Joe+Szymkowicz

Joe Szymkowicz Coventry High School History-Lewis & Clark

...a task with possible blog opportunities..... THE TASK: LEARNER EXPECTIONS: 1a. read widely, attentively and on grade level for a variety of purposes, including academic,vocational, and leisure. 1c. communicate and share information via a presentation per the webquest 2a. work cooperatively and independently. 2c. collect and organize information. 2e. compile, interpret, and organize information. 3b. work responsibly in groups and as individuals. 4c. have a knowledge of historical events. CONTENT STANDARDS US History, era 4: Expansion and Reform 1A: The student understands how territorial expansion between 1801 and 1860, and how it affected relations with external powers and native Americans 1B: the student understands the various struggles for control of the North American colonies. APPLIED LEARNING: A2a :Adjust the style and presentation to suit purpose and audience. A3 : Innormational tools and techniques: AUTHENTIC TASK: The task is rigorous and applies to the Historical Thinking Standards. Standard 1, chronological thinking; Standard 2, historical comprehension; Standard 3, Historical Analysis ; Standard 4, Historical research Capabilities and Standard 5, Historical Issues-Analysis and Decision-making. INSTRUCTION:
 * Remembering Lewis & Clark …A Social Studies WebQuest…**
 * You and your friends have volunteered to serve on the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council and have been assigned the responsibility of planning a special event to honor the accomplishments of the Corps of Discovery. Everyone wants to get into the act! The scientific community wants the ceremony to focus on Lewis and Clark's contributions to our knowledge of nature and the environment. Civic leaders want to honor their leadership abilities. There's a group of geographers who think the most important thing Lewis and Clark did was to fill in the missing parts of the map of the United States, opening up the way for future explorations. Anthropologists point out that if it weren't for Lewis and Clark, we would know very little about the Indian nations who once inhabited the region the Corps passed through-- and if it weren't for help from the Indians, the expedition would likely have failed. They think that these facts should be the highlight of the ceremony. Each of these groups, of course, thinks that their perspective is the most important and should be the one that the ceremony is centered around. The Bicentennial committee has charged your planning group with organizing an event that is more representative of the "big picture." It is up to you to plan an event that is not only worthy of these extraordinary men and the expedition they led, but which will also keep all these interested groups happy**
 * The student gathers information to assist in completing the project work.
 * The student uses computer software to produce a multi-slide presentation

Classes will be instructed about the Lewis and Clark expedition and how to research information on the internet. In addition the instruction of a computer presentation program, such as PowerPoint; The teacher must show students how to intergrate PowerPoint technology for historical purposes. Students will produce a presentation, to sastify the requirements for the webquests. The information must include relevant information on the development of the expedition; transitions, sounds, and proper timing with pleasing asthetics.

Students will discuss each presentation afterwards. This will increase their knowledge of the topics involved, and will also serve as a reflection on the development of the colonies. A written reflection for their portfolios will be submitted with this presentation

DIRECTIONS: The Process 1. Form Groups to Research a Perspective Divide up into groups of 4. To make sure your group ends up with a good grasp of the "big picture" of the Lewis & Clark expedition, each member of your group will explore the expedition from one of the following perspectives. Use the focus questions to guide your research: • Scientist

• Civic Leader • Geographer • Anthropologist 2. Sharing Your Research: After you have done your own research, get together with the people from other groups who are representing the same perspective as you. (In other words, all the scientists will work together, all the civic leaders, and so on). Discuss what you learned and, as a group, decide what discoveries or incidents from the expedition are most important from the perspective you are representing. Prepare a presentation to share this information with the rest of your class. A good presentation will: • Give a brief overview of the accomplishments of the Corps of Discovery from your selected perspective • Address your Focus Questions • Identify two or three discoveries or incidents and explain why they are significant from your selected perspective Pictures, audio clips, and quotes from the journals of expedition members or historians can only strengthen your presentation. Remember, you want to use facts from your research to show that you really understand what was important about this expedition!

The Changes: Sharing research…. This would be a great opportunity to try a “blog” for a class. However, oddly enough I had started using pod-casts this year with my students and had envisioned using pod-cast for this lesson next year. Using pod-cast; students can then post their comments and “reflections” online on the RIEPS system, which my kids did this year. The problem that developed is that not all students posted their pod-cast.

Using a blog would enable a teacher to post the entire blog…if that can be done…to the RIEPS. Thus students comments…could be archived possibly as guides for reflections for this particular task…this would enable ALL students the opportunity to post comments via the blog…students would also share their info on the required task, which would benefit the classes sharing information…..