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Janine
Lodico
09
Project
Summary
Elmira City
Schools
1. General Overview of the Proposed
Project:
In this project I propose to use historical
fiction from the time period we are studying comparing it to the
text book representation of the same events.
2. Clear Purpose and Objective:
By comparing the two examples, students
will gain an understanding of the need to read expository text in a
different manner than a novel is read. We will also explore point
of view, and literary license. This should begin to develop the
students’ ability to differentiate fact and opinion, and how history
can be slanted to the author’s purpose.
3. Stakeholders: grade level, who will
benefit, who will participate in this project.
I will teach this unit to the seventeen
students in my fifth grade class. They will be the participants._
4. U.S. History Content Area
I will focus on the revolutionary War
time period.
5. Outline Describing Content
I. American Revolution
A. British Viewpoint
B. American Viewpoint
II. Slant or perspective of historical
reporting
A. Non-fiction
B. Historical fiction
6. Software to be used, internet
materials, contacts, etc.
None identified at this point.
7. Level of Student Involvement
Students will be highly involved by reading
different accounts of the same events. In groups they will compare
and contrast the media. Conclusion will be creating a newspaper to
report the event.__
8. Evaluation process (include students
when possible)
Students will create a newspaper portraying
the event including: news, opinion, and political cartoon. Using a
rubric, they will assess the effectiveness of their papers.
9. Timeline: how you envision the
project being carried out between start up and conclusion
We will begin by reading the novel
together. Then the topic will be presented in a historical
non-fiction genre. If possible we will then search some Internet
sites for verification. Then the comparisons will be developed.
Finally, the newspaper will be created and assessed. Total time,
one month._
TAH
Project Proposal
Submitted by Janine Lodico
Elmira
City School District
Purpose: The
purpose of this project is to compare a work of historical fiction
with primary sources of the same event to substantiate the story
that was read. In doing this research the students will see that
historical fiction is based in fact, but also is a work of fiction
and not to be used exclusively to obtain information about a time
period.
Stakeholders:
This project will be completed by students in the fifth grade of a
public elementary school. This class is made up of students with a
wide variety of backgrounds and ability levels.
U.S. History Content:
The content will be the Oregon Trail and westward expansion of the
United States.
Outline Describing Content:
Logistics suggested minor
changes from my initial project. This is the project as it was
conducted.
·
Prior to
presenting the project to the students, a novel was selected. This
was an extensive search as there are many books to choose from. The
book selected had to cover an event in our curriculum, be at grade
level, and be a sufficient length to provide enough material for the
project. I selected the book Bound for Oregon by Jean Van
Leeuwen.
·
After
selecting the book, the topic was presented to the class to give a
background of the time period. The background was supplied by our
history text, The United States, published by Scott Foresman.
2005.
·
Students were
each given a copy of the novel and a notepad to keep the notes
together.
·
I read the
book orally to the students as they followed along and took notes of
items they were curious about. The story was discussed after each
chapter, and we also discussed what things could be validated
through research.
·
Several times
throughout the project the students went online to find primary
sources to document events, people, and artifacts mentioned in the
book.
·
At the
culmination of the book’s reading, the students made scrapbooks of
the journey using primary documents found on the web.
·
These
scrapbooks were then presented to the class for discussion.
Software: none
used, however Google search engine was of great use.
Student Involvement:
Once the book was selected,
the students were involved in every step. They decided what to
research. They chose the research materials and which items they
wanted to use for their final project.
Evaluation:
Students were evaluated on their notes, use of time and
effectiveness on the computer, and final project. Some of the
evaluation was self correcting as the students learned that without
proper notes they were not effective in their research, and without
active research they would not be able to document their summaries
in their scrapbook. Final evaluation of the scrapbook was based on
the connection between the story and what documents were chosen to
support the events.
Timeline: Once
the book was chosen the project took 10 days of class time.
Research was interspersed through out the reading of the novel.
This resulted in better research as students honed their skill in
identifying what could be researched and how to locate the sources.
Reflections on the Process
The
first step in the process was to select the novel to use. I was
very pleased with the amount of literature available. There are
many first rate authors that write historical fiction, and a search
under historical fiction, elementary produced a great
selection. I decided on Bound for Oregon largely because of
its topic, where it fit in the year’s curriculum, and the reading
level. It was a great choice as the students, boys and
girls, really enjoyed reading it, and it was closely tied to history
including the family that took the journey.
During the reading of the novel I had the students take
notes on what they could research. After the first few sections I
realized that I needed to be more specific, and we began to take
note of people, places, events, and some artifacts. This focused
their attention to things that they would be able to document.
After the first research session, we needed to take a
refresher course in primary documents as the students were finding
lovely pictures of artifacts to be purchased at Target. Doing this
project really drove home the reason behind using primary documents
in research.
Most of the students were able to find many appropriate
documents but mainly used photographs. In future years I will
organize this part of the project to include different types of
documents so that letters, genealogy charts, maps, and artifacts are
all used, as well as photographs and paintings.
Once
the research was completed the students made their scrapbooks. They
really enjoyed putting these together. I will, in the future, help
them with organization a little more so that the books have more
direction to them instead of the random presentation that some
students finished with.
This
project was very successful. It engaged the students in their
learning so that they developed discernment in reading historical
novels, computer research skills, and presentation skills as well.
Using primary documents in this way helped the students to not only
find the documents, but to see the importance of these documents in
understanding our history. An additional bonus was increase in
vocabulary as students explored documentation of words that were new
to them such as wagon tongue, corduroy road, and heifer. The
exciting part was that they were the ones initiating the search for
meaning. It was a very profitable venture and I will include it in
my plans in the future.
TAH
Project
Elmira
City School District
Oregon
Trail 5th Grade
2008-2009
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