6-Leasa's+Lesson+Plans+(Kindergarten)

**Collaborative Project Title**: A Great Place to Live **Description:** To answer the guiding question -- What makes our community a great place to live? -- students will engage in a comparative study of their favorite community, city, and state attractions. Lesson content will also pull from prior knowledge (obtained from student traveling experiences and classroom field trips) and from collaborative group study. As a culminating, authentic assessment activity, each participating class will create a printable travel brochure and collaborate on creating a VoiceThread to present their information. The following lessons for my Kindergarten class take place over the 5-day instructional period for this collaborative project. **Note:** These lessons can be easily adapted for use in any community, city, or state.

//Curriculum Focus:// Social Studies, Geography, Map Skills //Grade:// Kindergarten //National Standards: //  NSS-G.K-12.1 Students should understand how to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective. NSS-G.K-12.2 Students should understand the physical and human characteristics of places.
 * Day 1: Kindergartners on the Map **

//Goal:// Students will engage in developmentally appropriate and relevant activities to increase their understanding of what a map is, how a map is used to identify locations, and, to discover where they live on a map as well as where our 3rd grade and high school collaborating classmates are located. //Intended Learning Outcomes:// The students will //Materials: //
 * 1) become familiar with maps and their uses;
 * 2) interpret maps using appropriate vocabulary (north, south, east, west, near, and far);
 * 3) identify simple map symbols and icons; and,
 * 4) locate Florida, Tennessee, and Connecticut on a map of the United States.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">maps of familiar places such as the school, stores, and community icons
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">a city map
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">a variety of maps of Florida
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">large and simple maps of the United States
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">books for shared reading: __Me on the Map__ by Joan Sweeny ([]) and __Where Do I Live?__ by Neil Chesanow ([])
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">manipulatives such as game pieces, toy cars and dollhouse people
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">LCD projector and interactive whiteboard
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">pens, pencils, crayons, or markers

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Instructional Procedures: // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Read __Me on the Map__ by Joan Sweeny or __Where Do I Live?__ by Neil Chesanow. Discuss how a map is used in each story to locate important places within the community and around the world.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Display a city map. Highlight the school's location. Discuss its location in relation to favorite surrounding locales (such as the local mall, favorite fast food restaurants, and the neighborhood library).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Next introduce a map of Florida. Mark the city in which the school is located, familiar landmarks and favorite state attractions. Use the manipulatives to "travel" in different directions to reach those landmarks and attractions. Discuss the map keys and basic symbols. Give each child a copy of the Florida map so they can mark the spot where their city is located.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Finally, display a map of the United States on the LCD projector. Point out Florida and discuss its shape (like a boot) and location. Invite the children to help locate the states in which our collaborating classmates reside (Tennessee and Connecticut). Examine the shapes and sizes of those states compared to Florida, and, discuss how far away or how near those states are to Florida. Give each student a copy of the U. S. map. Have them locate and color-code Florida, Tennessee and Connecticut.

//Accommodations and Extensions:// <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Provide ELL students with several models and picture icons to help them learn the vocabulary involved with using a variety of maps.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Access Google Maps and display the site on the interactive whiteboard. Demonstrate how we can find our city and that of each of our collaborating classes using Google Maps.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Ongoing Assessment(s): //
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Observe students as they participate in discussions and interactive activities. Check to see that they have a general understanding of how to locate the various places we discussed.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Check for the basic understanding that maps represent real places.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Days 2 and 3: Florida is the Place to Be! **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">//Curriculum Focus:// Social Studies, Geography, Language Arts <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">//Grade:// Kindergarten //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">National Standards: // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">NSS-G.K-12.1 Students should understand how to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">NSS-G.K-12.2 Students should understand how culture and experience influence people's perceptions of places and regions. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">NL-ENG.K-12.12 Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange information.) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">NT.K-12.3 Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">//Goal:// Students will use creativity and critical thinking skills to share with others why their community is a great place to live. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">//Intended Learning Outcomes:// The students will //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Materials: //
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">express personal views of places in their community, city and state that make Florida unique;
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">display a sense of curiosity about other communities;
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">develop vocabulary and oral presentation skills; and,
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">create a brochure that presents the best features of their favorite community and state attractions.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">an assortment of travel brochures and vacation magazines
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">a variety of reference materials, print and online
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">large and simple maps of the United States
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">large sheets of construction paper (folded to create a brochure)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">LCD projector and interactive whiteboard
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">pens, pencils, crayons, or markers
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">[|ReadWriteThink Printing Press]

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Instructional Procedures: // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Have the children share their interesting travel stories. Guide their discussion with questions such as:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Where did they go?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">How did they decide to go to these places?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">What were their favorite moments in their travels?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">What was the best place to eat? The best place to stay? The activity that was the most fun?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Brainstorm with the children a list of their favorite places and attractions that would "advertise" or show off the best features of their community. To help them in brainstorming, have available various community newspapers, picture maps, and Florida vacation brochures that highlight some of the places they discussed visiting earlier in the lesson.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Explain to the students that they are going to work together in groups of four to create a "travel brochure" that would attract their collaborative project partners in Tennessee and Connecticut to their neighborhood or community. The children can create the brochure by drawing their own illustrations and/or cutting and pasting images from Florida travel magazines and other vacation materials.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Accommodations and Extensions: // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Parent volunteers will be available for assisting student teams throughout the brochure creation phase of this lesson. They will help resolve any difficulties arising as the teams collaborate and encourage team members to utilize the informational and procedural resources provided by the teacher.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Ongoing Assessment(s): //
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Conduct systematic observation of the children’s progress via focused discussion and questioning, anecdotal records, observation checklists, audio and video recordings, and, photographs.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Evaluation: // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The instructional activities and student progress in this lesson will be evaluated with the following rubrics: Creating a Travel Brochure and Collaborative Work Skills.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Days 3 and 4: Creating our VoiceThread **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">//Curriculum Focus:// Social Studies, Geography, Language Arts <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">//Grade:// Kindergarten //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">National Standards: // //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-style: normal;">NSS-G.K-12.2 Students should understand how culture and experience influence people's perceptions of places and regions. // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">NL-ENG.K-12.12 Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange information.) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">NT.K-12.4 Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">//Goal:// Students will use creativity and critical thinking to share reasons why their community is a great place to live. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">//Intended Learning Outcomes:// The students will //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Materials: //
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">present the best features of their favorite community and state attractions through a VoiceThread production;
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">experience scanning documents and narrating a VoiceThread; and,
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">develop vocabulary and oral presentation skills.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">completed brochures from Days 2 and 3
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">optical scanner
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">external microphone (for better sound quality)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">VoiceThread website

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Instructional Procedures: // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Explain to the children that they are going to produce a VoiceThread to demonstrate the work they've done on their brochures. They will also add their voices to the VoiceThread to tell about the favorite Florida attractions found in the brochure.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Encourage the children to watch as their brochure pages are scanned and turned into jpg files. Show them how scanning turns their artwork into pictures that can be shared with others. Load the jpg files into VoiceThread.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Have the children add narration that describes what is shown on the pages of their travel brochures. Encourage and model the use of complete sentences, good voice quality, and adequate expression.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Discuss how to post the completed VoiceThread on our classroom project wiki. The VoiceThread will be easy to access that way. Also, our collaborative partners in Tennessee and Connecticut can view it, listen to the thoughts expressed through the narration, and leave audio comments or discussion points.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Accommodations and Extensions: // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Have the learning team members comment on each other's work, providing suggestions for improvement of the narration or presentation before it is finalized and shared.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Ongoing Assessment(s): //
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Conduct systematic observation of the children’s progress via focused discussion and questioning, anecdotal records, observation checklists, audio and video recordings, and, photographs.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Use the VoiceThread (student) rubric to guide and assess the students' progress, both during and after producing the VoiceThread.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Evaluation: // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The instructional activities and student progress in this lesson will be evaluated with the following rubrics: VoiceThread (student) and Collaborative Work Skills.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Day 5: What's So Great About Living in Tennessee and Connecticut? **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">//Curriculum Focus:// Social Studies, Geography, Language Arts <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">//Grade:// Kindergarten //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">National Standards: // //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-style: normal;">NSS-G.K-12.2 Students should understand how culture and experience influence people's perceptions of places and regions. // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">NL-ENG.K-12.12 Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange information. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">NT.K-12.4 Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">//Goal:// Students will critically examine the reasons why communities outside of their own are great places to live. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">//Intended Learning Outcomes:// The students will //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Materials: //
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">compare and contrast the best features of their favorite community and state attractions with those of peers in Tennessee and Connecticut;
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">experience posting audio and text comments to a VoiceThread; and,
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">develop vocabulary and oral communication skills.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">computers with Internet access
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">classroom wikis with embedded VoiceThreads
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> external microphone (for better sound quality)

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Instructional Procedures: // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Take a few minutes to enjoy the children's completed VoiceThread. Allow them to reflect on the processes they used to tackle the brochure and VoiceThread production tasks.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Explain to the class that they will now examine the completed VoiceThread presentations of their peers in Tennessee and Connecticut. Each learning team will come up with two comments or questions to post to each of those presentations.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Discuss the fact that their peers in Tennessee and Connecticut will also be examining the VoiceThread presentation they created about Florida. So, the children will need to check their classroom wiki and address the comments or questions posted from their peers in the other states.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Accommodations and Extensions: // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Have the learning team members critique each other's comments or questions, providing positive feedback and suggestions for improvement before comments or questions are recorded on a VoiceThread. Also, p <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">arent volunteers will be available for assisting student teams with the task of creating acceptable comments or questions for their peers in the other states. They will help resolve any difficulties arising as the teams collaborate and encourage team members to utilize complete thoughts.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Allow the children to compare and contrast the attractive aspects of Tennessee with those of Connecticut. Have them critically evaluate those factors and make a choice as to which state they'd like to relocate to if they could.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Ongoing Assessment(s): //
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Conduct systematic observation of the children’s progress via focused discussion and questioning, anecdotal records, observation checklists, audio and video recordings, and, photographs.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Use the Collaborative Work Skills rubric to guide and assess the students' progress as they prepare and deliver commentaries on the VoiceThread presentations from the other states.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;">Barron, B., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2008). //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Powerful learning: Studies show deep understanding derives from collaborative methods // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;">. Retrieved July 10, 2010, from [|http://www.edutopia.org/inquiry-project-learning-research]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Annotated References and Literature Review **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Barron and Darling-Hammond provide a summary of the key research findings for both inquiry-based and cooperative learning. Inquiry-based approaches include project-based or project learning, problem-based learning, and design-based instruction. The research shows that inquiry-based, collaborative approaches help provide students with 21st century skills such as the ability to work in teams to solve complex problems, and transfer new knowledge to novel situations. The authors also note such approaches can be challenging to implement as they require modifying curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> This article is relevant to our learning team's collaborative project because it addresses the very type of approach we will be implementing: project-based learning. Barron and Darling-Hammond help support our team's belief that our students will learn more deeply when they engage in authentic learning projects that require sustained engagement and collaboration. Also, we've learned active-learning practices are more significant to student performance than any other factor and our students will be more successful when we teach them "how to learn" as well as "what to learn."

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;"> Boss, S. (2009, March). //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">High tech reflection strategies make learning stick. // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;"> Retrieved July 10, 2010, from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> This article highlights several students, teachers and administrators who recognize the importance of reflection as a means of making connections critical to understanding. Students must be given the opportunities to stop and think about what they're learning and to discover why the new knowledge is relevant to their lives. They should also be provided the means for sharing that knowledge with others in authentic ways. Boss indicates several ways in which teachers can foster reflective learning using technological media and special projects -- blogs, wikis, audio interviews, Project Exchange, Flat Classroom projects, VoiceThread, and Classroom Displays. Boss concludes by noting that another benefit of promoting reflection on learning is the teacher's ability to digitally archive student work, thereby, possibly extending the reflection activity beyond a single project or up through the grade levels.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Once again, this article supports our learning team's effort to provide our respective grade level of students with dynamic opportunities to acquire and share learning. We plan to utilize two of the technology tools mentioned in the article -- classroom wikis and VoiceThread -- as powerful tools for learning, project management, and authentic assessment. An additional goal of ours is to encourage our students to begin reflecting on their learning more frequently and naturally in their daily lives.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;"> Epstein, A. S. (2007). //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The intentional teacher: Choosing the best strategies for young children's learning. // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;"> Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> In a study of preschool practices, Epstein found that children achieved much stronger learning outcomes when teachers intentionally connected hands-on and other meaningful activities to specific instructional targets. In other words, those teachers designed supportive learning environments and instruction with the end goal in mind. Epstein's book guides teachers with strategies for determining how and when each type of learning (self-directed, adult-guided, or a combination of both) proves to be most effective. Epstein also offers the reader suggestions regarding the means and methods for supporting that learning.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;"> This book is a very useful resource for the early childhood teacher. It was published by the leading authority on the education of young children. As our learning team plans for the implementation of our collaborative project, we are mindful of the fact that our students span several grade levels, from K-12. So, we must establish a very supportive collaborative learning environment for our youngest students, many whom will be newly acquiring the basic and foundational skills needed for successful participation. The Intentional Teacher will provide our team with the guidance we need to accommodate our youngest collaborators.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;"> Kutnick, P., Ota, C., & Berdondini, L. (2008, February). Improving the effects of group working in classrooms with young school-age children: Facilitating attainment, interaction and classroom activity. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Learning and Instruction // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;">, 19(1), 83-95.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> This particular study focused on children ages 5-7 years old. Kutnick et al noted recent research shows that, although children in primary school classrooms are often seated in groups, those same children aren't collaborating or learning effectively within these groups. Therefore, this study's aim was to assess and compare experimental and control primary-level classes for attainment (reading and math), motivation for collaborative work, and behavioral/communicative actions. Upon conclusion of the study, it was found that the children in experimental classes -- where more dynamic, multimedia technologies were infused into the curriculum -- demonstrated more improvement than those in control classes. The critical factors were attainment of learned concepts, motivation for working with others, group and on-task behaviors and high levels of communicative interaction with group peers. Kutnick et al concluded young children are indeed capable of participating in stimulating and collaborative group work.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;"> This study was a good follow-up to the book by Epstein mentioned above, The Intentional Teacher. It helps reinforce the best practices our learning team plans to use for engaging our youngest learners in the collaborative learning process. They will be provided with various developmentally appropriate scaffolds and pre-training, thereby, giving the children the means to use digital technologies to communicate effectively with their groups. They will also attain a sense of self-direction and control over their learning environment, and confidently share their learning with older peers in cooperating classes.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;"> Lombardi, M. (2008, January). //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Making the grade: The role of assessment in authentic learning. // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;"> Retrieved July 2, 2010, from [] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Lombardi begins this article by addressing how assessment is essential to successful teaching and learning. Research shows that, as students develop more capable learning skills, the level at which they engage with content depends largely on their expectations of how their achievement will be measured. The author reminds those educators who intend to engage their students in authentic learning experiences (enhanced with technology) to also be mindful of appropriate and meaningful methods of assessing student learning in such a learning environment. Although the article is geared for learning environments in higher education venues, the information it provides can be applied just as well to K-12 classrooms.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Our learning team's collaborative project entails engaging our students in authentic learning experiences. Hence, we have to be cognizant of the types of assessment tools and methods we will utilize to appropriately evaluate our students' learning and diverse mastery levels. This will be especially important for us because the majority of our students are primary and intermediate level learners. For them, many new learning skills and strategies are being introduced, molded, and reinforced daily. Therefore, the methods used to assess Kindergarten students will most likely differ from those in the higher grades and vice versa, possibly, in both kind and intensity.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;"> Ravitz, J. (2008). //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Project-based learning as a catalyst in reforming high schools. // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;"> Paper presented at Annual Meetings of the American Educational Research Association, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">New York: NY.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Ravitz presents initial results from a survey of project-based learning implemented in several high schools, including those involved in major reform efforts. This study offers a description of the type, duration, and quality of student learning experiences critical to school reform, focusing primarily on project-based learning as a critical factor of that reform. Also, this research focused on teachers intent on transforming their school environments through project-based learning. Ravitz found correlations between reforms and various learning and instructional conditions such as an integrated curriculum, student ownership of learning, and community involvement. In addition, researchers found teachers who engaged in professional development and instructional enhancement were more likely to engage in project-based learning and related best practices. Future study will analyze the relationships between school reform and various curricular areas, and provide insight into project-based learning best practices within the context of today's high school reform efforts.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Our collaborative project involves students in Grades K-12. Hence, this research study highlighted the importance of our learning team members being active in learning all we can about the best practices and technological factors associated with project-based learning. Also, our high school level learning team member demonstrated concern with making this collaborative learning activity meaningful and relevant for his older students. This study offers that team member options and suggestions that can help him create an engaging learning environment throughout our collaborative project.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;"> Williams, S. M. (2009). //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The impact of collaborative scaffolded learning in K-12 schools: // //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">A meta-analysis. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Retrieved July 10, 2010, from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> This meta-analysis of research literature from 1999-2009 examines the effect of student collaborative learning and engagement at elementary and secondary levels. Williams analyzed two areas: comparative studies of learning outcomes where some students were placed in collaborative groups and some were not; and, comparative studies where some collaborative groups of students were provided with scaffolds and similar groups were not given such support. The analysis revealed the following: students learning in collaborative groups learn more than students learning individually in traditional, teacher-directed environments; students' attitudes toward learning were more positive when engaged in collaborative learning; and, scaffolds -- some of which include technology tools for learning -- can improve student learning during collaborative activities, on both simple and complex tasks. Williams concludes with a recommendation that future research focus on the factors of student diversity and varied content when considering appropriate collaborative activities and tasks.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> This particular meta-analysis supports our learning community's belief that providing collaborative learning experiences for our diverse group of students is more effective than relying heavily on traditional, teacher-directed methods of content delivery. Doing so requires us to relinquish some control over the learning environment, as we create and utilize developmentally appropriate scaffolds to help our students become more self-directed learners. Also, due to our current coursework regarding diversity in learning, our learning team is very familiar with the idea of considering student diversity and varied content when designing engaging, collaborative activities for our students. For example, we’ll be utilizing the three principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) -- representation, expression and engagement -- to design learning activities for our collaborative project.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> I've always believed that one who's in a position to make decisions about securing educational technology in a school setting has to have a strong knowledge of the new technology in its historical context, particularly in relation to its predecessors. How did those preceding technologies fare in their time, and, could what happened to them influence what will happen with the current technology under consideration? That’s why I have found McLuhan’s tetrad model to be a very useful resource. During the decision-making process, the tetrad helps me "look ahead" toward the possible consequences of my actions -- will the new technology fit well into the current societal context? Will it enhance learning for our students who are digital natives? Will it sufficiently support our teachers, most of whom are digital immigrants?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Best sources of research for making decisions regarding educational technology **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Another tool set I’ve found to be most useful when conducting decision-making research is //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">iGoogle //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;">Google has many great applications and excellent search capabilities that make gathering, organizing, storing, sharing, and redistributing information so easy and enjoyable for me. A new application currently in beta form is //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Google Scholar // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;">. It allows me to search for scholarly research resources. Now I can utilize both //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Google Scholar // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;"> and the Walden Library professional research databases to find the scholarly sources I need to build my knowledge repositories. Also, //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">iGoogle // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 150%;"> is one of the first places I go to when I have questions about a best practice, when I need to locate visuals, graphics, or video for a meeting or presentation, or, when I want to strengthen my understanding of a critical concept by gaining additional perspectives on the issue at hand.

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