NETS-S: 2. a, b, & d; NCSS: X. b & c
Activity IV: Moodling the Civil War. Students learn about life during the Civil War using a Wiki in Moodle. Moodle is an open source course management system used to create online courses. One of the features in Moodle is a Wiki option where students create a webpage focusing on collaboration to create documents for learning as a community. These tools are used so that the entire class can edit a document together, create a class project, or each student can work individually on content or a specific topic to share with their classmates. It helps build a supportive classroom community where all students become responsible for what and how they gather and learn information. Valley Park School District provides this course management system to teachers.
Students in an 8th Grade United States History class collaboratively research information on the United States of America and the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Students take “sides” in the Civil War and begin to research different aspects of life as a soldier and the effect the war had on those at home. Students post their findings in the Moodle Wiki to share with other groups.
Each group posts the information they find, as well as links and resources that they use. Other students evaluate the information that they read and ask questions or dispute the validity of the information based on research they gather. Students ask for verification and additional information from other teachers in the district who have knowledge in their subject area. They also seek verification from other outside resources, such as historians at Civil War museums and the National Parks Service who maintain the battlefields of the Civil War.
NETS-S: 2. a & b; NCSS: X. a – h
Activity V: Writing your Legislator. Each year, gifted elementary and middle school students compose letters to their legislators in Missouri and members of the Valley Park Board of Education. In these letters, students address and advocate for their unique academic and social-emotional needs. Students also learn to be proactive members of society. During this process, students review past legislation and mandated efforts related to gifted education, both in the state of Missouri and throughout the nation. They also discuss weekly legislative updates provided to the teacher by a lobbyist for gifted education. Students are encouraged to practice and successfully navigate the Missouri House of Representatives and Missouri Senate web sites, based on their grade level. By exploring these web sites, students use technology to gather information about contacting their legislators and to gain knowledge about current political issues in the state of Missouri.
In composing their letters, students use letter-writing guidelines on The Gifted Association of Missouri’s Successful Advocacy web site. Students compose their letters during a lengthy process of draft writings, self and peer editing opportunities, as well as teacher editing and assessment, prior to using Microsoft Word to type their final letter. Students know how their letters will be assessed because they receive a Business or Friendly Letter Scoring Guide at the beginning of the letter writing process. The scoring guide outlines the following criteria for students’ letters to be evaluated: layout/design, conventions, sentence structure/fluency, ideas/content, and organization. Once the letters are complete and assessed, they are compiled into a classroom book.
Ultimately, the goal is for students to use their letters to create a PowerPoint presentation, resulting in a slide show of numerous letters from students in the Gifted Education Program. Copies of the PowerPoint can be burned to disc and easily mailed to elected officials and presented to groups, such as the Board of Education.
NETS-S: 2. a & b, 3. a – c; NCSS: X. c & d
Images obtained from Comstock Images, 244 Sheffield St. Mountainside, NJ 07092
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Activity VI: Researching a Country. The essential elements of the National Geography Standards are used by students in the 6th grade World History classroom to research a country of their choice. The Central Intelligence Agency, infoplease, Vivismo, About.com, and the National Geographic are a few tools that students use to research the country. The students are introduced to various search engines on the Internet since this is, for most, the first time they have been allowed to do an Internet search at school. Students are introduced to the topic of website validity and look for reliable sources as they research.
Students discover similarities and differences in the economies, governments, culture, and geography of their chosen countries. After completing the research, the students create a project to share with the class. The students create a Webpage, a travel brochure about the country using Microsoft Publisher or PowerPoint, or request an alternative project based on their creativity. When complete, the students share with their peers the knowledge they gained.
NETS-S: 3. a – d; NCSS: X. a – i
Activity VII: Writing a Bill. Students in an 8th Grade Social Studies Enrichment class choose a topic based on an issue that they view as important or something they want changed, in order to develop a bill. Once they have the background information on the topic, they begin to put together a bill for submission to eCongress (sponsored by the Youth Leadership Initiative at the University of Virginia Center for Politics). This online project allows student groups from all over the country to research and develop their own bills, while learning the process of how a bill becomes a law. Students also collaborate with others across the country to revise bills and vote on those they feel are of high quality.
NETS-S: 3. a – d; NCSS: X. b – f
Activity VIII: Analyzing Global Warming. Gifted middle school students in grades 6 through 8 analyze many current and global issues that impact our world politically, socially and environmentally. One of the issues that they research is global warming. The students watch the movie An Inconvenient Truth (David, Bender, Burns, & Guggenheim, 2005) because it addresses many environmental issues relating to global warming. The video also presents the opportunity to analyze environmental issues in the context of political party agendas, scientific evidence, and economics. Integrating the video or any portion of AIT in the Classroom: Educator’s Resource curriculum materials requires students to explore scientific research and Earth’s global environment set in a historical context. In addition, students analyze the role of politics in influencing information presented to the greater public and how that information plays a role in shaping the opinions of people.
NETS-S: 4. a – d; NCSS: X. a – i
Activity IX: Writing an Amendment. Students in an 8th Grade Social Studies Enrichment class research ways to improve the government of the United States. The students look for issues or problems in the current government and develop amendments to the United States or Missouri Constitutions. As the students plan their amendments, they also analyze solutions and predict possible effects of the amendments on the way government functions and the lives of United States citizens. Each amendment is introduced to the class (the students call it the Constitutional Convention). After the discussion, students vote on whether or not the amendments should become part of the United States or Missouri Constitutions.
NETS-S: 4. a – d; NCSS: X. a, c, d, & g
Activity X: Investigating a Controversial Topic – Cloning. Within a unit on medicine, gifted students in a multi-age (grades 6-8) middle school class study cloning as a subtopic. To introduce the activities, students brainstorm their current knowledge about cloning and issues surrounding it and complete a classroom KWL Chart. A KWL chart is a graphic organizer with three columns so that students can organize What I Know, What I Want to Know, and What I Learned. Students use the information from the Know section of the KWL Chart to write a short position paper about cloning. Their current knowledge about cloning is used to write a rationale explaining their position and beliefs about the topic.
An introduction to stem-cell and reproductive cloning is provided. The students use Grolier Online Encyclopedias, as well as information from appropriate books and magazines, to gather research about both types of cloning. After researching, students work in pairs to create a graphic organizer using Inspiration software that compares and contrasts both types of cloning. Inspiration software, is used so students can create their own visual map of facts, key ideas, and connections between larger concepts. This software allows the flexibility to format conclusions in ways that help them learn, as well as in ways that are presentable for others. The graphic organizers are graded for accuracy of information. After the initial position papers are returned, students elaborate on their positions based on the new knowledge in order to type a final position paper. Ultimately, the goal is to post positions in a discussion forum or a classroom blog. A discussion forum or classroom blog allows students to share ideas and opinions they may not always feel comfortable sharing during a face-to-face classroom discussion, especially concerning controversial topics such as cloning. Also, it allows students more “think time” about a discussion and gives them an opportunity to access the discussion or blog from home if they would like to add any new comments. This activity encourages students to share their ideas and knowledge while also engaging students in the practices of writing to inform, debate, or persuade, depending on the focus of the discussion or blog.
NETS-S: 4. c; NCSS: X. a & b
Activity XI: Comparing Democracy: Yesterday & Today. As 6th grade World History students learn about the basics of democracy in Ancient Greece and Rome, they compare life and citizenship in those civilizations with present day life in the United States. Students research various types of democracy and consider how each type developed and evolved over time. In addition, students look at the effects each government had on the citizens of each country.
The students use Smart Ideas to create a Venn diagram in order to compare the governments of the ancient civilizations with the present government of the United States. Smart Ideas is a concept mapping software that is compatible with use of a Smart Board. Smart Ideas offers free trial downloads, but there is a charge if you choose to use it past the trial period. Smart Ideas software is similar to Inspiration software. Students use Mr. Donn and the Constitution Center to research government. After analyzing each government, the students look at the Constitution of the United States, particularly the Bill of Rights. To help the students better comprehend what the Bill of Rights stands for, students create their own Bill of Rights using the original as their guide and type them to share it with the class.
