Teacher's+Guide


 * Lesson Ideas :**

Please see me if you have any questions regarding the lessons or activities on this page. Depending on your class, and your students strengths, you may want students to work individually or in partners. My initial thinking is to have the students create the notecards, timeline, and power point presentation with a partner, while the two writing pieces and "blabber" can be completed individually.

Please note that you will need to create wiki accounts for each of your students. Lauri G. or Shelly can help you with this process if you need assistance.

__**Part 1**__ :**Notecards**

To help the students stay organized I have created a power point template, labeled Explorer Notecards. Each card has a main idea, and space for details. Most of the cards have leading questions, but some simply ask the students to list details related to the main idea.

In order to utilize these cards, the students will need to log into their wiki account and select the ExplorersProject wiki. When they select this wiki, they will be directed to the Home Page. Tell students to select the Assignments page, found in the menu on the right hand side of the home page.

Once students are on the Assignments Page, direct them to "Part 1" where they will see the file for the Explorer Notecards. When students click on this file they will have the option of saving or opening the template. Have the students SAVE to the desktop. At this point you have two options. If your students have a google.docs account they can upload the file to google.docs, and save it in their account. If your students do not use google.docs, you can have them simply save the template to our districts file server. (If you are having the students research and create notecards with a partner, simply have one of the students upload the file, and then have them share the document with their partner. The benefit of doing this, is that if one student is absent, the notecards can still be accessed.)

To help students conduct their research, I have created a custom Google Search Engine that should only give students results to sites with valid information about their explorer. On this page you will also find a list of explorers to use for this project.


 * __Part 2__: Timeline**

Using the website timetoast.com, have the students create a timeline about their explorer. Please note, you will need to create an account for your students. This is simple to do, but does need to be done ahead of time.

The easiest way to create student accounts is to go to timetoast.com. Click on "sign up," found in the top right corner of the webpage. You will now be able to create an account for your student. For example, let's say I am creating an account for my favorite student John Smith. I can use John's district user name and password to set up his account. (Ex. User name: 18jsmith, password: deffrulz- district assigned password)

You will see that timetoast requires an email address. You will need this email address to activate their accounts. You can create a "dummy" email account by entering username@mailcatch.com (ex. 18jsmith@mailcatch.com). Then go to http://mailcatch.com, and enter the dummy email address. If you correctly entered all the information you will see an email from timetoast.com. Simply click to activate, and you are ready to create a timeline!

__Directions for creating a timeline__:

 Timelines will be saved as a draft throughout this process. When the students have completed their timelines, have them change the status to PUBLISH so others can view it.
 * Have the students log in to their timetoast accounts
 * Click on "add a new timeline"
 * Have students enter a title for their timeline and click go
 * On the new timeline page, have the students click on the Add Timespan button, and enter the timespan
 * For each event, have the students click on Add Event button
 * Once all events are entered, have the students go back and add pictures if time allows

I have created a timeline for my dog, Griffey, as an example. I created it in about 30 minutes, so it is very scaled down, but feel free to use it as an example. Better yet, create your own timeline to see how easy it is, and share it with your students! I have embedded the sample timeline in the resources section below.


 * I have created student portfolios on a separate wiki. If you have as well, student timelines can be embedded in their portfolios.

__**Part 3**__:**Letter** **Writing in Narrative Form**

The students will be writing a letter, written in first-person, from their explorer to their sponsoring country/monarch. I have outlined the expectation in the assignment section for students. For most students I will expect 3 paragraphs, but adapt as necessary. Below in the resources section you will find a link to Miss Marcou's website. It is her "wheel" I recreated. The link will take you to the beginnings of a student sample. This should hopefully give you a clearer picture for what I had in mind.

__**Part 4**__: **Reading Fluency Using Blabberize.com**

Blabberize.com is a very cool Web 2.0 tool that is perfect for assessing student fluency. Like most "techie" tools, you will want to "play" with this tool prior to using it with your students. Simply visit the website and click "make," the site walks you through the process. The trickiest part is getting the mouth correctly positioned, the more comfortable you are, the better you will be able to help your students. This is a favorite of Lauri G.'s so feel free to have her assist you.


 * Also, please note that you will need to create student accounts using their dummy emails. Unlike timetoast, however, you will not need to activate or verify the account.
 * Students will also need to upload a picture to use. I plan to have these pictures available in a desktop folder so that students do not need to seach for them on their own.
 * Something to consider, girls in your class may not want to read as "Christopher Columbus." Instead of reading as Christopher, you could allow them to read the letter as Queen Isabella. They would only need to add a little to their script explaining that they were Queen Isabella, and had just received a letter from Christopher Columbus.

__**Part 5**__: **Informational Writing Piece**

The students will be asked to write a 5 paragraph informational essay about their explorer. I have created an outline in the assignment section for the students. This outline will work very nicely with their notecards. Again, students can write this piece using Microsoft Word on the laptops, or by creating a document in google.docs.

This is a good opportunity to discuss different types of informational writing, and which type would be most appropriate (in my opinion chronological/sequential is the obvious choice). Last year, Barbara J. created a lesson that taught the students the different types of non-fiction writing (Text Structures). I believe this is an important concept for our students to grasp, since it not only helps the students understand the text, but can also help organize their own writing. Consider teaching this mini lesson prior to assigning the informational writing piece. It will provide a nice lead in to your writing assignment.

Text Structure Lesson (Create by Barbara Johnston):

> __**Part 6**__**: Power Point**
 * Materials Needed
 * Collect Examples of each type of non-fiction writing (Story Works, TFK, and National Geographic are great sources) and create a student packet or overheads.
 * [[file:TextOrganizationguide_students.doc]]
 * [[file:Text Organizationchoices.doc]]
 * [[file:Text Structure Chart.doc]]
 * Procedure
 * Discuss text organization and why it is important to know the organization of a book, story, or article
 * Show bookmarks that have graphic organizers on them and discuss.
 * Go over the characteristics of the six text organizations
 * Show examples in packets
 * Have students identify the various organizations of the wood thrush paragraphs
 * Follow-Up Lesson
 * Model for the students how to use a sequential graphic organizer
 * Share an example of your writing using the graphic organizer

This final part, should be relatively simply for students. To create their power point presentation, they can use their notecards from Part 1. If your students have uploaded these notecards to their google.docs accounts, they simply need to log in to their account, and select the document. The online version of "Power Point" is simpler than the version on the desktops. (In my opinion this is a good thing!) Students may alter the background/theme, as well as each notecards format if they wish to incorporate images. Images will be stored in a folder on the laptops. Students should prepare for an approximately 3 minute presentation, followed by a Q & A session.

During the presentations, each student should complete the Explorer Graphic Organizer found below.
 * [[file:ExplorerGraphicOrganizer.pdf]]


 * __Optional Lesson__****:

After all of the presentations have been completed, you may want to share the following website with the students. For those not familiar with the website, it is very "official" looking. By looking at it quickly it appears to be a legitimate website where students can learn about explorers. Upon closer inspection however, you will note that the website has false information on it that the students should be able to quickly identify. This is a good opportunity to discuss evaluating websites with students. To learn more about this site and its uses, please click on the "About This Site" link found on the sites homepage.

All About Explorers Link **


 * __Resources__**:


 * For your use, I have included a rubric to grade each assignment. This is my first year doing this project, so I am sure the rubric will be modified after this year, but I thought it may be helpful to have something to start with.
 * Example of a Timeline from Timetoast.com (I used my dog, Griffey as a quick example. Once I had the pictures uploaded, it took me about half and hour.)
 * Hint- Students will need to set up a user name and password to create a timeline. Contact Lauri G. for assistance.

media type="custom" key="6474929" Timetoast Mailcatch.com (for creating "dummy" student emails) Sample Student Letter