Beyond-the-Basic Productivity Tools (BBPT)

Lesson Idea Name: When the world changed

Content Area: Social Studies
Grade Level(s): 5th grade

Content Standard Addressed:

SS5H7 Trace important developments in America from 1975 to 2001.
a. Describe the collapse of the Soviet Union, including the role of Ronald Reagan.
b. Describe the events of September 11, 2001, and analyze their impact on American life.

Technology Standard Addressed: LoTi Level-Integration

Selected Technology Tool:

Padlet

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

https://padlet.com/cmcelro8/ka9pgnah9fh4hy6d

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): For this activity, students will be provided visuals and have the
opportunity to respond to the timeline itself. As for further benefit, the option to add sources to further study
the events is also available.

Lesson idea implementation:

I will open the lesson with a hook and ask the students what they know about the Cold War. We will preview
with the Berlin Wall and the end of the Vietnam War. We will then discuss the tensions between the United
States and The Soviet Union and talk about key occurrences such as Ronald Reagan being elected President
and disasters like Chernobyl. We will utilize the timeline to launch the discussions of these events and utilize
the comment sections of the timeline to discuss as a class.

To demonstrate their mastery of the topic, students will create their own Padlets to make shelves to break
down the topics with bullet points. Students will specifically breakdown the impact of 9/11 in more depth,
while providing the opportunity for comments on their shelves.
Reflective Practice:

SBooker, 2020
 Beyond-the-Basic Productivity Tools (BBPT)
I feel the lesson above would serve as a great introduction to a unit. For each event on the timeline, we could
branch out and learn about similarly important events related to that year. Further technology tools to
enhance the project would be a Nearpod activity or BrainPOP segments.

SBooker, 2020