Raft Card 1:

Row 1

ROLE (student)
AUDIENCE
Newscasters using
The other students
language arts skills to watching the
report on a short story. news.

FORMAT
A 2 to 3 minute
news report video
made using the
laptop webcam.

TOPIC
You and your
group are
reporting on a
short story you
read.

Objective: You will be able to make report on the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the
story. This activity ties to the second ISTE standard of Communication and Collaboration to
promote students learning together and communicating to support the learning of other students
(ISTE, 2007).
Student Role: Newscasters using language arts skills to report on a short story.
Audience: The other students watching the news.
Format: A 2 to 3 minute news report video made using the laptop webcam.
Topic: You and your group are reporting on a short story you read.

Directions:

1. Go to http://www.jumpstart.com/parents/activities/grade-based-activities/2nd-grade-activities,
scroll down to Fun Short Stories for Second Graders, and select a story for your group to read.
2. After reading the story, write the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the story on a
piece of paper to prepare the news report.
3. Put together a news report to inform your classmates of the important points of the story.
4. Record your video using the webcam on the laptop.
5. Save your video under Short Story News Report.

Resources:
The Short Stories
http://www2.smarttutor.com/player/swf/RC_Fact_and_Opinion_L2_V1_T1a.swf
Reading Comprehension
http://www.smarttutor.com/free-resources/free-reading-lessons/second-grade-reading/
Understanding How to Select the Correct Information
http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/ela4/a/mainideal.cfm
Assessment:
A video will be made of a news report on the events of a short story.
A possibility of 50 points will be given for the written answers to the who, what, when, where,
why, and how of the story and another possibility 50 will be given for the video presentation.

Raft Card 2:

Row 2

ROLE (student)
A time keeper whose
job is to record the
correct and incorrect
answers on the analog
clock game.

AUDIENCE
Your classmates.

FORMAT
Use the iPad app
Telling Time and
a whiteboard to
record your
progress in a bar
graph.

TOPIC
Keeping the time
and putting the
information in a
bar graph.

Objective: You will be able use the app to tell time on an analog clock. On the whiteboard,
draw a bar graph of the answers you got correct and incorrect in the hours and minutes sections
of the app. Display your work on the whiteboards to your classmates. This activity complies
with the third ISTE standard for students, Research and Information Fluency, which says that
students should be able to gather information using a digital device and then report on their
findings (ISTE, 2007).
Student Role: A time keeper whose job is to record the correct and incorrect answers on the
analog clock game.

Audience: Your classmates.

Format: Use the iPad app Telling Time and a whiteboard to record your progress in a bar
graph.
Topic: Keeping the time and putting the information in a bar graph.
Directions:
1. Using the iPad, open the app Telling Time and answer the questions within the app.
2. Do activities, the hours and the minutes section, including the mini fish game between them.
3. Using your whiteboards to draw two bars in a bar graph using one small block for each correct
answer. The two bars will be the correct answers, one for the hours and one for the minutes.
4. Display your results in a bar graph on your whiteboard to your classmates.
Resources:
How to remember the hours and minutes video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBvmO7NgUp0
Check pictures of clocks explaining hours and minutes.
http://www.mathsisfun.com/time-clocks.html
Use an interactive clock.
http://www.visnos.com/demos/clock
Assessment:
Students will be able to understand the hours and minutes on an analog clock.

They will be able to put the number of correct answers into a bar graph.
Twenty-five points will be given if more than half of the hours are given correctly. Twenty-five
points will be given if more than half of the minutes are given correctly. Fifty points will be
given for the bar graph.

Raft Card 3:

Row 3

ROLE (student)
A play writer using
randomly selected
nouns, verbs, and
adjectives to write a
small play and a
performer acting out a
play written by
another student.

AUDIENCE
Your classmates,
who are also, play
writers and actors.

FORMAT
Using the word
processor program
on the laptop, write
a short play (three
sentences).

TOPIC
You are a play
writer given the
challenge to write
three sentences
using a noun,
verb, and an
adjective
(randomly
selected) for
another student to
act out.

Objective: You will be able to successfully use a noun, verb, and an adjective in three sentences
on the laptops word processor program. This activity complies with the sixth ISTE standard,

Technology Operations and Concepts, which states the students will be able to select and use the
technology and their applications (ISTE, 2007).
Student Role: A play writer using randomly selected nouns, verbs, and adjectives to write a
small play and a performer acting out a play written by another student.
Audience: Your classmates, who are also play writers and actors.
Format: Using the word processor program on the laptop, write a short play (three sentences).
Topic: You are a play writer given the challenge to write three sentences using a noun, verb, and
an adjective (randomly selected) for another student to act out.
Directions:
1. Come to the front of the class and draw a noun, verb, and an adjective from separate hats
without looking.
2. Return to your laptop and using the word processor program, write three sentences using the
nouns, verbs, and adjectives (one in each sentence). For example, if you select dog, excited, and
hopped, you could write a sentence saying, My excited dog hopped into my arms!
3. After writing your three sentences, print a copy and trade papers with another student (be sure
to put your name on the paper).
4. Act out the three sentences written on the other students paper.
Resources:
Definitions of nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
http://www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/gg.cgi?A1=m&A2=0&A3=0&AFUNCT=1&ALEVEL=0

Parts of speech.
http://printables.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/36/0439504236_e011.pdf
Assessment:
Students will be given points up to 100% based on how well they formed their sentences using
the nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
Students can earn 10% of their total grade as extra credit points for participation in acting out the
sentences.
Second Grade Standard Curriculum References
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RL/2/
http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/2/MD/
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/L/2/

Entry 3: Differentiating Instruction through Technology

Introduction:
The RAFT cards are designed to give students different technology activities through
which they can develop math and language arts skills, collaboratively learn, and have an
opportunity to express their creativity. The use of the laptops word processor, webcam, and
video programs helps the students to learn new literacy through applying the tools to an
assignment. Also, by using the internet resource site to select what story they would like to read,
they are learning to use the internet productively to find information. The iPad activity with the

whiteboard will help the student learn a new skill, while being able to measure their own success
for the subject with a bar graph. Differentiating instruction will help students learn new skills
through different devices, which promote new literacy skills that can be applied to other areas of
learning.
Technology to Differentiate Instruction

The laptops webcam and video program:

The second ISTE standard for students, Communication and Collaboration, states,
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively and
work at a distance to support individual learning and the learning of others (ISTE, 2007). The
students are asked to work in a group, select a short story, and record a news report on the
important events of the story. This activity and the technology included take their reading and
language arts skills from just a book and an essay to being able to express their creativity and
knowledge to educate their peers. It also teaches the students to navigate the internet with
purpose, while the website www.jumpstart.com gives them an engaging and interactive story to
read. This collaborative work activity is student centered in the way that it allows the students to
interact with their peers and use technology to achieve an objective. The technology benefits the
students by keeping them engaged in an important skill building exercise and when combined
with the group work will leave a lasting effect on the students level of achievement and
confidence (Hamm, 2002).

iPad and Telling Time App:

According to www.corestandards.org, second graders should be able to synthesize
information into a bar graph (Common Core Standard Initiative, 2014). For this project, the

students will do the time telling activities in the App on the iPad, collect data from their scores,
and make a bar graph to represent the information on their whiteboard. This complies with the
third ISTE standard for students, Research and Information Fluency, which says that students
will be able to use digital devises to gather information, then, report on it (ISTE, 2007). The
activity is developed to match the students level of comprehension for the concept of time
(Northrop, 2013). The tool is student centered because it is a lesson on a life skill that is
delivered in an engaging way.

The laptops word processor program:

The assignment requires students to use the word processor program on the laptop to
write their play rather than a pencil and paper. Studies have found that the word processor is the
most often chosen tool to teach literacy (Mumtaz, 2002). Using the laptops word processor
programs gives the students experience of creating a document and encourages them to develop
literacy and typing skills. The tool is also student centered because it allows the student to work
on developing their own ideas before they share their work with the other students. Students
who are not proficient in their typing skills may write out their assignment, and then take their
time to type it into a document. The use of this tool connects to the sixth ISTE standard,
Technology Operations and Concepts, which says a student should understand how to
productively select and use the technology and the applications (ISTE, 2014).
Pros and Cons
Thanks to technology, instruction can be differentiated to provide students with different
abilities a chance to digest the new concepts in a way in which they can interact with and
understand (De Jesus, 2012). Students learning styles are unique, which is why practicing

differentiated instruction allows them to learn in new ways and discover which way they can
learn the best, whether through reading, typing, hearing, or visualizing new concepts. Some
problems involved with this practice can be related to connection issues or technical problems
(Eristi, 2012). However, if the proper preparation is made, problems with the equipment can be
avoided. This is why instruction is carefully planned, curriculum based programs are assessed,
and the technology is tested before the students arrive in the classroom.

Concluding Paragraph
The devises, programs, and activities selected are designed to give the students a
foundation from which they can continue to learn more about how to apply technology to
achieve an objective. The students will find that the activities are based around their interests
and grade level, which keeps the students actively involved in their assignments. Differentiating
the instructional practices with technology keeps the students engaged by offering them a new
approach to learning. The best preparations will be made to ensure any technical problems will
be taken care so as to not interfere with the students lessons. Technology will continue to be
added to instruction in a balanced way to ensure the students knowledge of new literacy.

References:
Common Core Standard Initiative. (2014). English Language Arts Standards Writing Grade 2.
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/2/
Common Core Standard Initiative. (2014). Grade 2 Measurement and Data.
http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/2/MD/
De Jesus, O. N. (2012). Differentiated Instruction: Can Differentiated Instruction Provide
Success for All Learners?. National Teacher Education Journal, 5(3), 5-11.
http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/lo
gin.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=84313770&site=eds-live&scope=site
Eriti, S., Kurt, A., & Dindar, M. (2012). Teachers' Views about Effective Use of Technology in
Classrooms. Turkish Online Journal Of Qualitative Inquiry, 3(2), 30-41.
http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/lo
gin.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=75148539&site=eds-live&scope=site
Hamm, Mary, and Dennis Adams. 2002. "Collaborative inquiry: working toward shared goals."
Kappa Delta Pi Record 38, no. 3: 115-118. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson),
EBSCOhost (accessed October 24, 2014).
http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/lo
gin.aspx?direct=true&db=ofs&AN=507758956&site=eds-live&scope=site

International Society for Technology in Education (2007). ISTE Standards for Students.
http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-S_PDF.pdf

Mumtaz, S., & Hammond, M. (2002). The word processor revisited: observations on the use of
the word processor to develop literacy at key stage 2. British Journal Of Educational
Technology, 33(3), 345.
http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/login.asp
x?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=6836631&site=eds-live&scope=site
Northrop, L., & Killeen, E. (2013). A Framework for Using iPads to Build Early Literacy Skills.
Reading Teacher, 66(7), 531-537. doi:10.1002/TRTR.1155
http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/lo
gin.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=86402521&site=eds-live&scope=site