This lesson plan outlines a week-long project for 4th grade students to learn about holiday traditions from different cultures. Students will be split into groups and research four assigned holidays using various digital tools and media. Each day, the groups will complete assignments about their holiday, like creating posters, blogs, podcasts and wikis. They will share their work during presentations. Students will be evaluated based on their participation, displayed knowledge, project accuracy, and collaboration/resourcefulness. At the end of the week, students will discuss what they learned and provide feedback on the lesson.

1. ASSURE Lesson Plan Model
Lesson Plan on Holiday Traditions for 4th Graders
6 Components to ASSURE
- Analyze Learners
- State Objectives
- Select Methods, Media, and Materials
- Utilize Media and Materials
- Require Learner Participation
- Evaluate and Revise
Analyze Learners:
Learner’s General Characteristics
The material contained within this lesson plan is geared for 4th grade students to receive an introduction
to multi-cultural America by explaining holidays and their traditions. Instruction and material will be age
appropriate where the average age range is 9-11 years. No disabilities are visibly present or on file for
the group of students. The children consist of multiple ethnicities where the majority of the children are
of white backgrounds with a little over ¼ of the class being of a different culture. Within the class, there
are 2 Muslim children, 3 Jewish children, and 2 African Americans. The children seem excited to learn
about other cultures’ religions and seem generally open minded.
Entry Competencies
The children have received prior instruction and have basic knowledge with the following:
1) Computers – using basic programs for word processing, Image Editing (MS Paint)
2) Internet – Image Searches, Definition and Synonym Searches
3) Cultural Specific Holidays
4) Knowledge of the game Jeopardy
5) How to create Vokis
6) Arts and Bots
7) Twitter
8) Facebook
9) Media and Materials
10) Blogs
11) Webquests
12) YouTube and Storytelling
13) Podcasts
14) Digital Imaging
15) QR
16) Voki
Learning Styles
The classroom of 20 students is divided between two major learning styles – hands on learning and
visual learning. Group projects are ultimately preferred to individual projects. Children prefer
assessment with practical application and games/questions that present the children’s knowledge.

2. Paper and pencil questionnaires are discouraged due to poor representation of the child’s actual
knowledge. This discouragement comes from bad test taking skills, anxiety over taking the test, and the
“Mind Freezes” that seemingly occur during the tests. To accurately assess the students, test knowledge
without them knowing they are being tested.
State Objectives:
The classroom of 24 4th grade students (about 1/4 of the children being culturally diverse [2 Muslim
children, 3 Jewish children, and 2 African American children) will list at least 10 facts about four holidays
of different cultures on a wiki, creating an altered image to combine various aspects of the four covered
holidays, and participating in a final group discussion to gain feedback and knowledge about what they
learned during the week after listening to Vokis about the holidays, creating Arts and Bots based on an
assigned holidays, using a pre-selected Twitter account to research live thoughts on holidays, reading
various Facebook posts about other holidays, creating a blog post about a holiday celebrated chiefly in
another country other than the USA, creating posters about their assigned holidays, watching YouTube
videos and Storytelling videos on their assigned holiday, creating a podcast to tell others about their
assigned holiday, completing a webquest on holidays in general, group discussions, and creating a QR
code to take the students to their wiki pages so everyone can collaborate, and will document all
assignments on their wiki in no less than 5 days and with an 80% success rate.
Select Instructional methods, media, and materials:
The lesson will begin with a classroom discussion of the student’s existing knowledge on various
holidays. After the group discussion, children will be split up into groups where they will be required to
create a poster telling about a specific holiday. After the posters are created, students will go back to
their assigned groups where they will be given instruction on what pages to add to their wiki and what
they need to document in the wiki. Students will also be told that the overall goal for the week is to be
able to give at least 10 facts about four different holidays using solely what’s in their wikis from ea rlier in
the week.
(Each activity will provide a hands on and visual approach to learning the content without the need to
rely upon spoken lectures directly given from the teacher.)
(Each day will be about a specific holiday and each assignment for the day will be about that given
holiday)
Materials needed: Computer; Art supplies for posters (if they do not want to use a computer), internet
Media needed: Photostory, Movie Maker, Photoshop, Voki.com, wikispaces.com, podcast software,
facebook.com, twitter.com, blogger.com, zunal.com, qrstuff.com, youtube.com
Monday will use the following methods and all work will be done in groups that were assigned:
- Voki lecturer “Robot Robert” for general information on one of the four holidays
- Facebook Page Research on one of the four holidays
- Twitter research on one of the four holidays
- Blog post creation and commenting on one aspect of one of the four holidays
- Creating Posters about one of the four holidays
- Watching YouTube Videos based on one of the four holidays

3. - Watching a Photo Story about one of the four holidays
- Creating a podcast to give details about a specific holiday
- Completing a webquest on the given holiday
- End of the day discussions to recap and students will update the Monday part of their wikis
Tuesday will use the following methods and all work will be done in groups that were assigned:
- Voki lecturer “Robot Robert” for general information on one of the four holidays
- Facebook Page Research on one of the four holidays
- Twitter research on one of the four holidays
- Blog post creation and commenting on one aspect of one of the four holidays
- Creating Posters about one of the four holidays
- Watching YouTube Videos based on one of the four holidays
- Watching a Photo Story about one of the four holidays
- Creating a podcast to give details about a specific holiday
- Completing a webquest on the given holiday
- End of the day discussions to recap and students will update the Tuesday part of their wikis
Wednesday will use the following methods and all work will be done in groups that were assigned:
- Voki lecturer “Robot Robert” for general information on one of the four holidays
- Facebook Page Research on one of the four holidays
- Twitter research on one of the four holidays
- Blog post creation and commenting on one aspect of one of the four holidays
- Creating Posters about one of the four holidays
- Watching YouTube Videos based on one of the four holidays
- Watching a Photo Story about one of the four holidays
- Creating a podcast to give details about a specific holiday
- Completing a webquest on the given holiday
- End of the day discussions to recap and students will update the Wednesday part of their
wikis
Thursday will use the following methods and all work will be done in groups that were assigned:
- Voki lecturer “Robot Robert” for general information on one of the four holidays
- Facebook Page Research on one of the four holidays
- Twitter research on one of the four holidays
- Blog post creation and commenting on one aspect of one of the four holidays
- Creating Posters about one of the four holidays
- Watching YouTube Videos based on one of the four holidays
- Watching a Photo Story about one of the four holidays
- Creating a podcast to give details about a specific holiday
- Completing a webquest on the given holiday
- End of the day discussions to recap and students will update the Thursday part of their wikis
Friday will use the following methods and all work will be completed individually:
- Digital Imaging to alter an image to combine all four holidays into one collaborative image
- Free Research on any of the four holidays to find any potential missing details from earlier in
the week using QR codes linking to the other children’s wikis
- Finally, updating the Day 5 section of their wiki will be required where children can use any
information in their wiki to list at least 10 facts about the 4 holidays we covered
o Final Group discussion to see how far the students came from the first group
discussion as well as how they enjoyed the assignment

4. Utilize Media and Materials:
Preview the Materials:
The teacher will preview all resources to ensure everything is in working order and is appropriate for
both the lesson and the audience intended for. Teacher will also review all material for accuracy and
legitimacy as well as provide feedback before each presentation to ensure proper information is being
presented.
Prepare the Materials:
The teacher will prepare all supply stations needed during each day of the lesson. The teacher will also
test each resource to ensure each resource is available and accounted for before requiring the use of
the material in the classroom setting or by the students.
Prepare the Environment:
The classroom will be organized in a way to promote group learning as well as provide optimal room for
each project to be worked on. Space will be provided in order for works in progress to be left alone
during periods such as lunch or recess so no child’s work will be tampered with. Computers will also be
made available for each group for research purposes and will be positioned in such a way that usage can
be directly monitored by the teacher.
Prepare the learners:
The teacher will present the overall plan for the week. An outline of the various types of assignments
will be provided and the week’s notes will be provided in such a way that will require the students to
expand upon terms and phrases listed in notes by taking part in the learning process. During this time,
the evaluation categories will be listed and briefly explained to ensure everyone is on the same page
before beginning the project based learning experience. Lastly, expectations will be covered (such as
expectations of appropriate technology usage and how to do it, how to avoid plagiarism [or stealing
others’ work], and the expectation that each child wants to learn and experience holidays in cultures
apart from there own and that if a child has a question, it must be asked otherwise learning will be
stunted.
Prepare the Learning Experience:
Classroom will be set up in such a way that each presenting group will be the center of attent ion during
their presenting period. The presenting group will stand at the front of the classroom with each
member taking turns to present a piece of information. During each presentation, the class will be
expected to answer questions when asked, pay attention to speaker, and sit facing the presenting
group. During presentations, groups will have their computers turned off and any ongoing project
moved to the “Safe” areas for works in progress. The teacher will stand at the back of the classroom
and observe not only the presenting group but also how well each audience member (students)
participate, answer questions, and anything that the presenting group requires (within reason). The
classroom door will also have a “do not disturb – presenting” sign to cut down on unneeded outside
distractions that may disturb the classroom setting during presentations.

5. Require Learner Participation
Large Group Activity
Students will participate in whole classroom discussions centered on the material covered by both
teacher and anyone talking. During this time, students will write down various bits of information on
the board relating to the assignments.
Small Group Activity
Students will have the chance to take part in small groups where all research, project creation, fact
gathering, and creative flow will take place. The small groups will be work groups of 5 students each
with varying ethnicities in each group to promote diversity. Within these groups, each day they will
have assigned tasks (research, combining research into assigned project type, and collaborating to finish
projects the best they are able.) Within each task will contain roles that must be delegated to each
member of the group. The roles will not change each week, however, group members wi ll rotate
between roles to ensure fairness and to make sure all roles are performed with varying degrees of
efficiency.
Single Person Activities
Children will be required to work in single units with various art projects, research for art projects, and
also within their individual roles for small groups children will be on their own for a bit with only
elements of feedback to guide them forward.
Technology and Meetings
On the final day of the week, the children will be required to participate in a group discussion after
having completed the wiki assessment (day 5) where the children will each discuss different holidays
which will serve as the final form of assessment. Students will also be given the chance to give feedback
on the lesson at this time.
Evaluate and Revise
Student Achievement and Assessment
Students will be judged on a variety of criteria which will be observed throughout the week. The criteria
for assessment will not be based on answer a worksheet grading system but rather performance,
knowledge, accuracy of projects, participation, collaboration, resourcefulness, and more. The scale for
each category is as follows:
Participation and Determination: 15%
Displayed knowledge of subjects: 40%
- This will be determined by participation in research, participating in group presentations, helping
others within team, asking questions and understanding answers, etc.
Accuracy of Projects: 25%
- Information presented within each project will be judged on factual accuracy, relevancy to event, and
more.

6. Performance/Collaboration/Resourcefulness: 22%
- This will be judged on what resources are utilized. 20% of the 22% will be awarded for following
assignment specifications (using materials needed, not forgetting any aspect of assignment, etc)
-- The extra 2% will be awarded to students who innovatively use new technologies not listed in
assignment instructions, tying in technology discovered in previous lessons, etc. This is merely a small
bonus for hard working individuals.
Evaluation of Lesson – Technology and Overall
The student will ultimately be given a chance during the final group discussion to assess the strengths
and weaknesses of the lessons as well as their overall thoughts on the lesson, the tools we used, and
how they would improve the lesson for future classes.