Independent Mastery of Common Core

Grade 6 Literacy Standards

Assignment W15A2 – Final Project Report

Sean Canavan
EDIS 7010

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 Contents
Part 1 | The Need............................................................................................ 3

Learning Experience Description, Importance, and Aims .............................. 3

Learning or Instructional Context ................................................................. 4

Learner Audience ......................................................................................... 4

Subject-Matter Focus/Content ..................................................................... 5

Part 2 | Desired Learning Outcomes & Assessment ......................................... 6

Part 3 | Learning Experience Map | Activities, Sequencing & Strategies .......... 8

Part 4 | Technology Selection ........................................................................ 17

Part 5 | Evaluation Plan ............................................................................... 19

Part 6 | Project Deliverables Timeline ............................................................ 25

Appendix A ................................................................................................... 28

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 Part 1 | The Need
Learning Experience Description, Importance, and Aims
My technology-enhanced learning experience is a portion of a self-directed, self-
paced sixth-grade level independent study curriculum that covers all Grade 6
Common Core Literature Standards. Through the use of multiple technologies,
learners from Grades 3-7 are empowered to engage with a book at sixth grade
level and a series of related assignments to develop and demonstrate mastery
of the relevant standards and their derivative learning objectives. Students
create multiple artifacts that will serve as multimedia study guides to assist
future students and classmates that need more help mastering this content.1
Through completing this project, students will demonstrate their mastery of
Grade 6 Literature and their ability to begin attempting Grade 7 material.

This learning experience is important because it solves the problem of how to

allow students whose skill level is well outside the mainstream of their grade
level cohorts to work at an appropriate level without requiring regular
individual attention, effort or expertise from their teacher. This assignment will
benefit students in grades 6 and 7, but is primarily intended for gifted students
in younger classes. Gifted students have historically been, and still are, the
group of special needs students who receive the least attention. In the United
States, considered one of the most progressive countries in terms of funding
special education, there is no direct federal funding for gifted education2 but
there are substantial numbers of students capable of performing years above
grade level in reading and math.3 Despite the demonstrated abundance of
students with special needs related to their advanced abilities, many states do

1 The assignments are primarily intended to drive learning through generative strategies
including mapping, summarizing and explaining, but the goal of teaching others is included
both as a motivator and to drive student thinking about the assignments.
2 https://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/resources/frequently-asked-questions-about-

gifted-education
3 In 2016, A Johns Hopkins School of Education policy brief highlighted the fact that, on the

National Assessment of Education Progress, the highest performing 25% of fourth graders
consistently perform higher than the lowest performing 25% of eight grade students. This
finding was consistent in 25 of the 25 years from 1990 to 2016.
https://edpolicy.education.jhu.edu/how-can-so-many-students-be-invisible-large-percentages-
of-american-students-perform-above-grade-level/

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not even have organized gifted programs and no state has gifted programming
that is comparable to the programs and support that are offered to struggling
students at the bottom of their classes/age groups.4 The situation abroad,
particularly in the developing world, is substantially worse as many teachers
have received little or no effective training in differentiation.

By using technology to create a virtual online environment where students can

independently interact with material well above their classrooms level, gifted
students will be empowered to work years ahead without the negative social
consequences that come from skipping grades. Figuring out how younger
students can engage with self-paced, self-directed material is essential to one of
the main challenges I face in my work, which is how to use technology to help
teachers with extremely large classes optimize instruction for highly-skilled
students.5

Learning or Instructional Context

This learning experience is self-directed and self-paced. It will take place
primarily in class, but students will also be welcome to work on it at home, in
boarding facilities, and wherever else they have access to technology. The goal
of this learning experience is to motivate and empower students to move
forward as quickly as their motivation and talent will allow them to go, so it is
contemplated that students, and parents, will regularly engage with this
experience outside of normal class time, although in class will be when the
bulk of the time students devote to this experience will take place.

Learner Audience

The Learner Audience for this learning experience are students in grades 3-7,
primarily in international private schools that follow Common Core, many of

4 National Association for Gifted Children. (2015) 2014-2015. State of the States in Gifted
Education
Policy And Practice Data Summary. (p. 4-10)
https://www.nagc.org/sites/default/files/key%20reports/2014-
2015%20State%20of%20the%20States%20summary.pdf
5 The majority of my work is in school reform in Africa and the MENA region.

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which serve low-income populations and are severely under-resourced, but
potentially in any school US or other, that follows Common Core or a similar
curriculum.

Subject-Matter Focus/Content
The subject-matter focus of my learning experience is sixth-grade literature.
This learning experience is one of several – not yet created - that covers all
learning objectives in a sixth-grade language arts or literature course. The
specific learning objectives covered are listed below. The content used for this
learning experience will be the novel the Hobbit, which is generally ranked
around the middle of sixth grade in terms of difficulty and at 1000L on the
Lexile scale. The book was selected for:
• Textual complexity
• The suitability of its story to character development learning objectives
• The suitability of the story and alternate versions available to suit
Common Core Literacy standard 6.7, which calls on students to
compare the same story in different media
• The lack of adult themes.

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 Part 2 | Desired Learning Outcomes & Assessment
The standards are drawn from the Common Core 6th English Language Arts
Standards. I derived specific learning objectives from these and then re-
phrased them into student-friendly versions. Those learning objectives are
included in Appendix A. All objectives are measured on simple rubrics that
can also be found in Appendix A.

Desired Learning Outcomes Assessment of Learning

Standard 1: CCSS.ELA- This standard is assessed through

LITERACY.RL.6.3 continuing evaluations of two main
characters. The first is Bilbo
Describe how a particular story's or Baggins. After key chapters, students
drama's plot unfolds in a series of engage with a Google Form in which
episodes as well as how the they answer key repeated questions
characters respond or change as the about Bilbo. In this way they engage
plot moves toward a resolution. with how he changes over time and
what caused that change. They also
engage with similar assignments in
Hypothesis regarding Thorin, a
second character.

Finally, they summarize each

character’s development in Tiki Toki
exercises completed at the conclusion
of the book.

Standard 2: CCSS.ELA- In the Tiki Toki timeline there are 6

LITERACY.RL.6.7 assignments, centered around the
stories’ villains and key climax
Compare and contrast the experience events, that require students to:
of reading a story, drama, or poem to • Read the story
listening to or viewing an audio, • Listen to the audiobook

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 video, or live version of the text, • Watch a clip from the live
including contrasting what they "see" action movie
and "hear" when reading the text to • Watch a clip from the cartoon
what they perceive when they listen
or watch. After students engage with each
media, they answer a series of
questions comparing the presentation
of characters and/or events in each
media and explain what each media
does well and poorly.

Standard 3: These are assessed and taught

together.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.1
Cite textual evidence to support At the conclusion of each chapter in
analysis of what the text says Hypothesis, students must create a
explicitly as well as inferences drawn summary that addresses a series of
from the text. key questions that demonstrate
understanding of the story.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.10
By the end of the year, read and In the course of writing their
comprehend literature, including summaries, students are required to
stories, dramas, and poems, in the cite text to explain their rationales.
grades 6-8 text complexity band
proficiently, with scaffolding as
needed at the high end of the range.

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 Part 3 | Learning Experience Map | Activities, Sequencing &
Strategies

The learning activities in this course are all regularly repeated versions of the
same activities with some variations. Students engage with the activities
assigned to each chapter as they move through the book. The assignments are
linked directly to the chapters in Hypothesis and are located in the chapter’s
timespan within Tiki Toki. Students engage with each learning activity 5-15
times throughout their journey through the novel.

STANDARD 1: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3

Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of

episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves
toward a resolution.6

Learning Experience Activities Evidence-Based Strategies &

(“What” learners will do during the Guidelines
learning experience and “when”) (“Why” you are creating that activity)

Learners will read the book the This series of assignments involves
Hobbit and listen to chapters via several generative learning strategies:
audiobook. After reading 10 of the
Chapters, students will use their Tiki • Learning by mapping as the
Toki timeline and a Google form with repeated use of the same series
a series of short answer and essay of questions generates ever
questions to track the character different answers, students will
development of Bilbo Baggins follow Bilbo’s progress.
throughout the story.
• Learning by summarizing
Students will document changes in:

6The specific learning objectives derived from this Standard are included in Appendix
A

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 • How Bilbo is perceived by
others These assignments also take
• Bilbo’s self-perception advantage of several Universal Design
• Bilbo’s shifting role in the for Learning strategies:
travelling collective
• How all of the above affect CHECKPOINT 3.2 - Highlight
Bilbo’s perspective and patterns, critical features, big ideas,
understanding of other and relationships. In this
characters. assignment, students are tracking
character growth over time.

CHECKPOINT 1.2 - Offer alternatives

for auditory information
and
CHECKPOINT 8.2 -Vary demands and
resources to optimize challenge.

Learners use text, audio and

google forms to engage with the
material in different forms.

CHECKPOINT 9.3 - Develop self-

assessment and reflection.
As students repeat the structure of
the assignment they reflect on
their previous work and answers

Learners engage in a series of The Thorin activities employ the same

Hypotheis-based activities wherein generative activities and UDL
they have to track changes in the strategies as above.
secondary character Thorin
Oakenshield, in particular how his

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 character changes and/or is revealed
as outside stresses are placed on
him. These stresses include:
• The seeming incompetence of
his burglar, Bilbo Baggins
• Captivity
• Sudden newfound wealth

Students use Tiki Toki, their chapter Generative Strategies:

summaries, and the Google Forms
they used to track the development of Learning by Summarizing
Bilbo’s character to create a video
post outlining the development of the Learning by Enacting - In all video
character over the course of the posts, students receive bonuses for
novel. Cosplay

This is a learning activity and UDL Strategies:

assessment for objectives 1 and 3
GUIDELINE 3 - Comprehension
Construct meaning and generate new
understandings.

CHECKPOINT 5.3 -Build fluencies

with graduated levels of support for
practice and performance

CHECKPOINT 3.2 - Highlight

patterns, critical features, big ideas,
and relationships

CHECKPOINT 2.5 - Illustrate through

multiple media Students use the
Tiki Toki stories feature to create

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 posts that feature their video
explanations.

STANDARD 2: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.7

Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to

listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including
contrasting what they "see" and "hear" when reading the text to what they
perceive when they listen or watch.

Learning Experience Activities Evidence-Based Strategies &

(“What” learners will do during the Guidelines
learning experience and “when”) (“Why” you are creating that activity)

Learners will engage with the story This pattern takes advantage of
through alternatively reading several Universal Design for Learning
chapters and listening to chapters. strategies:

CHECKPOINT 1.2 - Offer alternatives

for auditory information
and
CHECKPOINT 8.2 -Vary demands and
resources to optimize challenge.

Learners use text and audio to

engage with the novel in different
forms.

Learners engage with the same This series of assignments involves

material represented in four different the generative strategies:
media:
Learning by Mapping – Students are
• Text constructing paradigms for which

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 • Audiobook media are best suited to what types of
• Cartoon film Expression.
• Live-action film
Learning by Teaching
Students consider the differences in
how the same story and/or character The video posts students make
is represented in each medium and explaining the different media
use that information to infer the affordances and how they represent
various affordances of each medium. each character or event become a
There are a series of seven part of the Tiki Toki Timeline, which
assignments in which students eventually grows to become almost a
compare different media as relates to study guide to the text itself.
5 story villains and two climactic
events. Learning by Enacting - In all video
posts, students receive bonuses for
On some occasions students first Cosplay
compare two media and then all 4,
and on others they compare all 4.
This series employs several key UDL
After considering a series of prompts, strategies including:
students record a video post
explaining how each media affects the CHECKPOINT 1.1 -Offer ways of
representation of a given character or customizing the display of
event. (For example: the character information. As students
Gollum appears more sympathetic in collaboratively build the Tiki Toki
print, because the author can engage timeline they are adding video,
directly with his thoughts, whereas in text and audio to the shared
the cartoon film, he appears more understanding.
sinister and less sympathetic,
because there is not an easy means of CHECKPOINT 1.2 -Offer alternatives
demonstrating his internal conflict) for auditory information

CHECKPOINT 1.3 -Offer alternatives

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 for visual information This occurs
both in engaging with the material
and creating video posts.

CHECKPOINT 3.2 - Highlight

patterns, critical features, big ideas,
and relationships

CHECKPOINT 2.5 - Illustrate through

multiple media Students use the
Tiki Toki stories feature to create
posts that feature their video
explanations.

GUIDELINE 3 - Comprehension
Construct meaning and generate new
understandings. – The video posts
add to the overall robust nature of
the timeline, which students use
as a reference to interpret future
chapters and assignments.

STANDARD 3: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3 and CCSS.ELA-

LITERACY.RL.6.10 (These two standards are taught and assessed
together)

By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories,
dramas, and poems, in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with
scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as

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 well as inferences drawn from the text.

Learning Experience Activities Evidence-Based Strategies &

Guidelines

Learners will use Hypothesis to This activity covers several key

develop an annotated version of the generative strategies. The most
novel that provides background and important of which are:
footholds for the story that will be
used both by the students and later Learning by Summarizing
be used by other learners at different
skill levels. Learning by Mapping

Learners will annotate the novel in Learning by Teaching – As students

three ways: work through the novel and their
learning objectives, they will be
1) At the conclusion of each annotating the book in order to make
chapter, learners will write a the material, both the novel and the
summary based on a series of learning objectives, more accessible
prompts. In the first several to classmates at different skill levels.
chapters, these annotations This focus will be explicit.
can go in any order, so
students moving at a slower Worked Examples – the students
pace can take advantage of essentially provide their own
seeing summaries before scaffolding through the use of the
writing theirs. As the book bonus questions and the ability to see
progresses, different students each other’s summaries early in the
are tasked with leading off to book.
ensure all students are able to
complete the work. These There are several UDL strategies
summaries are written after employed in these assignments:
each chapter, although half

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 the class will use the GUIDELINE 1 -Perception
audiobook to complete each Interact with flexible content that
chapter. doesn't depend on a single sense like
sight, hearing, movement, or touch.
2) Throughout the book students
will answer “bonus” questions, GUIDELINE 2 -Language & Symbols
which are based around key Communicate through languages that
minor points. In this way, create a shared understanding.
advanced students help
struggling students without GUIDELINE 3 - Comprehension
impeding their own progress. Construct meaning and generate new
These annotations also help understandings.
students develop the ability to
infer key implied points. As CHECKPOINT 5.3 -Build fluencies
the novel progresses, there with graduated levels of support for
are fewer bonus questions practice and performance
and the work becomes less
directed and scaffolded as
students build their
understanding.

3) Each chapter students gain

bonus points for looking up
and annotating difficult
vocabulary.

Students use Tiki Toki, their chapter Generative Strategies:

summaries, and the Google Forms
they used to track the development of Learning by Summarizing
Bilbo’s character to create a video
post outlining the development of the Learning by Enacting - In all video
character over the course of the posts, students receive bonuses for
novel. Cosplay

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 This is a learning activity and UDL Strategies:
assessment for objectives 1 and 3
GUIDELINE 3 - Comprehension
Construct meaning and generate new
understandings.

CHECKPOINT 5.3 -Build fluencies

with graduated levels of support for
practice and performance

CHECKPOINT 3.2 - Highlight

patterns, critical features, big ideas,
and relationships

CHECKPOINT 2.5 - Illustrate through

multiple media Students use the
Tiki Toki stories feature to create
posts that feature their video
explanations.

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 Part 4 | Technology Selection

Technology 1 Technology 2 Technology 3

Name of
Technology & Tiki Toki Hypothesis VSDC Screen
Link (if available) Recorder

Learning Timeline creation Annotated novel Creating training

Experience creation videos for
activities the students
technology will
help to support or
facilitate (Pull
from above)

Describe how the

affordances of the The multimedia Hypothesis’ Simple screen
technology will functionality of annotation and recorder that
help support or Tiki Toki allows discussion allowed me to
facilitate your students to create feature will allow screen capture
planned activities a robust virtual students to video that I later
described above re-telling of the engage with the added narration
story and to material directly to to create videos
engage with and to showing students
multiple collaboratively how to use
representations of build necessary course
the story understanding. apps
including audio
and video.

Technology 4 Technology 5 Technology 6

Name of Youtube.com Windows Google Forms

Technology & Moviemaker
Link (if available)

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 Learning Youtube features Used to add This is used to
Experience audiobooks narration to allow students to
activities the students can training videos answer the same
technology will access to support showing students survey questions
help to support or their learning how to use Tiki and generate a
facilitate (Pull Toki, Hypothesis data set to track
from above) Youtube will also and Youtube character
host the motion development
picture, in full or within the
in clips, version of course’s Tiki Toki
the book selected timeline

Youtube will host

student video
uploads for
multimedia
assignments

Describe how the A key element of Simple The key

affordances of the the course is that functionality to affordance here is
technology will students will record narration the tracking of
help support or experience the over existing answers and
facilitate your story of the novel video. ability to use to
planned activities selected through compile so
described above a multimedia students can
experience receive data sets
including: indicating how
they answered
• Annotated the same
text questions over
• Audio time
• Movie form

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 Part 5 | Evaluation Plan
I. Evaluation Aims:

My project is based around creating a long-term independent learning project

explained in detail above. Because most of my assignments are versions of
ones that both I, and 100s of other teachers, have used successfully, the
general instructional strategies don’t need a great deal of evaluation and most
of my Evaluation Aims are intended to identify and correct potential secondary
problems.

My Evaluation Aims are:

1. Formative Evaluation of my tech-enhanced learning experience:

a. To ensure that all instructions and supporting materials are

accessible/understandable to my learners and that my learners know
how and where to find them.

b. To determine whether the chosen technologies are:

➢ Well-suited to the educational purposes for which they are used.
➢ Accessible to all students from both a logistical and UDL
perspective. (There is a great deal of overlap between these two, but
some logistical issues, slow connections etc. are only tangentially
covered in UDL).
➢ Enhancing the learning experience. (SAMR)
➢ Well-suited to facilitate the assessment of student work and
instructional strategies
➢ User-friendly, easy to learn, and supported by well-made tutorials
➢ Not limiting to students who are attempting to go beyond the
simple bounds of the assignments
➢ Enhancing or constraining the learning experience in ways
unforeseen
➢ Generating secondary benefits (technology skills, soft skills,

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 creativity)

c. To determine whether the selected instructional strategies are/can be:

➢ Well-suited to the learning objectives and standards selected for
this course
➢ Well-suited to generating secondary benefits within the course of
instruction (tech skills, soft skills, assessment, classroom
management)
➢ Of appropriate length to facilitate achievement of the objectives
➢ Modified to improve/accelerate the learning process for students

2. Assessment of student outcomes

➢ Are students achieving their learning objectives, if not, why not?

➢ Are the course, technology, and instructional strategies set at an
appropriate level of difficulty?
➢ What can be adjusted to facilitate more effective learning?
➢ To assign final grades to students

II. Evaluation Use

Like all good formative evaluation, mine will be used to identify strengths
and weaknesses - of my instructional strategies, technology choices, and
student entry characteristics - to then revise one or more of them to “for
purposes of revising the instruction to improve its effectiveness and appeal”
(Tessmer, 1993, p. 11).

Some of this evaluation and revision will take place during the planning
stages with some revision and improvement also taking place as the first
student cohort is going through the material. After each assessment tool is
used, and whenever instructors identify a problem even if it does not occur
during formal formative evaluation, the design of the element in question
will be revisited and alterations made. Alterations/issues that cannot be

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 addressed before/during the course7 will be recorded and taken into
account during post-implementation revisions. (and will also affect how
summative assessments are implemented).

III. Formative evaluation methods

I have broken down my evaluation plan into two stages, the first occurs
during design, the second during implementation.

1. During Design – This stage is primarily designed to formatively evaluate

all elements of the course with the exception of student
learning/outcomes. (Although of course the evaluation has enhancing
learning/outcomes as a primary goal). The elements will be:

a. Expert Review process (Tessmer, 1994, p. 4) - to vet the

assignments and their content.8
b. Initial Expert Review with a content expert and myself to identify
places where the instructions, technology use and supporting
materials are most likely to be confusing/difficult.
i. My experts will also be parents whose input on tech
engagement will be considered in that context.

My expert reviews were both completed. I used a Google Form, linked here,
and I also talked through the entire course and assignments with both experts.
The suggestions made and acted on were:
• To require students to make explicit textual references at several points.
• To simplify the video recording and uploading process, which I did by
eliminating Camtasia and its training from the course and recording a
new Youtube to Tiki Toki training.
• Simplifying the course sylllabus

7 For example if a problem emerged with Hypothesis during the 10 th week of the project.
8 Expert names are not included here, but there will be two expert reviewers employed, one a
former head of the English department at multiple middle and high schools in Maryland, the
other an international expert in competence-based education.

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 • Adding more explicit directions to multimedia assignments.
• Mentioning the possibility of drafting assignments in word and then
cutting and pasting into both Hypothesis and Tiki Toki due to the small
boxes both provide for writing text. These suggestions were added to the
video trainings.
• Ensuring all images were licensed
Otherwise all feedback was positive and on the question “Are the activities
for objective 1 sufficient, aligned and well-suited to the learning objectives?”
both experts chose “Strongly Agree” and offered the same answer to the
identical questions related to Objectives 2 and 3.
Both experts also agreed that the altered training materials for Hypothesis,
Tiki Toki, and Youtube would be easily understood by students.

c. Dyadic Interview (Id. at 5.) with two students at slightly different

levels discussing their experience attempting to engage with areas
identified during b. One would be a student assumed to be
reading around a 6th grade level, slightly ahead of the material and
one who is around mid-5th grade or slightly behind.

This item was done slightly out of order and with one student and one adult,
due to availability. What was learned during this interview is that the activities
were accessible and understood but that the training materials, which were
primarily written, were difficult to understand – primarily Camtasia, but also
the first version of Hypothesis – and would be better as videos and if they
simply focused directly on the limited affordances students actually needed.
(They were subsequently changed to videos).

d. Think-Aloud Protocol (Id. at 7.) with two students similar or the

same as those used in C, working through problem areas identified
in b or c.

i. Students will also use the Think-Aloud Protocol to work

through all key affordances of the course technology.

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This was completed with the same group as previously used and students were
able to understand and easily use course technology when provided with the
new training materials.

These evaluations were conducted as soon as possible after the activities were
designed to allow for maximum revision time. Based on those evaluations, the
content expert and myself then revisited the instructions and supporting
materials and make alterations to solve any identified problems.

2. During implementation

a. Interviews – During implementation there will be regular interviews

with participating students. In general the students selected for
interviews will be those performing at/near the bottom of the
group. Both Dyadic and one on one interviews will be used.

b. Unit Summative Assessments – I plan to borrow unit summative

assessments used by different teachers to assess the skills my
independent learning unit will be intended to teach.9 If my
learners struggled or if their mastery of the skills in the context of
my units didn’t transfer, I would examine how, adjust the past
units and also apply that learning to upcoming learning.

c. Tracking student performance throughout the project. If students

are being well-served then their performance on activities should
remain relatively static throughout the course. By evaluating
performance continuously and comparing it across tasks I can
determine:

i. Whether particular tasks poorly designed

9 These would be altered to remove any references to specific content (for example if that
teacher used a different book as a reference in the assessment) and then given to my learners
at various points in their learning.

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 ii. Whether learners struggling with tasks that involve certain
technologies or certain affordances within technologies

IV. Evaluation Criteria and Data:

Course Design and Technologies

The Evaluation Criteria and the Evaluation Aims will be largely identical with
the various processes used to assess whether the Evaluation Aims have been
met. The main means of evaluation will be anecdotal, with feedback given
informally.

Likert scales will be used to quantify expert and learner opinions vis a vis the
Evaluation Aims, but the anecdotal testimony will form the bulk of the
feedback. In general, where there were concerns from either experts or
students about accessibility or suitability, changes were made prophylactically.

Student Learning

Student learning will be assessed based on rubrics which assess progress

towards achieving learning objectives. The criteria on these rubrics will be
primarily achieved during activities but students not meeting the criteria
during normal course activities will have the opportunity to post alternate
scores on periodic exams. Rubrics are included in Appendix A.

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 Part 6 | Project Deliverables Timeline

Hours to Total time

Task Due Date Complete (in hours)
Task

Selecting Course book: The Hobbit was selected. It 11/12 2 hours 2

was the correct level of textual complexity and the
only issues were minor passing references to drinking
in the text and extreme violence in parts of the film,
that were not used in the course.

Learning Objectives: Standards were selected and 11/18 3 hours 5

from those standards learning objectives were derived
and written in student friendly language to be shared
on the syllabus. This was completed early but
frequent revisions were made throughout the later
activities

Rubric Design: Simple, student-friendly rubrics were 11/19 1 hour 6

created for each objective.

Technology Training Materials: Training materials 11/22 5 Hours 11

were drafted for Hypothesis, Camtasia, and Tiki Toki.
After evaluating them with a student and an adult, it
was determined to switch from written documents to
videos and to narrow the focus to specific affordances
students need to complete assignments.
Camtasia was also dropped from the course and a
Youtube to Tiki Toki video created to substitute for
the role Camtasia was intended to play.
The training videos were produced using VSDC
Screen Recorder and Windows Movie Maker for the
sake of simplicity and because Camtasia’s free
version included a watermark
These guides are linked in the course syllabus

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 Evaluation: See explanation above 11/24 2 hours 13

Syllabus/Course guide was completed in Google 11/25 4 hours 17

Docs. Revisions were made as different elements of
the project were completed/revised

Initial Chapters – Hypothesis: A series of 11/27 6 hours 23

assignments were completed for Hypothesis. These
assignments primarily address Objectives
1 and 3.

Objective 3 - Assignments for the whole book were

completed for Objective 3 – Chapter Summaries –
were completed and scaffolding assignments – Bonus
Questions – were added for Chapter 1 to demonstrate
the concept.

For Objective 1, a series of questions intended to

highlight the character development of Thorin
Oakenshield, a secondary character, were begun as
were a series of assignments based around the book’s
villains. Only enough assignments for proof of
concept for the Objective 1 assignments were
completed.

Sean Canavan Page 26

 Book Section for Tiki Toki – All Tiki Toki 11/25 11 hours 34
assignments that will be used to teach Objectives 1
and 2 were completed and added.

For Objective 1, a series of assignments using a

Google form which students will reuse over 10
different chapters, was completed. The assignments
for each chapter were then created with the Google
form linked and a Summative Assessment was
added.

For Objective 2, which focuses on multimedia

comparisons, seven assignments were created which
require students to engage with a part of the story
through four different media.

Evaluation 1: This was completed as detailed above. 11/26 3 hours 37

Evaluation 2: A student and an adult were engaged 11/27 2 hours 39

in using the various course tools to evaluate them
and make suggestions as detailed above.

Unit Summative Assessment: A series of 11/28 30 Minutes 39.5

assessments was located and chosen.

Additional Builds: I finished building the villains 11/28 2 hours 41.5

assignments for Objectives 1 in Hypothesis and
added an alternate assignment at the end of the book
to allow students to demonstrate mastery of
Objectives 1 and 3.

Total Hours to Complete Project: 41.5

Sean Canavan Page 27

 Appendix A
Common Core Standards with Derivative Learning Objectives.

STANDARD 1: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3

Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as
how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

KUD FORMAT
Understand: Essential Questions:

That characters change during a story as a How do stories help us learn about
result of their own actions and the actions of ourselves?
others.

That characters change during a story as a

result of outside forces including time.

That when people change, it changes how

they perceive others

That part of changing is learning things

about yourself that were always there.

Know: Do:

Some characters change over the course of a Students, supported by the text, will be able
story, whereas others do not. to describe a character at the beginning and
end of his/her/its story arc, and identify the
That the goals and desires of characters differences.
often change over time as the characters
themselves change. Students will be able to identify the events in
the story that caused the character changes.
That authors often make minor characters
very limited in complexity Students will be able to identify, and cite
examples of ways the author demonstrates a
character’s awareness of his/her/its own
internal changes.

STUDENT VERSION

This is the language of the objectives as conveyed to students:

Objective 1:

• We are going to learn how authors show characters changing.

• We are going to learn to explain how characters change over the course of a novel.

• We are going to learn to recognize the key things that made a specific character
change.

Sean Canavan Page 28

 RUBRIC

Excellent Good Keep Working

Can explain the evolution of Can explain the evolution of Not ready yet
a character from the a character from the
beginning of a story to the beginning of a story to the
end. end.

Can explain how key events Can explain how key events
changed the character. changed the character.

Can explain how the

character’s changes affected
how they see the world and
others.

Can explain main ways that Can explain how an author Not ready yet
an author shows a shows a character’s
character’s personality and personality.
subtler examples.
Can use specific examples
Can use specific examples from the story to explain a
from the story to explain a character’s personality.
character’s personality.

Can predict how a character

would respond to a new
situation based on something
that happened in the book.

STANDARD 2: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.7

Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or
viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they "see" and
"hear" when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch.
KUD FORMAT

Understand: Essential Questions:

That different media affect how we How does the way we tell a story change the
understand a story and the characters in it. nature of the story?
Know: Do:

That some media are better suited for Explain how the different media in which a
showing/conveying certain types of story is presented affects the presentation.
information, feelings, or concepts than
others.

Sean Canavan Page 29

 Compare and contrast how different media
tell the same story and identify the
differences in audience perception.

STUDENT VERSION

This is the language of the objectives as conveyed to students:

Objective 2:

• Explain how different ways of telling a story can affect how the story makes us feel.

• Recommend and explain the best way of telling a story for certain purposes based on
previous examples we have seen.

• Identify differences in a book, an audiobook, and a movie of the same story.

RUBRIC

Excellent Good Keep Working

Can read a story and make Can read a story and make a Not ready yet.
and explain a good good suggestion with reasons
suggestion for whether to use for whether to use writing,
writing, audio, or video to tell audio, or video to tell the
the story. story.

Can give good reasons why

and examples of similar
stories and how they worked
in the suggested media.

Can explain why an artist

probably made the choice
they did.

Can explain the differences Can explain the differences Not ready yet.
in a story told in two media in a story told in two media
of writing, audio, and video. of writing, audio, and video.

Can explain how the media Can explain how the media
affected the storytelling. affected the storytelling.

Can explain how the story

might be different in another
media.
STANDARD 3: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3 and CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.10 (These
two standards are taught and assessed together)

Sean Canavan Page 30

 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and
poems, in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the
high end of the range.

Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences
drawn from the text.

KUD FORMAT
Understand: Essential Questions:

That authors use a diverse range of tools to What do stories tell us by giving us the
convey and explain feeling, character and information we need to infer meaning?
plot.

Know: Do:

Authors often rely on subtle insinuations Use context clues and knowledge of the
and characterizations as stories get more characters and settings in a story to infer the
sophisticated meaning of unfamiliar material

Comprehend both explicit and implicit story

elements and how they affect the overall
story.

STUDENT VERSION

This is the language of the objectives as conveyed to students:

Objective 3:

We are going to be able to read and understand books at a 6 th to 8th grade level by:

• Recognizing and understanding what the author says directly.

• Recognizing and understanding what the author does not say directly, but what they
want us to figure out.

• Explain how an author shows us something without saying it directly.

Rubric

Excellent Good Keep Working

Understands all major and Understands all major parts Not ready yet
almost all minor parts of the of the plot and how they
plot and how they affect each affect each other.
other.

Can explain all key plot Can explain most key plot Not ready yet
points and important things points and important things
about characters that are not about characters that are not
explicitly stated explicitly stated

Sean Canavan Page 31

 Can offer persuasive theories Can offer persuasive theories Not Ready Yet
for why the author made the for why the author made the
storytelling choices they did storytelling choices they did
regarding major and minor regarding major plot points
plot points

Sean Canavan Page 32