Project Greeting Card
HOW IT WORKS
Project Greeting Card is designed to give fourth-grade students a fun
and meaningful way to study poetry and prose while improving
writing and reading skills, and working
collaboratively while learning about graphic designing.
The students complete a six-week unit on poetry
and prose studying their favorite authors such as Shel Silverstein and
Jack Prelutsky. They research their poet using a CD-ROM
encyclopedia and the Internet. Following the
poetry, the children study the ‘genre’ of greeting
card business. They learn how to use the
computer to create customized holiday cards for a
special someone. The students use the
software Print Artist and Shop and learn to
wordprocess using Microsoft Word. They will work
with their teacher and with the school’s art and
computer teachers to learn about illustration,
graphic design, and scanning, and how to download art
from the Internet and graphics programs. They create original cards
with their own poetry and prose. Project Greeting Card will provide the
opportunity for the older students to share their new
skills and knowledge with a younger student
when they design, create, and share a special
birthday card for the younger student and deliver it on
the child’s birthday.
THE STUDENTS
The students suitable for this project are third,
fourth, and fifth graders, ages nine through
eleven, but the program can be adapted to lower
and upper grades.
THE STAFF
Dina Galanti is a fourth-grade teacher at P.S.52.
Through her years of experience and many graduate and in-service courses, she has
gained the knowledge and skills needed to develop and implement
Project Greeting Card. She has been doing this program for a year. It
can be done without assistance, but volunteer
parents would be of help. Working
collaboratively with subject teachers is a plus.
WHAT YOU NEED
A computer with Internet access, a printer,
good quality paper, samples of greeting cards,
and graphics program such as Print Artist are
necessary, along with a CD-ROM encyclopedia
and Microsoft Word.
OVERALL VALUE
This is a fun and exciting way for students to
study and use poetry, improve language arts
skills, and develop computer literacy. The
children take great pride in creating their special
cards for their special person. Several English
Language Arts Standards are addressed. The
students read and comprehend at least four
books on the same subject, or by the same author, or in the same genre; read
and comprehend informational material; write and produce
a response to literature; and participate in one-to-one conferences with
the teacher. |