Office of Instructional Technology

Multi-disciplinary Inquiry-based Projects for the 21st Century Collaborative Classroom

iSite: Primary Grade Global Communication and Collaboration Project - Creating, Publishing, and Sharing Online ABC Books

Mini Lessons and Activities

Lesson 1
Objective: To introduce students to the project and populating the template with text
Materials: Several ABC Books to use as mentor texts
Projector and Smart Board (if possible)
Laptops or classroom computers with ABC Book template opened
Chart paper, paper, markers, colored pencils, crayons

Criteria Chart for project
Internet:
Mini lesson Procedure:

• Have students look at mentor texts and share their observations of ABC Books while the teacher records their observations on chart paper.
• Explain to students that they will be making their own ABC Books and review the criteria chart for the project
• Model navigating the Power Point template and typing text (that meets the criteria for the project or shows the differentiation you are allowing)
  

Activity:
Students will work in small groups or independently to begin creating pages for their ABC Book on paper while the teacher takes a small group to the computer to begin populating pages with text. Optionally the teacher may choose to confer with students as they brainstorm page ideas.

Share:

Several students with criteria meeting work share the pages they began creating on paper.

Lesson 2

Objective: Students will be able to populate their Power Points slides with images
Materials: Projector and Smart Board (if possible)
Laptops or classroom computers with ABC Book template opened
Chart paper, paper, markers, colored pencils, crayons

Criteria Chart for project
Internet:
Mini lesson Procedure:

• Connect students to the project by reminding them of the work they have previously done and reviewing the criteria chart and noticings chart (from lesson 1)
• Explain to students that today they will be adding images to their pages
• Model populating the Power point template with images that match the text or the images the students have drawn and where to find them on the computer.  If you have a Smart board, demonstrate by touching the board.
• Have at least one student practice populating the Power point with images for the class
  

Activity:
Students will work in small groups or independently to continue working on pages for their ABC Book on paper while the teacher takes a small group to the computer to begin populating pages with text. Optionally, if all students are on laptops, the teacher may choose to confer with students as they populate their books with images.

Share:

Several students with criteria meeting work share the pages they are creating.

Lesson 3

Objective: Students will be able to record sound in their Power Point slides
Materials: Projector and Smart Board (if possible)
Laptops or classroom computers with students' ABC Books on them (if you are making them web-ready in the future, download the program you will be using as sound most be recorded on that program for it to be saved during conversion)
Chart paper, paper, markers, colored pencils, crayons

Criteria Chart for project
Internet:
Mini lesson Procedure:

• Connect students to the project by reminding them of the work they have previously done and reviewing the criteria chart and noticings chart (from lesson 1)
• Introduce students to adding sound by playing a slide for them that has someone reading the text on the slide.
• Students will turn and talk about how we should read our pages while the teacher listens in.
• Share what you have heard and note the correct strategies (optionally, chart their sharings)
• Model recording sound in the Power Point reading in the way the students have suggested. If you are going to make this web-ready, model using the program you have downloaded (Impatica, Presenter Plug-in or Captivate). If you have a Smart board, demonstrate by touching the board.
• Have several student practice recording sound on slides. 
  

Activity:
Students will work in small groups or independently to continue working on pages for their ABC Book on paper while the teacher takes a small group to the computer to begin recording sound for each slide. Optionally, if all students are on laptops, the teacher may choose to confer with students as they record sound on their slides.

Share:

Several students with criteria meeting work share the pages they are creating.