Increasing Content Knowledge through Technology :Increasing Content Knowledge through Technology LINCOLN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT 156


Lincoln students use Inspiration software for this matching activity in Social Studies. :Lincoln students use Inspiration software for this matching activity in Social Studies.


Students group assess the activity on the Smart Board. :Students group assess the activity on the Smart Board.


A completed matching activity. :A completed matching activity.


In Mr. Urbanczyk’s class students used Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” as a starting point to learn about the Cold War period. They used Inspiration to create timelines. :In Mr. Urbanczyk’s class students used Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” as a starting point to learn about the Cold War period. They used Inspiration to create timelines.


Mr. Urbanczyk’s lesson plan for Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”. :Mr. Urbanczyk’s lesson plan for Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”. ISTE NETS-I Standards For Teachers II. PLANNING AND DESIGNING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND EXPERIENCES: Teachers plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology Purpose: Students will research events of the Cold War period and create a timeline of those events to provide an introductory overview of that period in American History. The following lesson was used in Lincoln School’s 8th Grade Social Studies class. It is used to introduce the study of the Cold War Period in U.S. History. It is a multi-day lesson whose duration is determined by class size and the number of computers available. 1. The first day begins with the teacher explaining that they will be conducting an overview of the events since World War II. The students complete a map of the Cold War Era using Chapter 28 of The American Nation to introduce the geographical context. For the second day students begin class by listening to the Billy Joel song “We Didn’t Start the Fire”. Lyrics are provided to the students (Available at http://www.school-for-champions.com/history/start_fire_lyrics.htm .) The teacher impresses on the students that the song is the writer’s perspective of American history during his lifetime. After the song is replayed, the class discusses various aspects of the song. For example, why do the years 1949-1963 have their own stanzas, while 1964-1989 are lumped into only two stanzas? The teacher also elicits responses as to why the lyrics become more “negative” over time. Students are asked what events/persons from the lyrics they are already familiar with or have at least heard of. 3. On day three, for bell work, the students write opinions about the song title and refrain. To what “fire” do they think the author is referring? Also, what does he mean when he sings, “We didn’t start the fire; it was always burning since the world’s been turning. We didn’t start the fire; we didn’t light it but we’re trying to fight it.”? Students are then divided into groups using the stanzas of the lyrics as a guide. For instance, Group I is assigned the stanza for the years 1949-1953. Students will conduct research on the Internet for these years and are directed to the following website: http://www.school-for-champions.com/history/start_fire_facts.htm . When this is complete the groups report to the class their findings and discuss them. 4. On day three students use the TIMLINE template on the INSPIRATION program to create a timeline for the song. Students are not limited to their groups timeframe, but rather the can use any of the years mentioned. By toggling back and forth between the timeline and the websites, students are able to select images and write descriptions for a particular person or event. Once the timelines are completed, each student will save their work to the “s” drive. On the “s” drive they will locate the folder labeled “URBANCZYK”. Within that folder are folders for each class period. Student will then place their work to the folder for their class period.


Microsoft Publisher is used to create newsletters that introduce lessons in Social Studies. :Microsoft Publisher is used to create newsletters that introduce lessons in Social Studies.


Microsoft Publisher was also used for this lesson: :Microsoft Publisher was also used for this lesson: This is a combination of lessons from web sources and a lesson I used to do “on paper”. It is designed as an enrichment activity to supplement the unit on the American Revolution. I choose to frame the activity this way because using our laptop computers I can have the students do their research & at least start typing their stories all in one class period. STUDENT INSTRUCTIONS During the American Revolution, they did not have the Internet, TV, radio, or even electricity. The way they got their news was mostly in newspapers. Imagine you are a reporter during the American Revolution for a Philadelphia newspaper. You are covering one of many events of the American Revolution. Remember, a good newspaper story will answer the same 5 W’s we use for our event charts: Who, When, When, What, & Why. Who is involved in the events? When did it happen? Where did it happen? Where did it happen? Why is it important to your reader? – Remember, you are writing for readers who want to be independent of Great Britain, they will be happy when the Americans win & upset when they lose. Imagine I (Mr. P.) am the editor of your newspaper. I will assign you an event to cover. Obviously you cannot go back in time but you can research events of the American Revolution on the internet. You must also: Create a “U.S. History” folder on your ‘p’drive For your event write a draft newspaper story using Microsoft Word on your laptop. You must have a headline, 50 word story, & one illustration. Save your draft in your U.S. History folder on your ‘p’ drives. Save pictures, maps, or other illustrations onto your ’p’ drive. You will copy this information at a later date & paste it into a newspaper template on the Microsoft Publisher program. After students have finished their research & drafts they will save them in their personal school files. Later during the week they will work cooperatively to create “Colonial Newspapers” using Microsoft Publisher. After they agree on the look of their paper they will finalize the drafts of their articles & cut & paste them into their newspapers. Copies of the newspapers will be distributed as review materials and then posted.


Mr. Thormeyer’s class also created timelines about early civilizations. :Mr. Thormeyer’s class also created timelines about early civilizations.


In Ms. Novovic’s class student’s conducted Internet research & created graphs to learn about the Solar System :In Ms. Novovic’s class student’s conducted Internet research & created graphs to learn about the Solar System


Students researched, created, and presented Science Fair projects using technology. :Students researched, created, and presented Science Fair projects using technology.


Lincoln students used video technology to present for our Science Fair. :Lincoln students used video technology to present for our Science Fair.


Lincoln students created this video of a dance presented at our Multicultural Fair & posted it on the Lincoln School website. :Lincoln students created this video of a dance presented at our Multicultural Fair & posted it on the Lincoln School website.