iEARN Project Integration for A Magic Flower of Wishes
By Craig Rugh & Datta Kaur Khalsa

Chosen Project: A Magic Flower of Wishes
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 ‘in writing’ 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 ‘wish in motion’ through implementation of technology tools, art and graphics towards completion of a visual presentation that is associated with their “magic 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 Kino’s 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):

1. iEARN
   http://www.iearn.org
2. Creating Simple Flash Animations
   http://www.school-for-champions.com/flash/simple.htm
3. Graphics and Clip Art for Kids
   http://rats2u.com/clipart/animation/clipart_kids.htm
   
4. Rubric Development
   http://www.cyberspaces.net/6traits/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 ‘o.k’ 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 three 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 teachers’ 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 ‘same age’ 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 ‘introductory 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 ‘virtual teacher’ 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 ‘graphics’: 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 they’ve 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 three 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 project’ 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 teacher’s 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.

Project Plan Template: Cultural Recipe Book and International Celebration
Patricia Whitlock
Creative Arts Online class

Goals:

Teacher Goals: To have students share and exchange recipes of their own Native countries. To express personal ideas and opinions about traditions from other countries and compare traditions.
To have children gain sense of pride for themselves and their culture.

Student Goals: Students will research their own family’s cultural recipes. They will interview family members and discuss family traditions. Students will also research the Flag for their country and create a flag.

Assessment of Possible Projects and Class Interest:

Class Motivation: The children are very excited to create a recipe book. They all even want to make the food and bring it in. Coming up in May we are celebrating International Week and the Kids will dress up in costume for their culture and on one day bring in food traditional for their culture. They are very excited to share ideas.

Getting Other Teachers Involved:
I’ve spoken to other teacher about doing class collaboration and having the children get together and exchange ideas and group up to research as well. This way they can share materials and learn cooperative learning. I’ve also spoken with the Music and Art teacher about having them do activities that will enhance our theme.Calendar: This unit should take about 4-5 weeks. Of course it’s always hard to tell exactly. A lot depends on the children you have and how much time per week you put into it.

Background Knowledge:

• The teacher prepares the classroom using books, puzzles, tapes, magazines, and pictures from a variety of different ethnic groups and cultures.
• Parents may be involved by sharing some part of their ethnic background culture with the class.
• Teacher may want to work with parent committee to plan International Celebration. It’s always a help to get others involved and relieve all the work off you. Parents live for this stuff!
• Teacher must reserve room in class for student work.
• Provide extended work time for students.
• Provide folktales and stories from different cultures
• Children will be researching flags of their country
• Dictionaries need to be provided.
• Teach children how to discuss and exchange values, beliefs and traditions of different cultures in a POSITIVE way. (I think this is the most important aspect before you start a unit of this type.)
• Teach children how to read informational texts
• How to utilize resources such as charts, dictionaries and non- fiction books.
• Have children ponder "How do people in different cultures celebrate holidays"? How does food differ between cultures? Why do you think that is so?

Time Table of Lessons:

WEEK 1:
Lesson 1- Have children interview family members and choose a recipe
to add to the class recipe book. Provide a recipe card for the children to
complete.
Lesson 2- Discuss and talk about why they chose this recipe and the significance to their family. Have the children write a story about it. (allow 2-3 periods) Leave ample time to check spelling and stories before copies are made. Have children draw or bring in photo of recipe.
Lesson 3- Collect family pictures/ Artifacts for classroom display of different cultures. Have children write captions for the things.

WEEK 2:
Lesson 4 -create an individual family tree. ( 2-3 periods) Illustrate with things that are important to their family. If you have enough time have children bring pictures of family members. If not draw pictures in a tree form.
Lesson 5- Share family tree with classmates and give oral presentation explaining and sharing about family. (Teacher can make a class book about families and display in “Family Museum”)

WEEK 3:
Lesson 6 - Research their country of origin and create a family flag (about 3 periods maybe more) First lesson is using dictionary or books to look up flag and how to replicate it. Allow time for research and making flags.
Lesson 7- Record activities in journals. Use writing workshop to allow children to express ideas and lessons learned so far. Allow time for sharing of ideas.
During this time teacher is putting together class displays and class recipe book and family tree book to display. Also, teacher is keeping in contact with parents and scheduling times for them to come in and share stories/ artifact with the class. These events may push your schedule around a bit.

WEEK 4:
Lesson 8- Prepare for International week. Discuss costumes and have children draw a picture of what they are going to dress like. Again a class book can be made from the pictures. On the day the children dress up take Polaroid pictures of them and attach it next to their drawing.
Lesson 9: have children write about their costume. What is the significance of it? The colors, style, etc…
Lesson 10: Discuss our findings of the different cultures in the class. Talk about what we learned and create experience charts and Venn diagrams. Pair children up and have them compare cultures with each other. Review discussing cultures in positive ways and not making fun of differences.
Lesson 11: Make math graphs and charts for the information you have collected during the study. We have been studying: Bar graphs, line graphs, pictographs, and line plots. I will utilize these to create graphs for International Week.

One important aspect that teachers must remember throughout this unit is that MODELING is the key to success. You must model appropriate responses for the children and lead all lessons in a positive way and keep focus on task. It is so easy for children to go off on tangents and talk about families and friends but you want to keep them focused on the task at hand.

Productivity of Work:
Teacher Role: Knowledge Guiding Practice

• Teaching self esteem and respect for others is enhanced through sharing information about families.
• Healthy attitudes about people are developed so students discuss and research aspects of different cultures.
• Listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills are strengthened through participation in project activities.
• Research and share family history
• Research flag of country
• Some background knowledge is needed on using resources and research.
• Students are organized in groups to utilize dictionaries and research materials.
• Materials, art supplies are shared for creating projects.
• For writing student have writing partners.Conclusion:
  Assessment Tools & Evidence:
• Anecdotal notes of teacher
• Journal writings about stories read in class by teacher and parents.
• Family Tree display
• Chart about families
• Parent input related to family history and careers
• Student collections of items representing their cultures.
• Rubrics for projects will be made with students prior to activity. Grades go from 4 being the highest to 1 being the lowest.

In May we are celebrating our different Nationalities in a week long celebration called “International Week”
During this time we dress for our culture, share food and share stories with each other.
We invite parents to come and share with the children.
I like to have the recipe book, flags, and family trees done before this week so they are ready for display when parents come in.
I will create a class Museum of family artifacts and display family treasures as well as our family trees and cultural recipe books. I am also having the recipes and explanations copied so that each child can take home a class recipe book and always remember our International celebration.

Action Components and Items of Special Interest:
Special Interests to keep in mind:

• Keeping parents informed and involved.
• Creating a family atmosphere in the class. Promoting positive interaction between students and respect for one another’s differences as well as similarities.
• Having children describe similarities and differences. Utilize graphic organizers to organize data and show differences and similarities.
• Identify common themes.
• Record and share information and experiences on experience charts. Display them when parents come. Try to remember to put child’s name after their contribution. Parents love to see what their child is saying and doing in school. Sometime they are also very cute and funny and it makes them happy.
• Research topics prior to activity.
• Talk about sharing foods from different backgrounds and how to politely respond if they feel they may not like it. Do not hurt anyone’s feeling by insulting their dish. Teach them to try new things.
• Provide extended work time for these activities and don’t cover too many topics at once. Try to immerse the children in the topic and integrate all subject areas with in it.
• Make sure you make enough room for student work in our outside of your class. A child and parent will be very upset in only have the student work is displayed and the others are not. Make sure each child has equal space to display their family with pride. This goes along with modeling for the children. You may not think that displaying items is a big deal but to children ( and some parents) it is. Everyone wants to show off some time. Show them you are proud of them and they will be proud of themselves.
• Allow student choice. Student always perform better when they have a say in the learning.
• Invite family and community participation
• Support with reading and writing materials.
• Speak with computer specialist about integrating computer technology into the unit. Perhaps they can create flags on the computer as well.
  Production of Work
• Letters to parents and lessons need to be organized in advance. Give parents enough time to be able to come into class and share with the children. They need time to make arrangements with work. Some parents may feel this worthy of making the time. I do have a very big parent support and they do make the time. I always tell parents that by making the time to come into school you are sending a message to your children that school is important.
• The Art teacher will be making murals and dolls of different cultures with the children.
• The Music teacher will be teaching different songs to help enhance our theme.
• Don’t hesitate to utilize resources in your school or community to assist in your theme. You can also turn to your PTA and ask for assistance from them. You may be surprised to see they are very willing to help.Technology and Material Requirements:
• Art- Different pictures of a variety of cultures, books, Magazines and stories.
• Stories from different cultures
• Music from different cultures. It’s always good to expose children to a variety of different things. It’s through exposure that they become familiar. With this they will learn tolerance of different cultures and learn to appreciate differences and maybe even embrace it. We hope!
• I have an audio tape called “Children from Around the World.” It is a tape of different children singing songs from other nations. It also comes with song lyrics for the children. It is very helpful. It may also come in handy if you need to perform a song for the school from different cultures. I also have a Disney video tape of Different songs from around the world. It’s a sing a long tape and the children like watching it. They not only hear different songs but they see beautiful costumes. International Unit

Problem Based Lesson on Global Warming
Carol Lipton, USA

Problem Name/Title: To Melt Or Not To Melt –Whose Has the Right?-Global Warming
iEARN Project this will contribute to: Environment
Teacher’s Role: Judge for the Students in a Mock Court Room
Student’s Role: Jury, prosecutors, plaintiffs, defendants, lawyers etc
Time Frame for the Unit: 2 weeks
Meet the Problem: My students loved using the courtroom in a previous activity and would look forward to using it in this lesson. By putting themselves as members of the court they would be bring a better understanding of the issues. The problem of global warming and its effect on the environment will be addressed during this lesson.
Know/Need to Know: Write what you think the students will know about the problem and what you think they need to know. How will you decide what goes up as a “Know” or “Need to Know?” Is there a difference between what they know and think they know?

Know (K)

• What is global warming?
• The effect of global warming on the environment
• The definition of fossil fuel
• How carbon dioxide effects the environment

Need to Know (NK)

• Uses of fossil fuel and how it effects the environment
• What chemical reactions are occurring to produce carbon dioxide
• How industry protects does or not protects the environment
• The role of government in controlling global warming
• How nations help each other with global warming
• How individuals can affect global warmingProblem Definition: Mr. Fossel is CEO of a a company accused of emitting excess amounts of carbon dioxide in four plants in NYC. The job of my students will be to set a court room setting which half of the class will be on the defendants side and the other half of the class would be on the side of the EPA who is suing the company for fines in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Information Gathering & Sharing: Students will find information on:

• Internet
• Books
• Environment Protection Agency USA
• Teachers to answer questions on global warming
• Other government agencies
• Local government officials
• CD encyclopedia

Generating Possible Solutions and Determining a Fit:

• Students will determine how industry views global warming
• Students will discover how to correct or regulate industry
• Students will see how global warming is viewed by citizens
• Students will discover how difficult is the problem global warming

Outcomes:

• Students will learn how global warning effects industry
• Students will have a better understanding of how global warming effects the environment
• Students will be able to interpret data find using the internet
• Students will learn how to do research on the internet
• Students will learn about the different facets of solving complicated issues.
• Students will interpret information such as essays, tables, charts, and data.

Curriculum Compass:

• Human activities affect the atmosphere by producing air pollutants and other substances that contribute to such problems as global warming

Embedded Instruction Activities to Meet the Outcomes: Brainstorming with others, working in groups, scripting the court case.

Assessment: I will ask the students to write a summary of the outcome and if they feel that justice was served by the outcome of the case? Why?
Debriefing the Problem/Process: Will debriefing the process help assess learning and improve the process in the future? What would you and the students do differently in the future? What collateral learning took place? Can this problem be expanded? Help students see the whole picture.
Other Concern and/or Notes:
Since a certain portion of the questioning in the court room will be improvised, this may lead to unknown factors good and bad

ANOTHER PROJECT

Designing a Problem-Base Unit Template

Problem Name/Title: The quality of the water at school and the RIA nearby the school
iEARN Project this will contribute to: The water in our lives – H2O VIVA!!!!
Teacher’s Role: Client of the H2O Viva Co. (Water Pollution Consulting Company)
Student’s Role: Water Pollution Consultants
Time Frame for the Unit: From March 15 - June 4, 2004
Meet the Problem: First of all I will tell them that we are going to play a game. Here is the scenario: a few kids of the school are sick, their parents think that they drank water from the pipe of the school and this is the cause of their illness. The reality is that even students know they should not drink that pipe water they still do it because there is not a source of drinkable water in the whole campus. The problem reaches high authority levels. The principal/the school may be sued. They need to know if the pipe water of the school is indeed polluted. Some witnesses said they saw these same children taking a bath at a RIA which is nearby the school. The principal thinks this could be the cause of the problem and not the pipe water of the school. Then she decides to hire a Water Pollution Consulting Company to determine whether the RIA or the pipe water is polluted.

What Students Know What they Need to Know
The students know they need to perform some tests to determine if a sample of water is polluted or not. They need to know which tests are going to be taken, how, when and why.
They know they can use Internet as a source of information and work with a Microscope. They need to know the safety information while taking samples of polluted water.
Most of them know how to look up for information on the Internet. They need to know if they are going to work in groups or individually as well as who is doing what.
They know the Water Testing kit they are going to use. They need to know they have to carry out this research until the very end of it, it means they will have to report their results, analyze them and deliver a conclusion.
They know the school is registered in the H2O VIVA project and their project is going to be published here. They need to know about the scientific method to make a research.

They think they know the water of the RIA is polluted because of what they have observed, but the truth is they have never tested it.

Problem Definition: How can we determine whether the RIA or the pipe water is polluted so we will get to know if these kids got the infection from any of these water sources?
Information Gathering & Sharing: They will need Internet access to get more information about water testing. I could support them in the process to know the water testing kit. I could guide them through the search on the internet by pointing out some examples of engine searches. I could support them while getting familiar with the instruction at the time of testing. As their client I will try to ask them questions that will make them think. For instance, why are you performing this pH water test? What does it tell you? ….Actually to make it fun and more real I could ask them, are you doing this test so you can charge me more money or what for do you need it? ; )
Generating Possible Solutions and Determining a Fit: more than a solution we need a conclusion. Depending on this conclusion the school will have to develop an action plan.

Outcomes:
The students will:

1. Learn about water pollution
2. Learn how to evaluate a sample of water
3. Acquire scientific concepts as pH, BOD, Coliform bacteria, thermometer, variables, temperature, etc…
4. Learn how the scientific method works.
5. Learn to gather samples and results, analyze them and come to a conclusion.
6. Learn to plan a field test day and how to organize them self as a group.
7. Learn to look up for information on the Internet.
8. Learn how a water sample looks like under a microscope.
9. Learn to question the actions they take during the research.

Embedded Instruction Activities to Meet the Outcomes: we have advanced on this already. We have met some afternoons to talk about the school and community water issues. We also have made some field trips and tests in order to help the children to get familiar with the concepts and equipments.
Assessment: I think the more “effective” way to assess them is to act as their client. I can ask direct questions that they may want to answer as a group. On the other hand I think that I could get to know how well they learned or not about the topic while observing their performance individually.
Debriefing the Problem/Process:
I think the debriefing of the process can help us, teachers and students, to get to know ourselves better and the way we work. Surely this action will lead us to it better next time.
Other Concern and/or Notes: I am a bit concern about how will I manage to keep them exited about the project but at the same time manage to get them work quietly, specially on the field test activities.