ACTEM - SEED Packets 26-50

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The Design Workshop class is a semester-long elective class for high school students, grades 10-12. Students complete a series of 10 to 15 design projects of increasing difficulty and sophistication. The projects help each student develop the visual vocabulary and basic skill set to deal with communications in the 21st century. The primary emphasis is on graphic design skills, but during the second quarter all students also have a chance to use simple programming skills to explore game construction. They also learn some of the interpersonal skills needed to work with a client.

"To live is to dance, to dance is to live." This unit is a creative arts collaboration between a high school speech/drama class and a professional dance company, in which students create and perform a dance, based on a work of literature. Students view videos of dance performances, and then engage in a series of teacher initiated movement exercises and workshops with the dance company. Students first search the Internet for a performance piece their groups will dance. The group then develops criteria for evaluation of their dances, based on the results of Internet searches for dance reviews. Students rehearse, working with the pieces. Throughout, students continue an e-mail dialogue with the dance company. "Nonverbal storytelling awakens the mind/body connection and the page springs to life, never forgotten." (Ram Island Dance)

The career research unit is made up of 12-15 lessons of approximately 35-40 minutes each. It begins with a class discussion of what a career is, and what characteristics an individual should consider when selecting one. The students then fill out an online job aptitude questionnaire that uses their likes, dislikes and abilities to list possible careers for them. Each student must select one of the careers and spend 3-4 days researching it in the library and on the Internet. The students use the telephone book to locate a nearby professional in the field, and compose a letter to them with additional questions. The final performance assessment a student-created computer slide show based on the research. They then share their slide shows with other fifth and sixth grade classes.

Two key essential questions frame this seventh grade interdisciplinary unit: Why is it important to learn about the past? How can you learn about it? The unit begins with the students exploring artifacts from their own personal pasts and through a series of guided activities creating unique booklets about themselves that examine their past, present, and future. By participating in a study called "Garbology," the students use observation and reasoning skills to learn how today’s trash relates to archaeology. During the unit, the students participate in a series of field trips to local historical landmarks and agencies that are repositories of historical data. All of this prepares the students to participate in an actual archaeological dig on the banks of the Aroostook River with a licensed archaeologist.

"Lights, Camera, Action" is a challenging but rewarding project that has been used successfully with a heterogeneous eighth grade class. The project utilizes video and computer technology to develop good communication skills. Through the project, students become aware of the importance of good interviewing and public speaking. Most students feel comfortable speaking with their peers but can't imagine interviewing or addressing an adult audience. "Lights, Camera, Action" is a great way for the public to learn about what is going on in the schools, and offers an excellent opportunity for students to learn about their community.

Taught as a unit of the course Graphic Communication - a basic photography course in which students learn functions of the 35mm manual camera and different lenses, developing and darkroom procedures, applications for photographs, and relevant computer skills - Publication Project is a self-directed and complex culminating project.

This unit takes about five weeks of classes. Each class meets everyday for 70 minutes. The time spent is well justified as students have numerous variables to consider and reckon with, such as time and materials management, accountability, and the weather. Students generally work outside of class to shoot pictures and to meet with their "outside of class" contact person. Class time is spent developing film, printing photos, working on the computer and consulting individually with the teacher. Use of the darkroom is also available beyond the school day. Class size ranges from 16 to 20 students.

This student-led business/ technology class provides a publishing service to the school and community. While providing this service students learn about deadlines, communicate with the public, work on a ream and produce a quality product. Students experience a business environment and the business runs smoothly because of clear expectations with students in leadership positions including manager, assistant manager, bookkeeper, and secretary. Students design and produce over one hundred projects during the course of the year including science fair books, Pine Tree Hospice brochures, the school newspaper, menus for a local business, marketing booklets, basketball programs, and an educational association newsletters. Students take pride in the work they produce, gaining a sense of ownership not only for the projects, but also for the business itself.

and to raise the aspirations of a group of third and fourth grade students. In order to learn about various careers and the requirements and importance of education for each job, children work in teams to interview workers at their school. The interviews are published and the resulting publications shared with the people interviewed at a tea party.

Project Jonah is a case study of technology integration at the intermediate elementary level, incorporating over fifty of the Maine Learning Results in a variety of content areas. Students conduct research and develop a multimedia presentation using HyperStudio software to educate others about a species of whale. Technology serves as a tool for students to answer questions, organize information and present material to several audiences. Students enhance and extend their written text with a variety of media, including original artwork, images from the Internet, their own photographs, audio clips of whale sounds and their own narration. The students take part in self-assessment, and also have their work assessed by a small panel of educators. Students present their final projects to each other, to other classes, and to family and friends. This type of project is applicable to almost any content area and can be modified easily to suit the needs of primary through secondary students.

... And It's Off To The Races is an interdisciplinary unit on Alaska using the Iditarod, and weaving science, social studies, and literature content. The unit is designed for fifth grade but can easily be adapted for students in grades two through eight as the reading list ranges from lower level picture books to magazines and reference books written for adults. Science research may be on many topics: endangered animals of the north; communicable diseases (e.g. Diphtheria); animal husbandry; plate tectonics and the relationship to earthquakes and volcanoes; and wave energy as it relates to tsunamis and the northern lights. Social studies content includes the study of the different cultures of Alaska and the changes they have undergone, geography and climate of the state, the pipeline, and the gold rush. Other topics that may be included are the formation of mountains, glaciers, avalanches, survival and hypothermia, plant life of the tundra, the migration of populations to and through Alaska, and the influence of the earth's tilt on its axis on all living things in the Arctic. Throughout the race, students are introduced to the topics stated above, and discuss the influence of the day's length and technology on the people of Alaska. The unit requires approximately 5 reading periods, 4 science periods, 2 computer periods, and 1 art period each week (each period is 50 minutes in length).

At the heart of this four-week project-based Maine forestry unit is a scenario in which 100 acres of forest property are donated to a school with the stipulation that it be used to benefit the schools' current and future students. Students begin with a hike up a mountain and then learn about soil composition, tree classification, and succession. They also complete a series of outdoor activities. Biologists, soil scientists, park rangers, and harvesters visit the classroom to share their expertise. Finally, students use Internet and print resources to research uses of forest land, write persuasive papers to support their preferred options, and develop a hypermedia project to present to area residents.

Paparazzi Poetry: A Flash of Inspiration is designed to teach students to harness the power of language and to get inspiration from everyday life, specifically the daily newspaper. Students read the newspaper and respond by using lean, enlightened language to create poetry from the news. They experience how poetry can be used to make sense and create beauty in an often inhospitable world, how it can be used to arouse and manipulate emotions, to spur people to action, and even to affect the course of history.

A class in Idaho e-mailed: "We are interested in Maine because it is easier to find on the map than some states. Are there still lighthouses there?" This e-mail request presented an authentic purpose for research. This unit of study exposes children the strategies for finding information on the Internet. It also enables teachers to guide them in a safe search.

Young children are very excited about learning something new and becoming authorities among their peers but there often aren't enough books available on the primary level for children to do research. However, with the help of a graphic organizer such as The Big Six Assignment Organizer, second grade students can find information on many topics, using both the library and the Internet. The Big Six, which is adaptable to any grade level, helps them come up with key words and phrases to guide them on a safe search. They develop a search strategy that uses appropriate and available resources, they formulate questions to ask when gathering information, and they record and share the information they’ve gathered.

Students work in pairs and small groups, supporting each other in coming up with ideas and using the graphic organizer. Once the children clarify what they are searching for and identify key words to use, they are ready for an Internet search. Yahooligans is a good place to start because it is geared to children: they can quickly visit and eliminate sites with text that is too difficult for them. They can also find information and illustrations that are not presently in book form.

Every town, every business, every old building, has a story to tell. In their work on this project, students learn some of those stories and write historical research reports about locations, establishments, or buildings in their hometown and the surrounding area. The report highlights the past, present and future role of the selected site in the community.

The "Good Old Madison" project is based on a book, Good Old Maine, by Will Anderson. Anderson researched business establishments and buildings around the state of Maine and reported their history. Most Maine communities have histories rich with change and adaptation, reflecting the economic changes in the town, state, country and world; the changes that came with an industry's adaptation, growth and death; the changes that came from transportation advances; and the effects of time, war and peace on a community.

For the Birds in Flight WebQuest, students use the Internet to research a type of bird, write a newspaper article about the bird, and orally present the information learned. They use a framework that helps them make the best use of time, eliminating the learner's need to surf the net without a clear task in mind. Students are first taught how to use a browser so they can successfully navigate through the WebQuest, enabling them to gather and print information as needed. Students prepare by reading through the "Task" and "Process" sections of which outlines the mission and steps each group must take to complete the task. Students choose a bird and then gather information that falls into four areas: what the animal looks like, what it eats, what its habitat is like, and any other interesting facts.

After gathering information from both the Internet and classroom resources, students compile and write newspaper articles. They revise, edit, peer conference and prepare their articles for publication. Finally, they give an oral presentation about what they've learned. There is a section on evaluation, as well as a conclusion or follow-up activity section.

Transform your classroom into an eighteenth century newsroom in Boston, Massachusetts at the height of the pre-revolutionary frenzy where students observe and report the momentous events but do so by using today’s technology. In this activity, the class becomes a newspaper company complete with separate departments and an organizational hierarchy, submits electronically articles, graphics, ads and other pieces to a server, and finally creates the newspaper using a word processing program.

The Curriculum Fair Project takes about two months from inception to completion. During this time, the students are honing skills while researching the topics of their choice. Language Arts class time is used for research, accessing computers, taking notes, and writing about their topics. Study halls are utilized in a similar manner but are also used as a time to consult with teachers in various disciplines. After school time is scheduled on an individual basis for help with experiments, research consultation, posterboard work and word processing.

The projects are challenging to the students because they choose topics of interest to them and are eager to follow through on the research. During the research portion, the student often encounters information that is contrary to what they originally thought. This gives them the opportunity to look at it from a different perspective.

Real TV: Students produce and distribute programming for the local cable access television station. Produced on a shoestring budget, the channel is a valuable service to the community while providing a powerful learning experience for the students. Students learn proper communication techniques such as writing, editing, interviewing, public speaking, projection with vocal authority, and the social aspects of dealing with the public through mass communications. They also become proficient in the operation of all equipment utilized in news broadcasting. The teacher also developed a teleprompter using outdated equipment, reducing the cost for this critical piece of equipment from several thousand to about one hundred dollars.

Following a teacher guided process, students research and prepare a Power Point presentation on a drug-related topic that they present to their peers as they assume the role of teacher. This unit has been successfully implemented with eighth graders for the past six years. Junior high students are often difficult to teach because of their developmental stage and the last thing that they want is to have another adult tell them not to do drugs. "Teen Teaching" works very well for this age group and topic. Students are asked to be responsible for researching, preparing and presenting a Power Point presentation and developing a Jeopardy game and quiz.

The Wellness Portfolio, a collection of the student's personal health information, is composed of a family health history tree, personal wellness report, wellness goal project, chronic disease brochure or Web page, and a multi-stage fitness test. This portfolio project integrates health, math, language arts, technology and physical education. The overall goal is for students to be aware of their present health status, to have begun to improve certain behaviors, to know their genetic health risks, and to have investigated how to prevent a disease that has been in their family.

This packet contains instructional strategies, assessments and resources for implementation of the personal wellness report and wellness goal project. Using a wellness survey, students evaluate themselves on 27 health practices and, with the aid of a computer application, construct an appropriate graph of their results. The expectation is that they will incorporate their graphs into written wellness reports that also provide recommendations for any health practice not evaluated as "excellent." The second task is to set two wellness goals selected from the personal wellness report recommendations and to work during subsequent months to change these behaviors. A final reflective journal is submitted in which the student reflects on the goals, the benefits of the project, and how she or he will proceed.

This project introduces and explores multivariate (linear) regression as a stepwise procedure. Students are introduced to bivariate regression by using a recursive regression analysis procedure to "uncover" the formula for the perimeter of a rectangle from a dataset generated through measuring lengths, widths and perimeters of rectangles. Armed with the knowledge garnered from this "Predicting Perimeters" lesson, they then seek to "uncover" the formula a treadmill uses to calculate the rate of calories burned based on the explanatory variables of weight, speed and incline from a data set that they collect at a local fitness center.

Give children a set of objects and watch the patterns develop! Children instinctively want to build and there’s no better way to strengthen and reinforce their mathematical skills than by creating patterns. To further develop their skills and to capitalize on student interest, teachers can integrate technology by having them create their own classroom slide show.

The Class Stock Market Portfolio exposes fourth grade students to the world of financial markets as a form of investment by monitoring their own $1000 investments for six weeks. Through the creation of a class portfolio using the Internet, each student is allowed $1000 to purchase a stock of his her choice. The chosen stocks are then researched, monitored, recorded and graphed for a six-week period. Utilizing the Yahoo search engine (http://www.yahoo.com), the classroom teacher sets up a page called "My Yahoo," a free service using a user ID and password. Students record weekly the price of a share of their stocks on a spreadsheet using either Claris Works or Excel (about 15 minutes a week).

Utilizing the chart function of the programs, a bar graph displays the gain or loss of the stocks from week to week. Students use graphing terminology skills like x and y-axis, legends, labels and step size in creating their graphs. The color tool palette allows the artistic student to create amazing gradient fills for the background and bars. At the conclusion of the project, students merge their colorful graphs into a word processing document that includes their research, product pictures, and summary of what they have learned about the stock market. In writing their conclusions, students examine market forces, which may have affected the profit or loss of their stocks.

This unit of study is primarily a data collection, data conversion/manipulation, decision making project. Students survey/sample a representative section of forestry land (this usually can be done within walking distance of many schools), and extrapolate this data to quantify cords of firewood per acre of “typical” localized forestry lands.

Students survey a 37-foot radius of forestry land, recording and measuring each tree with a diameter greater than five inches. Students estimate the height of each surveyed tree using various techniques and record this data as well. When the plot of land has been accurately surveyed and “measured” (usually one – three class periods), they return to the classroom to “quantify” their data. Students at this point should reflect on and discuss their work to date, perhaps how they felt about this “measurement component” and/or how accurate their data is.

Students convert their data to usable volume of cubic feet and ultimately to cords of firewood. Depending on the age group and skill levels of your students, the math component can be modified to range from somewhat complex to reasonably easy. All students before beginning this unit should be comfortable with the concepts of volume, measurement, and different units of length. Students see firsthand how they can translate their math knowledge to the real world to make intelligent decisions based upon relatively small data sample. Once again, depending on the age group of the students, this project (which can be team taught with the science department) can transition into numerous tangents including topics such as:

Are you a Spanish teacher trying to incorporate Spanish and Latin American culture into your curriculum? Are you overwhelmed by the time difficulty of this task while also teaching basic communication skills and following the Maine Learning Results? Well, the answer may be a HyperStudio Trip around the Spanish world. This is a really fun learning activity that can be incorporated into any class level or age group, and even into other content, such as social studies.

This HyperStudio project asks beginning Spanish students to choose a Spanish speaking country to which they will plan an imaginary trip. They create a presentation about their plans to visit their chosen countries using the HyperStudio program. Students love creating these travel "slide shows." They use country-specific information and then add pictures, preferably their own drawings. Students also add text in Spanish.

The beauty of HyperStudio for the foreign language teacher is the freedom to record a student's voice, speaking in the target language, into their projects. After creating their HyperStudio stacks, students view all the stacks together, similar to a slide show. They are able to see and hear what their classmates find interesting about each country and maybe even imagine that they might travel there too! Try it - you'll love it!