Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities

Lesson Idea Name: Create Your Own Story – The Civil War
Content Area: Social Studies
Grade Level(s): 5
Content Standard Addressed: SS5H1 The student will explain the causes, major events, and consequences of
the Civil War.
Technology Standard Addressed: 6. Creative Communicator: Students communicate clearly and express
themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media
appropriate to their goals.

Selected Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity: InkleWriter

URL(s) to support the lesson: https://www.inklestudios.com/inklewriter/education/

Describe how you would incorporate an Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity in your
classroom:

This particular online project ties into social studies and language arts. Students will be close to completing a
unit on the Civil War. As an end-of-unit project, students will use InkleWriter to create a story in which they
are a child in the Civil War area living in the South. The teacher will give each student the same prompt to
begin – “We were in the heat of the Civil War, with battles raging every week. One afternoon, I walked out
into my backyard to find a Union soldier wounded and searching for help. When he walked up to me, I…”
From here, the teacher will explain that students will finish the story.

First, the student will write 2-3 sentences to continue the sentence frame given as the prompt. Then, they will
share the sentences (using InkleWriter to collaborate) they have written with another student in the class,
who will continue writing off of their story. Students will pass along their story in a group of three students
and take turns writing the story. They will use their knowledge of the Civil War and their own creativity to
complete this project. Using InkleWriter, students will publish their original work onto the classroom
“dashboard” on InkleWriter, which students and parents will have access to read.

What technologies would be required to implement this proposed learning activity in a classroom?
-Desktop or Laptop Computers for each student
-Interactive Whiteboard for revision and editing

Describe how the following features are addressed in this learning experience (note: all of them may not be
addressed in the project, but most should be if you are reaching a high LoTi Level).
a. Collaboration with peers, near-peers, mentors outside their classroom and often beyond their
school: Students will collaborate with peers in sharing stories and working with each other in the
writing process.

b. Student-centered learning and knowledge creation (creating original data and or producing original
products as a result of engaging in a project): Students will create original products in the form of Civil
War narratives.

c. Higher-order thinking: Students will connect what they are learning about the Civil War in Social
Studies to narrative writing.

d. Students publishing their original work to others who will use/care about their product: Students
will publish their original work to class “dashboard” to share with class and family.

Spring 2018_SJB
 Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities
Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):
☒ Remembering ☒ Understanding ☒ Applying ☒ Analyzing ☒ Evaluating ☒ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level):

☐ Level 1: Awareness ☐ Level 2: Exploration ☐ Level 3: Infusion ☒ Level 4: Integration
☐ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL): InkleWriter has the ability to translate oral speech to writing, so
students who struggle to write in English or who verbally process better than kinesthetically process will have
the accommodations they need.

Lesson idea implementation and Internet Safety Policies: Student accounts on InkleWriter will only include
student first names and last initials. Student products can only be shared with those the teacher has
permitted. Students can only collaborate with peers and mentors that the teacher permits via InkleWriter
security.

Reflective Practice: This site easily allows students to collaborate and share thinking while connecting their
learning to their imagination. I think it is a great tool in which all students can be challenged and served.
Implementing more online projects into the classroom broadens student experience with technology, an
important skill in the modern day. My hope would be to implement online learning into all subject areas.

Spring 2018_SJB