Jamie Affronti Mary Jeanne Dicker Farnsworth Middle School, Guilderland Let’s Begin!

BRAINSTORM Please take out the brainstorming sheet provided to you. Take 2-3 minutes independently to brainstorm topics related to the question: “How Do Events In History Impact Today’s Society?”

Hooking them from the start… We played these videos to help the brainstorming process for the students ANIMOTO #1 ANIMOTO #2 ANIMOTO #3

Think/Pair/Share Now that you have written down some ideas, please turn to a partner and share out what each of you came up with. Wiki developed to help kids: pwynwiki » pathfinderSS8

Our “Big Idea” Several Criteria: 1.Students will have a year long cross- curricular project combining S.S. and L.A. 2. Incorporate choice to (hopefully) increase motivation and engage the learner.

Criteria Continued.. 3.Incorporate skills/strategies into the project that are normally taught in seclusion and develop 21 st century skills. (ex. note taking, research paper, interview/survey, etc.) 4. Have students become aware of issues today that relate to history to make an authentic connection to their lives.

October Introduce Project/Brainstorm possible topics  Choose topic, essential questions and research question  Conference with teacher about topic  Get topic and questions approved  Begin research November Continue researching  Conference with teacher about note taking  Student reflection about project  Start bibliography  Think about your final product and audience December Continue research  Conference with teacher about progress  Student reflection about project January Continue researching  Conference with teacher about progress  Student reflection about project February Peer conference—discuss your ideas for final project  Student reflection about project March Student reflection about project  Develop a survey  Conference with teacher about survey April Begin outlining research paper  Conference with teacher MayWrite research paper  Finalize your final project—work on it!  Notify your parents about presentations and celebration JunePresent your final project  Final reflection on research project

First Steps…. 1.Students were given the same brainstorming activity that you just experienced which focused on prior knowledge of students. 2.Next, the project was explained more in depth, including the deadlines/ components and the essential question unifying the learning 3.After this, they were able to browse through several types of materials we had pulled on numerous topics to help explore their options. 4.Students were given a deadline to have questions approved by Jamie or Mike.

Along the way on our journey… After students had chosen a question, our focus turned to researching and evaluating resources. Students were required to keep a research journal (a composition notebook) with all their notes from sources. Later on in the process we would use these to evaluate student progress.

Mike and Jamie spent 2 blocks each (160 minutes), with their classes utilizing the library and their resources. This included Mary Jeanne guiding the students through the use of Pathfinder on the library web page, OPAC search forms, ext. This part of the journey lasted from October to January. A Collaborative Effort…

March and April…. After direct instruction on the “How To’s”, students developed and conducted surveys or interviews. The information gathered from the surveys and interviews would be incorporated into the research paper and final products. Students began outlining their final research papers and brainstorming possible final product ideas.

The Home Stretch…. Students completed research papers in the month of May and began working on final products. The papers showed depth, understanding, and synthesis. They compiled original conclusions based on their investigations.

Final Presentations…. Students created ANIMOTO’s to advertise their topics for students to choose to view. TOP ANIMOTOS Students created their own final products. Many chose to do trifold posters or Power Point presentations; however, some students chose to be more creative and create documentary style dvds. As a team, we spent two days (a total of 160 minutes) presenting. Students spent 10 minutes presenting to peers.

ABCD Tri-fold (1) The tri-fold includes the presenter’s research question at the top. (2) The tri-fold includes a variety of graphics that relate to the topic question, the first-hand research, and space does not seem to be wasted. (3) The tri-fold is neatly organized, easy to follow, and any writing is clear to read. The tri-fold does not meet one of the requirements under the A standards. Comments: The tri-fold does not meet two of the requirements under the A standards. Comments: The tri-fold does not meet any of the requirements under the A standards. Comments: Information shared based on tri-fold The presenter provided lots of detailed information in the allotted time and seemed extremely knowledgeable on the topic. The presenter provided lots of detailed information in the allotted time. The presenter provided good information in the allotted time, but more could have been shared. The presenter did not provide much detailed information in the allotted time, leaving a substantial amount of the time unused. Inquiry The presenter went beyond answering questions by providing details and expanding on the answers. The presenter answered the questions in detail, but did not expand on the answers. The presenter answered questions, but could have provided more detailed information. The presenter provided answers that were irrelevant to the questions asked and did not provide adequate details.

*During presentations, students were required to participate in an audience inquiry activity (creating and asking questions to the presenters). *The four team teachers were responsible for the formal evaluation of the presen- tations based on the rubric.

Tri-fold Exhibitions—Audience Inquiry Directions: For each presentation that you see, think about and record three questions that you would like to discuss with the presenter. The questions should not warrant a yes or no answer. Presenter # 1:_____________________________ (name) Presenter # 2:_____________________________(name) Presenter #3:_____________________________(name)

1.Collaboration- our team members were willing to use “team time” and content time because we valued the experience; started out with another team; able to break down into “bite size” pieces; social interaction among students. 2.Spread Out Over Time- we weren’t overwhelmed ourselves; there was time to do assessment as project progressed; time for reflection on our part. 3.Personal Interest- choice and inquiry helped to increase student motivation and quality of products along with the incorporation of technology.