Artifact 8

This is an interdisciplinary activity, which can be used with Grades 3-6. This project is a lesson plan in which students will choose an everyday item and create a new use for the item. Once the students have invented their new product they will write a newspaper article about it and create a web site. It requires the use of various computers with internet access, Netscape Navigator, and PhotoShop software. This project also requires the use of digital cameras. This part of the assignment can be eliminated or improvised. For example, if there is access to a scanner, pictures can be taken by the students and then scanned into the page.

Context

I created this set of web pages during the fall of 2002 as part of the Integrating Media and Technology into Teaching course at Appalachian State University, under the direction of Jeff Goodman. I created the web pages using Netscape Composer. I took the photos with a digital camera and cropped and sized them using Adobe Photoshop.

Impact

This website was created including teacher and student instruction pages as well as an example page. The activity is mainly for grades third through sixth. I plan to use this in my classroom to get children to use technology by learning how to create a web page and use a digital camera to take pictures. By completing this project the students will become familiar with the different programs used to create the web page. The students will also use their language arts skills by writing a newspaper article about the item they invented. This project will motivate students because it is fun and because their final work will be displayed on the world wide web. This project allows students to get experience with a wide range of technology, including the internet, while providing a safe learning environment. This project can be accessed through the internet, which allows any teacher looking for an activity that integrates technology in the classroom will have access to it. This activity meets a wide range of goals listed in the North Carolina standard coarse of study. For example, the following are goals from the third grade curriculum which are met by this activity:

Language Arts competencies:

4.02 Use oral and written language to: · present information in a sequenced, logical manner. · discuss. · sustain conversation on a topic. · share information and ideas. · recount or narrate. · answer open-ended questions. · report information on a topic. · explain own learning.
4.03 Share written and oral products in a variety of ways (e.g., author's chair, book making, publications, discussions, presentations).
4.10 Explore technology as a tool to create a written product.
5.01 Use correct capitalization (e.g., geographical place names, holidays, special events, titles) and punctuation (e.g., commas in greetings, dates, city and state; underlining book titles; periods after initials and abbreviated titles; apostrophes in contractions).
5.02 Use correct subject/verb agreement.
5.03 Demonstrate understanding by using a variety of complete sentences (declarative, imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory) in writing and speaking.
5.04 Compose two or more paragraphs with: · topic sentences. · supporting details. · appropriate, logical sequence. · sufficient elaboration.
5.05 Use a number of strategies for spelling (e.g., sound patterns, visual patterns, silent letters, less common letter groupings).
5.06 Proofread own writing for spelling and correct most misspellings independently with reference to resources (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, word walls).
5.07 Edit (with assistance) to use conventions of written language and format.

Information Skills competencies:

1.04. Acknowledge ownership of ideas.
1.07 Follow acceptable use policy (AUP/IUP) for electronic resources.
1.09 Recognize that ideas are produced in a variety of formats (print, graphical, audio, video, multimedia, web-based). · 4.07 Organize and use information.
4.08 Credit sources of information.
4.09 Present information in a variety of formats (print, graphical, audio, video, multimedia).
5.02 Produce media in various formats (print, graphical, audio, video, multimedia) appropriate to audience and purpose.
5.03 Collaborate with others, both in person and through technologies, to identify information problems and to design, develop and evaluate information products and solutions.
5.04 Credit sources in all print, non-print, and electronic.

Computer / technology competencies:

1.2 Recognize that the Copyright Law protects what a person, group, or company has created. (SI)
1.3 Recognize the benefits of word processing. (KU/WP/DTP)
2.3 Demonstrate proper keyboarding techniques for upper and lower case letters. (KU/WP/DTP)
2.4 Retrieve and edit a word processed document. (KU/WP/DTP)
2.10 Create a multimedia project as a group/class activity. (M/P)
3.1 Create, save, and print a word processed document. (KU/WP/DTP)

The activity also meets many competencies on the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade levels as well.

Alignment

The Modern Fashion and Invention Activity fulfills goals II D, II E, IV C, and VI E of the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers, as well as INTASC Principles 4, and 8. I have provided suggestions for the management of technology resources while doing this activity on the teacher's page of this activity (II D). There are also suggestions on the teacher page for adaptations to be made for students with special needs (VI E). Through the Modern Fashion and Invention Activity, students will be provided opportunities to use critical thinking skills as they create new uses for odd gadgets. By prompting students to apply reasoning skills in determining purposes for odd gadgets, I will be effectively managing student learning in a technology-enhanced environment (II E). In addition, I included a grading rubric on my Modern Fashion and Invention web pages, which highlights how students will be evaluated on their uses of technology (IV C). The Modern Fashion and Invention Activity incorporates the use of multiple instructional strategies as students use thinking and reasoning skills to create uses for odd gadgets, take digital images of gadgets, produce descriptive newspaper articles, and design web pages to display articles and photographs (INTASC 4). Finally, formal and informal assessments are employed to evaluate student learning. For example, a rubric is used to guide teacher grading, while also communicating to students items that should be included in their work. As teachers offer feedback on Modern Fashion and Invention activities via email, students are aware of strengths and weaknesses and can make changes and alterations before submitting final projects (INTASC 8).