Teacher and Student Showcase -- Volume 2, Number 8

Over the past year, our newsletters have shared lesson plans, web sites and tech tips on topics ranging from ñSearching for Lucyî to ñCreating a Grading Rubric.î  Our features have covered topics such as Internet safety to the assessment.  We hope this yearÍs selection of articles and lesson plans have been useful to you professionally as you continue to strive to integrate technology into your curricula. 

In this issue -- our final for the 2001/2002 school year -- we will utilize a somewhat different format.  In this issue we are showcasing teacher and student work. The projects described below are drawn from those schools and teachers with whom Sun Associates has worked during the past year. Whereas our newsletter always features links to student projects and teacher-created resources, we thought that our readers nationwide would enjoy an end-of-the-year sampling of some interesting projects created by teachers we know and have worked with personally. All of these teachers have agreed to have their work posted in this newsletter, and all would welcome your inquiries (email addresses are listed with each project) for further information.

Please note that you will need the original application -- e.g., Appleworks, Word, HyperStudio, PowerPoint, etc. -- in order to open the files you download for each of the following lessons. The requisite application is noted in each lesson plan.

We hope you enjoy these projects and that you find something of use for your own practice.  If you would like to see another student showcase, or if you would like to share some of the student projects that you have used in your classroom, please email us at newsletter@sun-associates.com

It has been a pleasure working with all of you this year, and we look forward to writing to you again in August. Here's to an enjoyable and rejuvenating summer break!

In This Issue:

I.  Baker School, Brookline, MA  -  Elementary cell mitosis projects
II.  Mohawk Trail Regional High School, Shelburne Falls, MA Æ Spanish language children's stories
III. Smith College Campus School, Northampton, MA Æ 6th grade Social Studies project using PowerPoint
IV. SAD 11 - Gardiner, ME -- Life Cycle of the Butterfly
V. Lexington Public Schools, Lexington, MA Æ Three middle school WebQuest projects
VI.  How to Subscribe/Un-subscribe

Back issues of Sun Associates news are also available online.

I.  Baker School, Brookline, MA

The two projects we are showcasing used Appleworks version. 6.x to create a cartoon slide show on the topic of cell mitosis.  These projects have been selected because they  display a great deal of science content as well as individual student creativity.

Project Overview:

Students drew pictures that represented the stages of mitosis.  Once the pictures were drawn, Ms. Rains scanned in all pictures.  Using the iBooks, groups of students inserted their pictures into AppleWorks drawing.  They then added speech bubbles and text to their drawings.  When all of the text was completed, students printed out the pictures and mounted them on continuous computer paper. These ñcomic stripsî were then hung in the hallways. 

Unit:                            Mitosis Digital Cartoon Project
Teachers:                     Jullie Rains - 7th grade science and Heather Hurley - K-8 instructional technology specialist
Email addresses:          jullie_rains@brookline.mec.edu and heather_hurley@brookline.mec.edu
Grade Level:                Seventh Grad, Science
Technology Used:       iBooks, Scanner, AppleWorks
Skills Needed:             Knowledge of word processing and drawing

Student Project Directions:

For this project you (and your partner) are required to write a comic strip about the process of mitosis(otherwise known as cell division).  You may create fictional characters to help describe what happens, but the requirements for the project are as follows:

Today and tomorrow in class you will draw 1 box per phase of mitosis (for a total of 4 boxes)  DO NOT INCLUDE ANY WORDS!! YOU WILL DO THAT ON THE COMPUTER LATER!

Be creative about how you decide to present your ñstory,î but make sure that your drawings of each stage are accurate!  In other words, itÍs ok to have something wacky going on in your cytogenesis box as long as you draw and describe how the cell membrane pinches off to make 2 daughter cells. 

Your drawings and title box are due Thursday, October 25 in class.  We will use the iBooks to add words and final touches on Friday to complete the project.

Links to sample student products from this activity:

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II.  Mohawk  Trail Regional High School, Shelburne Falls, MA

Project Overview:       

This PowerPoint project was created by Ms Adlersmith's Spanish 2 class in the fall of 2001. The students worked in pairs to create their own children's stories using vocabulary that they had learned in class. The students titled their stories and made sure there were at least 250 words in the presentation and that they used at least 10 slides. Their artwork was taken either from PowerPoint clipart file or URLs. Some students scanned pictures from other sources.

Students were graded using a rubric which included communication in Spanish (25%), content (25%), vocabulary (15%) creativity/originality (15%), and accuracy (20%).

Unit:                           Spanish 2 PowerPoint Story Books
Teacher:                      Pam Adlersmith
Email address:             padlersmith@mohawk.k14.mass.edu
School:                        Mohawk Trail Regional High School, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370
Grade Level:               High School, Spanish 2
Technology Used:       PowerPoint and the Internet
Skills Needed:             Word processing, cutting and pasting, importing/inserting pictures and audio, scanning, and using the Internet.

Student Project Directions:

See the overview section of the Teacher Directions PowerPoint presentation (below) for step-by-step instructions on conducting this classroom activity.

Links to Teacher Directions and a Sample Student Project:

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III.  Smith College Campus School, Northampton, MA

Project Overview:

Sixth grade students have been working with a multimedia authoring system for three years.  I was interested in assessing their ability to transfer their understanding of that program to PowerPoint, a program they had never used before. 

With their classroom teachers, they had been studying the era of industrialization in America.  Each student was assigned an area of study related to that time period and produced a research project.  I asked that they apply the expertise acquired from those projects to the Power Point assignment. 

Unit:                           Social Studies - The Industrial Era in America
Teacher:                      Mary Ann Dassatti
Email address:            mdassatt@smith.edu
Grade Level:               Sixth Grade
Technology Used:      Microsoft PowerPoint, Scanner, Netscape Navigator

Student Skills Required:           

Students need to have an understanding of word processing, and multimedia authoring.  They also should be enabled to insert images and sound files from a CD, a scanner, or from the Internet into a document.  In addition, the ability to use manuals and help functions independently to learn to use new software is always helpful.

Student Project Directions:

You have been creating multimedia presentations for the last few years.  I want to see if you can apply what you've learned to a new program.  For the next three classes, you will use PowerPoint to create a slide show on your Industrial Revolution topic.  Since you are experts on your topic, you should have no problem with the information you include.  When learning a new program, experiment, and use the help menu and the manuals in the front of the room.

Links to Sample Projects:

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IV. SAD 11 -- Gardiner, ME

Project Overview:

This second grade teacher used Hyperstudio to illustrate the metamorphic stages of a butterfly’s life. At the conclusion of a science unit on butterflies, students were to make presentations to show their understanding of the life cycle of butterflies using Hyperstudio.


Unit:                        The Life Cycle of the Butterfly
Teacher(s):              Karen Moody
email addresses:      k_moody@sad11.k12.me.us
Grade Level:           Second Grade
Technology Used:  Hyperstudio

Student Skills Required

Students needed to learn step-by-step each aspect of Hyperstudio: Using the Drawing/Painting tools, Adding Text, Adding Buttons and Text boxes, Inserting Graphics, Designing moving graphics, and Using Blabbermouth.

Student Project Directions:

For this project you must make a card show presentation for the life cycle of the butterfly. Include:

Link to Sample Student Project

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V.   Lexington Public Schools, Lexington, MA

Although we donÍt have the actual student work to showcase, we do have several exemplary teacher-created WebQuests from these three Lexington, MA teachers. We enjoyed looking at these so much, that we thought they are certainly worth sharing.

Mark Silin Æ Math, 7th Grade, Clark Middle School  (msilin@sch.ci.lexington.ma.us)

The Impact of September 11 on Airline and Defense Stocks

Tricia Kascak Æ language Arts, 7th Grade, Clarke Middle School (pkascak@sch.ci.lexington.ma.us)

Media Literacyƒ Add Your Point

Rick Rogers Æ Science, 6th Grade, Clarke Middle School (rrogers@sch.ci.lexington.ma.us)

Earth Shaking Events

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VI. How to Subscribe/Un-subscribe

We hope you enjoyed reading the ideas and information in Sun Associates News. If you have received this newsletter forwarded by a friend and would like to receive your own copy, simply send an email -- with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject. If you would prefer not to receive future issues via email please let us know. Just put the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject of your email message.

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Last updated, June 17, 2002