Name of Project: Stories in the "Thread"

Grade Level: 4 Subject: Communication Arts Prepared by: Dana Fredwell Overview and Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is for students to compose a story as a collaborative team, illustrate and narrate the story using their iPads and the mobile app Voice Thread. Educational Standards- Common Core W3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. W4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 13 above.) W5. With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. W6. With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting. SL1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher- led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly. SL5. Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes. L1. Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes. Objectives:

Students will be able to create narrative stories using effective details, and clear event sequence with 80% accuracy according to the rubric. Students will be able to critique their collaborative group work using constructive criticism following a written format. Students will be able to apply concepts learned in previous technology lessons, uploading, adding audio, and publishing their work via Voice Thread. Students will be able to conduct an oral presentation about the thread they have created keeping in mind their audience (2ND Grade). Students will complete this activity with 80% accuracy according to the rubric.

Materials Needed: iPads with Voice Thread app installed Published narratives Illustrations (4-8) plain white paper for bold illustrations Other Resources:

iPad camera turned on to take pictures of illustrations to upload. This project will take three weeks to complete. Information:

1. (Weeks one and two.) Guide students through the steps of the writing process:
drafting, editing, revising, final copy, and publishing. Students will be writing a fictional narrative working in small groups to collaborate on the story writing and illustrating it together. (Weeks one and two.) Instruct students to illustrate their story on at least 4 sheets the maximum 8. Students should fill all white space, use examples of picture books to demonstrate illustrations. All students must complete at least one illustration. (Week 3.) Take close up pictures of the illustrations and upload to Voice Thread. (Week 3.) Direct students to upload a practice thread and discover how to record voice to narrate their illustrations. (Week 3.) Students will then work together to read parts of their story into Voice Thread. Students will edit their creation ensuring a smooth recording with expression. (Week 3.) Students will share their Voice Threads in class, then share them with second grade students.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Verification: Steps to check for student understanding 1. Hand out the Voice Thread Grading rubric for students can reference 2. Hand out the constructive critisism flow chart. 3. Hand out the grading rubric for the oral presentation introducing the project to second grade. Activity: Describe activity that will reinforce the lesson Students will develop characters for a story with out knowing that we will be writing as teams. Students will be randomly selected to work together in groups of four to creativley bring their stories together. Students will then have one week to work through the writing process (rough draft, revise, edit, and final copy). Students will be graded using the writing rubric and should complete this with 80% accuracy before moving on to the next step. Students will then listen to "All the Colors of the Earth" by Sheila Hamanaka, this story will be used to demonstrate using vibrant colors to fill the page. Students will begin illustrations for their voice thread filling their pages with a drwing and then adding color leaving no white space. Students will be responsible for at least one full page illustration each, the maximum two. Students will use their iPads to take clear digital pictures of their illustrations filling the frame. Students will upload their illustrations to Voice Thread in seqential order. Students will then break up parts from their story and practice reading them aloud. Students will record their parts on thier Voice Thread using the rubric for guidance. Students will share their completed Threads with the class. Students will write a short Introduction to their piece for second grade. Students will show their final projects to second graders giving an oral introduction before they present their Thread. Notes This project should take approximatley three weeks for my fourth graders to complete.