Standards and Beyond With Thematic Tools & Project-Based ...peggyhealystearns.com/FETC06/FETC06_Handout_Full.pdf · Standards and Beyond With Thematic Tools & Project-Based Learning

© Peggy Healy Stearns FETC 2006 Page 1

Standards and BeyondWith Thematic Tools & Project-Based Learning

Peggy Healy Stearns, Ph.D.Consultant and Software Designer

[email protected]

Synopsis: Use thematic tools and project-based learning to sustain creativity while addressing standardsand meeting cross-curricular objectives. Will feature lesson ideas, appropriate resources, and sampleprojects.

What is a thematic tool?• Thematic tools contain content that correlates with curriculum themes and standards.• They are open-ended enough to let you and your students adapt content to you own needs and

project based learning activities.

Why is Project-Based Learning an effective way to address the Standards?• PBL addresses multiple learning styles and intelligences• Provides opportunities for cross-curricular connections• Lets you address multiple standards within the context of a single project• Students are better able to internalize skills and concepts and are more likely to remember because

they are…o Involved in choosing the focus of their projectso Intrinsically motivatedo Actively engagedo Allowed to revisit a topic throughout the project and thus deepen learning

• Transfer of learning to other settings is enhanced becauseo Projects are authentic and closely related to real-world taskso Learning skills and concepts in context makes learning relevant and meaningfulo Students apply skills and concepts rather than simply memorize


Creating and RecreatingCommunities Past, Present & Future

Kindergartners Plan Their Field Trips

Grade: KindergartenEducator/coordinator: Paula McGirr, Maple West Elementary School, Williamsville, NYObjectives. Students become familiar with the school neighborhood and community, help plan their own

field trips, and learn basic mapping and geography skills.

Standards: Social studies, language arts; cooperative learning, decision making, NETSSoftware: Neighborhood MapMachineProduct Info: http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/product.asp?SKU=NEIV20Online Tour: http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/ProductExtras/neiv20/overview/export/popup.html

Overview: At the beginning of the year, kindergartners collaborate with the teacher to create a map of theschool neighborhood. The map is printed poster size and hung on the wall. Students refer to the map tohelp decide where they would like to go on their walking field trips. Before they leave, they use the mapto decide their route.


Kindergarten and 1st Grade Students Measure & Map School Grounds

Grades: Kindergarten and 1stEducator/coordinator: Kim Adkins, Librarian, Arthur Circle Elementary School, Shreveport, LAObjectives. Students learn and practice measurement, scale, mapping and geography skills; students giveoral and written directions.Standards: Math, social studies, language arts, cooperative learning, National Educational TechnologyStandards (NETS).Software: Neighborhood MapMachineShreveport Times news article:http://shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060131/NEWS04/601310318/0/NEWS01Product Info: http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/product.asp?SKU=NEIV20Online Tour: http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/ProductExtras/neiv20/overview/export/popup.htmlOverview: Students use yardsticks to measure the location of buildings, trees and objects on the schoolgrounds and then make a map and give written or oral directions for getting from one location to another.

Engineer City

Grades: 4 and 5 from 4 different CT school districtsSchools: Highland Park School, Manchester, CT; Vance School: New Britain, CT; Silver Lane School:East Hartford, CT; Hall Memorial School: Willington, CTEducator/coordinator: Diane Novak, Principal, Highland Park SchoolObjectives: Students will plan, design, and build a three-dimensional model of a new multicultural,inclusive, and ecologically minded community. Students learn about the infrastructure of communitiesusing Internet research, the expertise of the community experts/consultants, and the engineering designprocess. The goals were: (1) to have elementary students from four different schools work together tocreate a computer generated map of a new community; (2) to build three-dimensional model structures(buildings, bridges, stop lights/signs, etc.) for designated locations on the map; and (3) to developmultimedia advertisements to persuade people to live in the new community.

Standards: Math, language arts, science and social studies; group dynamics, problem solving, decisionmaking skills, NETS

SoftwareNeighborhood MapMachine, Tom Snyder Productions/ScholasticProduct Info: http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/product.asp?SKU=NEIV20Online Tour: http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/ProductExtras/neiv20/overview/export/popup.html

Community Construction Kit, Tom Snyder Productions/ScholasticProduct Info: http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/product.asp?SKU=CCKCCKOnline Tour: http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/ProductExtras/cckcck/cckmovie.asp

More information: www.highlandparkmischool.org (mi=multiple intelligence) [email protected]

Overview: Students from four different school districts collaborated to plan, design, and build a three-dimensional model of a new multicultural, inclusive, and ecologically minded community. At the start,students applied for one of the four inter-district Expert Teams: Transportation, Utilities, Construction,


or Planning and Zoning. Students learned about the infrastructure of communities via Internet research andthe expertise of the community experts/consultants, and the engineering design process.

Each school team used Neighborhood MapMachine to design their own neighborhood based on the overallguidelines set by inter-district teams. Students voted via email and named the new community, EngineerCity.

Students worked with city/town consultants and teachers to determine the types and location ofcommunity buildings, recreational facilities, transportation, services and utilities required to meet theneeds of a community with a population of 12,000-15,000. Expert Teams were given design challengesand began to create and construct community buildings using Community Construction Kit. They alsoconstructed bridges, utility poles etc. School Groups were issued building permits based on theirquadrant/neighborhood maps and, using Community Construction Kit, began the creation and constructionof housing, businesses, churches and other buildings in their neighborhoods. Using knowledge from theirelectricity unit in science, the students wired the utility poles so the streetlights lit up on the map.Family members, school administrators, teachers and consultants were invited to a final celebration oflearning and new friendships where students introduced their town and the Planning and Zoning teamshowed the multimedia advertisements and rap they developed to persuade people to live in the newcommunity.

STANDARDSNote: Refer to these standards, provided by Diane Novak for the “Engineer City” project, for the othercommunity projects described in this handout.

Learning Resources and Information TechnologyStandard I - Students will define their information needs and identify effective courses of action toconduct research, solve complex problems and pursue personal interests.

Standard IV - Students will apply evaluative criteria to the selection, interpretation, analysis,reorganization and synthesis of information from a variety of sources and formats.

Standard V - Students will use appropriate technologies to create written, visual, oral and multimediaproducts to communicate ideas, information and conclusions to others.

Standard VI - Students will evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of their own choices and uses ofinformation and technology for problem solving and communication.

Social StudiesStandard VI - Students will demonstrate knowledge of the rights and responsibilities of citizens toparticipate in and shape public policy, and contribute to the maintenance of our democratic way of life.

Standard IX - Students will use spatial perspective to identify and analyze the significance of physicaland cultural characteristics of places and world regions.

Standard X - Students will use spatial perspective to explain the physical processes that shape theEarth’s surface and its ecosystems.


Standard XI - Students will interpret spatial patterns of human migration, economic activities andpolitical units in Conn., the nation, and the world.

Standard XII - Students will use geographic tools and technology to explain the interactions of humanand the larger environment, and the evolving consequences of those interactions.

Standard XIII - Students will demonstrate that because human, natural and capital resources are limited,individuals, household, businesses and governments must make choices.

Standard XIV - Students will demonstrate that various economic systems coexist, and that economicdecisions are made by individuals and/or governments, influenced by markets, cultural traditions,individuals and government in the allocation of goods and services.

MathematicsStandard III - Students will make estimates and approximations, and judge the reasonableness of results.

Standard V - Students will make and use measurements in both customary and metric units toapproximate, measure and compute length, area, volume, mass and temperature, angle and time.

Standard VI - Students will analyze and use spatial relationships and basic concepts of geometry toconstruct, draw, describe and compare geometric models and their transformations, and use geometricrelationships and patterns to solve problems.

Language ArtsStandard I - Students will read and respond in individual, literal, critical and evaluative ways to literary,information and persuasive texts.

Standard II - Students will produce written, oral and visual texts to express, develop and substantiateideas and experiences.

Standard III - Students will apply the conventions of standard English language in oral and writtencommunication

Technology EducationStandard II - Students will understand the impact that technology has on the social, cultural andenvironmental aspects of their lives.

Standard IV - Students will recognize technology as the result of a creative act, and will be able to applydisciplined problem-solving strategies to enhance invention and innovation.

Standard V - Students will identify and develop leadership attributes and apply them in team situations.

Standard VII - Students will understand and be able to effectively apply physical, graphic, and electroniccommunications techniques in processing, transmitting, receiving, and organizing information.

Standard VIII - Students will understand and be able to demonstrate the methods involved in turning rawmaterials into useable products.


Standard IX - Students will understand transportation systems and the environments used to movegoods and people, and the subsystems common to each.

Standard XI - Students will be able to apply the engineering design process to achieve desired outcomesacross all technology content areas.

ScienceStandard III - Students will understand that all organisms in the biosphere are linked to each other and totheir physical environments by the transfer and transformation of matter and energy.

Standard VIII - Students will understand the water cycle, including energy transfers, the distribution andcharacteristics of water, and its influences on human activity.

Standard XXII - Students will know that energy is conserved, transferred, transformed, and appears indifferent forms.

Standard XXIV - Students will understand the relationships among mathematics, science, technology andthe way they affect and are affected by society.


Colonial Williamsburg

Grade Level: 5thEducator coordinator: Duane Gossett, Fox Middle School, Gainesboro, TNStandards: Social studies, language arts, math, NETS (See above for specific standards.)SoftwareNeighborhood MapMachine, Tom Snyder Productions/ScholasticProduct Info: http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/product.asp?SKU=NEIV20Online Tour: http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/ProductExtras/neiv20/overview/export/popup.html


Overview:

5th Grade Social Studies classes completed a unit of study on Colonial Williamsburg, the restoredeighteenth-century capital of Virginia. As part of their study, students viewed slides and videos of thetown, colored scenes of life in Williamsburg, and examined "Mystery Artifacts" to draw conclusionsabout eighteenth-century life.

The final project was called, "Rebuilding Williamsburg." Students used sketches and pictures of colonialhouses and buildings in Williamsburg to design each house on our iMac computers, using a programcalled Community Construction Kit, by Tom Snyder Productions. Each student designed and printed abuilding in Williamsburg. The houses were then assembled and mounted on a poster board base to createa model of restored Williamsburg.

Each homeroom created a model of the town, and over 100 students participated. This was a veryenjoyable and educational activity for the students.

The Rebuilding Williamsburg activity, along with other studies and activities, created so much interest inColonial Williamsburg that I took a group of our students there for a school trip. Using CommunityConstruction Kit helped to create a great desire from the students to see Colonial Williamsburg forthemselves.


Escape Via the Underground Railroad!

Grade: 2Educator/coordinator: Kristen Vassos, Mount Laurel School District, NJStandards: History, geography, language arts, visual arts, NETSSoftware:Neighborhood MapMachine, Tom Snyder Productions/ScholasticProduct Info: http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/product.asp?SKU=NEIV20Online Tour: http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/ProductExtras/neiv20/overview/export/popup.html


Overview: Students recreated the area around our school including a Quaker Meetinghouse and anAfrican American chapel, both of which were used as Underground Railroad safe houses. They usedNeighborhood MapMachine to create a map of the area, and Community Construction Kit to createmodels of the buildings. Students were then asked to show the path they would take to try to get fromthe Meetinghouse to the safe house without being caught. The 3D representation of the route helpedstudents visualize their surroundings and reinforced mapping skills.

Next year we plan to use the student maps for two purposes. First, we will print out their route on iron-on transfer paper to create a quilt. Second, we will use the digital image of their maps to create an on-linefreedom quilt with links to info pages written by the 2nd graders.

Note: This project is part of a proposal that recently won a New Jersey Amistad Grant HonorableMention. Congratulations, Kris!


Writing Projects

Author’s Night celebrates young writers!

Grades: 1 and 3Educator/coordinator: Kristen Vassos, Mount Laurel School District, NJStandards: Language, social studies, science, math, health, NETSSoftwareStationery Studio, FableVisionProduct Info: http://www.fablevision.com/stationerystudio/index.htmlProduct Tour: http://www.fablevision.com/stationerystudio/stationerystudio_tour.movAppleWorks, Apple ComputerProduct Info: http://www.apple.com/appleworks/Lintor Bookbinding SystemProduct Info: http://www.lintorpublishing.com/

More Info: http://homepage.mac.com/kristenvassos/iMovieTheater42.html

Overview: Students learn the writing process from the start of the year. By the end of the year, havinglearned to brainstorm, draft, edit, conference, revise, and write final copy, they are ready to publish theirown books. Students create their books using Stationery Studio or AppleWorks, and then bind them usingthe Lintor bookbinding system. At our Author’s Night, students’ books and author biographies are ondisplay. Students are available to answer questions and autograph their books.

Authors’ Night encourages writing across the curriculum, thus addressing both NETS and numerousstate core curriculum content standards through authentic learning. Teachers bought into the projectbecause Stationary Studio is so easy to use and gave their students such pride in their writing.


Scrapbooks inspire students’ best work!

Grade: 3Educator/coordinator: Adam Carswell, St. Michael’s Independent School, Stuart, FloridaStandards: Language arts, social studies, science, math, visual arts, NETSSoftware: Stationery Studio, FablevisionProduct Info: http://www.fablevision.com/stationerystudio/index.htmlProduct Tour: http://www.fablevision.com/stationerystudio/stationerystudio_tour.mov

Overview: Every student created his or her own scrapbook, which served as a portfolio of the student’sbest work, a memory book, and a yearbook. These were old-fashioned paper scrapbooks, whichincorporated a variety of media and the use of technology where appropriate.

Throughout the year students collected examples of their writing, selected assignments, pictures offriends, and souvenirs from field trips and special events. For their writing, students used StationeryStudio, which allowed them to choose writing paper that correlated with their assignments and customizethe writing line style, line width, and layout to suit their needs. Some assignments were typed at thecomputer while others were handwritten.


Historical Fiction comes alive!

Grades: 7Educator/coordinator: Denise Broffman, Springville Middle School, Springville, NYStandards: Language arts, social studiesSoftware: Stationery Studio, FablevisionProduct Info: http://www.fablevision.com/stationerystudio/index.htmlProduct Tour: http://www.fablevision.com/stationerystudio/stationerystudio_tour.mov

Overview: Students read My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier, a book that correspondswith their study of the American Revolution. Each student assumed the persona of the main character,Sam, and wrote a letter to another character. In their letters, students demonstrated knowledge of thenovel and the era by telling what life was like as a Rebel soldier. They also brainstormed other things toinclude in their letter – for example, Sam might apologize to his mother for leaving and upsetting thefamily life, or in a letter to his father, Sam might stand his ground and defend his decision to join thePatriots. Students were required to use proper friendly letter format including date, greeting, body ofletter, closing, and signature.

Students’ letters were then “mailed” to students in a different class who assumed the persona of thecharacters to whom the letters were addressed. Each recipient responded to their letter writer in the voiceof that character, answering the questions based on their knowledge of the character, the plot, and thehistory of the period.


Background on Project-Based Learning

What is Project-Based Learning?Project-based learning (PBL) focuses on a problem to be solved or a task to be accomplished andculminates in a product, presentation or performance. Some other characteristics of PBL:

• PBL is constructivist in nature, building on individual students’ knowledge base• Learner-centered; enlists students in goal-setting and assessment• Involves authentic tasks and authentic assessment• Focuses on higher-order skills• Generally involves teams of students collaborating as a “community of learners”• Involves peer instruction and peer assessment• Teacher is the “guide on the side” vs. the “sage on the stage”…

Why is Project-Based Learning an effective way to address the Standards?• PBL addresses multiple learning styles and intelligences• Provides opportunities for cross-curricular connections• Lets you address multiple standards within the context of a single project• Skills and concepts are better internalized and more memorable because students are…

o Intrinsically motivatedo Actively engagedo Allowed to revisit a topic and deepen learning

• Transfer of learning to other settings is enhanced becauseo Projects are authentic and closely related to real-world taskso Learning skills and concepts in context makes learning relevant and meaningfulo Students apply skills and concepts rather than simply memorize

How can technology enhance Project-Based Learning?• Technology facilitates problem solving and project development• Parallels real-world use of technology• Allows you to address technology standards in a meaningful context

What kinds of technologies support Project-Based Learning?• Electronic research tools• Calculators and handhelds• Word processing, desktop publishing, graphics and multimedia software• Other tool software such as

o Neighborhood Map Machine, Community Construction Kit, and Diorama Designer, TomSnyder Productions

o Digital Photo Activity Kit, Digital Photo Activity Kit Junior, Apteo Video Blender, Media Blender and other Tech4Learning softwareo Graph Club, Tom Snyder Productionso Kidspiration, Inspiration, Inspiration Inc.o Stationery Studio, FableVisiono Timeliner, Tom Snyder Productions


Neighborhood MapMachine 2.0

Product Info: http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/product.asp?SKU=NEIV20#

Program Overview: Neighborhood MapMachine is an easy-to-use bilingual tool that lets students ingrades K-5 create maps of neighborhoods and communities from around the world and throughouthistory. Students choose from 80 map symbols and can add their own drawings, photos and movies.They travel around maps onscreen and print maps in multiple sizes from one to six-by-six pages.Students can solve mysteries and create their own mysteries. In the process, they learn importantgeography and mapping skills including the use of symbols, compass direction, scale, grid coordinates,and more.

An onscreen notebook lets students record or type notes that can be printed with the map. A slide showtool lets you show change over time or provide tours of towns and neighborhoods. Includes printable flatpatterns to create 3-D models of every home and building.

MEETS STATE AND NATIONAL STANDARDS -- Your students will:• Locate places using the four cardinal directions• Use scale to determine the distance between places on maps• Identify and use the compass rose, grid, and symbols to locate places on maps• Use written language to communicate directions• Calculate, compare, and convert length, perimeter, and area


Community Construction Kit

Product Info: http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/product.asp?SKU=CCKCCK

Program Overview: Community Construction Kit for grades K-5 is an easy-to-use tool that lets studentsdesign homes and buildings on the computer and then print them as flat patterns. Students cut, fold andtape to create 3-D models. The program includes hundreds of historically accurate architectural elementsform four eras – Medieval, Native American, Colonial, and Today. There are over 30 ready-madebuildings that students can use as models, modify, or print as is. A Photo Gallery provides backgroundinformation and inspiration with narrated descriptions of famous and noteworthy homes and buildings.Creatures and Things includes cut-outs of people, animals and objects to add to your community.

MEETS STATE AND NATIONAL STANDARDS -- Your students will:• Learn about cultures from different historical periods• Examine the interaction of humans and their physical environment• Understand why artistic creation is a cultural expression• Identify and use various sources for reconstructing the past• Communicate their understanding of history in visual form• Develop skill with spatial relationships


Stationery Studio

Product Info: http://www.fablevision.com/stationerystudio/Online demo:

Program Overview: Stationery Studio is an easy-to-use tool that lets teachers and students write at thecomputer or create customized stationery for handwritten projects that supports students’developmental level and instructional objectives. Choose from 226 curriculum-based borders and shapes,then customize writing line style (primary, primary skip-a-line, standard lines), line width, layout (fullpage, half page, columns, letters, envelopes and five more), text and color. Stationery can be printed in avariety of formats for stories, reports, shape books, mini-books, postcards, note cards, letters, envelopesand more. Stationery Studio includes 30 ready-made activities and lessons correlated with the curriculum,plus additional sample projects and a photo gallery of completed work. The program features 8 schoolfonts including dotted fonts for handwriting practice.

MEETS STATE AND NATIONAL STANDARDS -- Your students will:• Use the writing process to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes• Apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions• Participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of literacy communities• Create readable documents with legible handwriting.


Teacher Resources

PrintInternational Society for Technology in Education. National Educational Technology Standards. Eugene,OR:, Author, 1998.

Moursund, David. Project-Based Learning Using Information Technology. Eugene, OR: InternationalSociety for Technology in Education, 2003.

National Foundation for the Improvement of Education. Foundations for the Road Ahead: Project-basedLearning and Information Technologies. Washington, DC: Author.

Project-Based Learning and Related Web SitesCenter for Problem-Based Learninghttp://www.imsa.edu/team/cpbl/cpbl.html

Problem-Based Learning Clearinghousehttps://chico.nss.udel.edu/Pbl/

High Planes Regional Technology in Education: Project-Based Learning Resourceshttp://www.4teachers.org/projectbased/

Buck Institute for Education: Project-Based Learning Resourceshttp://www.bie.org/pbl/

Awesome Library Assessment Informationhttp://www.awesomelibrary.org/Office/Teacher/Assessment_Information/Assessment_Information.html

Organization Websites International Reading Associationhttp://www.reading.org

National Council of Teachers of Mathematicshttp://www.nctm.org

National Council for the Social Studieshttp://www.socialstudies.org

National Council of Teachers of Englishhttp://www.ncte.org/

National Science Teachers Associationhttp://www.nsta.org/

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Standards and Beyond With Thematic Tools & Project-Based ...peggyhealystearns.com/FETC06/FETC06_Handout_Full.pdf · Standards and Beyond With Thematic Tools & Project-Based Learning