Submitted by: Ryan Conway
School: Short Pump Middle School
Summary
Students work in groups to create an exhibit for a new African American History museum opening in Washington D.C. Their exhibit answers the question “How was the Harlem Renaissance truly a cultural rebirth?” The students undertake partially guided research with a culminating exhibit produced with one of three possible media options.
TIPC Ratings
Students pursue research using a variety of sources including library databases. As the project progresses they are organize their information using a graphic organizer and develop their own research questions. The application of this research in the final project places this project in the Ideal/Target range of the Research and Information Fluency strand.
This lesson groups students in mixed-ability trios and requires them to work together to create a product. The fact that students publish their work on the Internet, present it to their class and participate in a school wide technology fair gives them the audience needed to reach the Approaching level. To reach Ideal/Target this lesson might also facilitate students working together online outside of school hours and/or working with learners of differing cultural backgrounds.
This lesson also builds critical thinking and problem solving skills, as students must use multiple sources to gather information and then use that information in a real-world context to plan and design a museum exhibit. Technology is used to solve a real-world problem and students are using higher order thinking skills to combine their research with the needs of a real-world museum exhibit.
This project lands somewhere between Approaching and Ideal/Target. The students do have choice in what they are creating and researching. There is limited choice regarding what technology they will use to produce their final product. Working with an audience outside the classroom in a more intentional way would move this lesson solidly into the Ideal/Target range.
