
parents of the students give permission, the students will publish their original story on KidPub to
showcase their work.
Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):
☐ Remembering ☐ Understanding ☐ Applying ☐ Analyzing ☐ Evaluating ☒ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level):

Spring 2018_SJB
 Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities
☐ Level 1: Awareness ☐ Level 2: Exploration ☐ Level 3: Infusion ☒ Level 4: Integration
☐ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL): For the ESOL students in the classroom, the teacher can provide pictorial
instructions for KidPub that would be beneficial as they are transitioning to English. This can also support the
struggling readers in the class. Students will also be given the chance to create a video, have picture, or
narration in their projects that would help ESOL students and hearing impaired students. Having the character
anchor chart on the board for the students to use as a reference will further enrich the learning environment.
This would allow the students to gain a peeper understanding of how to analyze and describe characters and
events in a story.
Lesson idea implementation and Internet Safety Policies: This activity should be implemented with parent
permission before publishing the students work online. The teacher should inform administrators and parents
on how their students’ privacy will be protected through the use of the secure logins on KidPub and not using
their full names and instead just their first name or a pseudonym. The teacher should monitor students if
there is a need to collaborate online, and the teacher should make sure that the sites do not have anonymous
communication.
Reflective Practice: To further extend this project, the students could publish their work again on a classroom
blog. The students could film themselves presenting their created stories to post to the private classroom
blog. The students can even share their projects with other classes in the school. Doing these activities allows
the students to become more familiar with online learning projects.

Spring 2018_SJB