California Gold Rush Padlet Activity

Teacher(s): Tatiana Menard, Michelle Meyer, Joshua Weinstock

Date: Sept. 9, 2014
Target Grade Level: 4

Materials: Computer, Internet connection, comfy chair

Briefly describe each persons contribution to this activity plan:

Tatiana: Discussed the overview of the activity. Added to the plan for the activity. Created the Rubric
and re-formated it.
Michelle: Discussed the overview of the activity. Wrote about the technology setting. Added to the
student groups portion. Wrote a majority of the plan for the activity section.
Joshua: Discussed the overview/goals/assessment/groups, headers and proofreading.

Overview of the Activity:

For this activity, students will learn about the Gold Rush in California. For this
assignment, the students will be using a computer provided to them via school
computers. We will be using a website called Padlet. Padlet is a website that allows
students to collaborate at the same time, on the same project. They have access to
watch each other move around text boxes and pictures to see what works best for
their virtual poster. The students will work in small groups creating these virtual
posters on the Gold Rush. The students will read the rubric and understand what
content they must publish to receive a passing grade.

Main Goals of the Activity:

Students will learn about the history of the California Gold Rush. Students will learn
how to collaborate on Padlet.

Assessment:

Students learning will be assessed by the content they share on their California
Gold Rush Padlet based on the California Gold Rush Rubric.

NOTE: For this assignment, we will focus on the Padlet only under the precedent
that the students have been learning in a California Gold Rush Unit.

Technology Setting:

Students will use the classroom computers to collaborate with each other during
this assignment.

Student Groups:

Student will be in groups of 2-4 members depending on classroom size. There
should be three groups for this activity. There will be three points of focus assigned,
one point for each group:history of the Gold Rush, people of the Gold Rush, and
impact of the Gold Rush has on the 20th century.



Plan for the Activity
Time
Interval
Teacher Action
What will the teacher present? What is the
teacher going to say? What will the teacher be
doing?
Student Actions
What do you expect the students will be
doing?
10 mintues Introduction to Activity

Students will listen for
instructions and feel open to ask
questions about things they do
not understand.
30 minutes Teacher will watch the activity and be
ready for any questions that come up
during the activity.
Students will work together to
create a padlet that shows all
areas of learning as explained in
the Rubric.
20 minutes Teacher will watch closely for
understanding and correctness during
student presentations.
Students will prepare a 5 to 7
minute presentation about their
Padlet. They will be presenting
this in the during the final lesson
of this unit.
10 minutes Closure to Activity

We expect the students to have
a good idea of what the Gold
Rush was and be able to have a
small discussion with another
student from a separate group.
We will allow for final questions
for clarification during this
portion.











Rubric:
Padlet Project : The California Gold Rush

Teacher Name: Ms. Menard, Ms. Meyer. Mr. Weinstock

Group Name:


CATEGORY 4 Excellent! 3 Great job! 2 Nice Try 1 Needs Effort



Presentat
ion
Well-rehearsed with
smooth delivery
that holds audience
attention.
Rehearsed with
fairly smooth
delivery that holds
audience attention
most of the time.
Delivery not
smooth, but able
to maintain
interest of the
audience most of
the time.
Delivery not
smooth and
audience attention
often lost.



Sources
Source information
collected for all
graphics, facts and
quotes. All
documented in
desired format.
Source information
collected for all
graphics, facts and
quotes. Most
documented in
desired format.
Source information
collected for
graphics, facts and
quotes, but not
documented in
desired format.
Very little or no
source information
was collected.


Mechanic
s
No misspellings or
grammatical errors.

Three or fewer
misspellings and/or
mechanical errors.
Four misspellings
and/or
grammatical
errors.
More than 4 errors
in spelling or
grammar.



Attractiveness



Makes excellent use
of font, color,
graphics, effects,
etc. to enhance the
presentation.


Makes good use of
font, color,
graphics, effects,
etc. to enhance to
presentation.

Makes use of font,
color, graphics,
effects, etc. but
occasionally these
detract from the
presentation
content.
Use of font, color,
graphics, effects
etc. but these
often distract from
the presentation
content.


Content
Covers topic in-
depth with details
and examples.
Subject knowledge
is excellent.
Includes essential
knowledge about
the topic. Subject
knowledge appears
to be good.

Includes essential
information about
the topic but there
are 1-2 factual
errors.
Content is minimal
OR there are
several factual
errors.

Total _____ / 20