Sarah Jessie

Wiki Lesson Plan- Written Component

In this lesson, students will participate in a lesson using a Wiki in order to collaboratively
publish an informational writing piece about a famous individual from history. A Wiki is a Web
2.0 tool which allows students and teachers to access and edit content on a common web page.
Additionally, wikis permit asynchronous communication and group collaboration across the
Internet. (EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, 2005). The simplistic design of Wikis and its
collaborative nature allows students to be effective participants in an online learning community,
building many new literacy skills that students need as they grow as digital citizens. Teachers
are able to see evidence of student growth through the timeline of the Wiki, which shows which
students add/edit content, and when (Sanden & Darragh, 2011). Also, Lamb (2004) specifically
addresses many of the benefits in using Wikis in composition. Some of these benefits include;
motivation to write, collaboration tool, promotion of close reading and editing strategies, and
giving students the opportunity to write for a wider audience.
This lesson focused specifically on Common Core Standards in the area of writing.
Within this lesson, students are synthesizing information they have gathered as a group to
complete a written product. CCSS.ELA.W.2.7 calls for students to participate in shared research
and writing projects. Also, as students begin to form their written paragraph, they are utilizing
research to answer a specific question in which they had previously determined with their group,
which meets CCSS.ELA.W.2.8; students are to gather information from provided sources to
answer a question. Finally, the overlying goal within this lesson and unit is that students are able
to produce an informational paragraph that meet the guidelines set out by CCSS.ELA.W.2.2,
which states, Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and
definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.

In addition to curriculum standards, this lesson meets many ISTE standards. Students
have met ISTE standard 2 sub-standards a, b, and d. These standards specify that students are
using digital media to communicate work collaboratively to support individual learning and to
contribute to the learning of others. This standard also focuses on the communication of learning
to wide audiences and the contribution to a team project to produce original works. This is all
demonstrated through student collaboration of research and ultimate publication of their
paragraphs on the class Wiki. Also, ISTE standard 3 sub-standards b and d are addressed as it
states, Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Locate, organize,
analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.
Process data and report results. Students are participating in each of these are they have
gathered their research from multiple digital sources and are now evaluating the information they
have gathered to communicate their findings in a written paragraph.
KTS calls for teachers to use technology to design and plan instruction (KTS 6.1). This is
acknowledged in this lesson as I was able to organize my lesson framework with the Wiki itself.
While students will have the benefit of publishing their work with the Wiki (among other uses), I
was able to structure my lesson, while providing models for my students using the Wiki itself.
Also, to use technology that will facilitate student learning (KTS 6.2), I provided students with
digital experiences of publication, as well as access to a search engine that pushes student
thinking as they evaluate search engine results. Lastly, I modeled ethical and legal use of
technology (KTS 6.3) as I clearly modeled the use of the provided tools in the appropriate
manner and through the modeling of putting research found into my own words.
Many ILA Standards are addressed throughout this lesson as well. One such standard is
ILA1.2, Candidates understand the historically shared knowledge of the profession and changes

over time in the perceptions of reading and writing development, processes, and components.
This is recognized through the acknowledgement of literacy going beyond pencil and paper, and
into a digital format. This lesson recognizes the need for the specific skill sets needed when
writing digitally and communicating this to the wider audience of the internet. Also, ILA2.2
states Candidates use appropriate and varied instructional approaches, including those that
develop word recognition, language comprehension, strategic knowledge, and readingwriting
connections. This is evident as students build their writing skills through the implementation of
the reading they have previously completed. Students are interpreting their research to develop
paragraphs to communication their comprehension of the topic. Finally, ILA5.1 says,
Candidates design the physical environment to optimize students use of traditional print,
digital, and online resources in reading and writing instruction. Throughout this unit students
have used various resources (online, print, etc.) to complete research and are now publishing
their writing digitally. Students have access to each of these resources in our classroom through
our classroom library, 11 classroom iPads, 3 classroom computers, and print writing tools. This is
also evident in our seating arrangements that allows for collaborative work.
This lesson represents the TPACK model. Content that is being addressed in this lesson
directly relates to the Common Core State Standards for second grade in both reading and
writing. Additionally, the specific topic being addressed follows the expectation set out by the
Oldham County Schools curriculum framework for English Language Arts. Students will
continue to build on this knowledge throughout the remainder of the school year. Also, quality
teacher pedagogy is evident through the use of gradual release in modeling (I do), assessment of
the model (we do), and student work (you do). Students are given opportunities to work with
peers in mixed-ability groups to ensure students are given support in varying levels. Also, by

using sentence frames, students are being guided to have quality conversations in their table
talks. Finally, TPACK addresses the use of technology to enhance student learning. This is done
through the use of the Wiki (creation, editing, adding images, etc.), completing a poll, and
reflection through Padlet. Each of these allow students many opportunities to interact with
technology to showcase and build their understanding of the content.
In conclusion, this lesson was carefully created in order to best meet the needs of the
students in my classroom. Standards from Common Core, KTS, ILA, and ISTE are each met
throughout the lesson and ultimately, students are growing as digital citizens through the use of
grade-level content.

References
EDUCAUSE (2005, July). 7 things you should know about Wikis. Retrieved from
https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7004.pdf
Lamb, B. (2004). Wide open spaces: Wikis, ready or not. EDUCAUSE Review, 39(5)
(September/October), 36-48.
Sanden, S. & Darragh, J. (2011). Wiki use in the 21st-century literacy classroom: A framework
for evaluation. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 11(1), 6-20.