Submitted by: Wiley Hunnicutt
School: Freeman High School

Summary

The thematic elements of fear, flight, and fate run through Richard Wright’s seminal work Native Son.  Wright’s novel is comprised of three parts entitled Fear, Flight, and Fate.

Each group was tasked with finding visual and auditory representations of each book in Native Son.   Students searched for and discussed their finds and your choices.  They wrote about why they made the choices they made for each book (three paragraphs minimum) in addition to presenting this information to the class in a dynamic, rehearsed presentation replete with visuals as well as musical accompaniment and the site produced for this lesson.

Submitted by: Caroline Wheeler
School: Varina High School

Summary

Urban legends fascinate, disturb, and ultimately entertain all of us—students and teachers alike. The Urban Legends lesson bridges the study of legends, one of the major tenets of world literature, and modern folklore. For many students, the stuff of literature and the stuff of real life seem worlds apart.  An extension from traditional legends and mythology units of study, this online research based lesson plan provides students with an opportunity to connect literature to everyday life and enables students to use technological skills and approaches to explore, understand, and evaluate the different types and purposes of modern, urban legends. Students will gain deeper insight into the similarities of literature of different cultures and eras and will develop more relevant understandings of the cultural and social functions of oral literature. The Urban Legends lesson is designed to foster and promote students’ approaching and ideal information fluency skills. In addition, this 21st Century lesson also promotes group communication and collaboration. Using understandings gained during from their research, students will create an innovative 21st Century product to showcase understandings and criticisms to less informed, more gullible peers.

The Urban Legends lesson, inspired creative thinking, by allowing them to discover that it is OK not to believe everything they hear and encourage creative risk taking. Students had to go outside of their comfort zones to create a 21st Century product to showcase their findings.

Submitted by: Diana Hundley
Collaborators: Kadie English-Student Teacher, Merle James- Art, Kathy Vick- Librarian, Jessica DelMonte-ITRT, Parent Volunteers
School: Echo Lake Elementary

Summary

The students will work collaboratively in 5 groups that they have chosen and will be in charge of one of Virginia’s 5 regions of Virginia. Directly prior to today’s culminating lesson, the students’ developed questions the would like to find out about each region as well as what they wanted to learn about the moon. The students each used a graphic organizer and chose from three web-sites to research information about all five regions in class. They also utilized the library in a lesson about searching the web. (Kids Link) They were able to add to their research with this information. The art teacher worked with the students to paint white t-shirts with the map of Virginia for us to wear as Jr. Virginia Trekkers. Today, I will video-conference with the students from the “moon” (to bring in our school-wide theme of “Echo Lake is Out of his World”) and to tell them they have got to visit the moon with me! I will let them know I am on my way back to pick them up so we can compare the physical characteristics of the regions of Virginia to that of the moon. However, we will need to each bring a few things with us about the regions.

Submitted by: Diane Myers
School: Echo Lake Elementary

Summary

Using 21st Century skills and higher level questioning with Blooms, the students will complete an integrated unit focusing on the current state recognized Va. Tribes and letter writing skills. The student will demonstrate knowledge of the physical geography and native peoples of Virginia, past and present. The student will also utilize historical analysis skills, including cause/effect, compare/contrast and reading skills such as fact/opinion, comprehension, predicting, and characterization. Students will write a friendly letter asking for information on the current tribes and research the tribes of the past using nonfiction books, selected internet sites, and other resources in the media center. Finally, after a classroom visit from a citizen of the Chickahominy Tribe, students will create a product to share their knowledge.

Submitted by: Cheryl Corbin
Collaborators: Suzanna Panter, Jessica DelMonte
School: Dumbarton Elementary

Summary

Students explored and understood the life cycle of a pumpkin through a wide variety of media. Students researched our topic with Mrs. Panter, our librarian. During several trips to the library, students asked questions and predicted they might experience on our pumpkin patch field trip. Students discussed finding the answers to these questions through the use of song, “Plan, Do, and Review”, a process to use to gather our data. Students found answers collaboratively through discussion, books, databases, and videos. Research ended by sampling the wide variety of foods made out of pumpkins (ice cream, bread, muffins, roasted pumpkin seeds, pie). The field trip was recorded through the use of an iPad and a flip camera by students. Students returned with pumpkins, the following day, students actively participated in 8 rotation centers throughout the week. Centers allowed students to work collaboratively and think critically to apply what they learned through their research to activities that consisted of phonics, computer, Promethean board activities, reading, writing, home living, math, science, and listening.

Submitted by: Jamie Malinak
School: Echo Lake Elementary

Summary

As students continue to learn about the writing process, our first focus will be on the introductory paragraph and, specifically, “hooks” and persuasive writing. In this lesson, students will learn about, research, and critically discuss the kinds of “hooks” they see everyday (commercials, print ads, etc.) and how they can use hooks to persuade readers and audiences. Students will collaborate to create their own ad for a product (real-life) of their choice. This ad can be in any medium (students will be placed in like-minded groups after a survey of interest is taken). Ads will be displayed via class blog, which can be accessed by other school students and staff as well as parents.

Submitted by: Theresa Wilkes, Lori Bardon
School: Longdale Elementary

Summary

This lesson focused on Fall. The students were introduced to research using non-fiction books and readings. The students practiced the writing process by using a “web” to display fall facts that they have found, writing and editing rough drafts, and creating a final product. The students recorded their voices and all of the final Pixie projects were compiled and shared with the class.

Submitted by: Crystal Aveson, Lisa Farthing, Amy Feaver, Janet Givens, and Kristina Rilee
Collaborator: Beverly Brown
School: Echo Lake Elementary

Summary

After completing our animal essentials, the first grade team developed a project based learning unit focusing on birds. Students made real world connections about birds and their habitats through communicating with peers, family, neighbors, and friends around the world. Based on each classroom’s interest, the students developed questions as a guide and researched a bird and its habitat using a variety of resources. In order to attract their particular bird, students used their research to develop and create nesting boxes and birdfeeders. Once the artifacts were created, they were sent to destinations around the world. Correspondence with those communities will continue by various forms of communication such as the grade level blog, Skype, letters, pictures, and videos.

Submitted by: Jamie Wolfe
Collaborators: Garry Marshall, Tamara Henley
School: Fairfield Middle School

Summary

During this two to three block lesson, students learn about the different persuasive techniques and gain experience in identifying techniques used in current advertising. Students apply knowledge of persuasive techniques to develop a 1-minute commercial based on a product that they choose.

Submitted by: Wiley Hunnicutt
School: Freeman High School

Summary

After reading Tennessee Williams’ play The Glass Menagerie, students are, no doubt, well acquainted with the idea that our “memories [are] seated predominantly in the heart” (Williams scene i).  In other words, our memories are at the mercy of our emotions. Students collaborated, using Google Docs, on a memory narrative that has elements of The Glass Menagerie.   They constructed a memory narrative with rich characters, poetic language, at least one of the thematic elements of The Glass Menagerie, and symbolism appropriate to their narrative.

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