Below you will find a screen shot of what I would expect students to create when learning about the life cycle of a butterfly.

Objective – SYNTHESIS – Students will be able to compose a story from the view point of a caterpillar and describe what it would be like to go through the life cycle. butterfly-ss.doc

Fractions: A Booster Activity – Comparing and Ordering Fractions

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/fractions/level4.htm

SUMMARY – This website allows users to compare and order fractions using a number line. a number line is proved as well as various fractions. The user must order the fractions from least to greatest by clicking, and dragging the specified fraction to the desired location on the number line. If the order is correct, the use will progress to the next problem. Problems advance in difficulty as the user moves forward.

–OBJECTIVES–

KNOWLEDGE – Students will be able to identify fractions on a number line.

COMPREHENSION – Students will be able to estimate fractions on a number line.

APPLICATION – Students will be able to construct their own time line. They will chose their own fractions, and create their own equal parts on the number line.

ANALYSIS – Students will be able to differentiate between the values of fractions.

SYNTHESIS – Students will be able to rearrange fractions on a number line.

EVALUATION – Students will be able to justify why fractions belong in the position on the number line that they do.

Standard MST 3: Mathematics (2005)

Through the integrated study of number sense and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and statistics and probability, students will:

• understand the concepts of and become proficient with the skills of mathematics;
• communicate and reason mathematically, and
• become problem solvers by using appropriate tools and strategies.

Performance Indicator MST3.03.NO6.15:: Students compare and order unit fractions (½, 1/3, ¼) and find their approximate locations on a number line.

Giggle Poetry – How to write a clerihew

http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poetryclass/clerihew.htm

SUMMARY – This is a fun poetry site. The main page describes how to write a fin poem called a clerihew. It give directions, and step by step examples of how this silly poem is written. Off to the side, there are interactive links that students can go to, and explore other aspects of this genre. There is a section where students are given poem, and they are asked to fill in blanks within the poem (excellent use for context clues, and rhyming). There is also a section for theater. Students can find, and perform plays. They are complete with narration, prop ideas, and character leads.

–OBJECTIVES–

KNOWLEDGE – Students will be able to write a clerihew using the given formula.

COMPREHENSION – Students will be able to interpret poetry from others.

APPLICATION – Students will be able to demonstrate to others who do not know how to write clerihew exactly how to do it. They will use their knowledge of this poetry form to teach others the formula and what the poems entail.

ANALYSIS – Students will be able to classify each others’ clerihews into categories based on their topic – chapters, and a class book can be made as a product.

SYNTHESIS – Students will be able to individualize their poems according to their life experiences.

EVALUATION – Students will be able to critique each others’ poems and decide if the poems include all necessary components of the clerihew, and the teacher’s requirements.

Standard ELA 2: Language for Literary Response and Expression: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response and expression.

Performance Indicator ELA2.E.SW2C: Students create their own stories, poems, and songs using the elements of the literature they have read and appropriate vocabulary.

CAST UDL Book Builder

http://bookbuilder.cast.org/

SUMMARY – Excellent site for the UNIQUE learner. Because every child learns differently, UDL recognizes that every child needs specific resources that are designed specifically for their needs. CAST UDL Book Builder does just that. Whether their need is comprehension, decoding, fluency, or vocabulary, this site can build a book that can help meet your child’s need. You must create an account, but here’s the good news…it’s free! Use this site in preparation for a lesson, or maybe you have older kids and they might want to try out their own author skills!

–OBJECTIVES–

KNOWLEDGE – Students will be able to read a book from Book Builder at their ability level.

COMPREHENSION – Students will be able to conceptualize the information read to answer questions pertaining to their specific need.

APPLICATION – Student will be able to use the Book Builder web site to construct a book of their own. The teacher may give them specific guideline to follow so that their books meet their needs.

ANALYSIS – Students will be able to recognize their specific need based on the books they have been reading and building, and focus in on studying that skill.

SYNTHESIS – Students will be able to communicate with the teacher how they individualized their book, and the progress they are making on their specific skill.

EVALUATION – Students will be able to assess their progress on their skills.

Standard ELA 1: Language for Information and Understanding: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.

Performance Indicator ELA1.E.LR1B: Students select information appropriate to the purpose of their investigation and relate ideas from one text to another.

Interactive Storybook – Phonics Fun For Early Readers

http://www.scholastic.com/clifford/read/roadtoreading/story1_flash.htm

SUMMARY – This site is geared for younger children learning to read, and decode words. This site is an interactive site where the student decides the path of the story. There are blanks to fill in, and the reader has to fill in the blanks with one of three choices. Each page focuses on one of the vowel sounds found in the middle of the word. Each of the three choices on the page contain the same vowel sound. Great for kids who are having difficulty with letter-sound relationship.

KNOWLEDGE – Students will be able to read the electronic source, and recite the sounds in the given words.

COMPREHENSION – Students will be able to understand that letters blended together make different sounds.

APPLICATION – Students will be able to develop the letter-sound relationship, and determine what letters create what sounds.

ANALYSIS – Students will be able to recognize that each page of the story has a different vowel sound.

SYNTHESIS – Students will be able to model the electronic book and create words that have similar sound-symbol relationships.

EVALUATION – Students will be able to decide if their words have similar sound-symbol relationships as the electronic book has.

Standard ELA 1: Language for Information and Understanding: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.

Performance Indicator ELA1.E.LR1A: Students gather and interpret information from children’s reference books, magazines, textbooks, electronic bulletin boards, audio and media presentations, oral interviews, and from such forms as charts, graphs, maps and diagrams.

United States Department of Agriculture – MyPyramid.gov

http://www.mypyramid.gov/kids/index.html

SUMMARY – This site contains many interactive links for learners to explore. It is also filled with information about the food guide pyramid. There are interactive games, tips to take to maintain a healthy weight, there are even worksheets like printables, worksheets, and posters for students to print out.

–OBJECTIVES–

KNOWLEDGE – Students will be able to match foods to their appropriate food groups.

COMPREHENSION – Students will be able to give examples of foods that fit into each of the food groups.

APPLICATION – Students will be able to assess what a healthy intake of food is for each specific food group.

ANALYSIS – Students will be able to diagram their own food pyramid based on the servings of food they eat per day, and compare and contrast it to the governments pyramid.

SYNTHESIS -  Create an individualized diet plan for a person with a specific need (the need will be given as a scenario by the teacher).

EVALUATION – Students will be able to critique each plan (anonymously) and give suggestions as to what might work better for the individual (to be used with synthesis objective).

Standard HPF1 Personal Health and Fitness – Students will have the necessary knowledge and skills to establish and maintain physical fitness, participate in physical activity, and maintain personal health.

Performance Indicator HPF1.E.HE1C:: Students understand the importance of nutritious food and how it contributes to good health, make simple nutritious food choices, and assist with basic food preparation.

The Virtual Body

http://www.medtropolis.com/VBody.asp

SUMMARY – This is a fun, and interactive site where learners can explore the human brain, heart, skeleton, and digestive tract. They can get a close up look at how the body parts fit together, see the parts actually working together, and roll over each of the parts to get a description of their name and function.

–OBJECTIVES–

KNOWLEDGE – Students will be able to reproduce the body parts in the correct places which match the actual human anatomy.

COMPREHENSION – Students will be able to locate where a specific body part is in regards to a specific body system (depending on system of study).

APPLICATION – Students will be able to relate the body systems to each other a determine how each one works in relation to the other.

ANALYSIS – Students will be able to compare and contrast body systems and their functions.

SYNTHESIS – Students will be able to combine the organs/body parts in a life-like diagram and show how they all fit together as one working unit.

EVALUATION – Students will be able to

Standard HPF1 Personal Health and Fitness – Students will have the necessary knowledge and skills to establish and maintain physical fitness, participate in physical activity, and maintain personal health.

Performance Indicator HPF1.E.HE1A: Students know how basic body systems work and interrelate in normal patterns of growth and development.

The Butterfly Life Cycle

http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/jmresources/butlifecycle/

SUMMARY – This website is actually a webquest where student are given a task and they have to work together at a common goal. The topic is the life cycle of the butterfly. This quest has some great learning opportunities, and really helps the students conceptualize the life cycle of the butterfly. At the end, there are games, and puzzles that the students can play as extra practice to this activity.

–OBJECTIVES–

KNOWLEDGE – Students will be able to sequence the 4 stages of the life cycle of the butterfly.

COMPREHENSION – Students will be able to understand the specific process of metamorphosis.

APPLICATION – Students will be able to draw the life cycle of a butterfly using specific teacher selected materials.

ANALYSIS – Students will be able to compare and contrast one stage to the next.

SYNTHESIS – Students will be able to compose a story from the view point of a caterpillar and describe what it would be like to go through the life cycle.

EVALUATION – Students will be able to

Standard MST 4 Science – Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.

Performance Indicator MST4.E.LE4A: Students describe the major stages in the life cycles of selected plants and animals.

The Water Cycle

http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/diagrams/watercycle/index.html

SUMMARY – This site shows an animated version of the water cycles. It shows you the scientific names for all of the components, and it has arrows that show the cycle and how water passes through it. When you are finished studying the animation, the learner is even given an option to take a quiz where you can test yourself to see how much you learned. After you get the correct answer, an animation will show you what the answer actually looks like!

–OBJECTIVES–

KNOWLEDGE – Students will be able to sequence the water cycle, and be able to identify the scientific terms that correlate with each stage.

COMPREHENSION – Students will be able to generalize the basic concept of the water cycle.

APPLICATION – Students will be able to prepare an experiment which illustrates the water cycle using teacher selected materials.

ANALYSIS – Students will be able to break down the water cycle and use deductive reasoning to decide where the water came from before each stage.

SYNTHESIS – Students will be able to propose a plan for fresh water conservation.

EVALUATION – Students will be able to support their plan with videos and articles on the internet.

Standard MST 4 Science – Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.

Performance Indicator MST4.E.PS2A: Students describe the relationships among air, water, and land on Earth.

The Life Cycle of Plants

http://www2.bgfl.org/bgfl2/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/science/plants_pt2/

SUMMARY – An interactive site where learners can explore how seeds are dispersed by clicking on pictures and watching short animations. They can learn about the parts of a flower by putting the parts of a flower together by clicking and dragging. They can watch a short animation of seed growth, and what seeds need in order to grow. There are even printable worksheets, and a place for plant identification.

–OBJECTIVES–

KNOWLEDGE – Students will be able to identify the parts of a plant, and sequence the life cycle of a plant.

COMPREHENSION – Students will be able to locate the parts of a plant on a model, and generalize the basic concept of the plant life cycle.

APPLICATION – Students will be able to produce their own plants and watch the life cycle happen right before their eyes!

ANALYSIS – Students will be able to correlate the life cycle of the plant to the parts of the plant.

SYNTHESIS – Students will be able to invent a system and process  for quick plant growth.

EVALUATION – Students will decide which system is best by justifying its strengths with what was learned in the unit.

Standard MST 4 Science – Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.

Performance Indicator MST4.E.LE4A: Students describe the major stages in the life cycles of selected plants and animals.
The Erie Canal – A journey through history

http://www.epodunk.com/routes/erie-canal/index.html#

SUMMARY – Take a tour of the Erie Canal and how New York has developed because of it. Hear songs, see pictures, and explore communities that have developed on the canal – even Buffalo! Students are able to click on various aspects of this site (maps, links, pictures, etc.) to get a comprehensive view of New York and Buffalo during the time the Erie Canal was built.

–OBJECTIVES–

KNOWLEDGE – Students will be able to find events on an interactive map that happened during the times of the Erie Canal.

COMPREHENSION – Students will be able to paraphrase the events of the Erie Canal, and how the helped to develop its neighboring communities.

APPLICATION – Students will be able to dramatize and interview each other pretending that they are living in the time period of when the Erie Canal was being built.

ANALYSIS – Students will be able to debate whether or not the building the Erie Canal was economically, politically, and socially a good choice.

SYNTHESIS – Based on what students know of the outcome of the Erie Canal, students will be able to design a better version of the canal, making it more efficient.

EVALUATION – Students will be able to decide if their version was better, or if the original ended up being better after all.

Standard SS1: History of the United States and New York – Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

Performance Indicator SS1.E.1A: Students know the roots of American culture, its development from many different traditions, and the ways many people from a variety of groups and backgrounds played a role in creating it.

Facts, such as what you find in an encyclopedia, almanac, etc. are not copyrighted. However, the way in which the author presents those facts, and the wording that is used is copyrighted.

As soon as the material is put into tangible form there is an automatic copyright placed on it.  Just because there is no notice, or you can’t find one doesn’t mean that there is not a copyright.

Today, copyrights last for the duration of the author’s life, plus 70 years. However, material published in the United States prior to 1923 does not have copyright protection.

Video and audiotapes may be played in the classroom if they relate to the instruction. Unless a public performance license is obtained, a teacher cannot play a video or audiotape for entertainment purposes.

The following is a list of things I WONDER about copyrights…

How do companies know if you are violating copyright laws?

I know there are serious ramifications/consequences, but what are they?

How do I know when it is OK to copy things and not OK to copy things? I have a general idea about it, but I usually have to verify with the media staff.

If I find something that is perfect for my instruction, but copying it is against the copyright, do I have to find other material?

What if I cite the source at the bottom of the page? Is that still violating copyright laws?

I KNOW the following about copyrights…

Certain things can be copied and certain things cannot be based on if they are copyrighted.

If something is copyrighted you can make one copy for yourself (the teacher) to be used for instructional purposes.

If something is copyrighted you can make only ONE copy for each individual student.

Entire books cannot be copied.

DAVID ROSE – UDL

1. The key thing for Universal Design for Learning is that students differ in:
- the way they recognize things
- the way they act on things
- the values with which they evaluate their environment
2. The UDL also focuses on the learning materials, the instructional technologies and the learning methods
- traditional media – the same story told to use in the same way
- the digital media can be made to adapt to individual differences
- new media can be transformed, networked and be marked up
- media can contain the same information but display it and engage kids in different ways

3. Each child is an individual and takes their own individualized approach to learning. To effectively use UDL, one needs to understand that each learner is an individual, and learns in an individualized manner. Therefore, the goals, content, method of instruction, materials, and learning environment all need to be individualized to meet the needs of each learner. Using multiple intelligences within your lesson plans is one way that students can learn in various ways.

Reflection – I think this is absolutely essential when teaching. In my third grade classroom last year I came across many obstacles. The ability and readiness levels were all over the board. Teaching whole group instruction was just not an option with this group. I had to do extra planning to effectively teach to each child’s specific need. I would have small groups that isolated certain skills for certain learners, a large group which addressed many of the multiple intelligences, and small heterogeneous groups where everyone can share what they have learned about a certain topic, and peer tutor others. I feel that with this approach I was able to meet the needs of more children than I would have had I only taught one large group one lesson.

GOOGLE DOCS

One advantage of using google docs with students is that they can see what other students wrote about a specific topic, and piggy-back off of that. Many times ideas come to us after we hear what others have said. This often sparks additional ideas that would not have been as easily thought of alone. Google docs is also advantageous to use with students because posts from other students can help to clarify any misunderstandings that a student might have about a topic. Many times when students hear the same thing from an adult and a peer, that student can identify better with what was being said by the peer. It’s almost as if kids speak the same language.

One disadvantage of the google doc is that students can use another student’s work as a lead and not really put in all of their effort in completing the assignment themselves. Because all of the posts are viewable by other students, it would be easy for a poorly motivated student to take a little from each person’s post and pass it off as their own.

del.icio.us

Delicious is a software that allows users to collect and create lists of links, whether personal, or for business. Other delicious subscribers then have access to the list of links created and can then collect links by other users and add them to their collection. Teachers can easily share links regarding the curriculum.

Synonyms using www.answer.com

collaborationnoun

Joint work toward a common end: coaction, cooperation, synergy, teamwork. Seeconflict/cooperation.

 www.dictionary.com

col·lab·o·ra·tion      /kəˌlæbəˈreɪʃən/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[kuh-lab-uh-rey-shuhn] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1.    the act or process of collaborating.
2.    a product resulting from collaboration: This dictionary is a collaboration of many minds.
[Origin: 1855–60; < F < LL collabōrāt(us) (see collaborate) + F -ion -ion]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary – Cite This Source
col·lab·o·rate       (kə-lāb’ə-rāt’)  Pronunciation Key
intr.v.   col·lab·o·rat·ed, col·lab·o·rat·ing, col·lab·o·rates

1. To work together, especially in a joint intellectual effort.
2. To cooperate treasonably, as with an enemy occupation force in one’s country.

[Late Latin collabōrāre, collabōrāt- : Latin com-, com- + Latin labōrāre, to work (from labor, toil).]

col·lab’o·ra’tion n., col·lab’o·ra’tive adj., col·lab’o·ra’tor n.
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
WordNet – Cite This Source
collaboration

noun
1.     act of working jointly; “they worked either in collaboration or independently”
2.     act of cooperating traitorously with an enemy that is occupying your country –http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Collaboration

www.thefreedictionary.com 

Collaboration – col·lab·o·rate play_w(“C0476000″)

(k-lb-rt)

intr.v. col·lab·o·rat·ed, col·lab·o·rat·ing, col·lab·o·rates

1. To work together, especially in a joint intellectual effort.

2. To cooperate treasonably, as with an enemy occupation force in one’s country.

[Late Latin collabrre, collabrt- : Latin com-, com- + Latin labrre, to work (from labor, toil).]

col·labo·ration n.

col·labo·rative adj.

col·labo·rator n.

hm();Sources=Sources | 2;

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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