Krause,+Suzanne

March 22, 2009

Elementary School Principal Any School Any Street Any City, State, Zip Code

Dear Elementary School Principal: I would like to implement a wiki where teachers will be able to share ideas, resources and lesson plans geared towards meeting standards in the social studies curriculum at all grade levels. If successful, this could be brought to the district level so that all teachers in the district could have the opportunity to collaborate. I have proposed a wiki rather than a blog because “wikis encourage knowledge sharing around topics while blogs are a sharing of spontaneous thoughts.” (Parker, KR and Chao, JT) [] A wiki is a web page that can be edited by anyone that has access to the page. It can be used by groups of teachers, students or parents to collaborate on projects, or share ideas and knowledge. Information can be added, deleted or modified as necessary by the wiki participants. The wiki that I would like to implement would initially be geared to the staff at our school. I would set it up by grade level and standards. Teachers can place their favorite lesson plans, ideas, links and information that they use in their teaching onto the wiki. Others can tweak the lesson plans as they come across them or add to the information already available on the wiki. I have added a link to a sample wiki that was brought to my attention while taking a technology class at URI. [|www.curriki.org] This wiki allows teachers to collaborate, share information and find information in an organized and professional way.

Some problems that we may have in implementing this wiki at the school would be staff knowledge and getting them to accept the challenge. People may be overwhelmed at the prospect of using this type of technology. They may feel that it is just one more thing they are being asked to do that does not fit into the curriculum or their daily plan book. Training could potentially be an issue since all training funds have been frozen this year. Some ways to overcome these obstacles would be to provide an in-house training opportunity. Perhaps we could use one of our staff meetings to introduce some websites and on-line conferences that walk you through creating a wiki. If we cannot use the staff meetings for training, perhaps we could use a portion of our professional development days this summer to present this topic to the staff. If all else fails, we could have a volunteer from each grade level commit to familiarizing themselves with the tools and sharing their knowledge with other team members at common grade level planning times. I would like to create the wiki using a program called PBWiki [|www.P] BWiki.com. You can create a free basic wiki (2 GB storage with limited customization) using this company. I chose this tool because the plan offers webinars (online training) and because it is advertised as being one of the simplest to use. If we are able to successfully implement this tool, we can upgrade to 40GB storage with full customization for only $99 per year.

I hope you will consider implementing this wiki at our school as an introduction to Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. I will set up a meeting with your secretary so that we may discuss this proposal.

Sincerely,

Suzanne Krause

Suzanne Krause EDC 921 Final Deliverable

•	Introduction

The study of Rhode Island history takes up a good part of our fourth grade social studies curriculum. States and capitals are also part of the curriculum. I am currently teaching the Rhode Island unit to my class and have already implemented some of these tools in their research. The children have been very enthusiastic. In order to complete some of these activities, I have been co-teaching with our librarian during her free period so that we can use the ten available computers in the library. The students who are not assigned a computer continue their research using book. This has been working well, but as always, time constraints do have their impact on how much can be accomplished.

•	Standards Addressed – I have included all of the standards addressed by the lessons below.

Social Studies Standards Standard: SS/1.0: The student knows and understands how people are affected by culture and cultural diversity. GSEs: G&C -1; G&C-2; G&C-5; HP-3

•	Describe similarities and differences in the ways people live in Rhode Island. •	Understand ethnic origins and identify ethnic groups of Rhode Island.

Standard: SS/2.0: The student knows and understands the ways people view themselves in and over time. NHS 1; 2; 3; 5. GSEs: HP-1; 2; 3.

Standard: SS/3.0: The student knows and understands the interrelationships among people, places and environments. NHS 1. GSEs: G&C 1; 2; 5; HP 3.

•	Locate various landforms and bodies of water in Rhode Island. •	Demonstrate how to use resources, such as maps, globes, graphs, grids, and charts, to obtain information. •	Identify the 50 states and capitals. •	Identify geographic boundaries in villages, towns, cities, and counties.

Estimate distances and calculate scales.

Standard: SS/7.0:  The student knows and understands why and how people organize for the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. GSEs: G&C1; 5.

•	Discuss the economic growth of Rhode Island over time. •	Explain the economics of Rhode Island. Explain how people depend on their environment to earn a living

•	Explain the history of Rhode Island past and present. •	Compare and contrast the lives of Americans who influenced the development of Rhode Island.

Standard: Standard SS/9.0:  The student knows and understands global connections and interdependence. GSEs: G&C 1; 2; 3; 5.

-         Explain how current events around the world affect their lives. -	Exploring current issues using a variety of print and non-print sources.

Standard ELA/WR/11.0: (E2a) The student produces a report. (ES, MS, HS) •	Develop a controlling idea that conveys a perspective on the subject •	Create an organized structure using transition words or phrases •	Include appropriate facts, details, and concepts using the Big6™ research model (See Educator to Educator) •	Exclude extraneous information •	Use a range of appropriate strategies, such as providing facts and details, describing or analyzing the subject, and narrating a relevant anecdote

SPEAKING/LISTENING/VIEWING Primary Speaking/Listening/Viewing Standard: Habits Students will demonstrate the ability to: •	Ask and respond to relevant questions with elaboration (E3a) •	Confirm understanding by paraphrasing an adult’s direction or suggestions (E3a) •	Participate actively in group discussion (E3b) •	Display appropriate turn-taking behavior (E3b) •	Respond appropriately to comments and questions (E3b) •	Engage the audience with appropriate verbal cues and eye contact (E3c)

Primary SLV Standard: Kinds of Talk and Resulting Genres Students will demonstrate the ability to: •	Ask relevant questions (E3a) •	Respond to questions with appropriate elaboration (E3a) •	Actively solicit another person’s comment or opinion (E3b) •	Offer own opinion confidently without dominating (E3b) •	Respond appropriately to comments and questions (E3b) •	Give reasons to support opinions expressed (E3b) •	Prepare and deliver an individual presentation (E3c) •	Present information to achieve a particular purpose and to appeal to the interests and background knowledge of audience members (E3c) •	Select and organize content according to criteria for importance and impact rather than according to availability of information in resource materials (E3c) •	Engage the audience with appropriate verbal cues and eye contact (E3c) •	Project a sense of individuality and personality in selecting, organizing, and delivering content (E3c) (Suggestions: presentation of a research project, presentation of survey results, portfolio conference or sharing) ELA Speaking/Listening/Viewing Primary Standard: Language Use and Conventions Standard ELA/SLV/18.0: (E3b) The student participates in group meetings. (ES, MS, HS) Students will demonstrate the ability to: •	See Primary Speaking/Listening/Viewing Standard: Habits •	See ELA/SLV Primary Standard: Language Use and Conventions students will demonstrate the ability to use convetions. Standard ELA/Conventions/Grammar/Usage 22.0: (E4a) The student demonstrates an understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work, and selects the structures and features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context of the work. (ES, MS, HS) Students will demonstrate the ability to: Style and Syntax •	Create a structure and incorporate features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context of the work •	Enrich their writing with a highly individual, lively voice •	Take on the language of authors to enrich their own writing •	Recognize and write a variety of complete simple and compound sentences, varying sentence patterns and lengths (declarative, exclamatory, interrogative) •	Use proper paragraph form: indenting, main idea, supporting details Vocabulary and Word Choice •	Use words from their developing vocabulary Spelling •	Produce writing that contains correctly spelled high frequency writing words (see Educator to Educator) •	Recognize syllables and affix patterns/rules that are characteristic of the English spelling system Conventions •	Use punctuation, capitalization, and other conventions •	Use capitalization correctly in final draft •	Use end punctuation, commas in a series, apostrophes, and quotation marks correctly in final draft •	Identify basic grammatical errors when given examples Reference materials •	Use word book, dictionary, word wall, thesaurus, Spell-Check Standard ELA/CGU/23.0: (E4b) The student analyzes and subsequently revises work to clarify it or make it more effective in communicating the intended message or thought. (ES, MS, HS) •	Add and delete details and explanations •	Clarify difficult passages •	Rearrange words, sentences, and paragraphs to improve or clarify meaning •	Sharpen the focus •	Reconsider the organizational structure

Lesson 1 Social Studies History of Rhode Island City/Town Reports

•	Goals The students will produce a 1 to 2 page paper on an individual city/town in Rhode Island using information gathered from blogs, wikis and web pages.

•	Standards addressed:

Standard: SS/1.0: The student knows and understands how people are affected by culture and cultural diversity. GSEs: G&C -1; G&C-2; G&C-5; HP-3

•	Describe similarities and differences in the ways people live in Rhode Island. •	Understand ethnic origins and identify ethnic groups of Rhode Island.

Standard: SS/2.0: The student knows and understands the ways people view themselves in and over time. NHS 1; 2; 3; 5. GSEs: HP-1; 2; 3.

-	Explain the history of Rhode Island past and present.

Standard ELA/WR/11.0: (E2a) The student produces a report. (ES, MS, HS) Develop a controlling idea that conveys a perspective on the subject •	Create an organized structure using transition words or phrases •	Include appropriate facts, details, and concepts using the Big6™ research model (See Educator to Educator) •	Exclude extraneous information •	Use a range of appropriate strategies, such as providing facts and details, describing or analyzing the subject, and narrating a relevant anecdote

Standard ELA/Conventions/Grammar/Usage 22.0: (E4a) The student demonstrates an understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work, and selects the structures and features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context of the work. (ES, MS, HS)

Primary SLV Standard: Kinds of Talk and Resulting Genres Students will demonstrate the ability to: •	Ask relevant questions (E3a) •	Respond to questions with appropriate elaboration (E3a) •	Actively solicit another person’s comment or opinion (E3b) •	Respond appropriately to comments and questions (E3b) •	Prepare and deliver an individual presentation (E3c)

•	Pre- Activities -	Discuss the importance of internet safety and protocol with the students. -	Discuss different towns in Rhode Island that students have visited. -	Discuss some local landmarks and places that children may have visited already. -	Share the Rhode Island A to Z book with the students and talk about the landmarks that are illustrated in this book. -	Have students choose a city or town in Rhode Island that they would like to write their report on. -	Discuss the need to verify information when using the internet. In addition to Wikipedia, the students will look for information on town pages or on our own Chariho website where one of the fourth grade teachers has already posted her own Rhode Island web page. -	Each student will be given a prepared worksheet that will tell them what information needs to be included in their report. This will include but will not be limited to interesting places, facts, landmarks, landforms and any important people.

•	Extension and Adaptation

-	Students with limited writing abilities will receive a separate worksheet that requires less information to be written down. They will work to their own individual writing rubrics (provided by SPED) and not to the grade level writing rubrics. These students will also be seated near peer models or on the ends so that teachers can get to them easily.

•	Post Activity -	Students will take the information that they recorded and use it to write a report on their town in their own words. -	Children will type and print their final documents using Microsoft Word. -	Children will orally present their reports at the Rhode Island Fair that will be held in June.

•	Grading -	For the paper, the grade level writing rubric will be used. This rubric is based on the six traits. The oral presentation will also be graded using a rubric. Speaking clearly, maintaining contact with the audience and answering questions or addressing comments will be scored.

Lesson 2 Social Studies History of Rhode Island Current Events

•	Standards Addressed

Social Studies Standard: SS/2.0: The student knows and understands the ways people view themselves in and over time. NHS 1; 2; 3; 5. GSEs: HP-1; 2; 3.

-	Explain the history of Rhode Island past and present.

Social Studies Standard: Standard SS/9.0:  The student knows and understands global connections and interdependence. GSEs: G&C 1; 2; 3; 5.

-         Explain how current events around the world affect their lives. -	Exploring current issues using a variety of print and non-print sources.

•	Goals

Using the Projo.com website, students will find a newsblog, videoblog or a podcast to find and report on a current event in Rhode Island.

•	Pre- Activities -	Using the large screen monitor in the library, show the students how to search for local news items on Projo.com.

-	Each student will be given a prepared worksheet that will give them instructions for getting onto the website and tips for navigation along a place for writing down the information that they find.

•	Extension and Adaptation

-	Students can be paired up so that they can find the information more easily. Teachers will monitor activity to make sure that children are finding appropriate content. -	Students having trouble with the writing portion can have their partner do the writing or they can optionally print to the library computer.

•	Post Activity -	Students will share their current events during our morning meeting. Students who used a podcast or videolog to get their information can play it from our classroom computer. If the students used a blog, the can also pull it up on the classroom computer and read aloud if necessary.

•	Assessment will be based on observation and presentation of final current event. How did the children work together to get the information and did they meet the requirements of the assignment?

Lesson 3 Social Studies History of Rhode Island States and Capitals

•	Goals:

The students will be able to name all states and capitals in the United States.

•	Standards:

Standard: SS/3.0: The student knows and understands the interrelationships among people, places and environments. NHS 1. GSEs: G&C 1; 2; 5; HP 3.

•	Locate various landforms and bodies of water in Rhode Island. •	Demonstrate how to use resources, such as maps, globes, graphs, grids, and charts, to obtain information. •	Identify the 50 states and capitals. •	Identify geographic boundaries in villages, towns, cities, and counties.

•	Pre-Activities:

The teacher will read a list of states and asks the students what the capital of each state is. The students reply until all 50 states have been covered. Have the students go to our class blog and play the states and capitals game as part of their homework assignment.

•	Writing Assignments: Students receive a worksheet listing the state names and fill in the capitals for each state. These will become their study guides.

•	Extension and Adaptation: Students who have writing IEPs can have a peer helper assigned to help them with the writing of the states

Students that do not have computers at home can be given some time to go to the library during quiet time to play the states and capitals game.

•	Assessment:

Students will be able to match the states and capitals correctly when given a formal assessment.