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Emily
Spielman
08
Project
Summary
Frewsburg Central School
TAH Project
“Little
Read”
featuring…
Robert H.
Jackson
by Gail Jarrow
Frewsburg
Central School
Submitted by Emily Spielman, 8th
Grade English Teacher
Collaborative Project
FCS 7th & 8th Grade
English Teachers
Mrs. Lindsey Marzec
Mr. Christopher Skelton
Mrs. Robin Trapani
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General Overview of the Proposed
Project:
Frewsburg Central School is instituting a new
initiative modeled after the recent Big Read in Chautauqua County.
The FCS Little Read will feature the new publication
Robert H. Jackson by Gail Jarrow. Through community and
parental donations the district will be providing each 7th
and 8th grade student, as well as their teachers, a copy
of the book to create a community of readers. The 7th
and 8th grade English, Social Studies and School Library
Media Specialist will be collaborating to develop a cadre of lessons
and experiences highlighting Frewsburg’s famous native son Robert H.
Jackson.
For a culminating event we would like to host
the author of Robert H. Jackson, Gail Jarrow, in our school.
We feel that Mrs. Jarrow could share her knowledge and insights into
the life of Robert H. Jackson with our students. Mrs. Jarrow also
does the following programming: Researching Nonfiction, Road to
Publishing, Writing Techniques and Creating Fiction.
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Clear Purpose and Objective
The “Little Read” will support the NEA
goal of helping to restore reading to the center of American
culture. As noted by Librarian of Congress Daniel J. Boorstin,
“Ours is a culture of the book. Our democracy is built on books and
reading.” As you are familiar with the work of Robert H. Jackson,
he worked tirelessly throughout his career to support democracy.
This program will enhance and honor his legacy by bringing his life
work into focus for students and highlight his contributions to our
society. The Frewsburg Central School “Little Read” program
will serve as a role model for other communities to engage students
at all levels in reading.
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Stakeholders: grade level, who will
benefit, who will participate in this project
All 7th and 8th grade
students will be participating in this project. We hope to also
have enough copies of the book so every 7th and 8th
grade teacher, in all curricular areas can model reading it with
their students. Studies have shown that children read more when
they see other people reading. By engaging the classroom teachers
in the reading process, they can promote the “Little Read”
initiative in classrooms that wouldn’t have a direct connection to
the topic.
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U.S. History Content Area
The “Little Read” project will cover
the following standards:
NYS Social Studies Standards
Standard 1-History of the
United States and New York
Standard 2- World History
Standard 5- Civics,
Citizenship and Government
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Outline Describing Content
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Each student will receive a copy of
the book Robert H. Jackson by Gail Jarrow
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Each book will have a bookplate in it
with the student’s name and list of the donors
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The 7th and 8th
grade English teachers will develop vocabulary and questions
to correspond to each chapter.
-
The students will have the opportunity
to view video clips of Robert H. Jackson.
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Each class will finish the book prior
to the author visit.
-
Each student will choose a final
project to demonstrate their knowledge about Robert H.
Jackson. The projects will be an essay, original poetry or
rap song. The best work from each class will have the
opportunity to have lunch with the author.
-
Gail Jarrow, author of Robert H.
Jackson, will visit the library as a culminating event.
The author will present four programs and speak at a
luncheon. Students in each of the sessions will have the
opportunity to introduce the author to the audience. They
will be chosen by the classroom teachers.
-
The following additional activities
will be done:
1.
Students will create an illustrative timeline to be placed in
the library
2.
The middle school showcase will display promotional material
about the “Little Read” and Robert H. Jackson.
3.
Students will develop questions to ask the author Gail
Jarrow. Students with the best questions will have the opportunity
to film Mrs. Jarrow’s responses to be later used in a podcast.
4.
Students will create a “word wall” with each class creating a
poster with adjectives to describe Justice Jackson.
5.
Students will create a display also to be placed in the
library of “Lessons Learned” from Justice Jackson.
6.
Students will research how Frewsburg appeared at the time of
Jackson’s life and how it appears now. A display of Then and Now
pictures will be created.
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Software to be used, internet
materials, contacts, etc.
Students will use online databases and
approved Internet resources. The Frewsburg Central School MS/HS has
a collection of primary resources on both Robert H. Jackson and the
Frewsburg Central School. The Robert H. Jackson Center and the
Fenton Museum would also be of use for information and primary
resources. In the realm of technology, the district has 15 licenses
for Garage Band and the Microsoft program Photostory 3 is also
accessible on district computers. The completed podcasts will be
posted on the teacher or library WebPages.
7. Level of Student Involvement
Students will be involved in all
aspects of this event. They will read the book, meet with the
author and participate in all of the activities created to support
the FCS “Little Read.”
8. Evaluation process
·
Essays,/Projects
Rubric
§
Content
§
Grammar/Mechanics
§
Organization
·
Daily Assignment Checks
·
Podcast
§
Each student will have a role to be assessed
9. Timeline: how you envision the project
being carried out between start and conclusion
Students will receive their books
approximately May 5th 2008. The students will begin
reading and do the chapter vocabulary and questions between May 5th
and May 14th. The supplementary activities will be
created during the week of May 19th. Gail Jarrow’s
author visit will be held in the Frewsburg Central MS/HS library
from 9:00AM – 1:00 PM on May 22nd. This will include all
members of the 7th and 8th grade. Students
selected with the best projects and or essays will be given the
opportunity to eat lunch with the author. Additionally students
working on the podcast will have time video tape the author’s
response to their questions about the publishing process and her
personal viewpoint of Robert H. Jackson.
10. Comments or Questions:
Can we use the $250.00 towards the purchase of
books or to help pay for the author expenses?
We will submit vocabulary lists, chapter
questions, project outlines etc. as they become developed to
complete the project.
It is our intention to make this a very
special event at Frewsburg Central School for our 7th & 8th
grade students.
Emily Spielman
Frewsburg Central School
8th Grade English
It was a challenge for me to
narrow down what I have learned from teaching this project. First
and foremost, I have come to realize more than ever the importance
of teaching across the content areas. Incorporating different
subjects such as history into my curriculum was such a beneficial
experience for my students and myself. It helped them see the
relevance of the Nuremberg Trial as an historic event, by
personalizing it through the life and experiences of Robert H.
Jackson. Because of our unique situation, being a school in the
actual town where RHJ grew up, I think I learned the importance of
local pride. Pride in one’s school, community and local heritage.
We aren’t often able to incorporate these concepts into our lessons
so this was a treat. Finally, the basic information regarding RHJ
and the Nuremberg Trial is something I can now add to my
repertoire. I am not naturally a history buff and had known nearly
nothing of RHJ and not much more about the trials, so this was a
fantastic opportunity to delve deeper into his life and those
events.
I must say I would do absolutely
each and every part of our curriculum again. However, out of
everything I would say I found the most benefit from the learning
stations we prepared in the library. The students were able to
guide their own learning and discover new information while building
on their prior knowledge at the same time. If we had the
opportunity to teach this unit again, I think I’d alter the
vocabulary worksheet we created slightly to leave out the
requirement of a picture. I would also attempt to take the students
to visit RHJ’s grave and perhaps into town to take pictures of the
main street to compare to pictures from RHJ’s time. I don’t feel
the curriculum suffered from not incorporating these additions but I
believe they would be beneficial.
The best part of this endeavor was
the students’ response. The fact that Jackson was a Frewsburg
native motivated them to want to know more about his life and
therefore his accomplishments once he left Frewsburg. They were
constantly excited by the book and the supplemental activities.
This was most evident in the eager questions they had for me
throughout the unit. Some of these I had to look up myself, as it
was new information for me as well!
This project has enhanced my
belief in interdisciplinary units and authentic assessment. It has
proved to me what I already knew, that these lead to increased
student involvement and therefore success. My students gave me
their best writing in their Jackson essays simply because of how
invested they were in his life. I think they have a new sense of
pride in their town and what it can create and I hope this has
encouraged them to pursue whatever ambitions they might have. Now
they’ve seen it can be done.
Emily Spielman Reflection in Word
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