Technology Integrated Unit Plan

For our final project for INDT 501, our task was to create a week-long unit for our chosen SOL that integrated various technologies we worked with throughout the semester. I really enjoyed working with these technologies in this course, and I know they will help engage my future students and encourage critical thinking. Activities like games on an Interactive Whiteboard or watching videos on Aurasma allow students to engage with content in unique ways. This will keep them entertained and interested in their learning. Rather than giving students notes and having them memorize it, the activities I've created here help them put faces to the names of famous Americans and encourage them to think about how these people affect life today in the United States.

Virginia SOL: Civics 3.11b

"The student will explain the importance of the basic principles that form the foundation of a republican form of government by (b) identifying the contributions of George Washington; Thomas Jefferson; Abraham Lincoln; Rosa Parks; Thurgood Marshall; Martin Luther King, Jr.; and Cesar Chavez."

Day 1: Interactive Notebook Notes
Students will be introduced to the 7 famous Americans found in Virginia SOL Civics 3.11b through a flipbook of notes. Once completed, these notes will be put into their Social Studies Interactive Notebooks.

The flipbook can be viewed here.
The SmartBoard notes can be downloaded here.

Day 2: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln
Students will learn more about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln today. After watching videos that work well for the third grade level, they will all respond to questions on a SmartBoard activity using their own iPads.

The SmartBoard activity can be downloaded here.
The videos used in this lesson plan are from Free School on YouTube.

• George Washington
• Thomas Jefferson
• Abraham Lincoln

Day 3: Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.
Students will learn about the important Civil Rights leaders Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. They will watch two videos. The first video features young children reciting the famous "I Have a Dream" speech. The second is a digital story I made in iMovie about the Civil Rights movement. Then, students will critically think about our nation today and how it has and has not changed through a writing activity.

I created the interactive digital story above for my INDT 501 course. It was made in iMovie and uses photographs from WikiMedia Commons. The original blog post about this video can be found here.

Day 4: Thurgood Marshall and Cesar Chavez 
Students will work with Aurasma today to watch videos on Cesar Chavez, the United Farm Workers, Thurgood Marshall, Brown v. the Board of Education, and the Supreme Court. While watching the videos, they will answer the questions on the worksheet found below. This will help direct them to the most important information in the videos.

The Aurasma images can be accessed here.

Day 5: Famous Americans Assessment Day
Students will take a quiz for a grade. They will be able to identify the famous Americans by their pictures as well as their accomplishments.

This is the quiz the students will be taking on famous Americans.  The images used in the photo identification were found on WikiMedia Commons. I made the quiz in Microsoft Word.