My poem- A Recipe for the Blues
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AeXtw-TmoTjiZGNtNng0ajRfNGhud3JzZ2Zt&hl=en
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Technology Requirements
1. Webspiration - Concept Maps
2. Diigo- Social Bookmark
3. Google Docs - Web-based Tool
4. Does my linked book cover count???
Just in case it doesn't, I uploaded a photo. See "Comments."
2. Diigo- Social Bookmark
3. Google Docs - Web-based Tool
4. Does my linked book cover count???
Just in case it doesn't, I uploaded a photo. See "Comments."
Curriculum and Personal Connections
Curriculum Connections
Any type of inquiry project is going to meet some standards in all of the content areas. Like Annette says, "Everything can be connected in some way." Some of the standards met in 6th grade Language Arts include:
Reading: Analysis of Nonfiction and Informational Text 6.2.4
Writing: Process and Features
Organization and Focus 6.4.1-6.4.4
Research Peocess and Technology 6.4.5-6.4.7
Evaluationa and Reflection 6.4.8-6.4.10
Writing: Research Application 6.5.3
And depending on whether or not an oral presentation was involved-
Listening and Speaking:
Organization and Delivery of Oral Communications 6.7.4-6.7.7
Applications 6.7.11-6.7.14, 6.7.17
Personal Connections
Our corporation was part of the Purdue Project Based Learning Collaborative several years ago, so several of the teachers in my building have been using this approach for awhile. I know that some people don't agree that PBL is inquiry, but it CAN be if you build it around a question that doesn't have a single answer and that's approach we took. We were trained by working through the process just like we have throughout this blog - only we worked in groups. As a result of this training, in addition to developing several PBLs, several of us revamped our "research project" assignments into inquiries. Since it's been awhile, it's been good for me to work through this again. It's refreshed my memory and given me some new ideas - I especially like Rankin's Pre-search.
Any type of inquiry project is going to meet some standards in all of the content areas. Like Annette says, "Everything can be connected in some way." Some of the standards met in 6th grade Language Arts include:
Reading: Analysis of Nonfiction and Informational Text 6.2.4
Writing: Process and Features
Organization and Focus 6.4.1-6.4.4
Research Peocess and Technology 6.4.5-6.4.7
Evaluationa and Reflection 6.4.8-6.4.10
Writing: Research Application 6.5.3
And depending on whether or not an oral presentation was involved-
Listening and Speaking:
Organization and Delivery of Oral Communications 6.7.4-6.7.7
Applications 6.7.11-6.7.14, 6.7.17
Personal Connections
Our corporation was part of the Purdue Project Based Learning Collaborative several years ago, so several of the teachers in my building have been using this approach for awhile. I know that some people don't agree that PBL is inquiry, but it CAN be if you build it around a question that doesn't have a single answer and that's approach we took. We were trained by working through the process just like we have throughout this blog - only we worked in groups. As a result of this training, in addition to developing several PBLs, several of us revamped our "research project" assignments into inquiries. Since it's been awhile, it's been good for me to work through this again. It's refreshed my memory and given me some new ideas - I especially like Rankin's Pre-search.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Wishing
One of the things that surprised me about this process was how hard it was to find quality websites. It seemed like no matter what keywords I used, I kept getting the same sites. Some sites that I thought would have historical information, like The Blues Foundation, didn't. I think this is one of the main reasons why I use Pathfinders with my students. They would give up before they even started if they had to sift through the sites.
Even though I put a lot of effort into it, I feel like I didn't have enough time to do the project well. I like to think that I give my students plenty of time for the process; we usually take 2-4 weeks per project- and if I see things are going slower than anticipated- I'll add time. But this experience makes me more aware of the time constraints we all have.
I think my topic was still too broad, but I'm not really sure how I could've narrowed the history part - because I really wanted an overview. I guess I could've focused on a specific time period or a specific region or style of Blues.
Some of the technology requirements were frustrating - not creating the documents but creating the various accounts. I still don't know what I'm going to do for my fourth requirement. Maybe I'll have to publish my poem as a PowerPoint, but I really don't like that as an option.
Somewhere -sorry, I don't remember which article-I read that inquiry was more of a spiral approach that linear one, but I like YouthLearn's ("An Introduction to Youth-based Learning") description better: "...an inquiry-based approach is more web-like in how students pursue knowledge, as opposed to the linear, vertical, and compartmentalized structure of traditional education." The spiral only has one path, but the web has multiple paths - and I know I wore them out going back and forth between the stages. You didn't really see that in my blog because I did a lot of editing when I probably should've been commenting on my own posts. I think Annette suggested that we do that in one of her emails?? But I didn't remember it until it was too late.
Even though I put a lot of effort into it, I feel like I didn't have enough time to do the project well. I like to think that I give my students plenty of time for the process; we usually take 2-4 weeks per project- and if I see things are going slower than anticipated- I'll add time. But this experience makes me more aware of the time constraints we all have.
I think my topic was still too broad, but I'm not really sure how I could've narrowed the history part - because I really wanted an overview. I guess I could've focused on a specific time period or a specific region or style of Blues.
Some of the technology requirements were frustrating - not creating the documents but creating the various accounts. I still don't know what I'm going to do for my fourth requirement. Maybe I'll have to publish my poem as a PowerPoint, but I really don't like that as an option.
Somewhere -sorry, I don't remember which article-I read that inquiry was more of a spiral approach that linear one, but I like YouthLearn's ("An Introduction to Youth-based Learning") description better: "...an inquiry-based approach is more web-like in how students pursue knowledge, as opposed to the linear, vertical, and compartmentalized structure of traditional education." The spiral only has one path, but the web has multiple paths - and I know I wore them out going back and forth between the stages. You didn't really see that in my blog because I did a lot of editing when I probably should've been commenting on my own posts. I think Annette suggested that we do that in one of her emails?? But I didn't remember it until it was too late.
Waving
Identifying an audience is a big part of writing. We teach our students to R.A.F.T.S. before they write: R=role of the writer (what viewpoint are you writing from?), A=audience (whom are you writing for?), F=format (what kind of writing will you be doing?), T= topic (what are you writing about?), S=strong verb (what is the purpose of your writing? - persuade, entertain, compare/contrast, etc.)
With the Community PBL project that we do, the students present their final product, a PowerPoint presentation, to important adults from the community - the mayor, Parks & Rec director, city council members, etc. Having an audience other than the teacher is extremely powerful.
Students have submitted projects individually to contests, but this is something I would like to have everyone participate in. I'd also like to explore web publishing for student work.
As for my final product, I think I will just share it with the class. I would normally have several revisions before I would publish my work, so I don't feel it would be polished enough to put out there for the world to see. I will probably share it with my students though. :-)
With the Community PBL project that we do, the students present their final product, a PowerPoint presentation, to important adults from the community - the mayor, Parks & Rec director, city council members, etc. Having an audience other than the teacher is extremely powerful.
Students have submitted projects individually to contests, but this is something I would like to have everyone participate in. I'd also like to explore web publishing for student work.
As for my final product, I think I will just share it with the class. I would normally have several revisions before I would publish my work, so I don't feel it would be polished enough to put out there for the world to see. I will probably share it with my students though. :-)
Wrapping
I've decided that my final product will be a poem, Recipe for the Blues.
I loved all the product suggestions that Annette lists under the Wiggling step. I always wondered how the different projects could really be equal in value, but as I've gone through this I see that it works as long as the student submits his or her research to show that they've done the necessary work. I'm a big fan of rubrics and use the 6+1 Traits of Writing as part of my evaluation process, so I would need to take some time to see how that would fit.
I always provide planning tools, guidelines, samples, and checklists for student projects. I marvel how I got through my own schooling without them. Our teachers never gave us much to go on- other than a general topic and format (narrative, descriptive, informational, etc.); we just had to guess what they wanted and hope for the best!
I loved all the product suggestions that Annette lists under the Wiggling step. I always wondered how the different projects could really be equal in value, but as I've gone through this I see that it works as long as the student submits his or her research to show that they've done the necessary work. I'm a big fan of rubrics and use the 6+1 Traits of Writing as part of my evaluation process, so I would need to take some time to see how that would fit.
I always provide planning tools, guidelines, samples, and checklists for student projects. I marvel how I got through my own schooling without them. Our teachers never gave us much to go on- other than a general topic and format (narrative, descriptive, informational, etc.); we just had to guess what they wanted and hope for the best!
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