I was very interested to
read your proposal. Our fifth grade curriculum includes a unit on
chemistry and the idea of introducing kids to soap production would be
a great project and offer additional experiments. I do have some
questions and thoughts for you to consider, especially with the age groups
you have identified.
You must be careful in your assumption that every student will be "surely able to access and use a computer and the Internet properly". This is a big assumption considering the ages you identified. Not all students, even from affluent areas, are able to access the internet and use computers properly and effectively. Also, fourth graders function at a very different level than seventh graders do. You must also consider the population. Where do these students live? Do they have access to computers?
You might want to include some kind of an evaluation tool to assess the computer skill levels of the students with whom you are working. You state that students should "feel free to talk on electronic mails or the board provided by the teacher". Not all of the students in fourth through seventh grades will be able to use e-mail without proper instruction. Very few of those students will have any knowledge of boards for discussions. There should be some type of instruction included if these are some technology you want the students to utilize. A digital camera and scanner were listed as hardware that will be used. Students in this age do not have a wide knowledge or experiential base in utilizing this equipment.
According to your timeline, the students are to find articles, and then create a web page of their own, writing on the news they found interesting. Again, the age groups and technological ability levels of the students must be taken into consideration. They would require instruction on designing and building a web page and on proper researching methods to locate useable articles.
Mention was made of a virtual chem lab as a final step in the tutorial. Is this an established site or one that you must develop? Younger students have limited experience and interactions performing ‘formal’ lab experiments. Having them follow lab procedures would be quite feasible, but from my experience, this can be hard enough for them. I run chemistry labs from February through April for fifth graders. They have a difficult time performing formal science labs and write-ups. I would reconsider having them develop their own labs unless they were simple and guided on how to do so.
One last thought on the information presented in your timeline would be in regards to the evaluation. The students will have to evaluate their learning in the tutorial. What will be the format of your evaluation? Will they have a rubric to follow? Students at this age are not always adept at providing detailed feedback unless they’ve previously received training. They have a hard time with any great degree of self evaluation.
You posed some questions regarding your project, the first of which was finding appropriate software. Are you referring to software you must use to create the project or for students to use? You might want to find out what types of software schools are using, particularly the school from which you will pull students for your project. It might be easier if you know the kids have some experience in using the software. Another approach would be to look at your activities and use software that would make it the easiest and most manageable for you to create the various aspects of your project and also for the students to use.
I definitely think this is a great idea and topic for 4th through 7th graders. I speak from experience that this is a topic that would keep their attention. It’s practical and relates to their daily lives. In order for it to have more of an impact on the students, the activities have to designed for them to use. Although your ideas are wonderful, as a fifth grade teacher, they wouldn’t necessarily be practical for me to use within my classroom. The frustration level would rise with my students without continual teacher guidance and support. The rest of the curriculum doesn’t allow for that. These age groups require some sort of ‘comfort level’ when working with new things. You might want to pick one grade level and make your project appropriate for that level.
You also questioned the management of the program. I would be able to offer suggestions for this if you identified the classroom setting and technology availability. Will the students all have access to computers to be trained on the software and hardware? Will they be expected to do work on the computer outside of class? If this is a possibility, it would require them to have either a computer at home or extra computer time in their school day. Will the population of students have such access to technology and equipment? If there are only a few computers to be utilized at one time, you will have to consider activities to keep the other students occupied.
I believe this could be a great
project for students. It simply requires some modifications to be
practical within the classroom setting. I am more than willing to
give further feedback if you have questions. This is something I
would like to try within our next chemistry unit. Good Luck!
I was very interested in
reading your proposal. I think it would be a tremendous benefit and
provide insight on behaviorally disordered students. I had a behaviorally
disordered, attention deficit, hyperactive child in my fifth grade classroom
last year. It was a very challenging year, especially since I didn’t
really have the training to deal with him. This year we have two
emotionally disordered children. Your project sounds like it could
help any regular education teacher that comes in contact with the behaviorally
and emotionally disturbed students.
I’m very anxious to read about the outcomes of your research. The goals you’ve stated would be a tremendous resource to have on hand. Without having the training to deal with this type of student, each and every day became stressful at the thought of actively and positively engaging this type of student within a regular education classroom.
I do have a couple of questions for you regarding the set-up of your project. You describe your work environment as a ‘residential’ setting. Can you provide some insight into the specifics of your work environment. It would help provide a better picture and understanding for those of us that do not deal with strictly behavior and emotional disorders. This might also have an effect on how your research outcomes may be applied to regular education environments. Will the instructional settings cause too much of a difference when these types of intervention will be utilized within a regular education classroom?
You also stated that you plan to chart differences between on-task behaviors when engaged in computer time vs. classroom time. Will time of the day be something to be aware of? We did the same thing with the BD, ADHD student I had last year, but found that the time of day was a factor due to the effect of the medication he was taking. We faced many challenges in dealing with the time it took for his medication take effect and also when his medication was ‘wearing off’. Not knowing the students you plan to work with, could these be factors that also affect them?
One final question I have regarding your proposal is in reference to the research projects your students will engage in. What type of projects will these be? Will they choose the topic ad subject area?
It was definitely a challenging
year for me last year with the student I had. The insight your project
will give regular education teachers is immeasurable. Everyday is
a challenge and a surprise when working with these types of students.
Interventions that worked one day, often would not work the next.
I’m looking forward to reading about interventions and strategies
that worked for you to try to implement them to my setting and situation.
I’ll be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. Good
Luck!
This is a very interesting
way to enhance the learning of gifted students and an opportune time to
work on such a project. I have previously taught a gifted program
for fifth graders and worked with the gifted program established for the
sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in our district.
After reading through your proposal, I was left with many questions. Knowing the design of the gifted program within your school would be very beneficial to assessing the feasibility of your project. How long do the students meet per day or per week for the gifted program? Does the gifted program run for an entire year? Third through eighth graders in one program introduces a wide range of abilities and learning levels in one group. Will they all meet together in one group or do they meet by grade levels? If they meet in one group, how will you deal with the different ability levels between a third grader and an eighth grader? They will not have the same level of researching skills and this could easily set back your schedule for the project.
I also feel that the topics and time periods should be narrowed so as not to be too overwhelming for the students. Eleven students to cover a period of 1,000 years is a little much to ask for. Perhaps pairing the students up will help make this project easier for them and for you to manage.
When I taught the fifth grade gifted program, I encountered many set backs you might face. For example, we, too, were not to assign too much work outside of the class for homework. The work was to be done within the gifted program itself. Many of my students chose to complete their research at home or on their own time because they would not have completed their projects. They had access to computer and the internet throughout their school day, but many finished their work at home. Will your students have access outside of the gifted program to complete their work should they choose to do so? It also took my group of fifth graders over eight weeks of computer time to build a simple hyperstudio project on the topic they researched. These eight weeks did not include the initial instruction on building cards and stacks in hyperstudio. They simply took longer to complete their work than expected. With this in mind, how long does the gifted program run within your district and how long to you expect this project to take?
You have a great project idea
here, but I fear it may be overwhelming for both you and your students.
You might want to consider breaking this project down, or expecting it
to take longer than you’ve outlined in your proposal. If you have
any questions, feel free to let me know. Good Luck!
PROJECT: Dianne's Internet Search on Springfield, Illinois
What a great project idea and a wonderful way to enhance the social studies curriculum. This will be a fantastic resource for more than just third grader teachers in Springfield. Our fifth grade class took a field trip to Springfield to learn and see first hand some of the historical sights we teach about in our social studies curriculum. Your project will be an excellent resource for us to use and even for teachers who teach about Illinois.
I think your project is well laid out and quite feasible within the classroom setting. Through the variety of hardware you plan to use with your students, you will be giving them exposure to many devices that will enhance their future work. This is sure to be a terrific experience for your students.
You posed a few concerns regarding you project, the first of which was the effective use of one Internet hookup in the classroom. One way to alleviate this problem might be to break your students up into groups for this project. If this will not be feasible in the overall scheme of your project, perhaps you could assign them to ‘computer time’ throughout the day. By allowing one or two students time to work on the computer while the rest of the class is working on the curriculum, you could be maximizing the use of the one Internet hookup. This would require careful scheduling and finding a means of assurance that the student who is using the computer during times delegated to other curricular areas understands the work they may have missed while on the computer.
The other concern you expressed was extending this type of project throughout the year to enhance all areas of the social studies curriculum. I definitely think this is possible. Once the students are accustomed to using and searching on the internet, you will be able to easily add and build to their existing knowledge base. They will become more proficient at utilizing and surfing the web which will be a valuable resource for them in their future schooling.
I think you are providing your
students with a fresh and exciting approach to social studies. Great
job and good luck!