Technology Enhanced Lesson Plan
Lesson Author
First and Last Name
Author's E-mail Address
School District
School Name
School Address
School City, State, Zip
School Phone
Home Address
Home Phone
Tele Class Name
Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works
Teacher’s Name
Martha Bogart & Ruth Litman-Block
Lesson Overview
Lesson Topic or Title
Subject Area(s)
Grade Level
Question(s) or Problem(s)
Autobiography of a Plant
Science
3rd
What are the stages in the life cycle of a flowering plant?
What does a seed need to become a plant?
What are the basic needs of a plant?
What are the roles of water and nutrients in helping plants
grow?
How are adult plants different than and similar to their
offspring?
Why are plants valuable to our environment?
Lesson Summary (approximately 1-3 paragraphs)
Students will show their understanding of the life cycle of a plant by creating an illustrated and
narrated autobiography video. The project will involve the use of Paint to create illustrations
and Photostory to compile the pictures into a video. Students will begin by storyboarding an
autobiography for the life of a plant, from seed to flowering and producing offspring. They will
take on the role of a plant, telling the story of how their life began, the stages of their life, how
their bodies changed over time, and the importance of their lives. Once their storyboard draft
is complete, they will use Paint to make the illustrations. These illustrations will be imported
into Photostory, and then students will record their written narration (from their storyboard).
The class will celebrate with a “Tribute to Great Plants,” a premiere of each student’s video
autobiographies.
Approximate Time Needed
This will take place near the end of our plant unit. It is estimated to take five class periods,
approximately 45 minutes each, for students to plan their autobiographies, create their
illustrations, and complete their Photostory autobiographies, which will be shared with the
class.
Day 1 – Introduction & begin storyboard
Days 2-3 – Storyboard & Paint illustrations
Day 4 – Photostory (add illustrations & record narration)
Day 5 - Share
Objectives and CLE/GLE(s), along with NETS-S (you should have your OWN
objectives for the lesson that are in addition to, and more precise than, the
CLE/GLEs)
GLEs
Science, grade 3
•
3.1A.a - Describe the basic needs of most plants (i.e., air, water, light, nutrients,
temperature)
•
3.1B.a - Recognize plants progress through life cycles of seed germination, growth
and development, reproduction, and death
•
3.1B.b - Sequence and describe the stages in the life cycle of a flowering plant
•
3.1D.a - Identify the major organs (roots, stems, flowers, leaves) and their functions in
vascular plants (e.g., absorption, transport, reproduction) (Do NOT assess the term
vascular)
•
3.3D.a - Identify and relate the similarities and differences between plants and their
offspring (i.e., seedlings)
Communication Arts, grade 3
•
W1A.a – Follow a writing process to independently use a simple pre-writing strategy
•
W3A.a – Compose narrative, description, expository, and/or persuasive texts, using
appropriate text features.
•
W2A.a – Compose text showing awareness of audience.
•
W2A.b – Compose text in a format appropriate to audience and purpose.
•
W2C.a – Compose text with a beginning, middle, and end.
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will…
•
design and create a video to show their knowledge of a plant’s life cycle
•
share their video with their classmates
•
critique classmates’ videos for their superior content and use of video features
•
reflect on their project to self-assess, writing two compliments on their effort and one
area for possible improvement
NETS standards
1a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
1b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
2b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a
variety of media and formats.
5a. advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and
technology.
5b. exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration,
learning, and productivity.
6a.
6b.
6c.
6d.
understand and use technology systems.
select and use applications effectively and productively.
troubleshoot systems and applications.
transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies.
Technology Needed (place an X by hardware and software used)
Technology – Hardware
X Computer(s)
Digital Camera
DVD Player
Document Camera
X Interactive Whiteboard
Internet
Printer
Projection System
Scanner
iPod/iTouch/Handheld
Television
Video Camera
Video Conferencing Equip.
Other:
Technology – Software
Database/Spreadsheet
Desktop Publishing
Social Networking
Interactive Whiteboard
Software
Audio Editing
Photo Editing
Web Browser
Multimedia
Student Response
Systems
•
Make any science textbooks your grade level uses
and/or any nonfiction literature about plants available
to your students for reference as they’re working.
o
Materials Needed
•
Internet Resources
NA
Other Materials
NA
On-Demand Video
Web 2.0
Word Processing
Online Collaboration Tools
X Other: Photostory 3 for
Windows
X Other: Paint (or other artistic
creation software)
Suggestions:
§
From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons
§
How a Seed Grows by Helene J. Jordan
§
The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller
§
How a Plant Grows by Bobbie Kalman
Autobiography from classroom or school library
Prerequisite Skills
This lesson assumes students have prior knowledge of a plant’s life cycle. Students should
have experience with writing narratives. Students should be familiar with the genre of
autobiography. Although it wouldn’t have to be a requirement to have written personal
narratives in order to have success on this project, it would be helpful to have this prior writing
experience. Students should be familiar with the text features of headings (topics or main
ideas). This lesson also requires previous experience in using the Paint program on the
computer, saving documents to a specified location, and some basics use of the computer
(for example: selecting files, highlighting multiple files, connecting and using a microphone,
adjusting volume).
Lesson Procedures (this should be step-by-step so that a sub could follow it)
Day 1 – Introduction & begin storyboard
•
Begin by reading an excerpt from an autobiography. Ask students to define an
autobiography, making sure they understand the distinction from a biography.
•
Have partners turn and discuss what they’ve learned about the life cycle of a plant.
•
Ask students to think/pair/share:
o
Think: What interesting (sad, humorous, scary, etc.) events might happen in
the life of a plant if it could tell its story?
o
Pair: Turn to your neighbor and share some ideas.
•
Share: Share out some of your ideas to the whole class.Introduce the project:
students will create an autobiography to tell the life story of a plant, taking on the role
of a plant and telling it as a first person narrative. This is a writing project that puts
science knowledge to work. Ask students to think back with a neighbor to how most
of our writing units begin. (with prewriting) Explain that even though their
autobiography will become a video, it will begin with a written draft. Just as with other
writing units, videos begin with prewriting strategies, too. The prewriting they’ll use for
their video is a storyboard. Show students the storyboard on the SMART Board,
pointing out that it includes boxes, or frames, for each scene/section of the
autobiography. Each frame will include the text (what you will say) and an illustration.
Explain that the end result will be illustrations with narration dubbed to tell the life story
of a plant.
•
Model the use of the storyboard. [see attached document “video_storyboard”]
Remind students that it’s difficult to dig in and write a draft of a story without a plan, so
the first step is to think of the order of events that will be told in their story and use
those to write a heading in each frame of the storyboard. Model this with a cycle
topic, but trying to avoid plants so that students are less likely to simply borrow
teacher ideas. For example, you might use the topic of a dog’s life or even the life of
water drop (assuming you’ve studied the water cycle). Make sure students reserve
their first frame as a title slide. My first frame for a dog’s life might be BORN, followed
by LEARNING TO WALK, then PLAYING WITH MY BROTHERS, then LEARNING
TRICKS, and so on, thinking aloud to show students how I want to tell short stories
about how I was changing (as a dog) over the years.
•
Allow students time to begin planning the topics (headings) for their storyboard frames
of a plant’s life. When several of them have finished this outlining, gather the group
again to model the next step.
•
Model the storyboard again, this time showing how you’d write the narration for a
frame. Show how you’d think aloud and tell a part of a dog’s life without telling all
about it. For example, for my “BORN” section, I might begin “I didn’t live an ordinary
life, but I was born an ordinary dog. Eyes closed, whining, and rooting around for my
mama. I first felt what would become a very familiar feeling…my mama’s tongue
cleaning all the messy birth business off of me. I was glad to be out of the cave of my
mama’s stomach and ready to use those four paws that I’d been trying to stretch out
for so many days. There I was, Buckwheat the dog, so young and so clueless to the
big life ahead of me.” Ask students to notice the parts of my writing that showed I had
knowledge about a dog’s life. (eyes closed when born, mother licking, being inside
mother before born, having paws) After finishing this frame, I’d do a very quick sketch
or write notes in the illustration portion of the frame to show the image I wanted my
audience to see in the video while they heard this narration. For example, I might
write “puppy face, eyes closed, & giant tongue licking the puppy’s ear”
•
After demonstrating a few frames, allow students to continue their storyboards,
circulating to make sure everyone is on track.
Days 2-3 – Storyboard & Paint illustrations
•
Gather students to model another frame (writing text and planning illustration).
•
Ask students to share their status with a partner and then share out with the class
(What are you ready for today? Finish storyboard? Ready to begin illustrations on
computer?) Depending on status of class, students might need more time to finish
storyboards. Give each student a storyboard checklist [see attached document
“storyboard_checklist”] so they can self-assess their storyboard’s content before
determining if they’re ready to move on to making Paint illustrations.
•
Show students that the next step will be to use Paint to create the illustrations they’ve
planned. As needed, give the class a quick refresher on using Paint to make
illustrations and how to save these images into a “plant_life” folder within their network
drive. (NOTE: This lesson assumes familiarity with the Paint program and with
saving to a specified location.) Remind them that they will need to make an illustration
for the title slide, although that could simply be text (title and author) if they choose.
•
Allow students time to work on their storyboards and Paint illustrations, circulating to
assist as needed.
Day 4 – Photostory (import illustrations & record narration)
•
Before demonstrating the use of Photostory, give students a copy of the scoring guide
for the end product they’re making and clarify any questions about the expectations.
[see attached document “video_scoring”]
•
Using a couple sample images for your model storyboard and the text you’ve
modeled, show the students how to use Photostory.
•
Students begin by opening Photostory and choosing “begin a new story.” They’ll click
“next” and then “import pictures,” browsing for their saved illustrations. They can
highlight all images to import all of their illustrations at once, and then click and drag
the images within Photostory to change the order as necessary.
•
At this point, show students how to save their project by clicking the “Save Project…”
button at the bottom of the window and saving it within their “plants_life” folder.
Remind them to periodically update this save as they’re working.
•
Once all images are imported and in the correct order, students click “next.” The next
page will ask them to add titles to their pages if they’d like. If they choose to label
their pages with headings, that’s their choice as an author. However, that should only
be done if time permits, with the narration being the more important piece. I would
advise them to click “next,” noting that if they’d like to go back and add text after their
narration is recorded, they should see me for assistance.
•
The next step asks them to narrate their pictures. Demonstrate this. Students should
make sure their microphones are plugged in, have their storyboard sheets in front of
them, click the red circle button to record, and then read the written narration that
goes with the illustration shown, clicking the blue square stop button when finished
reading the text. Show how to click the “preview” button to listen to the narration,
making sure they’re happy with it. If not, the undo blue arrow button can be clicked to
delete the narration and try again.
•
When finished narrating one illustration, model how students simply click on the next
illustration and follow the same procedure above to add narration for it. They continue
this until all narration has been added. When all narration is added, students may
choose to click the “back” button to add text (for headings) if desired.
•
When students are finished, they should update their save, click the “next” button two
more times (to skip over the section for adding music…a cool feature but one that will
be skipped on this project for the sake of time, unless of course early finishers would
like to explore this), and then choose the option to “save your story for playback on
your computer,” browse for the location they’d like to save this file (again choosing
their “plants_life” folder within their network drive), and click “next” to begin the
transformation into a video file.
•
Students may view their video at this point. If there are issues that need to be fixed,
they have to open the Photostory project file they’ve saved, make changes, and again
go through the steps to save it as a video file.
Day 5 – Share
•
Gather students to share their videos as part of a class celebration “A Tribute to Great
Plants,” allowing each author to sit at the front to pull up their video on the SMART
Board and introduce it. After viewing each student’s video, pause for the two specific
compliments to the moviemaker (two collectively, not two from each student) about
his/her writing, science knowledge of plants, or video components.
•
Conclude the lesson by asking students to complete a reflection sheet to tell two stars
and a wish about their own video (two things they’re happy with and one thing they
wish they’d done differently). [see attached document “2stars_wish”]
Scaffolding
•
Video storyboard [see “video_storyboard”]
•
Storyboard self-assess [see “storyboard_checklist”]
•
Scoring guide [see “video_scoring”]
•
2 Stars and a Wish [see “2stars_wish”]
Evaluation/Assessment
•
Students will self-assess the content of their video storyboard using the checklist
provided in order to determine whether they’re ready to begin creating illustrations.
[see “storyboard_checklist”]
•
Students will be informally assessed throughout the project through teacher
observation of progress and feedback.
•
Students will be assessed on their video using the scoring guide they will be provided
before they begin their work in Photostory. [see “video_scoring”]
•
Students will complete a self-reflection about their project to tell two “stars” (things
they’re proud of about their project) and a “wish” (something they’d improve or change
given the chance). [see “2_stars_wish”]
Differentiated Instruction
This lesson could be modified in the following ways to meet various student needs:
•
•
Gifted –
o
The video could be extended to include more advanced explanations of the
plant’s functions.
o
Students could research plants with abnormal life cycles and/or behaviors
(carnivorous plants, for example) and feature an autobiography of one of these
plants.
IEP, ESL/ELL –
o
o
For students needing extra support, particularly in the area of language…
§
content vocabulary and background knowledge could be further
enhanced by reading nonfiction literature about plants
§
students could be given content-specific vocabulary words in a
checklist of words to make sure to include within the video
For students requiring more structured prewriting support…
§
a more structured video storyboard template could be given with
headings already designated (and possibly sentence starters, as
needed)
§
Students could be partnered with a strong peer for the activity.
Bibliography
NA
Reflection
This lesson will provide students an opportunity to apply their science knowledge through the
use of multimedia to design and create videos. Although they could certainly create a paper
version of their plant autobiography, the electronic version is more realistic for this
generation’s “real-world” of now and the future. In a world where VISUAL MEDIA seems to
reign, the chance to plan and create a video is especially relevant to students of this
generation. However, it reinforces the importance of reading, writing, and content knowledge,
as students are asked to apply their science knowledge, use their writing skills to plan and
draft while considering the traits of effective writing, and use their reading skills to record
narration. Additionally, the premiere of all student videos on the SMART Board gives
students a chance to critique the many aspects of others’ videos, while reflecting on their
own. Students will have a chance to see how each video, while using the same background
knowledge about plants, reflects each writer’s style or “voice” and how students make
creative choices that make their end products unique. This lesson addresses a level 4 Depth
of Knowledge because students are applying concepts they’ve learned to design and create a
video that creatively shows their understanding of the science concepts. The DOK 4 is also a
part of the peer-critiques and self-critiques after viewing the videos. On the Grapplings
Spectrum, this lesson would be on the “transforming” level because the student-centered
activities allow students to use technology to creatively organize and share information to
their learning community. The technology is a necessary component in student creation of a
product that shares their learning in a more “Information Age” means of communication and
learning.
Video storyboard
Name_________________
Heading______________________
Illustration:
Heading______________________
Illustration:
Narration:
Narration:
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
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___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
Heading______________________
Illustration:
Heading______________________
Illustration:
Narration:
Narration:
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
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___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
Heading______________________
Illustration:
Heading______________________
Illustration:
Narration:
Narration:
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
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Storyboard Checklist
all stages in flowering
plant life cycle
needs of a seed to
become a plant
needs of a plant to
survive
comparison of adult
plants and offspring
(how your “body” was
the same or different)
ways plant is valuable
to environment (how
you made a
difference in the
world)
told in first person
(you talking as the
plant)
told in an order that
makes sense
illustration planned
for each frame if ontopic
told as a story, not
a report
Project Reflections: Two Stars and a Wish
Name___________________________
2 stars:
_______________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
_______________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
A wish:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Autobiography of a Plant: Video Scoring
Author’s name: ______________________________
Requirements
Content
(narration)
Illustrations
Writing
Creativity
Video
components
• stages in flowering plant life cycle
• needs of a seed
• needs of a plant
• comparison of adult plants &
offspring
• ways plant is valuable to
environment
• illustrations match the narrations
(seem on-topic)
• show effort in neatness
• show accurate details
• told in first person
• in a sequence that makes sense
• has a beginning, middle, and end
• told as a narrative (a story that
includes facts, not a report)
• used writing “voice” to show
emotion (gave plant life)
• “in the brain of a plant” – showed
thought in events the might be
memorable to a plant
• included a title slide with
appropriate title and author’s name
• narration was appropriate volume,
speed, and showed inflection
Total points
Points Points
possible earned
10
(2 pts
each)
3
4
2
2
21