Technology-Infused Creative Writing Program: Six NETS-S Standards within Six Classroom Projects

1. Technology-Infused Creative Writing Program:Six NETS-S Standardswithin Six Classroom Projects Elizabeth T. Simmons Sharon Elementary 2010

2. There are many benefits of participating in the ePals program. One that administrators will appreciate is the practicing of National Educational Technology Standards and Performance Indicators for Students (NETS). Meeting Standards in Technology

3. In response to our school vision of “Preparing Today’s Children for Tomorrow” and school mission, “Educating Beyond Expectations,” my class combined the ISTE technology standards with creative, hands-on classroom projects. Technology and Hands-On Projects

4. It was immediately obvious that the challenge “to provide rigor, relevance, and relationships” to my students would be uniquely and extraordinarily met by combining efforts with a school in a different country.

5. In August, our fourth grade class began looking for English-speaking ePals with similar interests who studied Spanish as a secondary language.

6. Using the global matching service provided by ePals, invitations were sent out several to schools in the UK meeting our criterion.

7. A teacher at Cockerham Parochial School in Lancashire, England, responded.

8. After acquiring parent permission, registering our classes with Epals, and assigning student logins, we began corresponding in September.

9. Students instantly began exchanging introductory emails about their family, school, and community.

10. NETS-S Standard 1:Creativity and Innovation • Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students: • apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes. • create original works as a means of personal or group expression. • use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues. • identify trends and forecast possibilities.

11. Project 1: Native American WritingsShared with ePals in United Kingdom As a template, the class followed a detailed Native American Writing Blueprint. Within a five paragraph essay, the student became the voice of a landform, animal, plant, or power sharing the environment with the tribe. By using sensory language, the environment was pictured, activities of the men, women, and children described, impact of the explorers felt, state of the tribe today given, and a prediction made about the future of the Native American tribe. In order for our ePals to better understand the voice of our Native Americans, the class created power points to illustrate their stories and posted them for viewing on our website.

12. By: Cole B.

13. Hopi Warriors

14. The 3 sisters~Corn, beans, squash Before the white men came for gold, I, the mighty cactus, guarded the Hopi tribe. Rocky and hot, the vicious scorpion scurries under my shade. Feeding the three sisters – corn, beans, and squash my brother, the rapid water, splashes quickly by the river. Carefully and quietly, my people, the Hopi, eat fruit from my prickly arm. Now I will sing the song of the Hopi, people of the cactus, my people.

15. I, the mighty cactus, predict that the Hopi will have a surprising future. Joyful and thrilled, my people still speak their native language. Farming cotton along the stream, my people will use the Hopi wisdom and the white man's ways. Gloomy and mournful, many will live in apartments in the city, instead of pueblos in the desert. This is the song of the Hopi, people of the cactus, my people.

16. NETS-S 2: Communication and Collaboration Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students: a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media. b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats. c. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures. d. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems

17. Project 2: Monster WritingShared with ePals in United Kingdom In a collaborative project, this 4th grade class and a school in England exchanged monster writings just before Halloween. In order to begin this creepy project, a Story Starter was provided as a graphic organizer. Each child first sketched and colored a picture of a monster, then wrote a narrative describing the creature, detailing its adventure. All writings were posted to the class website under the Student Spotlight link. Next, the monster writings and drawings were published onto the English school’s website under the ePals link. The students in the UK then read the American monster writings, carefully picturing the descriptive words and phrases. After reading the stories, they drew the monsters described, and viewed our original pictures to see how closely their drawings matched.

18. This collaborative project with Cockerham Parochial School and my fourth grade class here at Sharon Elementary School was the Monster writing.

19. In this assignment, each student sketched and colored a picture of a monster. Then, the student wrote a narrative about the creature and posted it to our class website. Monster Project

20. Next, our school’s monster writings and drawings were posted onto the Cockerham Parochial School website (Moodle) under the ePals link.

21. Students in England then read our Monster writings, carefully picturing descriptive words and phrases.

22. After reading the stories, our ePals drew the monsters described, and viewed our original pictures to see how closely their drawings matched.

23. Finally, the class voted for three drawings that most clearly resembled our drawings. Our children’s monsters are displayed on a bulletin board in Britain.

24. Winning drawings were linked to the English Moodle, and the artists were awarded gel pens. British monsters are displayed on a bulletin board in Georgia.

25. Here are the American winners of the contest with their gel pens in front of the Monster display on the fourth grade hall.

26. NETS-S 3: Research and Information Fluency Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students: • plan strategies to guide inquiry. • locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media. • evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks. • process data and report results.

27. Project 3: Weather Charts To complete this assignment, students documented the weather in 30 United States cities – tracking temperature, wind speed, precipitation, sunrise, sunset, and phases of the moon. To record the information, a blank weather chart was provided each student with a link to the national weather bureau and city tourist sites. In addition, a list of questions was provided to guide research. After tracking the weather for ten days, trends were graphed and displayed for the grade level on the bulletin board outside the classroom. In order to fulfill persuasive writing standards, using the tourist hotlinks provided, the student provided reasons and examples why the traveler would enjoy visiting the city at that time of year. This would be a great project to share with ePals!

30. NETS-S 4: Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, & Decision Making Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students: • identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation. • plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project, • collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions. • use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions.

31. Project 4: Million Dollar ProjectShared with ePals in United Kingdom The “Million Dollar Project” was another joint venture in which children enjoyed “virtually” spending one million dollars on college, home, transportation, hobbies, home furnishings, vacations, charities, taxes, and gifts. This year, as an added expense, each child would treat his ePal to plane fare and five excursions while visiting him in his country.  Before starting, each child was provided a project guideline, checklist, rubric, and pre-formatted spreadsheet. Website guidelines gave an overall description of the project, parameters, and possible resources.

32. Million Dollar Project by Jack F. From my $1,000,000.00, I deducted $200,000.00 for taxes. This was 20% and it brought my total down to $800,000.00.

33. Epal Visit – Disney Cruise I thought my ePal, Lucy, would really enjoy going on a Disney Cruise. We are going to the Bahamas and I am taking my family with me too. We sail out of Miami so I had to buy airplane tickets for everyone too. The total cost of this trip was $9243.00. Now I have $309.039.00 left.

34. Epal Airfare In order to get Lucy to the United States so that we can do all of our fun things, I had to buy her a plane ticket to get here. The cost of her roundtrip ticket is $745.00. I now have $297,864.00 left.

35. NETS-S 5: Digital Citizenship Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students: • advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology. • exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity. • demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning. • exhibit leadership for digital citizenship

36. Project 5: The Way We AreShared with ePals in United Kingdom Both the English school and the American school continued a yearlong ePals project entitled, “The Way We Are.” As prescribed on the ePal homepage, students asked specific, cultural questions that were answered by their ePals abroad by email. Placing the results on a unique Venn diagram in the back of our room, tendencies were updated, comparing life in both cultures. Clearly, the global awareness of the class skyrocketed, as the weather in both countries was checked and current information about life on two continents posted.

37. Placing information on a unique Venn diagram in the back of our room, we updated tendencies, comparing life in both cultures. The 21st Century Student

38. NETS-S 6: Technology Operations and Concepts Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students: • understand and use technology systems. • select and use applications effectively and productively. • troubleshoot systems and applications. • transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies.

39. Project 6: Class Survey on Technology Tools Finally, the students have learned skills that better equip them to be 21st-century residents. A class survey indicated that familiarity with software, such as Microsoft Office, Open Office, Power Point, Photo Story, Excel Spreadsheets, and email enhance communication skills. Technical facility in keyboarding, jump drives, video flip cameras, digital cameras, and scanners empower them to be creative within a digital environment. Knowledge of utilities such as spell check, grammar check, Flesch-Kincaid writing levels, Thesaurus. COM, and other online research tools equip the student of tomorrow for success today.

41. Combining the ISTE NETS-S standards and Creative Writing have the potential to revolutionize the 21st century classroom.