Template with guiding

questions

Lesson Plan for Implementing

NETSSTemplate I

(More Directed Learning Activities)

Teacher(s) Name

Meghan Lee

Position

Instructional Technology Intern

School/District

Canton STEM Academy Elementary School / Cherokee County School District

E-mail

meghanjunelee@gmail.com meghan.lee@cherokee.k12.ga.us

Phone

Mobile: 678-469-4212

Grade Level(s)

6th grade (lesson easily adapted for 4th, 5th, and upper grade levels)

Content Area

Social Studies / Geography / English Language Arts

Time line
One week unit (one class period per day)

Standards (What do you want students to know and be able to do? What knowledge, skills, and strategies do you
expect students to gain? Are there connections to other curriculum areas and subject area benchmarks? ) Please
put a summary of the standards you will be addressing rather than abbreviations and numbers that indicate which
standards were addressed.

Content Standards & Goals
MAP AND GLOBE SKILLS GOAL: The student will use maps to retrieve social studies
information.
1. Use cardinal directions
2. Use intermediate directions
8. Draw conclusions and make generalizations based on information from maps

INFORMATION PROCESSING SKILLS GOAL: The student will be able to locate, analyze,
and synthesize information related to social studies topics and apply this information to solve
problems/make decisions.

1. Compare similarities and differences
2. Organize items chronologically
3. Identify issues and/or problems and alternative solutions
6. Identify and use primary and secondary sources
8. Identify social studies reference resources to use for a specific purpose
10. Analyze artifacts
11. Draw conclusions and make generalizations
14. Formulate appropriate research questions
15. Determine adequacy and/or relevancy of information

16. Check for consistency of information
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ELACC6-8RH1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary
sources.
ELACC6-8RH7: Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or
maps) with other information in print and digital texts.
ELACC6-8WHST1: Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
a. Introduce claim(s) about a topic or issue, acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from
alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.
b. Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant, accurate data and evidence that
demonstrate an understanding of the topic or text, using credible sources.
ELACC6-8WHST2: Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical
events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.
a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and
information into broader categories as appropriate to achieving purpose; include formatting
(e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding
comprehension.
b. Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations,
or other information and examples.
ELACC6-8WHST4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
ELACC6-8WHST5: With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and
strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new
approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.
ELACC6-8WHST6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing
and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.
ELACC6-8WHST7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a
self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related,
focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of
exploration.
ELACC6-8WHST8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using
search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or
paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a
standard format for citation.
ELACC6-8WHST9: Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis reflection, and
research.
ELACC6-8WHST10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for reflection and
revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of
discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.


ISTE Student Standards (formerly known as ISTE NETS-S)
1. Creativity and innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative
products and processes using technology.
a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new
ideas, products, or processes
b. Create original works as a means of personal
or group expression
c. Use models and simulations to explore complex
systems and issues
2. Communication and collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to
communicate and work collaboratively, including
at a distance, to support individual learning and
contribute to the learning of others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers,
experts, or others employing a variety of digital
environments and media
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b. Communicate information and ideas effectively

to multiple audiences using a variety of media
and formats
d. Contribute to project teams to produce original
works or solve problems
3. Research and information fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize,
and ethically use information from a variety of
sources and media
c. Evaluate and select information sources and
digital tools based on the appropriateness to
specific tasks
d. Process data and report results
4. Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making
Students use critical thinking skills to plan
and conduct research, manage projects, solve
problems, and make informed decisions using
appropriate digital tools and resources.
a. Identify and define authentic problems and
significant questions for investigation
b. Plan and manage activities to develop a solution
or complete a project
c. Collect and analyze data to identify solutions
and/or make informed decisions
d. Use multiple processes and diverse
perspectives to explore alternative solutions
5. Digital citizenship
Students understand human, cultural, and societal
issues related to technology and practice legal and
ethical behavior.
b. Exhibit a positive attitude toward using
technology that supports collaboration,
learning, and productivity
6. Technology operations and concepts
Students demonstrate a sound understanding
of technology concepts, systems, and operations.
a. Understand and use technology systems
b. Select and use applications effectively
and productively

continued on the next page...








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Overview (a short summary of the lesson or unit including assignment or expected or possible products)
This integrative one-week unit focuses on an online geography game called, Pursued. The game follows an
animated stick figure that has been taken to an unknown location and must escape its captors. Students will be
exploring the mystery locations on the geography game website in order to guess the undisclosed city as
accurately as possible to earn points to progress to the next difficulty level. The students will utilize their prior
knowledge of geography, map skills, cultures, climates, topography, vegetation, architecture, signage, written
languages, etc. to compile a list of clues to assist them in conducting online research to determine their mystery
location. They are awarded points by accurately guessing the city as quickly as possible. The timer keeps students
focused on the task. Once they chose the correct city from the provided list, students are taken to the city map
where they must pinpoint the location of the street as accurately as possible. Students will write an explanatory
blog post that they will send to the teacher at the end of each lesson that outlines how they solved the mystery and
the clues they discovered in the game and from their online research. Microsoft 365 online document templates will
be provided to assist them in their discovery and compilation of clues. The class will work together with the teacher
to develop a rubric for their explanatory blog posts. Students work in small groups to create a 3-minute screencast
audio guide that explains the game for new users and offers tips for solving the geography puzzles.

Essential Questions (What essential question or learning are you addressing? What would students care or want
to know about the topic? What are some questions to get students thinking about the topic or generate interest
about the topic? Additionally, what questions can you ask students to help them focus on important aspects of the
topic? (Guiding questions) What background or prior knowledge will you expect students to bring to this topic and
build on?) Remember, essential questions are meant to guide the lesson by provoking inquiry. They should not be
answered with a simple yes or no and should have many acceptable answers.
How do you know where you are located? How do we use environmental clues to determine our locations?
Why do we use maps and signs? How do we use maps and signs? Why should we make educated guesses?
How do we make educated guesses? Why do we use the Internet for research? How do we use the Internet for
research? How do we know the information we find online is reliable? How can we improve our problem-solving
skills? How do we show others how to solve problems using their environmental clues, logic, and online research
tools? How do we show others how we solved our problem? How do we explain our process in writing so
others can easily understand it? How do we provide evidence that our method of problem-solving was successful?

Assessment (What will students do or produce to illustrate their learning? What can students do to generate new
knowledge? How will you assess how students are progressing (formative assessment)? How will you assess what
they produce or do? How will you differentiate products?) You must attach copies of your assessment and/or
rubrics. Include these in your presentation as well.
Students will write an explanatory blog post that they will send to the teacher at the end of each lesson that
outlines how they solved the mystery and the clues they discovered in the game and from their online research.
Microsoft 365 online document template will be provided to assist them in their discovery and compilation of
clues. The class will work together with the teacher to develop a rubric for their explanatory blog posts and a
rubric for their screencast narrated walkthroughs. Students work in small groups to create a 3-minute Jing
screencast walkthrough that explains the game for new users and offers tips for solving the geography
puzzles. NOTE: See the screencast rubric here. See the explanatory blog post rubric here.

Resources (How does technology support student learning? What digital tools, and resourcesonline student tools,
research sites, student handouts, tools, tutorials, templates, assessment rubrics, etchelp elucidate or explain the
content or allow students to interact with the content? What previous technology skills should students have to
complete this project?)

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Pursued Online Geography Game (LocateStreet & Geoguessr is also a good, but quite challenging

unless GeoSettr is used)

Geography Class Blog (on Weebly or another kid-friendly blogging website)

Microsoft 365 or Google Drive (for blog entries & Geography Game file to use for investigation -
easily revised & shared)

Jing Screencasting Tool (for video or picture screenshots with narration that are compiled into
a guide for new game users)

Familiarity with Google Streetview navigation to explore the Pursued mystery locations
(zooming, moving, navigating online map)

Online research using search engines & sifting through results for the most reliable sources

Word processing skills (typing, formatting, revising, saving, & sharing with teacher for feedback and publication)

NOTE: See the screencast rubric here. See the explanatory blog post rubric here.

Instructional Plan
Preparation (What student needs, interests, and prior learning provide a foundation for this lesson? How can
you find out if students have this foundation? What difficulties might students have?)
Students need to have familiarity with using online street view navigation as well as online map navigation, map reading
skills, environmental differences such as climate, topography, vegetation, architecture, culture, & language. You can
determine their prior knowledge of these skills and concepts by providing them opportunities to cultivate them in short
practice sessions prior to the implementation of this week-long unit. Students may have difficulties finding online results
for certain clues they have found in their mystery locations. Teachers should guide students towards street names and
landmark names to assist them in the online investigation process. The teacher can provide training on how to create a
video screencast with narration prior to the lesson so that students are familiar with using the Jing screencasting tool.

Management Describe the classroom management strategies will you use to manage your students and the use of
digital tools and resources. How and where will your students work? (Small groups, whole group, individuals,
classroom, lab, etc.) What strategies will you use to achieve equitable access to the Internet while completing this
lesson? Describe what technical issues might arise during the Internet lesson and explain how you will resolve or
trouble-shoot them? Please note: Trouble-shooting should occur prior to implementing the lesson as well as
throughout the process. Be sure to indicate how you prepared for problems and work through the issues that
occurred as you implemented and even after the lesson was completed.
Students will begin the Pursued geography game by working with partners to facilitate the initial investigation. They will transition to
individualized investigation after they have submitted their first blog post for feedback. Students are permitted to collaborate and assist
their peers throughout the investigative process. Laptops will be used in the classroom and the students will sit in clusters to make their
collaboration easier. If the website is being uncooperative, we transition to alternate geography mystery website, such as Geoguessr
(using GeoSettr for customized challenge made by me) and LocateStreet. If the Internet is unavailable for any reason, we can use
offline mystery geography pictures until it is functioning again, or play our own descriptive geography game by providing clues about
mystery locations to other small groups. The teacher must ensure that the laptop batteries are fully charge prior to using them for this
lesson every day. Paper templates for investigations will be on-hand in case Microsoft 365 is inaccessible for anyone.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Activities Describe the research-based instructional strategies you will
use with this lesson. How will your learning environment support these activities? What is your role? What are the
students' roles in the lesson? How can you ensure higher order thinking at the analysis, evaluation, or
creativity levels of Blooms Taxonomy? How can the technology support your teaching? What authentic,
relevant, and meaningful learning activities and tasks will your students complete? How will they build knowledge
and skills? How will students use digital tools and resources to communicate and collaborate with each other
and others? How will you facilitate the collaboration?
Students will direct their learning by navigating the street views of mystery locations and investigate the area for clues to assist them in
determining the streets location within the undisclosed city. The teacher plays the role of the co-investigator, co-learner, guide/facilitator
as she assists the students in their investigations. The learning environment will feature resources the students may use to assist them in
the investigation process. The task requires students to utilize their prior knowledge about climates, vegetation, topography, culture,
architecture, maps, signs, etc. to explore the provided mystery locations. They must analyze the available environmental clues, evaluate
online research results, and synthesize their data into an educated guess to pinpoint the streets location as close as possible on the
online map. They will use explanatory blog posts submitted to their teacher and published to the class blog to work together to improve
their strategy. The end of the unit will allow students to creatively produce narrated guides to successfully playing the Pursued geography
game online. This unit gives students the opportunity to flex their knowledge of a variety of environments as well as pinpoint precise
locations to navigate the world around them.
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Differentiation (How will you differentiate content and process to accommodate various learning styles and
abilities? How will you help students learn independently and with others? How will you provide extensions and
opportunities for enrichment? What assistive technologies will you need to provide?)
This unit offers a variety of ways to differentiate student learning. The challenging nature of the learning task encourages collaboration
between all students for the majority of week. Students are permitted to use assistive technology in the completion of the tasks. For my
group of students, some are ELL and will benefit from the Microsoft 365 built-in spell-checker, grammar checker, thesaurus, & dictionary.
Students that would benefit from text-to-speech capabilities can use the Text-to-Speech website to get an audio file of their writing or
any text that they would like read to them. They will be allowed extra time to revise their blog entries prior to online publication on the
blog, if needed. Enrichment activities utilize other Geography Games that are very challenging and take players to rural locations all
over the globe. The mid-week lessons are individualized, but students may assist one another if anyone becomes stuck on a level by
offering them a life line a la Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? Some ELL students may feel apprehensive about narrating their video
walkthroughs so they may script their narration, and edit their narration as needed before publishing. Fortunately, for students online
research, search engines will automatically correct most spelling errors making it easier for them to search for items quickly. If anyone
has students with visual impairment, the geography games will need to be completed with the assistance of a partner, such as a
paraprofessional to provide verbal descriptions of the locations to the student. As previously stated, this lesson encourages a great
deal of collaboration. Fortunately, the Google Street View has zooming options for students that have mild visual impairment, and all
of the other online tools can be adapted to make things easier to view by increasing font size, etc.

Reflection (Will there be a closing event? Will students be asked to reflect upon their work? Will students be asked
to provide feedback on the assignment itself? What will be your process for answering the following questions?
Did students find the lesson meaningful and worth completing? In what ways was this lesson effective?
What went well and why? What did not go well and why? How would you teach this lesson differently?)
Students will provide feedback on the unit and offer suggestions to improve the lesson so that we can share the unit with other classes
that would enjoy learning more about geography. Students will write 3 peer comments on blogs according to set guidelines for writing
positive and thoughtful commentary.
After completing the introductory part of this unit to determine student engagement in the content of this lesson, I discovered that the
students were intrigued by the mystery aspect of the geography game, and were able to navigate the virtual environments to locate clues
to assist them in determining their location. They had no issues conducting online research to assist them in pinpointing their location, and
the competitive nature of the game made the students eager to move ahead level by level. Unfortunately, the students laptops blocked the
main geography game that I wanted them to use. This was my major mistake in this lesson because I assumed their laptops would be able
to access the same websites as the teacher laptops. I was wrong! Thankfully, I had a backup plan! I quickly directed them to alternative
geography game websites that utilize a similar Google Street View engine. We used the main Pursued game as a whole group using the
unblocked teacher laptop and then the students conducted their own investigations after this using the LocateStreet game and a
customized Geoguessr challenge that I created on the fly and provided the URL to the students by using Googles URL shortener
service. By knowing the mystery locations I had placed in the challenge, I was able to give students better feedback on their investigations
and send them to familiar landmarks around the globe. One student even discovered that we could tour the interior part of the Coliseum in
Rome, Italy! One of the landmarks was the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. Students had a hard time figuring this one out, but it opened
up a short discussion with me about my travels abroad, and I enjoyed answering their questions.
Students had a difficult time navigating the LocateStreet game. It directs students to random streets, but can be narrowed down to urban
areas to make it easier to find clues for research. I would recommend that teachers begin the lesson by using the Pursued game with the
whole class so that they can demonstrate how to locate clues and conduct online searches. Then, students should be directed to a
customized GeoGuessr challenge. Once they complete this challenge, they can construct their own challenges to share with peers in
small groups. Teachers can provide students a list of riddles to help them solve the mysteries as well, if desired.

Closure: Anything else you would like to reflect upon regarding lessons learned and/or your experience with
implementing this lesson. What advice would you give others if they were to implement the lesson? Please provide a
quality reflection on your experience with this lesson and its implementation.
I would advise anyone conducting this unit (or even shorter lesson based on things in this unit) to conduct a lot of preliminary planning to
ensure that students will be able to access and consistently navigate the websites included. The Google Street View can occasionally lag,
or even freeze up. Make sure computers are up to date and that the Internet browsers are updated, as well. If any of the websites are
blocked, the technology department for your school district will probably be willing to unblock them for you. The gaming filter sometimes
blocks educational games, too! I also recommend that teachers create a customized Geoguessr challenge that includes some countries
and landmarks that their students have prior knowledge about so that they do not feel overwhelmed. If your school does not allow new
programs to be installed, students will have to improvise for the screencasting by using screenshots to create a narrated slideshow
presentation.

Page 6 of 6

5/1/2014

Your Rubric - Print View

Rubric Made Using:

RubiStar ( http://rubistar.4teachers.org )

Multimedia Project : Geography Game Guided Video

Teacher Name: Ms. Lee
Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY

Content

Covers game in-

depth with details
and examples of
how to use & solve
the levels of the
game. Knowledge
of game is excellent.

Includes essential
knowledge about
the game with a few
examples of how to
use & solve the
game. Subject
knowledge appears
to be good.

Includes essential
information about
the game but there
are 1-2 errors in the
details of navigation
and/or the methods
used for solving the
levels of the game.

Content is minimal
and does not discuss
the details for using
the game, or solving
the levels, OR there
are several factual
errors in the guide.

Organization

Content is well
organized and
progresses from the
beginning details to
advanced details of
using the game to
more beginning &
advanced strategies
to use to solve the
levels.

Content is well
organized and
progresses from the
beginning details of
using the game to
some strategies to
use to solve the
levels.

Content is logically
organized for the
most part, but does
not provide a
complete overview
of using the game or
the strategies used
to solve the levels.

There was no clear

or logical
organizational
structure and details
and strategies to use
the game are
missing.

Oral
Presentation

Interesting, well-
rehearsed with
smooth delivery that
holds audience
attention.

Relatively
interesting,
rehearsed with a
fairly smooth
delivery that usually
holds audience
attention.

Delivery not smooth, Delivery not smooth

but able to hold
and audience
audience attention attention lost.
most of the time.

Originality

Product shows a
large amount of
original thought.
Ideas are creative
and inventive.

Product shows
some original
thought. Work
shows new ideas
and insights.

Uses other people's Uses other people's

ideas (giving them ideas, but does not
credit), but there is give them credit.
little evidence of
original thinking.

Workload

The workload is
divided and shared
equally by all team
members.

The workload is
divided and shared
fairly by all team
members, though
workloads may vary
from person to
person.

The workload was

divided, but one
person in the group
is viewed as not
doing his/her fair
share of the work.

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=PrintRubric&rubric_id=2436260&

The workload was

not divided OR
several people in the
group are viewed as
not doing their fair
share of the work.

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5/1/2014

Your Rubric: Research Report : Geography Investigation Notes

RubiStar

Rubric Made Using:

RubiStar ( http://rubistar.4teachers.org )

Research Report : Geography Investigation Notes

Teacher Name: Ms. Lee
Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY

Quality of
Information

Information clearly
relates to the main
topic. It includes
several supporting
details and/or
examples.

Information clearly
relates to the main
topic. It provides 1-2
supporting details
and/or examples.

Information clearly Information has little

relates to the main
or nothing to do with
topic. No details
the main topic.
and/or examples are
given.

Amount of
Information

All topics are

addressed and all
questions answered
with at least 2
sentences about
each.

All topics are

addressed and most
questions answered
with at least 2
sentences about
each.

All topics are

addressed, and
most questions
answered with 1
sentence about
each.

One or more topics

were not addressed.

Organization

Information is very
organized with well-
constructed
paragraphs and
subheadings.

Information is
organized with well-
constructed
paragraphs.

Information is
organized, but
paragraphs are not
well-constructed.

The information
appears to be
disorganized. 8)

Sources

All sources
(information and
graphics) are
accurately
documented in the
desired format.

All sources
(information and
graphics) are
accurately
documented, but a
few are not in the
desired format.

All sources
(information and
graphics) are
accurately
documented, but
many are not in the
desired format.

Some sources are

not accurately
documented.

Date Created: May 01, 2014 08:54 am (CDT)

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Name: ________________________ Class: _________________ Date: ______________

INVESTIGATION NOTES
Write the clues you find in each level that will help you in your online research.
Level 1 We will do this level TOGETHER!

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Level 6

Level 7

Level 8

Level 9

Level 10

Explain HOW you solved one of the most difficult levels in this game today.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________