AmandaWeatherlyandCarmenCastanet

LessonRationale
Inourdayandage,peoplearerequiredtocommunicateusingmanydifferent
modalitiesinordertobecomesuccessfulcitizens.Thissparkedourinteresttodesigna
projectrequiringstudentstoexpressthemselvesinwrittenanddigitalform.Weknewthis
wouldrequiretwentyfirstcenturyskillsintheareasofcommunicationandtechnology.
Todaysteachersareexpectedtopreparestudentsforanunknownjobmarketby
incorporatingcontent,pedagogyandtechnologyintotheirunitsandlessons.Inourproject,
studentsmadeuseofcomputers,iPadsandcamerastocreateapublishedpieceofwritingto
sharewithabroaderaudience.Specifically,studentsusedVoicethreadandtheSockPuppets
apptoachievethisgoal.

Ourcontentforthisprojectwaslargelyfocusedonwritingskillsandbuildingthe
writingprocess.Wewantedourstudentstomastertheconventionsofwritingastheymoved
throughthestepsultimatelyleadingtowardpublication.Writingandverbalsharingteaches
studentstocommunicatethroughwrittenandorallanguage.Byincorporatingtechnology
intothewritingprocess,studentsareexposedtothetwentyfirstcenturycommunication
skillsnecessaryfortheirfuturesuccess.Providingstudentswiththeexperienceofpublishing
andsharingtheirwritingcancreateanintrinsicmotivationtoputforththeirbestwork.In
addition,presentingstudentswithauthentictaskssuchaswritingforabroaderaudiencecan
produceasenseofpurpose.

WebbasedtoolssuchasVoicethreadandSockPuppetsgivestudentsopportunitiesto
explorecreatingnonconventionaltexts.Thesedigitaltoolspromotecreativity,fluency,and

AmandaWeatherlyandCarmenCastanet

deepercomprehension.UsingVoicethreadrequiredthecreationofafinalproductafter
studentshadremembered,understood,applied,analyzedandevaluatedtheirwork.Thus,
theselessonstargetedseverallevelsinBloomsRevisedTaxonomypyramid.Topreparefor
theproject,studentshadtoremember,understandandapplyconventionsofwritingtaught
duringpreviousminilessons.Ourpreandpostinterviewsaskedstudentstoanalyze
themselvesandtheirwriting.Studentsuseddigitaltoolstocreateanewproductby
synthesizingthecontentoftheirwritingandpresentingitinanewway.Inkindergarten,
studentsusedthedrawingtoolonVoicethreadtoshowhowtheirillustrationmatchedtheir
wordstheyweretaughttoreferenceevidencefromtheirpicturesthatmatchedthetext.In
firstgrade,studentshadtosynthesizetheirknowledgeofEarthmaterialstowritean
informativepiecedescribingthematerialstheychosetouse.

Wewereexcitedtoobservehownaturallystudentsmadepersonalandacademic
connectionswhenpreparingtheirwritingforthisproject.Ourusualpedagogicalapproach,
basedonCognitivism,makesuseofstudentsschemasandpriorknowledgeasmuchaspossible.
WebothaimtoplanlessonswithintheZoneofProximalDevelopmentofourstudents.The
ZoneofProximalDevelopment,acognitivisttermcoinedbyLevVygotsky,describestasksthat
areatalevelofdifficultythatallowsthechildtobesuccessfulincompletingthemwith
appropriatesupport(Woolfolk,2010,p.47).Thetaskmustnotbesorigorousthatitfrustrates
thechild,andyetnotsoeasilycompletedthatitboresthechild.Inaddition,theSchemaTheory
ischaracterizedbytheideathateverychildsschematawhattheyknowaboutagivenconcept
giventheirexperiencesandpriorknowledgeareindividualized(Tracey&Morrow,2012,p.
62).Aswewantedtoexpandorrestructureourstudentsschemata,allowingthemtomake
2

AmandaWeatherlyandCarmenCastanet

connectionstotheirlivesandtootherpartsofouracademiclearning,wespentalotoftime
buildingbackgroundknowledgefortheirprojects.Thisendedupbeinganimportantstepinthe
prewritingprocess.
Thisapproachalsoprovidesstudentswithexperiencestheyneedtoexpandtheir
schemathushelpingthemmakeconnectionstothecontenttaughtinclass.Wecontinued
withthisteachingstylewhenweaskedstudentstocreatewritingbasedontheirschemasand
pastexperiences.Thishelpedthemmakepersonalconnectionstotheirwriting.For
kindergarten,thisconsistedofchoosingapersonalmomenttowriteaboutandshare.Infirst
grade,thisrequiredstudentstorecallfieldtripexperiences,classprojectsanddiscussions,as
wellasotherhandsonactivitiesinordertodescribethepropertiesandusesofanEarth
material.Publishingthisworkrequiredstudentstorecallwhattheyhadalreadywritten,and
presentitinanewway.Forkindergarten,thisconsistedofusingillustrationstocraftwords
andsentences,whileinfirstgradethistooktheformofananimatedvideo.

LessonImplementation
We,AmandaandCarmen,teachinkindergartenandfirstgradeclassrooms,respectively.
Ourintentwastomakethisalessonbasedonindividualeffortwherestudentswrotetowarda
finalproduct.
InAmandaskindergartenclassstudentshadbeenworkingonasixweekpersonal
narrativeunit.Studentswerethreeweeksintotheunitbeforetheonlinepublishingpartofthe
projectbegan.Theyhadlearnedthestructureandcharacteristicsofpersonalnarratives.In
addition,theyhadpracticedplanning,creatingandsharingtheirpieces.Asthestudentsworked
dailytomastertheskillsnecessaryforpersonalnarratives,Amandabegantonoticetheirinterest
3

AmandaWeatherlyandCarmenCastanet

wasdiminishing.Studentswerenotmotivatedtoperseverethroughthewritingprocess,soa
limitednumberofchildrenwereactuallypublishingbeforeintroducingthedigitaltool.
Inhopesofincreasingherstudentsmotivationtopublish,AmandachoseVoicethreadas
apublishingtoolforherstudentsbecauseshehadpreviousexperienceusingthetoolwithfirst
graders.Whilethefirstgradershadnotdirectlyinteractedwiththeprogram,Amandauseditas
alisteningcenterinreadersworkshop.Becauseofherfamiliaritywiththeprogram,Amanda
predicteditwouldbeeasiertousewithyoungerstudents.Voicethreadhasarecordingtoolthat
givesbeginningwriterstheopportunitytosharetheirworkwithoutbecomingfrustratedby
typing.Theprogramalsohasadrawingtoolthatallowsuserstohighlightdifferentaspectsof
theircreation.
Togaugestudentinterestinwritingbeforebeginningtheproject,Amandainterviewed
severalstudentswithvaryingacademiclevels.Intheinterviewsmoststudentsemphasizedthat
writingwasfunbecausetheylikeddrawingpicturesorwritingletters.Whenaskedhowwriting
couldbeimproved,studentsseemedstumpedbythequestion.Theyhadadifficulttime
verbalizingtheirthoughtssomeofthemtalkedaboutdrawingmorepicturesandotherssaid
askingeasierquestionswouldmakeitbetter.
TointroduceVoicethread,Amandadiscussedwithstudentsthemultitudeofwayswriters
cansharetheirworkwithothers.Shetoldthestudentsthattheyweregoingtobeginpublishing
andsharingtheirwritingwithothersovertheinternetusinganiPad.Theideaofbeingableto
writeontheiPadexcitedthestudents,eventheoneswhoexpressedhesitationduringthe
preinterview.Amandamodeledtotheclasshowtousethedifferenttoolssuchasthevoice
recorderanddrawingtool.ThenAmandawalkedstudentsthroughtheprocessofchoosinga

AmandaWeatherlyandCarmenCastanet

pieceofwriting,takingapicture,uploadingittoVoicethreadandusingdifferenttoolstopublish
thework.WhileAmandarecognizedthatstudentswouldprobablyforgetmoststeps,showing
studentstheentireprocessgavethemaconcretebeginningandendingfortheproject.
Eachchildchoseaneventinhisorherlifetoillustrateanddescribe.Afterstudents
finishedillustrating,writing(meaninglabelingthebeginningand/orendingsoundsofwords),
andrevisingtheirwork(thisusuallymeansaddingdetails)theywerereadytopublish.Amanda
thentookapictureoftheirwritingandillustrationanduploadedittoVoicethread.Studentsused
thevoicerecordertotelltheirstorywhilesimultaneouslyusingthedrawingtooltopointout
correlatingdetailsintheirpicture.Afterreviewingandapprovingtheirfinalprojects,students
sharedtheirpublishedpieceswithfamilyandfriends.
Afterpublishing,Amandainterviewedthesamestudentsagaintogettheirreactionsto
theproject.AllofthestudentswereexcitedtouseVoicethread,particularlybeingabletohear
themselvestalkandtellthestory.Theyexpressedinterestinusingthetoolagainandsome
preferredittopublishingonpaperbecausetheycouldshowittomorepeople.
InfirstgradethestudentsusedtheiPadappSockPuppetstopublish
descriptive/informativewritingaboutEarthmaterials,thusconnectingwritingtothescience
contentbeingtaughtsimultaneously.StudentshadjustfinishedaWebQuestwherethey
researcheddifferentEarthmaterials(rocks,wood,clay,sand,soil,etc.)andlearnedabouttheir
propertiesinordertodecidethebestmaterialwithwhichtobuildahouse.Thestudentsdecided
tobuildadoghousefortheteacherassistantsdogusingwood.Theywrotedescriptive
paragraphsaboutthepropertiesofthedoghouseandtheEarthmaterialsusedtobuildit.To
concludetheunitondescriptivewriting,studentswereaskedtodescribeahousetheywould

AmandaWeatherlyandCarmenCastanet

havebuiltiftheyhadchosenanEarthmaterialotherthanwood.Manyfirstgradersenjoy
sharingtheirrevisedwritingbyreadingitaloudtotheclass.However,notallstudentswere
confidentenoughtoshareinthisway.Recognizingthistrendamongstsomeofthestudents,
CarmenwonderedwhetherusinganappsuchasSockPuppetswouldbealessintimidating
alternativetopublishwriting.
CarmenchoseSockPuppetsinanattempttobroadenhertechnologytoolbox.Shehad
neverusedtheappbeforeandwasexcitedtotryoutthenewformoftechnologywithher
students.ThisisthefirstyearthatshehashadfulltimeaccesstofiveiPadsinherclassroomand
shewantedtolearnhowtouseiPadstoallowherstudentstocreateproductsratherthansimply
toplayeducationalgames.TheSockPuppetsappallowsstudentstochoosecharacters,asetting
andpropsforaperformance.ThenstudentscanrecordthemselvesintotheiPadforthirty
seconds,afterwhichthesockpuppetcharacter(s)repeattherecordinginamanipulatedvoice.
Thethirtysecondlimitrequiresstudentstoreadfluentlytofinishtheirparagraphintime.
Carmenwaseagertoseeifthecharactersvoices,aswellasthechoicesinsettingthescene,
motivatedherstudentstowanttopublishtheirwritingmorepublicly.

Oncestudentshadbegunwritingthedescriptionoftheirhouseandmaterials,Carmen

conductedindividualinterviewswithfivestudentsonvaryingacademiclevels.Moststudents
expressedinterestinthewritingprocess,oneofthefivesaidhedidnotlikewritingbecauseit
wasboring,buthewaskeenonusingtheiPadtopublishhiswriting.Theotherstudentssaid
theyenjoyedwritingbutalsoexpressedhighlevelsofinterestwhenaskediftheythought
publishingtheirwritingwithaniPadwouldbemorefun.
Afterinterviewingherstudents,CarmenmodeledhowtousetheSockPuppetsappina

AmandaWeatherlyandCarmenCastanet

wholegroupminilessonusingherownwritingaboutahouseshewouldbuildusingwood.All
studentsshowedhighlevelsofinterestinusingtheapptopublishtheirworkafterthislesson.
Oncestudentshadcompletedtheirpieceandeditedit,theybeganpracticingreadingitaloud
withapartnertoworkonfluency.FivestudentsatatimewereabletopublishusingSock
PuppetsonaniPad.Overthecourseofaweek,theentireclasswasabletopublish.
Oncethefivestudentsthathadbeeninterviewedbeforehandfinished,Carmenconducted
postinterviews.AllfivestudentssaidtheywouldliketousetheiPadtopublishtheirwriting
again,althoughnotallstudentswereexcitedaboutamorepublicaudienceviewingtheir
publishedwriting.AsCarmenhadseeninthesestudentspreinterviews,theywereconcerned
aboutbeingjudgedfortheirmistakesorlackofskill.
Whenwatchingalloftheinterviewsconductedbeforeintroducingtheproject,wenoticed
adistinctdifferenceinstudentperspectivesaboutwritingfromkindergartentofirstgrade.The
kindergartenstudentswereveryexcitedtosharetheirworkwithothers,whilethefirstgrade
studentsexpressedmoreconcernaboutthejudgementoftheirpotentialaudience.Forinstance,
onestudentsaidhewouldliketobecomeabetterartistbeforeotherswereabletoviewhis
publishedwritingandanotherstudentcommentedthatshedidnotwantotherstoviewher
writing,evenifpublishedonaniPad,becauseshemightmakemistakes.

Challenges&Successes

Thebiggestchallengeweencounteredwastheamountoftimeittooktoimplementthe

technologyportionoftheproject.FortheVoicethreadtool,Amandahadtotakepicturesof
studentwork,uploadthepictures,teachtheclasshowtousetheprogram,andworkoneonone

AmandaWeatherlyandCarmenCastanet

witheachchildtoproduceafinalproduct.FortheSockPuppetsappCarmenhadtohelp
studentslearnthelogisticsofsuccessfullyrecordingtheirownvoiceforthefinalproduct.
StudentsdidnotalwayschooseaquietplacetorecordandoftendidnotholdtheiPadclose
enoughtotheirmouthstobeheardinthefinalrecording.Ifarecordingisnotsavedfairly
quicklyafteritscompletiontheprogramlosesitandthestudenthastodothispartover.Carmen
foundherselfaskingstudentstorerecordoftenbecauseofthis.

Overallthisprojectwasincrediblysuccessful.Studentsinbothclassroomswerevery

excitedaboutusingtheiPadandVoicethread,specificallythedrawingtoolinVoicethread.In
theirpostinterviewsstudentsmentionedhowmuchfunitwastodrawovertheirpapers.
Parentsalsogreatlyappreciatedseeingtheirstudentspublishedworkdigitally.BothSock
PuppetsandVoicethreadallowthefinalproducttobesharedbyemail,youtube,andothermedia
outletsforotherstosee.Allstudentsexpressedinterestinusingthesenewliteraciesagainas
publishingtoolsfortheirwriting,andasteacherswesawincrediblestudentengagement
throughouttheprocess.Studentsverbalizedthattheyweremotivatedtowriteknowingthatthey
hadtheopportunitytopublishusingapieceoftechnology.
Collaboration
Weenjoyedthecollaborationprocessandfounditveryusefulinimplementingaproject
ofthismagnitude.Thefactthatweworkwithstudentsthatarecloseinage,andtherefore,
developmentallysimilarhelpedusanticipatepossiblechallenges.Beforebeginningthisproject
wewereabletodiscusshowtomodelandguidestudentsinlearninghowtousenewtechnology
tools.Aftercompletingtheprojectwecantrulysaythatwefeelourabilitytointroducestudents
tonewtechnologytoolsisstrongerbecausewecollaboratedtogether.Individuallywebelieve

AmandaWeatherlyandCarmenCastanet

wewouldhavebeenoverwhelmedbytheideaofusingnewliteracieswithsuchyoungstudents.
Inthepastwehavebothhadnegativeexperiencescollaboratingwithothersandwerehesitant
aboutthisexperiencebecauseofthat.However,wehaveseenthatwiththerightpartner,we
wouldmuchrathercollaborateonaprojectthandoitalone.Theabilitytocollaboratewith
someoneduringtheimplementationoftheprojectalsohelpedalleviatestressbecausetherewas
alwayssomeonetogiveanewperspectiveorhelpbrainstormsolutions.
Teachingcomplementarylessonsonegradelevelaparthelpedusrecognizethe
importanceofverticallyaligningcurriculum.CarmenwasabletoseethestepsAmandahadto
takeinordertoprepareherstudentsfordigitalpublishingandthekindofwritingthatisexpected
offirstgraders,whileAmandawasabletoseealongtermperspectiveofwhereshewantsher
studentstobebytheendoftheschoolyear.Overall,workingasateamtrulybenefitedour
TPACKdevelopmentandhelpedusgrowaseducators.

AmandaWeatherlyandCarmenCastanet

References

NationalGovernorsAssociationCenterforBestPractices,CouncilofChiefStateSchool
Officers.(2010).CommonCoreStateStandards:EnglishLanguageArts.Washington,
D.C.:NationalGovernorsAssociationCenterforBestPractices,CouncilofChiefState
SchoolOfficers.

Tracey,D.H.,&Morrow,L.M.(2012).Lensesonreading:Anintroductiontotheoriesand
models(2nded.).NewYork:Guilford.

Woolfolk,A.(2010).EducationalPsychology(11thed.).NewJersey:PearsonEducation,Inc.

10