Hero Websites – 7848

Summary

Who is your hero? Sixth graders were given the opportunity to explore and research their favorite heroes through their Literature Wheel classes (students rotated through 4 classes during one period to experience different avenues of the same content). The students created websites that housed videos, biographies, work examples, and other important pieces of information about various “heroes” found throughout history. This project was divided up into four separate lessons (each part sponsored by one of the classroom teachers) that culminated into one final project.

TIPC Ratings

Students researched facts about their chosen hero using various search engines to collect and synthesize the information to add to the student generated website. The found information was also used to fuel the content in the videos and animations that were created.

Students were able to select their own groups to work on this project. Within their groups, pieces of the project were divided between the group members to complete the tasks. Although the students were required to use Weebly.com to house their websites, they were given complete freedom of how to put together the content used on the site. Students worked together in class on parts of the project, but were able to work together outside of class through Google Drive (to write video scripts) and other collaborative means (sharing Prezi presentations).

Through their research, the students created their questions that guided their construction of their website and videos/animations. Students used various digital tools to collect and present the information they discovered. Students participated in a self reflection and peer evaluation based on their generated websites.

The students created websites, videos, and animations to display the content the learned about their hero, synthesizing it all into one culminating project. Students were highly engaged in creating the varied contents that would appear on their sites. At the completion of the project, students presented their sites to the class where they were evaluated by their peers and were given an opportunity for self-reflection.