Summary
Students read part of the novel Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli and non-fiction articles about lives of homeless people and agencies that help the homeless in previous classes. Students will expand their understanding of how people become homeless and expand their compassion of other people by learning about what can cause homelessness. Then students will use this project to compile the information they have learned from Web sites about agencies in the Richmond area that help the homeless. Students will create a public service announcement or similar document to share with other students about what homelessness is and safe ways teenagers can assist homeless people.
The class had a website that contained all student projects. Students were allowed to use any format, but they were shown how to use Prezi as one tool for displaying their information.
TIPC Ratings
2 – Developing – Students will need to analyze information they discover on the Web sites they investigate. Search strategies were demonstrated for finding information. Students also cited sources. A strategy for determining authority and accuracy of sources was not included in the lesson. They will choose themselves which digital tool is the best to present the information they discover. They will then decide the best way to integrate and assemble the information for their presentation.
5 – Approaching – Students established group norms and assigned roles within groups. Students used Prezi and Google Sites for communication and collaboration. The teacher built in group and self-monitoring through checkpoints in the process. This project does go beyond the classroom by aiming to increase awareness in the school. Future implementation of this project will involve the homeless agencies.
5 – Approaching – Students are being asked to choose the most appropriate digital tool to address the problem of increasing awareness of a social issue. Students generate questions during the project to answer through research. Students need to make decisions about which information is important to the project.
5 – Approaching – Students are asked to choose a digital tool for presentation and determine its impact in the school community. They are asked to view existing public service announcements and come up with new and innovative ideas for their own PSA. They synthesize new and existing knowledge through research. They utilize communication and collaboration skills as well as critical thinking skills to evaluate each other’s work. The open-ended nature of the task allows students to go beyond assignment parameters.
Student Artifact
Download Files
- Project Rubric
- Project Organizer
- Project Grading Sheet
- Lesson Plan
- Class Project Website
- Peer Evaluation Checklist
