Mollie Shutt

Bellarmine University
Written Component of Online Literacy Assignment

This lesson plan was developed for 3rd grade students with the intentions of developing
their background knowledge and understanding on what search engines do when they search the
Internet. The other goal for this lesson is that students will be able to select appropriate key
words to help focus and narrow their research on one main topic. Searching on the Internet
effectively is a gatekeeper skill that is critical for students to be able to do successfully. When
students clear their cognitive load of searching on the Internet, it opens up their mental capacity
to focusing more on how they can analyze and determine importance when researching a certain
topic (Henry, 2006).
This lesson plan and activity meets ILA standards 1.2, 2.2, 2.3, 4.2, and 5.1. Because 21st
century technology is centered on utilizing and manipulating the Internet, it is in the students best
interest to teach them the gatekeeper skills to know how to search using specific vocabulary so
they are able to research accordingly. (1.2). Since the use of the Internet has become available, it
has changed the way in which students read. Literacy is now available almost anytime, any
place. Students need exposure to all types of texts, including Internet literacy (2.2) This lesson
plan was developed through the research of Laura Henry (2006). She discusses the importance of
giving students the strategies on how to access information on the Internet. This lesson gives
students necessary background information and tools on how to narrow topics of interest in order
to find the information quickly and efficiently (2.3). During this lesson, students are given the
autonomy to use their own topic of interest. This not only engages students but allows them to
share their schema with others and they quickly become the teachers (4.2). In my classroom,
there is a 2:1 ratio of iPads to students. The classroom lay-out and design supports collaboration
as students are sitting next to partners at either a table or on the floor (5.1).

This lesson also meets several ISTE standards. In this lesson, students are collaborating
to create their graphic organizer on popplet and then using the screenshot to upload their
organizer onto padlet to share with the class. Students are encouraged to work together to reflect
and use others work to aid in their thinking. (1c). Students are using their background
knowledge to create keywords for their topics of interest. As they are doing this, they are using
technology to show their thinking process(3a). Students are collaborating during the padlet share
to support one anothers thinking (3b). The teacher plans on demonstrating during a think aloud
on how to use strategies to find key words on their topic of interest (3d).
This lesson also demonstrates appropriate expectations of the KTS 6.1, 6.2, and 6.5
standards. The teacher used weebly.com to design an interactive page for students to use
throughout the lesson. There are links provided on the page that enable students to click on them
to find resources for them to use. Prior to the lesson, students will have had iPad training in
which they are taught expectations and proper use.
This lesson demonstrates an understanding of TPACK. The design of the lesson began
with what content and goals need to be accomplished by the students. Those two goals were
developing background knowledge and understanding on what search engines do when they
search the Internet and selecting appropriate key words to help focus and narrow their research
on one main topic. After the content and goals were established, the type of technology that
would support student learning was chosen. The technology utilized included youtube.com,
popplet, padlet, and weebly. Students collaborated with partners during the guided practice
because it was the first time they had been asked to take this new skill and practice. Partners will
be used in this lesson as a scaffolding tool, for students to support one another in their learning
process. Because this lesson centers around technology, this was a key component for this lesson.

Students will able to immerse themselves in technology by watching videos along with utilizing
graphic organizers on popplet and sharing their organizer on padlet. The technology used will
enhance student learning, not take away from it. This was determined through teacher pedagogy
based off of the content presented, goals established, and appropriate level of scaffolding needed
based off of previous knowledge/observations of student research.
This lesson was developed based on the research of Laurie A. Henry (2006) as she
eloquently discussed the importance of giving students strategies and skills for searching
information. She strongly believes that with the emerging technologies that are constantly
developing and changing, it is extremely important that we teach students how to search and
locate information on the Internet (Henry, 2006). Because literacy is evolving to a variety of
online texts due to the development of the Internet, students need to become skilled writers,
readers, and communicators in online settings (Leu, et al, 2011).
The next-steps section of this lesson is grounded around research that supports students
using strategies and questioning to make determinations of the source for readability,
trustworthiness, and usability. Teachers need to explicitly teach these strategies to students so
that they will become independent readers (Baildon & Baildon, 2008).
This lesson met the common core standard for reading, R1.3.5., which states
students are required to use text features and search tools to locate information relevant to a
given topic efficiently. This lesson supports this standard because students have to know how to
take a topic and use keywords to search and locate information on their topic. They need to do
this efficiently, so students will be given time to work in partners and independently practice to
become successful at searching the Internet. It will also allow them to take any topic of interest
and know what strategies to use as they type into a search engine. Students are producing and

publishing their writing in the writing process, which meets common core writing standard
W.3.6. They are using graphic organizer to organize and edit their keywords on their topic.
Students are working together to accomplish their task assigned

Resources:
Baildon, R., & Baildon, M. (2008). Guiding Independence: developing a research tool to
support student decision-making in selecting online information sources. The Reading
Teacher, 61(8) pp. 636-647.
Henry, L. A. (2006). SEARCHing for an answer: The critical role of new literacies while
reading on the Internet. International Reading Association, 59 (7), 614-627.
Leu, D, Kinzer, C., Coiro, J., Cammack, D., (2004). Toward a Theory of New Literacies
Emerging From the Internet and Other Information and Communication Technologies.
Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading (5). 1570-1613.