Beyond-the-Basic Productivity Tools (BBPT)

Lesson Idea Name:

Is It Alive?
Content Area:
Science
Grade Level(s):
Kindergarten

Content Standard Addressed:

SKL1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about how organisms (alive and not
alive) and non-living objects are grouped.
a. Construct an explanation based on observations to recognize the differences between
organisms and nonliving objects
Technology Standard Addressed:
Standard 3- Knowledge Constructor
Selected Technology Tool:
Discovery Education- Board Builder

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

https://app.discoveryeducation.com/learn/videos/1db60c12-a822-4784-a08b- 2a3aae864253?
hasLocalHost=False&embed=0
Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy Level(s):
☐ Remembering ☒ Understanding ☐ Applying ☐ Analyzing ☐ Evaluating ☒ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration:

☐ Infusion Level: Students may work at a higher Bloom’s Level, but they do not have any “Voice or Choice”
during the activity and most of the decisions are made by the teacher.

☒ Integration Level: We would like to see ALL lessons/activities reach this level. The project is student-
driven. Students have “Voice and Choice” in the activities, selecting the topic of study and determining the
technology tool to demonstrate mastery of the standard. The teacher becomes more of a facilitator.
☐ Expansion Level: The projects created are shared outside of the classroom, publishing student work and
promoting authorship. This could be reached by showcasing the project on the school’s morning
newscast, posting the project to the classroom blog, or publishing via an outside source.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL):

During this activity, the students learn about a tool they can use in the future in school and outside of school
to share important information with others and learn new information for themselves. Since this tool is web-
based, it is easily accessible as long as the user has a computer and Internet. Computers and Internet will be
provided by the teacher in this activity, so each student will have the needed resources to complete the
activity. The use of groups will also make the lesson more interactive, allowing the students to be more
engaged and motivated to complete the assignment. The students are also given a choice in the living and
non-living things they choose to fuel autonomy.

Lesson idea implementation:

The teacher will introduce the lesson by showing the class a short video segment (1 min) from Discovery
Education explaining the basic differences between living and non-living organisms. The teacher will then put
the class into small groups and provide each group with a laptop. Each group will be required to collectively
SBooker, 2020
 Beyond-the-Basic Productivity Tools (BBPT)
choose one living thing and one non-living thing to compare. The group will then work together on the
Discovery Education- Board Builder tool to create a poster classifying the living and non-living things they
choose and explaining the characteristics of each that make them either living or non-living based on the
video watched and additional research. At the end of the activity, the students will present their boards to the
class and the teacher will guide their presentations with questions about their boards and will also provide
positive feedback to each group in front of the class after each group presents.
I can extend the student learning to a higher learning level by assigning each group to come up with a
creative way to share this information with others that are not learning with us in the classroom. I will give
examples of different things they could do such as hosting a costume party for friends and family to attend
where they would choose a living or non-living thing to dress up as and have them go around posting
different characteristics of the living/non-living things they see on the costume. Assigning this extension, will
allow the students to go further and use their creativity to come up with a way to share their new knowledge
with others outside of school.

Reflective Practice:
This lesson not only presents the content from the standard to the students, but it also allows them to
express the knowledge they have learned through the use of creativity and collaboration with their peers
which in turn promotes higher-order thinking. I can extend the student learning to a higher learning level by
assigning each group to come up with a creative way to share this information with others that are not
learning with us in the classroom. I will give examples of different things they could do such as hosting a
costume party for friends and family to attend where they would choose a living or non-living thing to dress
up as and have them go around posting different characteristics of the living/non-living things they see on the
costume. Assigning this extension, will allow the students to go further and use their creativity to come up
with a way to share their new knowledge with others outside of school. Other tools such as BrainPOP can also
be used to present the information to the students in a different way.

SBooker, 2020