Lesson Planning with TPACK and SAMR: Grammar
Lesson planning: active and passive voice
- TPACK Design:
- CK: Active vs. passive sentence structure.
- PK: Inquiry-based learning using real-world journalism.
- TK: Google Docs for live collaboration.
- SAMR Evaluation:
- S: Typing worksheet answers into Microsoft Word.
- A: Taking a Quizizz test with instant hints on wrong answers.
- M: Peer editing a classmate’s essay using Track Changes.
- R: Creating and testing audio press releases as a PR Crisis Agency.
This article takes one grammar topic and shows two things: how to design the lesson using TPACK, and how to evaluate different versions of the lesson using SAMR.
Designing the lesson with TPACK
The topic is active and passive voice. The structural difference between “The teacher assigned homework” (active) and “Homework was assigned” (passive).
- CK: Understanding active vs passive sentence structure and how to transform one into the other.
- PK: Inquiry-based learning with real-world application. Students discover why the rule matters (passive voice is often used to avoid blame), not just memorize the formula.
- TK: Google Docs for real-time collaboration and digital news archives for source material.
The lesson: The teacher projects a real news headline written in passive voice: “Mistakes were made during the financial crisis.” In shared Google Docs, student groups rewrite the headline into active voice: “The bank CEO made mistakes.” The teacher watches the cursors live and uses the comment feature to prompt students: how does active voice shift the blame? How does it change the tone?
Live collaboration (TK) enables real-time peer editing and teacher feedback (PK) while students manipulate grammatical structure (CK) using real-world texts. That is TPACK.
By using inquiry-based learning with real-world application.
Instead of memorizing rules, students discover why passive voice is used in real news headlines to avoid blame. The pedagogy drives the lesson toward critical thinking, not rote memorization.
Evaluating with SAMR
Substitution
Students type answers to a “change Active to Passive” worksheet in Microsoft Word instead of writing with a pencil. Same task, different tool.
Augmentation
Students take a grammar quiz on Quizizz. If they answer wrong, the platform gives a hint and a digital flashcard explaining the rule before the next question. Same quiz, but with instant feedback.
Modification
Students use Track Changes in a collaborative document to edit a classmate’s essay that is deliberately written in heavy passive voice. They highlight passive verbs and leave margin comments explaining why active voice makes each sentence stronger. The task shifts from answering grammar questions to peer editing.
CK: Active vs passive voice structure (content)
PK: Inquiry-based learning where students discover why voice matters in real-world journalism (teaching method)
TK: Google Docs for live collaboration (digital tool)
All three connect: live collaboration lets students manipulate grammar using real news texts while the teacher gives feedback in real time.
Redefinition
Students form a “PR Crisis Agency.” They get a fictional scenario where a company made a serious mistake. They write, record, and publish two audio press releases using a podcasting tool: one in passive voice (to deflect blame) and one in active voice (taking full responsibility). They survey another class with digital forms to measure which version sounds more trustworthy. Grammar becomes a tool for analyzing persuasion. This task has no pen-and-paper equivalent.
What this example shows
TPACK helped design one specific lesson (the news headline rewrite). SAMR showed four ways technology could be used for the same grammar content, from shallow to deep. A teacher can use both: design with TPACK, then check the depth with SAMR.