Classroom Blog and Website Creation Tools

Lesson Idea Name: American Revolution Web Quest

Content Area: Social Students
Grade Level(s): 8th grade
Content Standard Addressed: SSH3. (a) Explain the causes of the American Revolution as they impacted
Georgia; include the French and Indian War, Proclamation of 1763, and the Stamp Act.

Technology Standard Addressed: ISTE.6c Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by
creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualization, models or simulations.

Selected Technology Tool:

☒ Blog ☐ Wiki ☐ Other: Website Creation Tool (list):

URL(s) to support the lesson (if applicable): carolgarciadunn.edublogs.org

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): Incorporating high-interest activities into instruction, is an example of
high leverage practice with the use of technology to facilitate collaboration and high-order of thinking
learning opportunities. The use of technology and encourages student’s autonomy and serves as an
alternative method of actively engaging students through-out instruction. Teacher Blogs or classroom page
creates great opportunities to differentiate instruction and provide students around the clock access to
course content. A WebQuest offers students access to several productivity tools and instructional software
tools that are used to expand student knowledge. This flipped classroom WebQuest assignment encourages
students to conduct their own research and apply their knowledge to build a presentation with peers. This
alternative method of progress monitoring allows students to complete a project demonstrating knowledge
as an alternative to the traditional summative assessment approach.

Lesson idea implementation:

Familiar with the course expectations, students will navigate to the classroom website and view assignment
instructions under the flipped classroom page. Following the instructions, students will complete a WebQuest
of the historical events from the Revolutionary period in American history and complete a graphic organizer
through-out their WebQuest. Information gathered from the multiple websites activates student high order
thinking skills by facilitate students to incorporate investigative skills to evaluate text and apply knowledge to
creating a multimedia presentation with peers. Based on student’s progress monitoring data, assignments can
be adapted or differentiated to meet the needs of all students in the classroom. The basis of this assignment
is to encourage student’s investigative skills and allow them to apply what they discovered to evaluate the
impact of the events leading to the American Revolution. In the following lesson, Student’s will present their
multimedia presentation, which allows students to review and expand on their acquired knowledge of
historical events leading to the American Revolution. Student’s will receive feedback from their peers and
teacher immediately following student presentation.

Summer 2017_SJB
 Classroom Blog and Website Creation Tools
Importance of technology: The use of this web tool provides students open access to course content and
incorporates the use of technology to provide students access to educational websites and instructional
software and expands student’s learning. The use of productivity tools to create work in digital format allows
students with various disabilities to have access to assistive technology and providing students equal access
to course content as their peers.

Internet Safety and Student Privacy:

At the start of the semester, students will complete a school-wide digital citizenship training and review the
expectations for safe internet use in and outside the classroom. The risk is always present when using
technology and the internet during instruction, changing privacy settings and enabling safeguards like a
password-protected site, helps safeguard student and parent’s comments or information. Parents are also
provided a link to the school resource center where technology and digital learning webinars are available to
involve parents in their child’s learning. All instructional practices will adhere to FERPA and follow all internet
safety and acceptable use policies.

Reflective Practice: This activity allows for students to incorporate high-order thinking skills to conduct their
own investigation of the events leading to the American Revolution and apply what they learned from their
WebQuest to collaborate with peers and create an informative presentation of the impact of events like
(Stamp act, Townsend acts, Boston tea party). This assignment encourages student autonomy and allows
them to expand learning outside the classroom, and this project is an alternative method of measuring
student level of content mastery, providing students access to differentiated assignments and generalized
adaptations (i.e., graphic organizer). Overall, I believe this lesson actively engages student learning and can be
used as a summative assessment of student learning.

Summer 2017_SJB