Shared classroom projects celebrate community and culture. For example, a classroom project might take us on a Pacific Island journey through the past, present and future. What follows is a sample unit prepared by Patricia Sataua and Jim Skouge in American Samoa. Celebrating community and culture: Pacific Island journeys through the past, present, and future. An adventure story of youth in a time maching, exploring and sharing their island life. Rationale and Invitation Goals for Literacy, Cultural Studies and Classroom Technology Integration Objectives and Expected Learning Outcomes Technology Skills and Technology Integration Strategies Assistive Technology Activities and Sample Lesson Plan Professional Standards Rationale and Invitation My name is Jim Skouge. I am on the faculty at the University of Hawaii. Together with Patricia Sataua (a 4th grade teacher at Matafao Elementary School in American Samoa), we have been envisioning and exploring a "shared thematic unit" which children and teachers alike have enjoyed in American Samoa. We would like to invite other teachers to join us. Perhaps you and your students would like share in this classroom project. Our vision is to celebrate community and culture through a shared writing process. Our project is entitled "Celebrating community and culture: Pacific Island journeys through the past, present and future." Our students, working in teams of 3-5 members, will be developing adventure stories of youth in a time machine. Their stories will follow a common theme: (a) Five children and two animal friends are playing on a beach on a Saturday morning. One of the children has a disability. They find a bottle washed-in by the sea. They open the bottle and release a friendly genie who gives them a map and encourages them to go on a great adventure, assuring them they will be home safely by dinner. (b) The children and animals follow the map to its destination. There they discover a wonderous time machine. They enter time machine unafraid and push a button. The time machine takes off. (c) The children land sometime in the distant past on their island and become involved in one of the island legends; (d) The children re-enter the time machine, take-off, and land in their island's future. It is the year 2025. There they meet themselves, now grown up. (e) The children return to the present. Landing back home. Arriving in time for a family celebration welcoming them home. In this project we will engage our students in story telling and story writing. Our students will interview elders about how life used to be. We will visit our museum. We will invite a story teller to our classroom to share legends with us. We will learn and share songs and dances, old and new. If you and your students would join us, we would like to add one more journey in the time machine. We would like the time machine to transport our kids to your island where the students in your class add to the adventure. In this way, your students can read our stories and learn from us, while writing a section of our stories for us to learn about you. We have a simple strategy to make this possible. We will use the StoryBook Weaver Deluxe software from the Pacific Voices Technology Kit. We will send you our stories on CD ROM so that you can open, read and edit them directly on your computer. You then "burn" your revisions to a new CD ROM and send them back to us. What do you think? Sound like fun? We assure you that we will try to include cultural details in our stories as well as good humor and fun, so that your students can enjoy some flavor of the way we live, including our culture and history. We intend for our CD ROM to include photos of our island, our paintings and drawings, recordings of songs that we sing, and Quicktime movies of a dance, a skit, a song, a game, and a guided tour of our school and community. We would also like to arrange a teleconference with your classroom, and to arrange e-mail exchanges among our students. This classroom project is intended to support language arts, literacy and cultural studies, utilizing technology supports provided in the Pacific Voices Technology Kits. We expect our students to learn skills related to desktop publishing (e.g., Storybook Weaver Deluxe), multimedia (e.g., Hyperstudio and iMovie), and video and audio (using our video camera and tape recorder). We would like our students also to experience the power of "collaboration" that is made possible through telecommunications, such as the Internet, e-mail and teleconferencing. As a final outcome, we intend to publish our stories (using print, the Internet, CD ROM and video). Thanks for considering our invitation to join us. Goals for Literacy, Cultural Studies and Classroom Technology Integration Literacy Goal 1: Students will engage in the writing process (brainstorming and mapping; collaborative writing; and publication) Literacy Goal 2: Students will engage in story-telling, story illustration and dramatization Literacy Goal 3: Students will read, critique, revise and extend one another's work. Cultural Goal 1: Students will interview and record community elders and story tellers. Cultural Goal 2: Students will conduct cultural research at the museum. Cultural Goal 3: Students will learn a traditional song, chant, dance or instrumental music. Technology Goal 1: Students will use the video camera and tape recorder to record interviews, plays, music Technology Goal 2: Students will create sound files and photo archives on the computer Technology Goal 3: Students will produce computer graphic illustrations Technology Goal 4: Students will utilize desktop publishing storybook software to create, save, edit and publish their work Technology Goal 5: Students will produce video and audio storybooks Technology Goal 6: Students will develop multimedia portfolios Technology Goal 7: Students will engage in a range of telecommunications, including e-mail, Internet, teleconferencing, CD ROM and video exchanges Objectives and Expected Learning Outcomes Literacy Goals Literacy Goal 1: Student teams will engage in the writing process by... Objective 1 -Producing a list of story elements (characters, scenes, events, objects) and a visual storyboard or "map" Objective 2 -Writing a story draft, including narration and dialogue captions Objective 3 -Revising and publishing to paper and CD ROM Objective 4 -Rewriting the story in a second language Objective 5 -Maintaining a daily reflective journal of personal growth and learning, including feelings, new knowledge and skills (*either written or audio dictation) Literacy Goal 2: Student teams will engage in story-telling, story illustration , dramatization and oral interpretation by... Objective 1 -Illustrating the story scenes using water colors and/or acrylics Objective 2 -Drawing objects using black pen on white paper Objective 3 -Producing a skit or pantomime of one or more scenes from the story Objective 4 -Re-telling the story using student art as visual prompts Objective 5 -Performing the story aloud as a "reader's theater" performance (recorded to video in iMovie) Literacy Goal 3: Student teams will read, critique, revise and extend one another's work, by... Objective 1 -Reading another team's story, discussing it with the authors, providing suggestions for revision Objective 2 -Writing and illustrating an "extension" or "elaboration" of another team's story Objective 3 -Re-writing a story in simplified language to be read and shared with young children Cultural Goals Cultural Goal 1: Student teams will interview and record community elders and story tellers, by... Objective 1 -Identifying a theme and purpose for the interview, and creating the interview questions Objective 2 -Assigning roles (host, interviewers, audience, videographers) Objective 3 -Scheduling, conducting and recording the interviews Cultural Goal 2: Students will conduct cultural research at the museum, by... Objective 1 -Identifying tools, foods, and activities of daily life among first peoples Objective 2 -Sketching a scene of daily life including new information learned at the museum Objective 3 -Interviewing a museum curator regarding activities of daily life among first peoples Objective 3 -Writing an essay describing new information learned at the museum Cultural Goal 3: Students will learn a traditional song, chant, dance or instrumental music, by... Objective 1 -Identifying a theme from the story to be illustrated in music Objective 2 -Researching and identifying the appropriate music Objective 3 -Learning the dance, song or instrumental music Objective 4 -Performing and recording the music Technology Goals Technology Goal 1: Students will use the video camera and/or tape recorder to record interviews, skits, and music, by... Objective 1 -Demonstrating techniques for safe handling of the camera and tape recorder (including the tripod), indoors and outdoors Objective 2 -Demonstrating appropriate techniques for managing sound and lights Objective 3 -Demonstrating appropriate techniques to manage the set Technology Goal 2: Students will create sound files and photo archives on the computer, by... Objective 1 -Employing SimpleSound to digitize sounds from the tape recorder Objective 2 -Creating a "shoot list" of school and community photos Objective 3 -Creating a folder of digital still pictures taken from iMovie Technology Goal 3: Students will produce and display computer graphics using several or more tools, by... Objective 1 -Creating scenes in Kid Pix Studio Deluxe using 5 or more tools (e.g., paint brush, pencil, shape tools, stamps, typewriter tool) Objective 2 -Creating a Kid Pix SlideShow, including narration Technology Goal 4 - 6: Students will independently utilize desktop publishing software to create, save, edit and publish; Students will produce video and audio storybooks; Students will develop multimedia portfolios, by... Objective 1 -Employing Storybook Weaver Deluxe to create 2 drafts and a final published product Objective 2 -Producing a narrated "film strip" of their Storybook using Flash It and iMovie Objective 3 -Producing an audio tape of their story for a classroom Listening Center (providing cues for the listener to turn each page) Objective 4 -Producing a multimedia "portfolio" in Hyperstudio (including bilingual captions and text, animations, photos, student art, Quicktime movies and sound files) Technology Goal 7: Students will engage in a range of telecommunications, including e-mail, Internet, teleconferencing, CD ROM and video exchanges, by Objective 1 -Exhanging e-mail with a partnering classroom Objective 2 -Providing text, pictures and sound recordings for our Pacific Voices Web Site Objective 3 -Participating in a teleconference with a partnering classroom Objective 4 -Sharing stories and portfolios via CD ROM Objective 5 -Producing a video letter of classroom, school and community Technology Skills and Technology Integration Strategies Multimedia Equipment: Digital video camera, microphone, headphones and tripod Tape recorder and microphone DV iMAC with firewire connection Scanner Color Printer CD ROM burner VCR and television Multimedia Software: Storybook Weaver Deluxe Flash It Kid Pix Studio Deluxe (Kid Pix and SlideShow) iMovie II Hyperstudio 4.0 Telecommunications and Internet: e-mail teleconferencing Internet research video letters CD ROM exchanges Assistive Technology (as required by students with disabilities) Kid's Desk Track Ball Biggy Cursor Close View Easy Access (Sticky Keys, Mouse Keys) Intellitalk II (screen reading, voice synthesis for writing, switch access, screen customization) Co-Writer Picture It (augmentative communication) Hyperstudio New Button Actions: Button Scanning, Blabber Mouth, Keyboard Navigation, Auto Record AlphaSmart "talking" writing pad Assistive Listening Device (Pocket Talker) Laminator for communication boards We attempt to respond to a diverse set of learners, including students with... Low Vision: Text Enlargement. Voice synthesis. Cursor enlargement. Screens magnification. Assistive Listening Devices. CCTV and video enlargement. Taped Books. Dark lined paper and pen. Hand-held magnifiers. Screen Readers Blindness: Descriptive Narration and recorded text. Voice synthesis. Keyboard Equivalents for navigation. Screen Readers. Text-to-Braille translators. Braille Lite. Deafness: American Sign Language (including ASL Quicktimes). Text-to-picture translation (Picture It software). Shared Reading Process (Gallaudet University) Language and oral communication difficulties: Auto-Recording (Hyperstudio). Rehearsal, modeling and self-modeling, Language-Experience. Story re-tells with picture supports. Communication Boards and Lamination Machine. Voice Output Communication Aids (augmentative communication devices). Difficulties in written expression: Mapping. Story telling with pictures. Writing Process. Language Experience. Word processing with voice synthesis and invented spelling. Difficulties in reading: Taped books and "reading while listening." Repeated Readings. Modeling and self modeling. Voice synthesis. Physical disabilities: Keyboard equivalents for navigation. On-board keyboards and word prediction. Trackballs. Sticky Keys and Mouse keys. Activities and Sample Lesson Plan This project is intended to support students working in teams of 3-5. At its most basic, the project emphasizes writing, illustrating and "enriching" a good story. These activities can be accomplished without technology supports - requiring paper, pencil and art supplies. The Pacific Voices Technology kit supplies one digital video computer (DV iMac) and one digital video camera. Ideally, Kid Pix, Storybook Weaver Deluxe, and perhaps even Hyperstudio can be installed on the computers in the school computer lab. This would make it much easier for students to complete their projects in a timely fashion. STAGE ONE: WRITER'S WORKSHOP IN STORYBOOK WEAVER DELUXE (original stories for desktop publishing and video production) Lesson One: Researching our Past: visiting the museum, interviewing an elder, reading from a book, researching the internet Lesson Two: Dreaming about our Future: Exploring Visions Within Lesson Three: Brainstorming, mapping and story-boarding the Time Machine Adventure Lesson Four: Illustrating the story using art materials, including backgrounds and clip art. Scanning the illustrations. Lesson Five: Telling the story using the illustrations as prompts. Lesson Six: Story-Tellers' Workshop: Sharing with a story-teller. Lesson Seven: Composing the hand-written text (first draft). Lesson Eight: Transposing the text to Storybook Weaver Deluxe (second draft). Lesson Nine: Writers' Workshop: Critiquing and revising the Storybook Weaver Deluxe stories (final draft). Interviewing the authors. Publishing to paper. Burning to CD ROM and sending to Partnership Classrooms(including additional media, such as photos and sound files). Lesson Ten: Video Production: Exporting Storybook Weaver Deluxe pages into iMovie. Mixing narration and music. Interviewing the authors. Recording to video and broadcasting on community television. Lesson Eleven: Co-authoring and Telecommunicating with the Partnering Classroom. Receiving CD ROM from partnering classroom. E-mailing the authors with questions and comments. Co-authoring a new section to their stories. Burning new CD ROM's and returning them. Holding a teleconference to talk, share and enjoy new friends. STAGE TWO: CREATING MULTIMEDIA PORTFOLIOS IN HYPERSTUDIO and iMOVIE (including photos, children's art, Quicktime movies, audio recording, desktop publishing, audio and video production) Lesson Twelve: Creating and videotaping a game or skit. Producing a Quicktime Movie in iMovie. Lesson Thirteen: Learning and tape recording a song. Digitizing the song to MP3. Lesson Fourteen: Making a "shoot list" of community photos. Taking the pictures. Creating a folder of "pict files." Lesson Fifteen: Producing Kid Pix illustrations and making a slide show. Lesson Sixteen: Bringing it all together into a multimedia Hyperstudio Portfolio: Storybook Weaver illustrations and text, Scanned Art, Digital Photos, Kid Pix art, Sound Recordings, text and audio captions, animations and Quicktime Movies. Second language translations. Lesson Seventeen: Burning to CD and mailing to partnership classrooms. Lesson Eighteen: Video Production: Exporting Hyperstudio Portfolio "screen shots" to iMovie. Mixing narration and music. Broadcasting to video and community television. Lesson Nineteen: Book Publishing: Interviewing the authors. Printing to paper. Laminating the books. Recording to tape. Installing the stories and tapes in a listening center. Lesson Twenty: Conducting a Writer's Festival. Sharing stories with parents and community. DOCUMENTING STAGES ONE AND TWO Teachers are encouraged to document the process of conducting these lessons throughout the process. Providing children opportunities to be video-taped describing and reflecting on their work and learning. Video tapes should be set-aside just for this "journalistic" de-briefing activity. This video documentary process is useful in its own right as a teaching tool. It will also provide information and data to be included in the publication of Module One. SAMPLE LESSON PLAN: Lesson 10: Video Production: Exporting Storybook Weaver Deluxe pages into iMovie and producing a video storybook. This is an exciting lesson which we have explored with children and youth in Hawaii. It assumes that the team has finished its story in StoryBook Weaver Deluxe. The text should include both narration and dialogue. The book should be no longer than 20 pages, using an 18 point Comic Sans font. STAGE ONE: REHEARSING A READERS' THEATER The story should be printed and rehearsed by the team as a Reader's Theater (roles may include: hosts, narrators, characters, and sound effects). It is this "readers' theatre" performance that will become the sound track for the iMovie production. STAGE TWO: IMPORTING PAGES INTO iMOVIE * Use Flash It to capture screen images of each page of the Storybook, choosing "save as a disk file." Name each file with the page number of the story (e.g., Title, 01, 02, 03...20). * Open iMovie and set its "preferences" as follows (a) import to the movie line (rather than the shelf); and (b) set a default duration of 20 seconds per file. * In iMovie, use the "import file" command to import all of the files (you can "shift click" to import them all at once) * Create "titles" in iMovie, including a title to introduce your story and rolling credits acknowledging the authors and contributors at the end. Drag the titles onto the movie line. * Display the audio track. Narrate each page, one at a time, using an external microphone - including narration and character voices. Stop after each page narration. Immediately review the recording. If the team agrees that it is OK, then begin recording the next page. If not, delete and re-do. * Add sound effects and a music track if desired. STAGE THREE: ADDING A VIDEO INTRODUCTION and PUBLISHING TO VIDEO * Use a video camera on a tripod to record the student authors welcoming their audience to their story. * Insert the video interview (3 min. maximum) into the iMovie at the beginning of the iMovie timeline. * Export the movie back to the camera. * Dub the video from the camera to VHS tape to be enjoyed in the classroom, at a Writers' Festival, and for broadcast on community television. * Dub the audio from the camera to audio tape to be enjoyed at the listening center along with the print copy of the book. Evaluation This is a rich unit that includes many skills. We do not expect that students will master all of these skills. They will work in teams and will be supported by their teacher and perhaps other volunteers. We expect all students to actively participate in the writing process. The unit is rich in "permanent products" including printed drafts and final publications of stories, and journals of student reflections. We encourage teams to maintain a portfolio of their work. As one measureable outcome, we expect every student to be able to fluently decode (orally read) the story created by their team; to re-tell the story in their own words; and to describe how the story celebrates culture and change. This may be considered a final "check-out." *Some children may benefit from practicing their reading fluency by listening to the stories on tape at the listening center. There are many technical skills involved in this unit. Depending on the teacher's priorities, students can be held more or less to the demonstration of competence with cameras, tape recorders, and computer software. Extension Activities This unit focuses on story telling, writing and reading. It serves as a model, however, for writing projects across the curriculum (including science, social and cultural studies, fine arts and even mathematics). The tools employed in this unit permit students to conduct community-referenced research, to document their work in words, art, photographs, sounds and video, to publish their work on paper, CD ROM and video, to telecommunicate with fellow students, and to maintain reflective journals. We encourage you as a teacher to let your imagination fly. Professional Standards reflected in this unit The following standards are published by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). They have been published in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education, in a book entitled National Educational Technology Standards for Students (publication date 2000). Teachers are invited to consult with their own ministry or department of education to identify standards that are locally referenced to your own island entities. Technology productivity and communication tools (a) Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity (b) Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, preparing publications, and producing other creative works (c) Students use telecommunications to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and other audiences (d) Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences Performance Indicators: All students should have opportunities to demonstrate the following performances. Grades 3 - 5 Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, Web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. Use telecommunications and online resources (e.g., e-mail, online discussions, Web environments) to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities for the purpose of developing solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. Grades 6 - 8 Apply productivity/multimedia tools and peripherals to support personal productivity, group collaboration, and learning throughout the curriculum. Design, develop, publish, and present products (e.g., Web pages, videotapes) using technology resources that demonstrate and communicate curriculum concepts to audiences inside and outside the classroom. Collaborate with peers, experts, and others using telecommunications and collaborative tools to investigate curriculum-related problems, issues, and information, and to develop solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. English Language Arts Standards Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, and video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge. Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles. Students whose first language is not English make use of their first language to develop competency in the English language arts and to develop understanding of content across the curriculum. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).