Blues Song Activities

Promotes cognitive skills of synthesis, analysis, and evaluation. Encourages communication through small group discussion, online discussion web, peer conferencing on student-created blues songs, and publication of pieces on the discussion web for appraisal and/or enjoyment of students.

Electronic Chapters Project (***Award Winning***)
In a teamed-teaching unit, students researched the evolution of cultural and social issues in areas of Westward Expansion, Immigration, and Civil Rights. They practiced writing clear details with supporting evidence and examples and evaluated ways of improving drafts through workshopping. Finally, students in teams synthesized research from text and online sources into an electronic PowerPoint chapter book to be used as an interactive learning tool for the other students in the program and those that participate in later years. Students evaluate website sources and email an expert for additional information on their topic. Length: 3-4 weeks (depending on if teaming).

My Personal Inspiration Project (***Two-time Award Winning***)
(an in-depth profile experience)
Students evaluate personal decisions and life experiences relating to three questions: Who am I? Where have I been? Where am I going?. The purpose is to reflect and learn what internal desire drives their happiness. Use poetry and lyrical website resources for a broad selection. Use online personality tests for efficient and professional ananlysis of student’s charater strengths and weaknesses. PowerPoint is a personal expression of self using images, text, and recordings. LENGTH: 4 to 5 weeks

Field Trip Project
Students research field trips based on cultural experience, educationally entertaining (fun), and economic cost. By assuming ownership for their field trip, they are generally more interested in using tools of persuasion. Internet enhances periodical research. PowerPoint is the choice of the business world. Emphasizing advertisement tools, students create a multimedia presentation to sway peers to their trip recommendation. Optional: Allow students to build a website for their presentation. LENGTH: 2 to 3 weeks

Students research a topic online and in the media center that they are already knowledgeable about. Purpose: to learn more deeply their topic. Using Word, PowerPoint, or HTML, students develop a tutorial that others can learn from by interacting with the document and its linked resources. A list serv is used to share resources with classmates and exchange ideas. Query letters are sent to experts through email for guidance on the topic.

Students form teams of 3 or 4 and collaborate on a interactive book on the Civil Rights Movement for a targeted audience between 11 and 14 years of age. This picture book will include resources, images, and sound clips of speeches and music for individuals to understand the times and the situations and persons who influenced the era. List servs and discussion webs are used for collaboration of ideas and resources between teams and students. Query letters are emailed to experts for verification of facts and for guidance to additional knowledge.

Vocabulary Study
Here's a old activity reinvented into an interactive project that uses higher level cognitive thinking:  Analysis, Evaluation, and Synthesis.

Exploring Excel
This is an Excel tutorial for Educators.

To Kill a Mockingbird
A variety of activities include online journal forms, literary discussions webpage, and links to supplemental material. The results have been higher teacher-student communication because everyone must "comment" online for all students and the teacher to review and reply to their thoughts. Additionally, there was an increased practice of higher level thinking skills, such as greater depth analysis literary elements stemming from the increased communication of thoughts.

The Learning Tree
A variety of activities include online journal forms, literary discussions webpage, and links to supplemental material. The results have been higher teacher-student communication because everyone must "comment" online for all students and the teacher to review and reply to their thoughts. Additionally, there was an increased practice of higher level thinking skills, such as greater depth analysis literary elements stemming from the increased communication of thoughts.

Poetry Analysis
Students evaluate poetry of contemporary poets with the broad access of Internet resources. They discuss in small groups ideas related to poetic elements, then write their own pieces emphasizing use these elements. Discussion can be enhanced with discussion webs and class listserves.

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