Groups of students describe the most popular wishes of young people today in their countries, tell about the values of their lives, as well as about various literary characters which can help people to make their wishes real, collecting fairy-tales, poems and short stories where different magic situations are described. Besides students will portray the characters, magic symbols themselves presenting all kinds of pictures, drawings and animation for the project. All information on the topic is welcome.

Summary of Goals and Procedures:

Through the application of discourse with peers and family members, the students will discover the most important values of life in their homes, classroom and larger local community. They will be asked to pick one value that is most important to them personally and ascertain how this value could have an impact on their larger world. If students have overlapping ideas, they will then form partnerships or small groups. Students will then determine the depiction of this value in literature through examination of fairy tales, poems and short stories with special attention to characters, magic symbols, pictures, similes and metaphors. They will then be asked to become Œin writingà a literary character of their choice who has the power to apply their chosen value to change the world˜making a wish come true. As an extension of this writing, students will be required to create a visual presentation of the Œwish in motionà through implementation of technology tools, art and graphics towards completion of a visual presentation that is associated with their œmagic flower of wishes.

Academic and Language Arts Curriculum: Following is a website for our school, Seoul Academy, located in Seoul, Korea http://www.seoulacademy.net

Seventh Grade English stresses the development of good writing with emphasis on writing essays. Grammar is stressed along with the student writing. In our study of Literature, students first focus on the comprehension of short stories. Then the novels Call of the Wild, The Pearl, and the Black Pearl are examined. Public speaking poetry, vocabulary development, and a 7-page research paper with footnotes are also studied throughout the year. So the iEARN creative writing language arts project, A Magic Flower of Wishes, is a perfect addition to the goals of this curriculum.

Student Motivation:

Previously students have learned about audience, purpose, and topic in writing. Through the use of extension of this understanding they will develop further writing skills and interactions-verbally, textually and graphically. Students will also expand their team building skills and extend the walls of their classroom through family interviews, peer questioning and teaching others with the display and presentation of their final projects in the school, in the community and globally on the web.
Software to be used:

• Flash
• Dreamweaver
• Sound editor
• Scanner & Image editing software
• The Print Shop for graphics
• Inspiration

Choice of Literature Selections for Students:

1.        Pierce - Protector of the Small Series (These books tell the exciting and adventurous tale of Keladry of Mindelan, who has just one dream: to become a knight and now the King has decreed that any nobly-born girl can enter the palace school).
2.        Steinbeck The Pearl (When the news of KinoÃs great find, the Pearl of the World spreads through the small town, no one suspects its power to deceive, to corrupt and destroy).
3.        Byars -- The Summer of the Swans (Sarah Godfrey forgets about her gawkiness, her enormous feet, and all the troubles of her fourteenth summer when her younger brother disappears.)
4.        L'Engle -- A Wind in the Door, Swift Tilting Planet (The Wallace children are involved in rescues from a mysterious planet by time-warping themselves through "a wrinkle in time".) You may read one or all of them. London -- White Fang
5.        The Giver. (In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy.)

Websites as reference and resource (work in progress):

iEARN
http://www.iearn.org
Creating Simple Flash Animations
http://www.school-for-champions.com/flash/simple.htm
Graphics and Clip Art for Kids
http://www.kidsdomain.com/clip/
http://rats2u.com/clipart/animation/clipart_kids.htm
http://www.awesomeclipartforkids.com/
Rubric Development
http://6traits.cyberspaces.net/rubric2.html

Structure and Timeline of Project: Total 12 Weeks
Part 1: Introductions: Weeks 1 & 2

• Introduction to the Administration: The initial intention is communicated to the administration receiving an Œo.kà for the plans and the parent letter introducing the project.
• Introduction to Parents: Parents receive a communication describing the project, its intention, learning objectives as well as a suggestion to review the iEARN site or writings of children from other countries.
• Introduction to the Students: Students are introduced to the general idea of the project, emphasizing the power of global connections that can be obtained through discussions and publishing of their writings and work online.
• Introduction to iEARN: As a class, they view the iEARN site and are asked to pick 3 of the previously published writings of other children and read them. The class will discuss as a group, the intent of their young authors and what were the strengths and weaknesses of the writings.
• Introduction of discussion boards: The power of an online discussion board will be discussed as a group. They will note any previous discussions they have been a part of (gaming, online tutoring etc˜) noting advantages and disadvantages and what could be learned by an online discussion board related to this project.
• Introduction to the U.S. teacher: After a discussion on introduction attributes and writing style, the students will begin introducing themselves to the US teacher on the online discussion board. They will be asked within a one-week period, to post their introduction online and respond to the virtual teachersà questions.
• Introduction to U.S. 7-8th graders: After the initial discussion with the virtual teacher and familiarity with the discussion board, the students will begin virtual interaction with Œsame ageà students across the ocean. These students may or may not be involved with the same project, students can talk as formally or informally as they like, practicing previously learned Œintroductory writing.

Part 2: Brainstorming Project Ideas: Week 3 & 4

• Brainstorm Literature: The students and teacher will begin to discuss books they have read - past, present and ones they were looking forward to reading. They will get suggestions by researching book reviews online, asking parents and librarians for suggestions and reviewing a list given by the teacher. They may also choose to ask the Œvirtual teacherà for suggestions of books that past students have liked. All of this will expand their ideas of value in literature through examination of fairy tales, poems and short stories with special attention to characters, magic symbols, pictures, similes and metaphors that will help with their writing for this project.
• Brainstorm related to Interaction thus far: As a group the students talk about the discussion board with the virtual teacher and U.S students, sharing posts, stories, ideas and whether they would like to continue the discussions or put them on hold while they concentrate on other aspects of the project.
• Brainstorm associated ŒgraphicsÃ: The students will be given ideas of animations that have been associated with previous completions of this project. The teacher will demonstrate quickly how the animation is viewed and developed, giving the students a better overview of their future learning.

Part 3: Begin Writing: Week 5

• Using the Six Traits as a base for development of writing, the students will develop an outline of their most important story points and begin to apply six traits to their piece. Word processing software will be used, as well as the peer rubric designed and adapted by the students.

Part 4: Begin Drawing: Week 6

• After reviewing graphic websites and exploring available pictures and clip art, the students will decide which visuals are most appropriate for their animation related to their writing. They will begin sketching using the Print Shop software.

Part 5: Begin Animation Project: Week 7

• Using the online tutorial, the students will begin experimenting with animation software, working in pairs, teaching others, realizing that all paths of exploration and failures lead to more knowing.

Part 6: Review First Draft of Writings: Week 8

• Students will begin to share stories, discuss the process to this point and begin to review their initial drafts, using the rubrics theyÃve designed. Changes will be made as a result of this interaction, collaboration and evaluation.

Part 7: Voice Recordings for Animation: Week 9

• In groups of 5 (three teams), the students will practice the written version of their vocal piece, using a computer, and sound editor software. They will focus on verbal presentation skills and listening to the rhythm of their prepared lines.

Part 8: Final Draft of Papers: Week 10

• Using the peer review rubrics, discussion recommendations from teammates and the teacher, the children will prepare the final draft of their efforts. They will also be asked to get recommendations from one parent and one other teacher.

Part 9: Creation of Web Page: Week 11

• Through the use word processing, and three pieces of computer software (graphic editor, Dreamweaver and Inspiration), students will once again work in teams of 3 individuals. Each team will choose one aspect of web publishing to complete towards the final publishing efforts. Choices include:

• 1.        layout
• 2.        artwork
• 3.        site structure using Inspiration software
• 4.        web editing
• 5.        final review procedures

Part 10: Presentation and Celebration of Completion: Week 12

• Students will plan to share the learning with others through an end of projectà party that includes preparing invitation to their website, party and verbal presentations to other students, relating their experience procedure and reactions.
• Certificates of Completion will be presented to all participating students.

Part 11: Evaluation/assessment of project success includes many individuals and many procedures, including a choice of the following:

• Self evaluation by rubrics
• Verbal presentation to parents and other school students
• Newsletter posting sent to school and the local PDK newsletter

Further evaluation will be done through teacherÃs use of rubrics for individual, team and website evaluation and suggestions.

Conclusion:

These are the preliminary plans to an interactive creative language arts project that involves interdisciplinary participation in reading, writing, dialogue, technology, team skills and community interaction locally and globally. Through this type of learning the children have become independent learners, making personal and team choices, learning the art of interfacing with technology and learners all over the globe. They have also involved family, friends and individuals in their local community to help them realize their power and place in a complicated, confusing world.