Millennium Museum Project by Kristen Zage
 
    Your project sounds wonderful!! I think it is very important for students to understand how to produce quality web pages and your project will lead them in the proper direction. Will each student have a web page of their own or will you put it together into one to make a comprehensive view of the last one thousand years? Either way I think it will work. I would suggest having one main page and then adding links to each student's page.
     I think it is a great idea for the students to look at lots of different web sites before they get started on their own... perhaps it will make the process smoother if they have a general design before they start. Will they be working with strictly with a template or is that just an introduction? This sounds extremely beneficial in a room where there are limited computers. How many computers will be in your mini lab? You said you saw the students once  a week and that they were not supposed to be given extra outside work. Would it be possible to work in conjunction with the regular classroom teachers to have the students work in class when they finished regular assignments? This way the students would be engaged in learning and using their time wisely.
    I think your project sounds great. I can't wait until it is finished so I can explore ways to incorporate it into my class.

Research Project with 5th Grade by Margie Adkins

    This project sounds like a great one! Often time educators think of projects as being over with quickly. I think it is wonderful that your project starts in September and continues through May. The skills you will be teaching are vital to our students. Many students just get on the world wide web and play. It will be a great lesson to show them the different search engines and how to use them effectively. One of my favorite, no fuss search engines is Google. This is a nuts and bolts search engine that takes you to sites  you want to go to without all of the garbage you don't want or need.
    It sounds like you will have several difficult situations to deal with. For your non-readers I would suggest pairing them with a student that could help them. It might also be helpful to have some adult volunteers come in to help. With parent volunteers you could send a few students to the library to work thus helping out the single computer dilemma.
     I will be anxious to see the results of your project!