Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Wikistandards
Wikistandards
what is now the United States. In this lesson, students will not only address ELA standards, they
will also work with their social studies standards. This standard will be address as they are
researching and learning more about the Native American tribes. They will be identifying them
and comparing them on the Wiki site. Through their research and class discussions, we will
identify why and how the natives settled in America. SS-EP-2.1.1 Students will describe
cultural elements (e.g., beliefs, traditions, languages, skills, literature, the arts). Each student
will discuss a different cultural element of the tribes they are assigned. Through their research,
the group will learn more about the Native American culture.
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
The ISTE Standards address skills the students need to learn in order to live productively
in the digital world. ITSE Standards 1, 2, 3, and 4 are addressed in this lesson.
1a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes is demonstrated when
students use the wiki page in order to record their research about their Native American tribe. 2a
Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital
environments and media. This standard is addressed when students are working with their group
in order to collect information, collaborate together to see what they would like to include on
their wiki, and publish together as a group. 3a Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize,
and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media. Students will be using
information in their social studies textbook, printed text, and internet websites in order to find
information about their Native American tribe. They will need to look at the information and
analyze to figure out which information to include. They will also have to organize the
information on the Wiki. 4b Plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a
project. Students will have to work together to fill out the information on their Wiki page. They will
also use this information to complete a writing task.
through the students use of wikis. Wikis offer a powerful yet flexible collaborative
communication-students can access and participate from any location, provided they have
Internet access, allowing students to engage in collaborative activities (Johnson, 2006). 2.2
Candidates use appropriate and varied instructional approaches, including those that develop word
recognition, language comprehension, strategic knowledge, and reading-writing connections. This
standard is being addressed by students meeting both ELA standards and social studies standards.
Through the research the students are conducting, they are writing not only on the Wiki, but will
ultimately be writing an informational piece. 2.3 Candidates use a wide range of texts (e.g., narrative,
expository, and poetry) from traditional print, digital, and online resources. As stated before, students
will be using their textbooks, textual print, and digital print in order to conduct this research. Reading
online texts requires a different skill set than that of printed text. In electronic modes of literacy, just as in
traditional text formats, students must be challenged to view with a critical eye the wide range of
information at their disposal (Sanden & Darragh, 2011). Students have to be able to read both
printed texts and online texts. 4.2 Candidates use a literacy curriculum and engage in instructional
practices that positively impact students knowledge, beliefs, and engagement with the features of
diversity. While writing this lesson, one must think about the diversity in the classroom. The students
will have the opportunity to use many modes of instruction. Students are using reading, writing, and
speaking and listening skills in order to conduct this research. 5.1 Candidates design the physical
environment to optimize students use of traditional print, digital, and online resources in reading and
writing instruction. Within this research project, students are provided with necessary skills
needed for their achievement. A teacher cannot simply put a student on the internet and expect
them to know what to do. Without a structure in which to ground this abundance of information,
students can get overwhelmed. Although they may already be using online and offline resources,
they may lack the knowledge required to utilize them effectively (Sanden & Darragh, 2011).
Through previous lessons on keyword searching and giving students guidance through the use of
a Wiki, students are able to complete the assignment.
The Kentucky Teacher Standards (KTS)
The Kentucky Teacher Standards (KTS) of 6.1, 6.2, and 6.5 were also used while
planning this lesson. KTS 6.1, use available technology to guide and plan instruction, is
demonstrated as several modes of technology are included. While planning the lesson, I used
technology by using WikiSpaces, the internet, as well as my computer to design instruction. The
students are also using internet search engines and the wiki to conduct and record research. KTS
6.2 uses available technology to implement instruction to facilitate student learning, is
implemented throughout the lesson by having the students research using technology. The
students are able to use the internet, search engines, wiki, and programs like Read Write Gold to
facilitate their learning. KTS 6.5, demonstrates ethical and legal use of technology, is evident
throughout the lesson. Students were asked only to use kid appropriate search engines to
eliminate unnecessary information. Students were also given previous lessons about legal and
ethical use of technology through the use of safe search engine searches. The students were also
asked to put which websites they used at the bottom of their wiki page. This shows that they are
using the information in a legal way.
skills in order to be prepared for the real world. In order to meet the needs of these learners,
teachers need to access the students knowledge of technology in order to harness their wealth of
technological skill in hopes of also enhancing literacy growth (Sanden & Darragh, 2011).
References
EDUCASE, 7 things you should know about..,wikis (2005). EDUCASE Learning Initiative.
Retrieved from:
http://literacy630.weebly.com/uploads/5/2/5/0/52508411/7_things_you_should_know_ab
out.pdf
Sanden, S., & Darragh, J. (2011). Wiki use in the 21st-century literacy classroom: A framework
for evaluation. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 11(1), 6-20.