Emma Jones

ETEC 527

Individual Project Proposal

1. Brief description of the technology(s) you are planning to select
For the project, I may have included too many, but I would like some input. The 2 main sources
of technology that students will have access to are:

Blendspace (www.tes.com/lessons)
o Blendspace is a Web 2.0 tool that is a great resource for organizing web
resources, assessing student understand and tracking their progress, creating
and presenting lessons, and much more. I plan to use this tool to not only
create and organize lesson resources, but to give students immediate
portals/links to resources and assessments.
edublogs (www.edublogs.org)
o edublogs is currently the largest education blogging platform on the web.
Edublogs has many features that include student management tools that allow
teachers to easily add students to the class blog, moderate content, and the
ability to manage privacy and security of the student and class blog. Teachers
have the ability to also organize students into groups or lists, and monitor
progress with detailed user reports. I plan to use edublogs for students to
collaborate and share ideas, as well for uploading and sharing class
assignments.

Other tech tools that I plan to use in order to engage students, assist in the learning process
through the lesson, and for assessment of knowledge include:

Popplet (www.popplet.com)
o Popplet is an app or website that is used for mind-mapping. Popplet helps
students think and learn visually as an individual or as a group. Students can
capture facts, thoughts, and images and learn to create relationships between
the information they have gathered. I plan to use popplet for helping my
students create a K-W-L chart relating to our topic.
Scholastic (www.teacher.scholastic.com)
o Scholastic provides a ton of resources for educators such as lessons, handouts,
games, activities, videos, and much more. I plan to use scholastic for several
aspects of my lesson such as interactive games and activities to apply
knowledge and understanding, group assessments, information on the topic
provided by experts, as well as research and writing resources.
Kahoot (www.kahoot.it)
o Kahoot is a tool that allows users to create, play and share fun learning games
for any subject, and for all ages. Kahoot allows users to create the games
(called Kahoots) using a variety of features such as multiple choice questions,
videos, images and diagrams to increase engagement. Kahoots can be played

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individually, but are more exciting and engaging when played in a group
setting, like a classroom. Players can answer questions using their own
devices (laptops, iphones, ipads, tablets, etc.), while the game is displayed on
a shared screen to unite the lesson. This tool promotes social learning by
promoting discussion and pedagogical impact. I plan to use this tool to assess
students content knowledge, similar to a quiz or test review.
Nearpod (www.nearpod.com)
o Nearpod is a tool that allows teachers to create interactive presentations or
download ready-to-use CCSS aligned lessons. Lessons/presentation can be
easily shared and synchronized with diverse types of content and interactive
activities to increase engagement. Nearpod also allows educators to instantly
assess student understanding by getting real-time feedback and comprehensive
post-session reports, which can be downloaded and integrated with an LMS. I
plan to use this tool to create an open-ended assessment for students on the
topic.

2. Instructional objectives and intended audience for each lesson/class

Instructional Objectives
Students will:
1. Develop goals for scientific inquiry
2. Improve content-area reading skills, such as distinguishing between fact or fiction
(real or make-believe)
3. Develop a context for the study of dinosaurs
4. Use technology to gain a basic understanding of dinosaur characteristics
5. Understand how the study of dinosaurs informs scientific knowledge
6. Use technology as a mode of inquiry to access information from experts
7. Describe through writing accumulated knowledge of dinosaurs
8. Improve content-area reading skills, such as reading for detail
Intended Audience: Pre-K through 8th grade
3. An outline of the instructional activities you are planning to use with the technology
1. Engage
After displaying items related to dinosaurs around the classroom to engage the
students, I will begin the lesson by projecting the class blenspace that I have
created on the shared screen. I will demonstrate for students how to then
access the class popplet.
2. Build Background Knowledge
The class popplet located on www.popplet.com will be a pre-made popplet
template, similar to a K-W-L chart, for brainstorming as a class. The teacher
will begin by asking students what they already know about dinosaurs. Next,
the teacher will explore what students would like to know further. The teacher

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will then record and organize each response in the appropriate bubble.
Optional: Teachers could assign small groups for discussion instead of leading
a whole-class discussion.
Contributions to the popplet brainstorming web throughout the entire unit is
critical to development of knowledge in this unit. Teachers can do this as a
class, print a copy for each student to fill in, add students as collaborators to
the original class popplet, or students can use popplet to create their own.
3. What Do We Know?
As a whole-group activity, the teacher will access another resource provided
in the blendspace lesson through www.teacher.scholastic.com called The
Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, which is an interactive book related to the
topic. As we go through this interactive book, we will discuss fact versus
fiction, real versus make-believe.
To assess understanding of fact versus fiction, and real versus make-believe,
the teacher will access another resource from www.teacher.scholastic.com
called Real or Make-Believe. As a class, we will take the interactive quiz
together, which will help me to assess content knowledge. Students will be
encouraged to add to their popplet K-W-L mind-map as we complete this
activity.
Next, students will be given instructions on accessing through blendspace.
Students will already be familiar with accessing the teacher blendspace. The
link specific to this unit will be provided to students in order for them to
access the resources needed for the lesson. Students will be paired up, and
then will be asked to complete the Real or Make-Believe game on their own.
While students are taking the interactive quiz, the teacher can assess their
understanding of the topic.
After completing the Real or Make-Believe activity, students will be
introduced to the classroom library of dinosaur books. The books will consist
of both fiction and non-fiction books, to extend knowledge in regards to fact
versus fiction, and real or make-believe concepts. Students will be encouraged
to write, draw, or record their own creations of Real or Make-believe
scenarios using some of the books provided in the classroom library.
Students will be instructed to contribute and upload their creation of scenarios
to the Dinosaur Portfolio page located within the class blog on
www.edublog.com. Students will already be familiar with how to access the
class blog.
4. When Did Dinosaurs Live?
To further assist students in placing dinosaurs in historical content, they will
access the class blendspace unit and click on the scholastic resource labeled
Dinosaur Timeline. Students are also encouraged to experiment and discover
the other timelines offered on the blendspace which include a timeline from
sheppardsoftware.com, and dinosaurjungle.com to compare information they
have gathered through their interactions.
The teacher will attach a large sheet of butcher paper across the longest wall
of the classroom, labeled with the appropriate eras relating to dinosaurs. Near

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the wall, the teacher will place several labeled pictures of dinosaurs. As
students gain knowledge about the dinosaur timelines, they will be asked to
place the pictures of the dinosaurs on the wall according to the era that the
students believe they were a part of.
Teacher will lead a class discussion regarding paper timelines versus online
timelines (how they are alike and different).
5. What Did Dinosaurs Look Like?
Using the shared screen, the teacher will demonstrate how students will
experiment and participate in the Build-a-Dinosaur activity provided on
www.teacher.scholastic.com through accessing the class blendspace unit. The
teacher will then briefly demonstrate a very similar activity called Build a
Dino through www.sheppardsoftware.com. Students will be allowed to choose
which dinosaur building machine they would prefer to use. When students are
comfortable with the game, the teacher will encourage them to complete all of
the dinosaurs, and then create their own.
Students will be asked to add their creations to the class Dinosaur Portfolio
located within the class blog on edublog.com.
6. How Do We Find Information About Dinosaurs?
As a class, review the popplet mind-map and the old versus new information
that students have added to it. Encourage students to discuss what they have
learned about dinosaurs that they didnt know previously, and where they
think that our information about dinosaurs comes from. The teacher will write
their responses on the board. Optional: The teacher can use the class edublog
to initiate an online discussion and record of responses.
The teacher will then introduce the vocabulary term paleontologist, and will
write the term on the board. Students will learn that a paleontologist is the
name of a person who job is to study and research dinosaurs. The teacher will
then discuss what a paleontologist does and where they work.
Students will be introduced to a dinosaur expert named Sue Hendrickson.
Students will be given a handout and/or will be read the story about Sue
Hendrickson aloud.
Next, students will access the class blendspace unit to participate in a virtual
dinosaur dig called Dino Dig. This game allows students to experience how a
paleontologist discovers fossils. The game is provided through
www.paleobiology.si.edu.
Students will then access the Argentinosaurus interactive picture book through
the class blendspace unit. The interactive picture book is provided by
www.teacher.scholastic.com. After the students have read the story
Argentinosaurus, they will then display their knowledge by accessing an openended assessment through the www.nearpod.com link provided in the
blendspace unit. The teacher will have access to the responses given through
the assessment to determine content knowledge and understanding.
7. Ask an Expert

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Students will revisit the story about Sue Hendrickson. After revisiting the
story and relating the information to the previous activities, students will
develop their own questions for Sue Hendrickson.
Once the students have developed their own questions for Sue Hendrickson,
they will access the Questions & Answers page from the interview conducted
with Sue Hendrickson posted and provided through a link to
www.teacher.scholastic.com on the class blendspace unit. Students will print a
copy of the Questions & Answers page. Students will use the Questions &
Answers paper to see if any of the questions that they have developed earlier
are answered on the handout. Students will add questions to the mind-map on
www.popplet.com.
8. Write About It
Teachers will encourage students to express what they have learned about
dinosaurs through their writing skills. Students will be asked to include 3 facts
about dinosaurs in their writing as well. Students will be reminded to use
resources explored earlier, as well as new resources that are provided on the
class blendspace unit. Students can refer back to the time line, use the link
Dinosaur Research Starter, Q & A with Dino Don, Argentinosaurus, and
previously learned facts and information to add to their writing. Students will
be given group and individual time for research using the school library,
classroom library, and internet resources.
When students have completed their writing assignment, they will then be
required to publish and upload their document to the class blog (edublog.com)
on the Dinosaur Portfolio page.
9. Dinosaur Project Wrap-Up
Students will discuss their writing, along with the writing rubric, and popplet
mind-map with the teacher during an individual interview. The teacher will
discuss with the student any information that they have left out, as well as
what information about dinosaurs they found the most useful and interesting.