Technology Integration Activity

Chris Galley
CAT 531

Activity Title: The Battle of Hastings News Report
Grade Level: 4th Grade

Purpose/Objectives:

Students will create a summary of a historical event

Students will consider the perspective of different sides of a battle

Students will understand the events that led up to the Battle of Hastings, and be able to identify
cause and effects of the battle

Students will use iMovie (or equivalent recoding app) to make a news report

This activity addresses the following Alabama Course of Study objectives for fourth grade
(Available at http://alex.state.al.us/standardAll.php?grade=4&subject=TC2&summary=2 ):
Language Arts
23.) Write informative or explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information
clearly. [W.4.2]
24.) Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique,
descriptive details, and clear event sequences. [W.4.3]
38.) Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English grammar and usage when
writing or speaking. [L.4.1]
Technology education
1.) Use input and output devices of technology systems
2.) Use various technology applications, including word processing and multimedia software
12.) Create a product using digital tools.

This activity addresses the following National Educational Technology Standards for Students
(NETS) 2007 (located on www.iste.org):
1.) Creativity and innovation: Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and
develop innovative products and processes using technology.
2.) Communication and collaboration: Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple
audiences using a variety of media and formats
6.) Technology operations and concepts: Select and use applications effectively and productively

Description
As a whole class activity students will research the events that led up to the Battle of Hastings
using tablets. Using this information they will create a timeline of events for the battle using Tiki-
Toki (http://www.tiki-toki.com). Students will collaborate in small groups to write a script for a news
report based on the events of the battle, taking into account the perspective of one of the sides
involved. Students will record their news report using a tablet and movie recording software, such
as iMovie. They will edit the movie with appropriate titles and post to the class blog
(westhill4thgrade.tumblr.com - currently password protected).

Activity preparation

Students are able to conduct research and summarise information into a brief summary

Students are aware of the school acceptable use policy and classroom expectations when using
technology

All students will have access to a tablet/device and they will be connected to the local network

Students will have previously downloaded a movie editing app e.g. iMovie

Teacher has set up accounts for students at Tiki-Toki and all students have access to the class
blog using tumblr

Links are available in the form of QR code or shortened URLs which will be displayed on the
board. Students will already have downloaded a QR code reading app

Activity procedure
The following activities will take place over the course of several class periods

Lesson One

Using their tablets or devices, students will view an image of the Bayeux Tapestry http://
www.davidmhart.com/WarArt/BayeuxTapestry/Bayeux.html

Students will write down three adjectives to describe the image and teacher will add them to a
word cloud using Wordle http://www.wordle.net Class will discuss the submitted words while
observing the word cloud. Teacher will explain the history of the tapestry and briey introduce
Battle of Hastings

Using their devices students will conduct research on the Battle of Hastings and must identify 10
key points in the event.

Once students have completed the research they will create their timeline using Tiki-Toki http://
www.tiki-toki.com

The timeline must contain the following:

Ten events from the battle identied with dates included (10 points)

A brief description of each event, at least 2 sentences (20 points)

2 images included (5 points)

Timeline is in chronological order (5 points)

Timeline is emailed to teacher (5 points)

Research websites to provided to students:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/anglo_saxons/normans/

http://youtu.be/jhqrpTpoGHk

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_hastings.htm

http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/westeurope/hastings.html

Lesson Two

Students will work in groups of 2/3 and view the breaking news activity http://
downloads.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/lesson_plans/anglo-saxon/
normans_lp_hoh_hastings.pdf

They will read the 10 breaking news stories from the event and write a summary of each. No
longer than one paragraph for each news report.

Lesson Three

Using their written reports from yesterday students will use a movie recording app to record their
news report

Groups will edit the movie once recorded and add appropriate titles, music, and images to the
video

Groups will upload to the class blog using the tumblr app or website http://www.tumblr.com

Class will view the videos using the class projector

Tools and resources

Tablets or devices, brought by students (one each required for research lesson)

Apps:

iMovie

QR Code reader for URLs (there are several free options available on the App Store)

Tumblr

Websites:

tumblr.com

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/lesson_plans/anglo-saxon/
normans_lp_hoh_hastings.pdf

tiki-toki.com

wordle.net

http://www.davidmhart.com/WarArt/BayeuxTapestry/Bayeux.html

westhill4thgrade.tumblr.com

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/anglo_saxons/normans/

http://youtu.be/jhqrpTpoGHk

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_hastings.htm

http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/westeurope/hastings.html

https://goo.gl (Google URL shortener)

Assessment
Students will be evaluated on their timeline (see lesson one)

For the iMovie news report students will be graded using the following rubric:
The following rubric was created using http://rubistar.4teachers.org