Technology Integration Unit

Lesson One
12th Grade regular English
Amy Mildebrath
Purpose/ Rationale:
Technology integration is becoming ever more important to the modern classroom. Because of
this, it is important that students understand how to use different technological innovations. More
than that, it is important that students learn how to write and publish public, professional content
as this is a skill that is considered highly valuable in both personal and career contexts. Just as
important is the ability to ask and answer questions posed either by yourself or others.
Combining these two skills into one unit, the following lessons have students paired with a
partner and creating blogs that answer their partners research question. Working with a partner
provides students with extrinsic motivation that is not rewards-based, automatic audience (as this
is a blog), and immediate feedback about the quality of content that is not related to grades. The
lessons help students meaningfully integrate technology, improve their research skills, improve
their writing skills, refine their professional writing, and demonstrate to them the importance of
helping others answer questions.
In this lesson specifically, a great deal of time is given to students to find the topics they want to
research. This is done so that students are really able to find topics that arent too broad or too
narrow. Since ideally each partner should be learning something new from the others blog, the
questions they come up with need to have context that is relevant to their existing knowledge,
but not so broad that the blog with cover information that they are already well versed on.
All of the following lessons will take place in either the school media center or with a class set of
tablets, depending on the resources of the school in question.
Standards
Florida State Standards:
LAFS.1112.SL.2.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear
and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or
opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are
appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.
LAFS.1112.SL.2.5: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual,
and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and
evidence and to add interest.
LAFS.1112.WHST.3.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a
question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry
when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the
subject under investigation.

ISTE1. Creativity and innovation

2. Research and information fluency
NCTE: Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and
by posing problems. They gather, evaluate and synthesize data from a variety of sources to
communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience
Objectives
SWBAT
Identify a research question that they can create a blog about
Explain a question they have to a partner
Work collaboratively with a partner
Materials
Class set of computers or tablets (either provided in class or in the media center), pencil, paper,
access to Internet
Anticipatory set
Teacher will explain to students that they will be starting a new project creating blogs for a
partner. These blogs will consist of a total of five posts, two of which will be written directly by
the students, and three of which will be outside sources that students construct a blog post
around. These blogs will help each students partner answer a research question like Did the
replacement of Crown Victorias with Chargers cause an increase in police violence? not like
what color is the sky? (Although, what makes the sky look blue is a viable option so students
can get creative.) The blogs should answer each partners question in entirety and there is an
expectation that the partner should learn something new. This means that students should not be
asking each other questions they already fully know the answer to. To make it interesting for
everyone, there will be discussions about ways to tailor questions so that both parties take some
interest in it.
Lesson Design
Time
15 minutes

Student is doing
Students are filing into class and
preparing for lesson

5 minutes

Getting into assigned pairs

30 minutes

Students are discussing with their

partner what they would like their
research question to be. This
should be something that the
student is interested in but doesnt

Teacher is doing
Teacher is explaining new project with
instructions handed to students and
projected on the board.
Teacher is assigning pairs (chosen by
the teacher strategically before class)
and having students get into groups.
Teacher should explain to students what
they are doing and monitoring the
discussions to make sure they are
arriving at researchable and appropriate
questions. Teacher may ask students

5 minutes

necessarily know everything

about. This could be anything
from the history of football, to
how to apply to and get accepted
into a certain college, to the
process of photosynthesis.
Although research topics should
be school appropriate, students
essentially have free range in
deciding what they want to know
about
Students are listening

specific questions to help refine

questions- so even if a student
proposes, what color is the sky? the
teacher can say the sky is blue but
what exact shade of blue? What
changes the shade? Or, How else is
this shade of blue used in the world? In
fashion? etc.

See summary/ closure

Summary/closure
Teacher will explain that students should be thinking about how they want to go about
researching and answering their partners questions, as well as what additional content they would
like to include on their blog apart from the posts they write.
Assessment
Formal: Has every student developed a research question? (Turned in a written copy for
participation)
Informal: Did students talk to their peer and find topics they can both work with?
Homework
None
Accommodations
Students with special needs will be accommodated for including additional time for tasks,
especially the personally written blog posts.
For pairings, more motivated students will be paired with less motivated students. Because
students are creating blogs for each other, not doing the assignment reflects badly with your
peers, especially if they created a blog that answers a question youre truly interested in. This
makes in more probable that everyone will get his or her work done.
Attachments

Research Blog Project

You will be creating a blog for your partner, answering a research question that they have. These
questions should be elaborate enough to require a substantial amount of research, but not so
elaborate that a blog would be ineffective in providing an answer.
The questions can be about any topic you wish, although they will be turned into the teacher so
use discretion when finding school appropriate topics.

The blogs should be created using the website Weebly and should contain at least five posts, with
an additional sixth post that serves as a bibliography.
Three of these posts can use outside sources such as Youtube videos, as one might use on their
own blog. These sources should not be posted without outside context like titles and descriptions
however
You should write two more posts that should each be at least 100 words in length. These two
posts should incorporate at least three academic sources to back up your claims and answer your
partners question
Component of project
Three individual posts using outside resources
Two written posts each 100 words long with
proper citations for at least three outside
scholarly resources
Blog fully answers research question

Points
36 points (12 points each)
40 points (20 points each)
24 points

Technology Integration Unit

Lesson Two
12th Grade regular English
Amy Mildebrath
Purpose/ Rationale:
In this lesson, students will learn how to use the blogging website Weebly. Weebly has been
chosen because it is slightly more user-friendly than comparable websites like Wordpress, and is
more professional than other popular blogging websites like Tumblr. In order to create dynamic,
interesting and professional blogs, students can take the time with the teacher to go over the
websites various features. They will also have the opportunity to create individual accounts and
create skeleton blogs so that adding content as the project continues will be more streamlined.
This means students can focus on content and not overcoming technical challenges.
Standards
Florida State Standards:
LAFS.1112.SL.2.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear
and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or
opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are
appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.
LAFS.1112.SL.2.5: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual,
and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and
evidence and to add interest.
LAFS.1112.WHST.3.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a
question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry
when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the
subject under investigation.
ISTE1. Creativity and innovation
2. Research and information fluency
NCTE: Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and
by posing problems. They gather, evaluate and synthesize data from a variety of sources to
communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience

Objectives
SWBAT

Create a Weebly account

Construct the basic structure of a blog (i.e. homepage, blog name etc.)
Add content to the Weebly blog

Materials
Class set of computers or tablets (either provided in class or in the media center), pencil, paper,
access to internet
Anticipatory set
Teacher will explain to students that to create these blogs, they need to have a better
understanding of specific blogging websites. They also need to have a general outline for a blog
so that they can post content as they go. This lesson will focus on how to use the blogging
website Weebly, and how to construct a blog page
Lesson Design
Time
5 minutes

Student is doing
Students are filing into class and
preparing for lesson

20-40 minutes

Students are listening and

following along

10-30 minutes

Students are finalizing all the

choices they have made for their
blog. By the end of class students
should have an account, have
chosen a theme (though it does not
need to be final), have a blog title
and description, and have an initial
test text post with title. They may
begin research with any remaining

Teacher is doing
Teacher is setting up projection of the
Weebly website and having students
create accounts
Once students have created their
accounts teacher will explain how to
begin setting them up. This includes but
is not limited to:
-Choosing a name for the weebly
website (student.weebly.com)
-Choosing a name for the blog
(Students Blog)
-Choosing a proper theme. Students are
encouraged to try different themes but
only 5-10 minutes should be allowed
for this. They can pick their ideal theme
later.
-Adding content to their blog page
including Word documents, youtube
videos, titles, text, etc.
-Publishing their updated blogs
Teacher is walking around and
answering any additional student
questions.

time.
Summary/ closure
Teacher will explain to students that for homework they should start finding additional sources
that they are able to access at school
Assessment
Formal: Has student constructed a basic blog page? (Link to be submitted to teacher for
participation grade)
Informal: Do the students understand how to use Weebly?
Homework
Begin research
Accommodations
Students with special needs will be accommodated for including additional time for tasks,
especially the personally written blog posts.
For pairings, more motivated students will be paired with less motivated students. Because
students are creating blogs for each other, not doing the assignment reflects badly with your
peers, especially if they created a blog that answers a question youre truly interested in. This
makes in more probable that everyone will get his or her work done.

Technology Integration Unit

Lesson Three
12th Grade regular English
Amy Mildebrath
Purpose/ Rationale:
These lessons will be done closer to middle or end of the year so students should already have a
firm grasp on how to research and cite sources. Thus, these topics will only be reviewed briefly.
Instead, this lesson chooses to focus on outlining the five posts students will create for their
partners. By checking in with each others, students can be certain they are headed in the right
direction (i.e. they are answering their partners questions). While it is important that students
create some content, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. This lesson they can focus on finding
the three posts that they did not write entirely themselves. Integrating other peoples input shows
how questions are answered in the real world. Students have the opportunity to go into a more in
depth answer for their peer by utilizing sources readily available to them.
Standards
Florida State Standards:
LAFS.1112.SL.2.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear
and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or
opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are
appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.
LAFS.1112.SL.2.5: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual,
and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and
evidence and to add interest.
LAFS.1112.WHST.3.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a
question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry
when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the
subject under investigation.
ISTE1. Creativity and innovation
2. Research and information fluency
NCTE: Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and
by posing problems. They gather, evaluate and synthesize data from a variety of sources to
communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience

Objectives
SWBAT
Find three sources of information on their research question
Create at least 2 blog posts using those sources
Verify with partner that the research question is being answered
Materials
Class set of computers or tablets (either provided in class or in the media center), pencil, paper,
access to internet
Anticipatory set
Teacher will explain that today students should focus on finding the information they want to
include in the three non-written posts. While it is allowed that they just find one piece of
information and post it (like a youtube video about the research topic) it is advised that to create
a successful blog post students should add context like a catchy title or some explanation for why
the source being presented is relevant. Although they will be presenting these blogs to their
partner, the blogs should be able to be viewed and understood independent of any outside
explanation.
Lesson design
Time
10 minutes

Student is doing
Students are filing into class and
preparing for lesson

40 minutes

Students are researching. They

may work with or near their
assigned partner although this is
not mandatory until later.

5 minutes

Students are verifying with their

partner that their project is on the
right course

Summary/ closure

Teacher is doing
Teacher is reviewing with students that
they should be beginning or continuing
to find sources to construct the three
non-written blog posts. While these
sources do not have to be scholarly
(like youtube videos) they should be
credible, meaning that the information
they provide should be able to be
backed up by a scholarly source. Many
professional Youtubers put sources in
the description boxes, and things like
news articles often have their own
citations for information. Teachers is
answering any questions students may
have.
Teacher walking around answering any
student questions, asking guiding
questions, and verifying that students
are on task and finding the correct
kinds of resources.
Teacher is walking around answering
questions etc.

Teacher will explain to students that they should work on refining, editing, and perfecting their
blog posts at home
Assessment
Formal: Have students created at least two blog posts using outside sources?
Informal: Do students know how to turn outside sources into content that can be posted and
understood on a blog
Homework
Complete three blog posts
Accommodations
Students with special needs will be accommodated for including additional time for tasks,
especially the personally written blog posts.
For pairings, more motivated students will be paired with less motivated students. Because
students are creating blogs for each other, not doing the assignment reflects badly with your
peers, especially if they created a blog that answers a question youre truly interested in. This
makes in more probable that everyone will get his or her work done.

Technology Integration Unit

Lesson Four
12th Grade regular English
Amy Mildebrath
Purpose/ Rationale:
I am giving students time in class to work on their written posts so that if they have any technical
issues with either writing or research they can get help from the teacher and their peers. Writing
is a collaborative process, and writing for blogs is even more so. These posts need to be able to
be understood and enjoyed by the students partner, so it is valuable to have time to talk about that
with given class time.
Standards
Florida State Standards:
LAFS.1112.SL.2.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear
and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or
opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are
appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.
LAFS.1112.SL.2.5: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual,
and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and
evidence and to add interest.
LAFS.1112.WHST.3.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a
question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry
when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the
subject under investigation.
ISTE1. Creativity and innovation
2. Research and information fluency
NCTE: Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and
by posing problems. They gather, evaluate and synthesize data from a variety of sources to
communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience

Objectives
SWBAT
Construct at least one short research piece at least 100 words in length
Integrate at least one source into a research piece

Properly cite a source within their own written work

Materials
Class set of computers or tablets (either provided in class or in the media center), pencil, paper,
access to internet
Anticipatory set
Teacher will explain to students that today students should focus on outlining and writing the two
100 word posts that they will include in the blog page. This includes thinking about where they
want to put them in the blog, and finding the sources they will use to help validate their point
(these sources should be different from the other three posts)
Lesson design
Time
10 minutes

45 minutes

Student is doing
Students are filing into class and
preparing for lesson (getting to
their computer)

Students are researching and

writing

Teacher is doing
Teacher is explaining that today
students should be working on finding
at least 3 scholarly sources to include in
two individual written blog posts, each
at least 100 words long with proper
citations
Teacher is monitoring students,
answering questions, asking guiding
questions, and making sure students
stay on task

Summary/ closure
Teacher will explain to students that they should work on refining, editing, and perfecting their
written blog posts at home
Assessment
Formal: None
Informal: Are students able to incorporate and cite outside sources into written blog posts
Homework
Complete two written blog posts
Accommodations
Students with special needs will be accommodated for including additional time for tasks,
especially the personally written blog posts.
For pairings, more motivated students will be paired with less motivated students. Because
students are creating blogs for each other, not doing the assignment reflects badly with your
peers, especially if they created a blog that answers a question youre truly interested in. This
makes in more probable that everyone will get his or her work done.

Technology Integration Unit

Lesson Five
12th Grade regular English
Amy Mildebrath
Purpose/ Rationale:
Students have time to share their blogs and answers with their partners and peers to bring the
class outside of knowledge directly related to English.
A discussion will be held at the end of class to ask students how effective they felt the project
was. This is to help the teacher improve in future lessons, but also to learn how to better
incorporate technology meaningfully in the class.
Standards
Florida State Standards:
LAFS.1112.SL.2.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear
and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or
opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are
appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.
LAFS.1112.SL.2.5: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual,
and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and
evidence and to add interest.
LAFS.1112.WHST.3.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a
question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry
when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the
subject under investigation.
ISTE1. Creativity and innovation
2. Research and information fluency
NCTE: Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and
by posing problems. They gather, evaluate and synthesize data from a variety of sources to
communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience

Objectives
SWBAT
Present a fully constructed blog page to a partner
Rationalize the intention behind each (5) post made to the blog
Explain the answer to the question they asked their partner

Materials
Class set of computers or tablets (either provided in class or in the media center), pencil, paper,
access to internet
Anticipatory set
Teacher will explain to students that today they will be sharing their blogs with their partners as
well as any specific answers they may have found to the research question
Lesson design
Time
25 minutes

15 minutes

15 minutes

Student is doing
Students are getting into pairs and
sharing blogs with each other by
pulling up their partners blog on
their own computer. They should
sign into their Weebly account to
leave comments on individual
posts about what they think of the
blog overall and what they learned
from every post. They should also
be sharing these insights in person
with their peer. The comments are
for the teacher to review later.
(each can spend up to 12 minutes
talking)
Some students (about three) may
present either their own or their
partners blog to the class. What
was the research question? How
was that question answered?
Students are engaging in class
discussion

Teacher is doing
Teacher is calling time and walking
around, asking questions and reviewing
the kinds of blogs students have created

Teacher is listening and calling on

students

See summary/ closure

Summary/ closure
Teacher will ask students what they got out of this activity and what they thought was effective/
ineffective especially in reference to the integration of technology. What would they have liked
to see differently? Was their research question fully answered? Would they have preferred to
build a presentation based on their own research question or did they like doing it for a partner?
Etc.
Assessment
Formal: Do students have completed blogs with 5 posts answering their partners research
question?
Informal: Do students participate in class discussion?
Homework

None
Accommodations
Students with special needs will be accommodated for including additional time for tasks,
especially the personally written blog posts.
For pairings, more motivated students will be paired with less motivated students. Because
students are creating blogs for each other, not doing the assignment reflects badly with your
peers, especially if they created a blog that answers a question youre truly interested in. This
makes in more probable that everyone will get his or her work done.