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 Teacher
Tips for This Project
Welcome
to the Road Trip Through Washington online module. This online module
is designed for fourth grade students.We hope that you and your
students enjoy it.
Through
this module students will learn about the major geological and physical
characteristics of Washington State. Prior to starting this
online module, students should have a general understanding
of Washington's five regions. Students should work in teams
of 2 to 4 as they work through this module.
Important
tips for using this module:
This is an integrated research project, designed to help students
develop reading and communication skills related to the research
process while they delve into Social Studies content. If it seems
overwhelming to you or your students, here are some helpful hints:
- Teach
students to search for keywords in the text they
find on web pages. Many of these pages were written for adults,
but kids can find learn that a part of sifting and sorting through
information is locating what is relevant to their research question
and not getting bogged down in extraneous information. One way
to do this is to go to the Edit menu in Internet Explorer and
select "Find (on this page)." Students can enter the
key word or words they would like to find.
- Encourage
your students to make their decisions by comparing and contrasting
the same activity in different regions. For example, how
will fishing be different in the Coastal Region than in the Okanogan
Highlands? There is no right answer to this project, so many of
the decisions will be made based upon personal preference. If
students can explain why they prefer to visit one region over
another for a given activity, they are learning about the differences
between the regions of Washington.
- Maps
of Washington - Ensure that your students are familiar with maps
of Washington State so that they will be able to trace the route
their family would travel on this Road Trip Through Washington.
Students should use the set of laminated Washington State maps
(found in each building) to trace their proposed route and finalize
their plans. They should also use the maps as a visual tool
during their persuasive oral presentation
- We
suggest you consult with your school Library Media Specialist
before and during this project for technical support.
Preparing
students for work as a team:
The structure that you use in organizing your students in teams
will depend upon the makeup of your class, their experience with
cooperative learning and team projects, and the availability of
computer resources. Some options include:
- Assign
students to teams of three or four, or let them self-select teams
of three or four. Assign each student within the group to
a particular role. For example, each student could be responsible
for gathering information on one of the four vacation activities.
- Pair
students up, and allow them to work through the entire process
together.
- Whatever
other system works for you and your students.
Check
out Using
Cooperative Learning in the Technology Infused Classroom,
a website hosted by Learning Solutions for more information.
Recording
information during research:
Your students will have access to two graphic organizers a
Note
Sheet
for recording information collected during research, and a Decision
Making Sheet
for making their final decisions. These documents will be used
in planning their trip and to assist in creating the travel brochure.These
documents can be printed and filled in with paper and pencil, or
saved to a folder and updated online. Each method has its pros
and cons:
pencil
and paper
- pros
- Students can see both the information they are gathering from
websites and their graphic organizer at the same time, without
the need for navigating between windows on a computer screen
- cons
- papers can get lost; there is a limited amount of space for
recording information
online
- pros
- The graphic organizers are created using tables, and individual
cells will increase in size as students add more information;
students have the option of copying and pasting some information
directly into the graphic organizer;
- cons
- If the document is not shared in a public drive, not all students
will be able to access the file
There
are other ways that students may record the information that they
gather from web sites. If you have access to Inspiration, for
example, students could record information in a web. Another option
is to record some notes directly onto a map, so that students link
the information they are gathering with a visual picture of the
state of Washington. One possibility is to use the blank WA laminated
maps included in the Discovering Washington kit adopted by the district
for the 4th grade Social Studies curriculum.
Saving
files
There are several times during this module when students must
save files. They will save two graphic organizers, and a Publisher
document that will be used to make the final brochure. There
are several places where your students can save files:
Saving
to the H: drive - every fourth grader in the Bellingham School
District has a folder on the H:/ drive. Be aware that if one student
in a group saves the documents in his/her H: drive folder, these
documents will not be available if any other student logs on to
the computer. This can be a problem if a student is absent.
Students
may save their work in their folder on the H:/ drive by following
these steps:
- When
you click on the links to graphic organizers or the Publisher
brochure, Word or Publisher will automatically open and display
the template.
- When
opening the graphic organizers, if your students will be recording
their information using the paper and pencil method, simply
have them print the document, then close the window.
- To
save the documents to enter their information online, go to
the File menu, and select "Save as"
- Use
the "Save in:" box at the top of the window to navigate
to the H: drive, then to the child's folder.
- Change
the name in the "File name:" box at the bottom of
the window to "Washington Travels" or some other name
that the student will be able to remember.
- Click
save
- From
this time forward, when the student wishes to add to the graphic
organizer or brochure document, he or she should open the file
directly from their H: drive. Opening the file from the
web page will always open the original templates.
- If
at any time you see a dialog box with a message asking you to
select whether to open the file directly from its location or
save to a disk, select "save to disk" and follow the
directions beginning at #3
Saving
to a public drive - Your school has several drives which are
public, where all students can save. Consult your Library
Media Specialist to see which public drive is available for your
use, and to establish a folder where student groups may save their
work. You will follow the same steps as those described above, with
the exception of navigating to a folder on a public drive rather
than a folder on the H: drive. When naming files in a public
drive, it is important to remember that all groups of students will
be saving the same documents. Therefore, it is very important that
each group gives their documents a unique name. For example,
they may decide on a team name, and include that name in all document
names (e.g. Road Trippers brochure.pub).
Using
Microsoft Publisher
The template that students will use to create their persuasive
brochure was created in Microsoft Publisher. There are two
versions of the document available: one for Publisher 97, and one
for Publisher 2000. If you are not sure which version of Publisher
is on your computers, consult your Library Media Specialist, or
follow these directions:
- Go
to the Start Menu, and select the Programs Menu, and Click on
Publisher to open
- As
Publisher opens, you will probably see a window telling you whether
you are opening Publisher 97 or Publisher 2000.
- If
you do not see this window, wait until Publisher is open, then
go to the Help menu, and select "About Microsoft Publisher."
- The
top line in this window will tell you what version of Publisher
you have on your computers. Download the brochure template
for your version of Publisher.
Other
directions for using Microsoft Publisher to create a brochure
are found on the Publishing
page.
Preparing
Students for Sharing Brochures
You may wish to build in time for oral presentations from each team
of students. Students should be prepared to give persuasive reasons
for following the selected route. Students should refer to
the map of Washington State and trace their Road Trip route for
the audience.
Possible
Schedule
The amount of time needed for completing this module will vary
from class to class, but a possible schedule, with one-hour blocks
of time spent on the project each day,might look something like
this:
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Day
1
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Day
2
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- Gather
information from web pages
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Day
3
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- Gather
information from web pages
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Day
4
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Day
5
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Day
6
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Day
7
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- Share
brochures and celebrate!
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