Lesson Plan for Implementing

NETSSTemplate I
(More Directed Learning Activities)
Template with guiding questions
Teacher(s)
Name
John W. Phillips, III
Position

Technology Instructor / Instructional Technology Specialist

School/District

New Holland Knowledge Academy / Gainesville City Schools

E-mail

Johnny.phillips@gcssk12.net

Phone

(678) 316 0638

Grade Level(s)

4th Grade

Content Area

Technology / Computer Science / Social Studies

Time line

1 Week

Standards (What do you want students to know and be able to do? What knowledge, skills, and strategies do you
expect students to gain? Are there connections to other curriculum areas and subject area benchmarks? ) Please
put a summary of the standards you will be addressing rather than abbreviations and numbers that indicate which
standards were addressed.

Content Standards

SS4G1 The student will be able to locate important physical and man-made features in the
United States.
a. Locate major physical features of the United States; include the Atlantic Coastal
Plain, the Great Plains, the Continental Divide, the Great Basin, Death Valley, the
Gulf of Mexico, the St. Lawrence River, and the Great Lakes.

1. Creativity and innovation

Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative
products and processes using technology.
b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
2. Communication and collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively,
including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of
others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of
digital environments and media.
3. Research and information fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry
NETS*S Standards:

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Overview (a short summary of the lesson or unit including assignment or expected or possible products)

The students will be using PowerPoint presentations, QR codes, and VoiceThreads to complete projects

that demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the physical features throughout the United States.
Students will be presented with a choice of creating a PowerPoint of using and combination of
VioceThread and QR codes to create a presentation that shows their knowledge and understanding of the

Physical features of the United States.

Students will spend time as a class exploring the different physical features and discussing their

significance to the United States.

Students will be provided a list of websites that they can explore individually or as a group to learn more

about each physical feature.

Students will choose their desired way to demonstrate mastery and decide to either work individually or in

a group of two.
Rubrics will be used to grade each students individual or group work.

Essential Questions (What essential question or learning are you addressing? What would students care or
want to know about the topic? What are some questions to get students thinking about the topic or generate
interest about the topic? Additionally, what questions can you ask students to help them focus on important
aspects of the topic? (Guiding questions) What background or prior knowledge will you expect students to bring
to this topic and build on?) Remember, essential questions are meant to guide the lesson by provoking inquiry.
They should not be answered with a simple yes or no and should have many acceptable answers.

What role did each of the physical features play in the exploration of the United States and Westward

Expansion?
How do people use these physical features today?

Assessment (What will students do or produce to illustrate their learning? What can students do to generate new
knowledge? How will you assess how students are progressing (formative assessment)? How will you assess
what they produce or do? How will you differentiate products?) You must attach copies of your assessment and/or
rubrics. Include these in your presentation as well.
Students will produce one of the following artifacts to demonstrate their knowledge:
1) PowerPoint Presentation including pictures, descriptions, and audio of their learning.
2) A collage of photos with a QR code that leads to a narrative description of the collage and the importance
of each physical feature.
Each assessment will have an appropriate rubric that will help guide student work and production.

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Resources (How does technology support student learning? What digital tools, and resourcesonline student
tools, research sites, student handouts, tools, tutorials, templates, assessment rubrics, etchelp elucidate or
explain the content or allow students to interact with the content? What previous technology skills should students
have to complete this project?)
Students are encouraged throughout this unit to not only use technology to collect information, but also to
produce information. The use of PowerPoint Presentation and VoiceThread allows students to become the
organizers and creators of information. Each presentation allows students an opportunity to share what they have
learned with the class and those around the school. Students will also practice their researching skills by
navigating the provided websites and differentiating between important information and that information that does
not need to be included in their presentations.
Students will be provided with in-depth tutorials that will help them navigate their presentation production as well
as small group and one-on-one instruction with the facilitator. Any background knowledge of computers and basic
programs is helpful, however not necessary for completing this task.

All students will be equipped with:

1)
2)
3)
4)

In class instruction of unit objectives

Classroom instruction and discussion of major U.S. Physical Features
Website guide that directs students to information about necessary U.S Physical Features
Instruction and tutorial on how to copy and paste desired pictures into their presentations

VoiceThread Presentation students will be equipped with:

1) Instruction on how to operate and create VoiceThreads
2) Instruction on how to create and implement QR codes
3) Rubric to guide production and assess projects
PowerPoint Presentation students will be equipped with:
1) Instruction on how to operate and create PowerPoint Presenations
2) Instruction on how to add audio and recordings to PPTs
3) Rubric to guide production and assess projects

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Instructional Plan
Preparation (What student needs, interests, and prior learning provide a foundation for this lesson? How can
you find out if students have this foundation? What difficulties might students have?)
Students do not need to have any prior computer training or experience, however any computer background
knowledge will make the completion of this task easier.
Students will need to be able to identify which of the two presentations interests him/her and be able to select a
project based on their interests. In order to best select the appropriate presentation, students should consider how
comfortable they are with being recorded and listened to. Students should also consider whether or not they are
interested in showing artistic talent or whether would rather allow the computer to do the artistic work for them.
Students do not need a lot of foundation for this lesson. Students will need to pay close attention to the
introduction and lesson that teaches the fundamentals of the U.S. physical features. Without the knowledge of the
features and their importance to the United States, students will be unable to complete either presentation
correctly.
In order to best-fit students with the appropriate presentation, an interest survey could be conducted to determine
student background knowledge and computer experience.
It is expected that students will have difficultly with new technology. For that reason, an entire week is allotted for
the implementation of this unit. The instructor will be available to provide demonstrations, help direct student
inquiry, and troubleshoot problems during production.
Management Describe the classroom management strategies will you use to manage your students and the use
of digital tools and resources. How and where will your students work? (Small groups, whole group, individuals,
classroom, lab, etc.) What strategies will you use to achieve equitable access to the Internet while completing this
lesson? Describe what technical issues might arise during the Internet lesson and explain how you will resolve or
trouble-shoot them? Please note: Trouble-shooting should occur prior to implementing the lesson as well as
throughout the process. Be sure to indicate how you prepared for problems and work through the issues that
occurred as you implemented and even after the lesson was completed.
In order to best manage the students during this unit, I have determined that separating the students based on
presentation style is a good starting point. I will allow all students who chose to work on PowerPoint Presentations
to work on one side of the room, while all students who decided to work on VoiceThreads will work on the
opposite side of the room. All groups will have equal access to computers because of the implementation of this
unit within the computer lab. By separating the students based on their projects, the students will be available to
help each other and discuss ideas while I monitor and help individuals.
Students will be allowed to choose between working in groups of two or individually based on their preference.
Allowing the students to make this choice along with their decision of how to create their presentations act as both
a form of classroom management and differentiation.
As previously noted, throughout the creating portion of this unit, students will have already been trained and
provided with YouTube tutorials that they may watch at their leisure to help them troubleshoot their presentations.
Along with the tutorials and YouTube help, the facilitator will be available and monitoring to aid the students in
their productions.

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Instructional Strategies and Learning Activities Describe the research-based instructional strategies you will
use with this lesson. How will your learning environment support these activities? What is your role? What are the
students' roles in the lesson? How can you ensure higher order thinking at the analysis, evaluation, or
creativity levels of Blooms Taxonomy? How can the technology support your teaching? What authentic,
relevant, and meaningful learning activities and tasks will your students complete? How will they build knowledge
and skills? How will students use digital tools and resources to communicate and collaborate with each other
and others? How will you facilitate the collaboration?
I will begin with asking students about travel that they have had within the United States. Using a map, the class
will identify places that their classmates have been around the U.S. This will lead us into a discussion about
national features and sights.
We will lead into whole group instruction using slotted notes on the major U.S. Physical features. This will allow all
students to take notes and follow along with the lesson. I will use various YouTube videos and pictures from the
Internet to aid instruction and help students make connections to the concepts that we are talking about.
In this portion of the unit, the teacher is the instructor and guide while students engage in learning and discovery.
This portion of the unit scores low on Blooms Taxonomy as students are taking information from the teacher and
regurgitating it onto their notes.
Day 2, students will spend time filling out their interest inventory and determining which form of presentation they
would like to complete. The teacher will briefly show the whole class how each presentation is created and allow
students to make their final decisions. Students will determine whether or not they would like to would individually
or in a group of two. Students will then take time to walk through their respective rubric and determine the best
way to complete the task assigned to them. If time remains, students may begin their own research to include in
their presentations.
Day 3, students will spend time researching the physical features and making notes on their handout that was
given to them on day one. This process scores higher on Blooms Taxonomy because students will be conducting
research and synthesizing the information in order to find the most relevant and important data.
Day 4 and Day 5, students will be working individually or in groups of two to complete their presentations. The
facilitator will monitor and aid students in completing their personations as students turn to help each other as
well. Students will score high on Blooms Taxonomy these two days as they act as the producers of their
presentations, and teachers to other students who need assistance. These two days allow students to become
creative and artistic as they create their own individual presentation to complete a common goal.

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Differentiation (How will you differentiate content and process to accommodate various learning styles and
abilities? How will you help students learn independently and with others? How will you provide extensions and
opportunities for enrichment? What assistive technologies will you need to provide?)
Differentiation takes on a number of forms in this unit. Students are allowed to choose from two different
production methods based on their comfort level with technology and comfort level of presenting the information.
Students are also allowed to choose whether or not they would like to work in small groups. This allows students
the freedom to work in an atmosphere that is most comfortable to them. The combination of these two steps allow
students to create their own learning experience that is tailored to them while ensuring that they complete the
desired goals and master the standards that are being assessed.
Students who require enrichment and opportunities to dive deeper into the material will be allowed to create a
blog where they can discuss their ideas, findings, discoveries, and thoughts on their presentations with the group
and receive feedback from their peers and the instructor.
Assistive technologies will be provided in the form of large text for the visually impaired, closed captioning, audio
and headphones for the deaf and hard of hearing, Students who have trouble concentrating will also have priority
seating close to the instructor so that he/she will be able to keep the students on task throughout the unit.

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Reflection (Will there be a closing event? Will students be asked to reflect upon their work? Will students be
asked to provide feedback on the assignment itself? What will be your process for answering the following
questions?
Did students find the lesson meaningful and worth completing?
In what ways was this lesson effective?
What went well and why?
What did not go well and why?
How would you teach this lesson differently?)
The closing event will be the opportunity for students to share their work with the class. All work will be placed on
display, however for the comfort of the students, they will not be required to present their presentations to the
class. All VoiceThreads and collages will be available in the hallway for students to tour and take virtual fieldtrips.
PowerPoint Presentations will be rotated through a monitor outside the classroom for students to observe as they
change classes.
Students will be required to take an exit survey so that the instructor will be able to make modifications and
adaptions to the lesson where needed. This survey will answer the following questions:
Did the students enjoy the unit?
Did the students find the unit meaningful?
What would they have changed about the unit?
What was their favorite part of the unit?
This unit did go well. The students were very responsive and excited about the opportunity to research, and they
were especially excited about the opportunity to use the new technologies. The students used the slotted notes
that I supplied as a guide when making their PowerPoint Presentations. Another plus was the recent move that
our system made to a Google platform. In doing so, all of our students were given Google IDs and the teachers
were able to create virtual classrooms. This gave the students an effective way to turn in the PowerPoints that
were created. In the past, I had not identified an effective way for my students to turn their individual projects. This
switch to Google has made all the difference in that respect.
In the future, I will definitely make more time to demonstrate and teach how to use VioceThread. Students felt
very uneasy about this technology, and therefore the majority of students chose to use PowerPoints. I would like
for my students to have a much wider range of Web 2.0 tools at their disposal, so I will be sure to spend more
time with VioceThread in the future. I think that my favorite part of this unit was the students ability to work
collaboratively. Some students chose to work independently, however all students were allowed to work
collaboratively, helping each other and showing new tips and tricks that they had learned. This allowed for the
class as a whole to move quickly and efficiently.

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Closure: Anything else you would like to reflect upon regarding lessons learned and/or your experience with
implementing this lesson. What advice would you give others if they were to implement the lesson? Please
provide a quality reflection on your experience with this lesson and its implementation.
When implementing this lesson, the very first thing that became clear to me was that the 1 week timeframe to
complete this project was hardly enough. My class ended up taking almost two weeks to complete this unit.
I found that students had a much easier time creating PowerPoints than using VoiceThread, however I expected
as much. The students enjoyed the opportunity to create based on their own interests, especially the PowerPoint
group which was able to personalize the backgrounds, fonts, pictures, and audio.
I found that grouping the students based on their presentation type was a good way to encourage students to
work collaboratively, however when recording audio, it was difficult to get good quality while others were close by.
In the future, I may allow the VoiceThread groups to use iPads and find more private spots to record, such as the
media center.
The students really enjoyed this unit, and the rest of the school enjoyed the opportunity to go on virtual field trips
and learn from the presentations that were displayed in the hallways. I will definitely use this lesson plan again
and incorporating the minor tweaks will make it even more successful.
Advice for future implementation would be to take lots of time teaching students how to properly navigate
Microsoft PowerPoint and VoiceThread. I would allot two or three days just to demonstrate and tutor students on
these programs. The more knowledge that students have when beginning, the easier management will be on you
as the facilitator.
Please See Attached Materials.

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Page 9 of 14

Page 10 of 14

Multimedia Project: U.S. Physical Features PowerPoint

Teacher Name: Mr. Phillips

Student Name:
________________________________________
CATEGORY
Content

4
Covers topic indepth with details
and examples.
Subject knowledge
is excellent.

3
Includes essential
knowledge about
the topic. Subject
knowledge
appears to be
good.

2
Includes essential
information about
the topic but there
are 1-2 factual
errors.

1
Content is minimal
OR there are
several factual
errors.

Attractiven
ess

Makes excellent
use of font, color,
graphics, effects,
etc. to enhance
the presentation.

Makes good use of

font, color,
graphics, effects,
etc. to enhance to
presentation.

Makes use of font,

color, graphics,
effects, etc. but
occasionally these
detract from the
presentation
content.

Use of font, color,

graphics, effects
etc. but these
often distract from
the presentation
content.

Organizatio
n

Content is well
organized using
headings or
bulleted lists to
group related
material.

Uses headings or
bulleted lists to
organize, but the
overall
organization of
topics appears
flawed.

Content is logically
organized for the
most part.

There was no clear

or logical
organizational
structure, just lots
of facts.

Requiremen
ts

All requirements
are met and
exceeded.

All requirements
are met.

One requirement
was not
completely met.

More than one

requirement was
not completely
met.

Workload

The workload is
divided and shared
equally by all team
members.

The workload is
divided and shared
fairly by all team
members, though
workloads may
vary from person
to person.

The workload was

divided, but one
person in the
group is viewed as
not doing his/her
fair share of the
work.

The workload was

not divided OR
several people in
the group are
viewed as not
doing their fair
share of the work.

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Multimedia Project: U.S. Physical Features VoiceThread & QR

Code

Teacher Name: Mr. Phillips

Student Name:
________________________________________

CATEGOR
Y

Voice Consisten
cy

Voice quality is
clear and
consistently
audible
throughout the
presentation.

Grammar

Grammar and
usage were
correct (for the
dialect chosen)
and contributed
to clarity, style
and character
development.

Voice quality is
clear and
consistently
audible
throughout the
majority (8595%) of the
presentation.
Grammar and
usage were
typically correct
(for the dialect
chosen) and
errors did not
detract from
the story.

Voice quality is
clear and
consistently
Voice quality
audible through needs more
some (70attention.
84%)of the
presentation.
Grammar and
usage were
typically
correct but
errors
detracted from
story.

Repeated errors
in grammar and
usage
distracted
greatly from
the story.
Little or no
attempt to use
images to
create an
appropriate
atmosphere/ton
e.
Presentation
was less than 2
minutes long
OR more than 4
minutes.

Images

Images create a
distinct
atmosphere or
tone that
matches
different parts
of the story.

Images create
an atmosphere
or tone that
matches some
parts of the
story.

An attempt was
made to use
images to
create an
atmosphere/ton
e but it needed
more work.
Image choice is
logical.

Duration
of
Presentati
on

Length of
presentation
was 4 minutes.

Length of
presentation
was 3 minutes.

Length of
presentation
was 2 minutes.

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Point of
View Awarenes
s of
Audience

Strong
awareness of
audience in the
design.
Students can
clearly explain
why they felt
the vocabulary,
audio and
graphics
chosen fit the
target
audience.

Some
awareness of
audience in the
design.
Students can
partially explain
why they felt
the vocabulary,
audio and
graphics
chosen fit the
target
audience.

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Some
awareness of
audience in the
design.
Students find it
difficult to
explain how the
vocabulary,
audio and
graphics
chosen fit the
target
audience.

Limited
awareness of
the needs and
interests of the
target
audience.

M y Week ly R ef lect ion

Name_______________ Date:________
This week, I did my best work on __________________
___________________________________________
__________________________________________.
This week I could have worked harder on________________
___________________________________________
__________________________________________.
My f avorite activity I did was ________________________
because_____________________________________
__________________________________________.
My least f avorite activity I did was ____________________
because_____________________________________
__________________________________________.
A goal I have f or next week is_______________________
__________________________________________.

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