Teacher Process
Initial Research: Students who have home access to internet conduct research as homework, allowing those students who do not have internet at home access to school computers. Allow three to five days to complete research and diary pages.
Conferences: Schedule student conferences during supplemental research, free reading and other independent work times. Allow 5-10 minutes per student.
Oral Presentations: Each student should have the opportunity to share what they have learned with the entire group in a way that makes sense to them. Teachers will have the opportunity to guide student thinking about this in their conference time. Each presentation should be limited to 10 minutes to help children be concise in their presentation. Visual and other oral presentation aids should be encouraged. Allow Social Studies class slot for one week to accommodate presentations.
Collaborative Project: Each student should have the opportunity to contribute something to the collaborative project. One idea is to make a "Book Of Secrets", a collaborative book of written information and/or pictorial representations of the state of Wisconsin. Another idea is to create a verbal diary, allowing children to record their information on tape. A third idea is to make a video diary, using student oral presentations and editing for sequence and flow. Time needed for this phase of the project will depend on the project format you choose.