All the World is a Stage
A Technology-Integrated Unit Based on Third Grade Standards
The lesson plan that I have written is entitled “All the World is a Stage” because the lesson involves utilizing technology in finding an interesting and rare place in the World and telling a digital story. This lesson is based on third grade Social Studies standards in addition to others, however this lesson would occur in an “ideal” setting in which third graders have already had technology training. The third graders (or older students) in this lesson need to have an understanding of safe researching on the internet and how to use PowerPoint in order to successfully complete this unit. Based on this fact, the unit may take anywhere from three to six weeks to complete.
The Lesson
This lesson will be performed in small groups of three to four or according to teacher preference. Students will cooperatively find a different country or specific place to do general research on. Using different technologies, students will research this geographical area and learn some general information about the people, places, and culture involved. Part of the objective of this lesson is simply to broaden students’ horizons, in addition to achieving content standards. Therefore this research alone will help open up the eyes of some students in mainly heterogeneous areas. After researching general facts about a selected place, the groups will put together a “digital storytelling” project in which they will try to persuade tourists to come visit their country or geographical region AS a native child. This multi-week lesson will encourage group cooperation as well as creative skills in placing the students in another’s shoes. Their imaginations will be pushed to promote growth and interest in new places around the world.
California State Content Standards
History-Social Science
3.1 Students describe the physical and human geography and use maps, tables, graphs, photographs, and charts to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context.
3.3 Students draw from historical and community resources to organize the sequence of local historical events and describe how each period of settlement left its mark on the land.
1. Research the explorers who visited here, the newcomers who settled here, and the people who continue to come to the region, including their cultural and religious traditions and contributions.
2. Describe the economies established by settlers and their influence on the present-day economy, with emphasis on the importance of private property and entrepreneurship.
3. Trace why their community was established, how individuals and families contributed to its founding and development, and how the community has changed over time, drawing on maps, photographs, oral histories, letters, newspapers, and other primary sources.
English-Language Arts
1.1 Create a single paragraph:
a. Develop a topic sentence.
b. Include simple supporting facts and details.
1.3 Understand the structure and organization of various reference materials (e.g., dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, encyclopedia).
2.2 Write descriptions that use concrete sensory details to present and support unified impressions of people, places, things, or experiences.
1.5 Punctuate dates, city and state, and titles of books correctly.
1.6 Use commas in dates, locations, and addresses and for items in a series.
1.7 Capitalize geographical names, holidays, historical periods, and special events correctly.
2.2 Plan and present dramatic interpretations of experiences, stories, poems, or plays with clear diction, pitch, tempo, and tone.
2.3 Make descriptive presentations that use concrete sensory details to set forth and support unified impressions of people, places, things, or experiences.
Technology and How it is Incorporated
There are three particular technologies that will be utilized in this lesson plan. The first, Google Earth, will be used by the students to find a place other than their home that looks interesting to them. This will take place in a group, therefore cooperative learning skills will be reinforced. Google Earth can be found at www.earth.google.com. Once students identify a place they would like to research, they will utilize Google Search at www.google.com to research the place they have chosen. This research will take place under direct supervision of a teacher or teacher’s aide (depending on the age group of the children). The research should be fairly general so as to just get a general idea of the place, the people, and mainly the culture. Once students have an idea of the area, they will create a PowerPoint with their group to learn Digital Storytelling. A good introduction and website on Digital Storytelling is www.storycenter.org. The students will make a travel commercial from the perspective of a child native in the country trying to bring people to visit. This will force the students to take another’s prospective while utilizing the new technologies we have learned about in this class.