Project URL:
http://teachersnetwork.org/everywhere/Shaw/
How it works:
This online project is based on
a children's game where students are asked, "if you
could take three people to dinner, who would you choose?" The
students write stories about their three guests in essay-style.
Resources should be cited, with a combination of Internet
and print references. Their story becomes a class project
that will be turned into a web page, and the link submitted
to the "Take Someone to Dinner" project.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
-Use the Internet and the library as research tools.
-Write an essay using the 5-paragraph format.
-Write a well-written story.
-Improve keyboarding skills through creative writing.
-Define the terms "hero" and "heroine."
-Identify character traits of heroes and heroines.
-Apply critical thinking skills to consider the various choices people
have made in depicting heroes.
-Demonstrate proper behavior in social situations.
-Scan and email photographs and drawings.
Overall value:
This project is a study in using a child's
imagination to gain a better sense of how heroes can affect people's
lives. Hopefully, it will also teach students the importance of finding
true heroes to emulate.
Because
this project is on the web, it allows people from
all over the world to post their heroes to the site.
Classes can then talk about how different cultures
look at heroes, and can compare and contrast choices
according to location.
Standards addressed:
iste's National Education
Technology Standards:
Students demonstrate a sound understanding of the nature and operation
of technology systems; Students are proficient in the use of technology;
Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity,
and promote creativity; Students use productivity tools to collaborate
in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications,
and produce other creative works; Students use telecommunications
to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and other
audiences; Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate
information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences; Students
use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from
a variety of sources; Students use technology tools to process data
and report results; Students evaluate and select new information
resources and technological innovations based on the appropriateness
for specific tasks; Students use technology resources for solving
problems and making informed decisions; Students employ technology
in the development of strategies for solving problems in the real
world.
Language Arts National Standards:
Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies
of the writing process; Demonstrates competence in the stylistic
and rhetorical aspects of writing; Demonstrates competence in the
general skills and strategies for reading a variety of informational
texts.
Tips:
Students, teachers and schools are also
encouraged to have a "Take Someone to Dinner" program where
they actually take someone to dinner, perhaps a special dinner for
local heroes, such as firefighters or police officers. They could
even have a dinner for an imaginary guest and then send proceeds
to a local charity or to purchase something for the school.
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Rosemary Shaw
About the teacher:
Rosemary Shaw teaches web design/computer technology at Millennium
Middle School, a fine arts magnet school in Orlando, Fl. She
won a Disney Teacherrific award for her "Backstage at
Millennium", a web site that links elementary students
to students in the middle grades at Millennium.
E-mail:
Rosemary_Shaw@scps.k12.fl.us
Subject
Areas:
Language Arts
Social Studies
Grade
Levels:
6-8
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