Instructional Software

Lesson Idea Name: American Indian Lesson

Content Area: American Indian Cultures
Grade Level(s): 3rd

Content Standard Addressed: SS3H1 Describe early American Indian cultures and their development in
North America. Locate the regions where American Indians settled in North America: Arctic, Northwest
Southwest, Plains, Northeast, and Southeast. b. Compare and contrast how American Indians in each region
used their environment to obtain food, clothing, and shelter. c. Discuss how American Indians continue to
contribute to American life (e.g., arts, literature).

ISTE Technology Standard Addressed: 3: Knowledge Constructor:

3b. Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create
collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.

Selected Technology Tool: BrainPop.com

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

Type of Instructional Software:

☐ Drill and Practice ☒ Tutorial ☐ Simulation ☐ Instructional Game ☐ e-books/e-references

Features of this software (check all that apply):

☐ Assessment Monitoring/Reporting
☐ Allows teacher to create customized lessons for students
☐ Multi-user or collaborative functions with others in the class
☐ Multi-user or collaborative with others outside the class
☐ Accessible to students beyond the school day
☒ Accessible via mobile devices
☒ Multiple languages
☒ Safety, security and/or privacy features

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): BrainPOP videos are very short and to the point. This is great for
students with attention difficulties. Students can also review the video more than once if they do get
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distracted and miss something. Headphones can be given to students who wish to watch the video again.
There are also many videos on many topics, so students can use this to support other lessons as well. This
allows students to break up the time they must sit still and pay attention.

Lesson idea implementation: First the teacher should welcome the students and get the lesson started by
having a class discussion about American Indians to see what the students already know. Then the students
will watch a short BrainPOP video to get an overview of the topic. This should take only about five minutes for
the video and only about ten for the discussion so that we do not go to into detail before the lesson. After the
discussion and video, the students will be broken into six different groups. Each group will then be assigned a
region. The students will then be given the instruction that they are to create something that they can show
to the class to teach about their group’s region. Some examples would be a PowerPoint, a Poster board, a
video, or a Podcast. The teacher should approve how the students plan on presenting. The students are then
given five minutes) to decide how they are going to display their information to the rest of the class. After
this, the students will then be given a list of different websites and Apps that are safe and easy to use. The
students should then begiven a main question worksheet to fill with their information and a rubric. Then from
there the students are given about an hour to find the information they want to use that answers at least the
main questions given on a worksheet which are 1. What is this region called, 2. Where is this Region located,
3. What is the environment like in this Region, 4. What do they wear, 5. What do their houses look like, 6.
What is one thing they eat, 7. What other information did you find interesting? And finally, 9. Do you think
that the American Indians have influenced anything in life today, such as the clothes we wear, what we eat, or
the music we listen to?
After the students will then be able to take the information they learned and put it on poster boards,
PowerPoints, podcasts, etc. After this the students will then be asked to present their projects. This is how the
teacher will be able to assess the students, and the teacher should ask questions and grade them based on
the rubric. After this the teacher should have a class discussion on what the students learned, and what else
they would like to learn, and if the students enjoyed this project and why or why not.

Reflective Practice: Another fun thing to include would be to invite a Native American to the classroom to
speak and see what they think of the student’s projects. After their work is reviewed and discussed with our
Native American guest the lesson will be concluded. This would allow students to have an outside source and
extend their work to someone outside of the classroom. They might also show other classes or publish it on a
classroom blog for the parents and families to see.

SBooker, 2020