Touro University California | EDU 741 | Technology Unit Outline

Technology Integration Unit Outline

Type only in the gray areas

Name: Using Blogs to Journal, create, and keep a digital portfolio.

Project Title: Math

Project Subject: Mathematics

Grade Level(s): High School - PreAlgebra /support math (Algebra support)

Email address: reick@nvusd.org

Essential Question: How can blogs be used to provoke mathematical discussion,

teach technology, and increase writing skills.

Scaffolding

Questions:

Approximate Length of Unit (days, weeks)

3 weeks

Goals:

Students will create a digital blog of their thoughts, and use constructive criticism to

critique their peers. Students will have a digital portfolio of their work.

Objectives:

Given a word problem, students will explain in writing the steps required to solve that

problem using a blog.

Students will provide constructive criticism to their peers.

Students will create

Day-to-Day Sequence of Activities:

Day 1: Students login to kidsblog.com. Give students their passwords and logins.

Have students answer the following questions “What topic in Algebra is my favorite.”

and “What do I need the most help with in Math?” Once students answer these

questions, they must then respond to 3 other blogs and give constructive criticism.

Day 2: Have the students create a math problem. Post a picture of a city street on the

blog and then the students must blog 5 Word problems related to the scene. We will

have a contest and vote on the best one. The chosen problem will be discussed

tomorrow.

Day 3: Post the winning question. Have students work together in pairs to create a

solution to the problem. They must then blog the steps they took to arrive at their

solution.

Day 4. Share other responses with the class.

Day 5: Word problem practice. Choose students at random and have them verbally state

the steps they took to arrive at their solution. Use this day as an opportunity to discuss

good mathematical reasoning and how to properly talk in mathematics. Give a

homework assignment: Choose one of the problems in class and write about it in your

blog. Responses must be at least one paragraph.

Day 6- 12: Each day one word problem will be given at the beginning of the class. The

students must blog the solution on their blog. At the end of the week, they will be

Touro University California | EDU 741 | Technology Unit Outline

critiqued on good mathematical reasoning, having a correct response, and depth of

response. Does their answer and reasoning make sense?

3rd

week: ASSESSMENT: The students will connect their laptops to the projector and

will share the layout and look of their blog with the class. They will give a 3 minute

presentation on their favorite math word problem, and the steps taken to solve it. They

will also talk about what they learned.

Students will continue to use the blog throughout the year and will be assessed regularly.

They will be expected to show improvement in their reasoning and ability to solve

complex problems. This can be documented in their portfolio.

Software and Hardware – Lab Time – needs

Students all have their own laptop – 1:1 environment.

Accommodations for Differentiated Instruction

Resource Student: Shorter responses for blog. (One sentence or 2 instead of a

paragraph) Students can write on paper if typing on computer is

difficult. Also, during week 2, students can do half the amount

of problems. Depending on student’s 504 plan or IEP other

accommodations may be given as necessary.

Gifted Student: Gifted students should be expected to write longer responses

using mathematical equations. They will be taught Microsoft

Equation editor and will embed these equations as jpg’s into their

blog. In addition, these students will be given more complex

problems and tasks.

REFERENCES – List websites, books, magazines, and other resources used to collect content information for this unit www.kidsblog.com

National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)

Algebra Textbook or other Math textbook

Kuta Software