BEYOND-THE-BASIC PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS

Name: Ms. Rousseau

Grade Level: Fourth
Content Area: Social Studies
Beyond-the-Basic Productivity Tool Used: Read, Write, Think Timeline Creator
www.ReadWriteThink.org
Standards Addressed:
Standard SS4H6: The student will explain westward expansion of America between 1801
and 1861. BACK

Element a. Describe territorial expansion with emphasis on the Louisiana Purchase, the
Lewis and Clark expedition, and the acquisitions of Texas (the Alamo and independence),
Oregon (Oregon Trail), and California (Gold Rush and the development of mining towns).

See https://www.georgiastandards.org/Pages/Default.aspx)
Blooms Level of Critical Thinking:
Remembering

Understanding

Applying

Analyzing

Evaluating

Creating

Description of how to implement in the class:

Students will use the productivity tool, Timeline Creator, that is embedded into the Read, Write, Think
website and will create a time line for the dates and events of what is known as the westward
expansion of the 1800s. This activity will help the students learn dates and important information
that led up to the American Declaration of Independence. Students will research content and images
that should be included during the years of 1800 1861, including, Lousiiana Purchase, the Lewis
and Clark expedition, acquisition of the Alamo that led to independence of Texas, the Oregon Trail
and expansion to California and events that led to the Gold Rush of 1849. Requiring students to
research and explore these events leading to Americas independence is a creative way for students
to use skills, such as remembering and understanding information, applying acquired knowledge to a
product to demonstrate understanding. The students will also call upon analyzation skills to
decipher why significant events impacted history of America and they will make use of evaluation
techniques to determine which key events should be included in the timeline. Creating this timeline,
using a tool that falls into the beyond the basic category, demonstrates their ability to effectively use
such tools.
The students will be working in pairs while creating the timeline. After everyone has finished, they
will save this file in PDF format and submit to the teacher. Each pair of students will give a short
presentation describing the battle or event and the impact to the class and the teacher will project
each pairs timeline, using the interactive whiteboard. After all pairs have given their analysis of the
event and its impact, the class will have a brief discussion in review and the teacher will then
introduce the next topic on the Declaration of Independence.
Level of Technology Implementation (LoTi): This activity will reach a LoTi level 4 because
students are using the productivity tool to create an authentic product that connects them to events
in American history. Furthermore, they are applying higher order thinking skills when completing
this student-centered assignment.

BEYOND-THE-BASIC PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS

Description of the sample BBPT file provided *:
Viewers will see the end product that will essentially be completed by the students. I will use this to
show the students an example and we may use it as a model for another timeline for the events after
1861 to outline key dates and events for Americas Independence.
Other comments about your proposed BBPT Activity:
I really love the Read, Write, Think, website and having access to these tools. It is a great resource for
teachers and students alike.