This document discusses a 6th grade project on famous women conducted by students at Project Elite. It outlines standards and activities related to researching famous women using Voicethread, an online presentation tool. Students spent weeks learning Voicethread functions, proper citations, and the research process with support from their language arts teacher and school librarian. Two focal students, Eric and Hannah, created Voicethread presentations on famous women in their respective languages of English and Spanish with guidance. The document evaluates what aspects of the project worked well and areas for improvement.

1. 6th Grade Famous Women Research Project Fran Feeley Project Elite Culminating Activity June 10, 2010 Voicethread

2. Standards Illinois Learning Standards Middle/Junior High School STATE GOAL 5: Use the language arts to acquire, assess and communicate information.

3. Standards AASL 21st Century Standards Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge. 1.1.8 Demonstrate mastery of technology tools for accessing information and pursuing inquiry. Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge. 2.1.6 Use the writing process, media and visual literacy, and technology skills to create products that express new understandings.

4. Standards Share knowledge and participate productively as members of our democratic society. 3.4.1 Assess the processes by which learning was achieved in order to revise strategies and learn more effectively in the future. Pursue personal and aesthetic growth. 4.3.4 Practice safe and ethical behaviors in personal electronic communication and interaction.

5. Collaboration 6th grade language arts teacher Language arts emphasis on research process and writing process Content Title Page Early Life Accomplishments/Impact Interesting Facts Summary Bibliography

6. Activities Week 1: Project resources. Availability of prepared citations in many sources. Week 2: Modeling of Voicethread. School librarian provides a brief overview and demonstration of the basic functions Browse Create [importing images, making comments] My Voice [including sharing]

7. Activities Week 3: In-depth demonstration of Voicethread functions conversion of Power Point slides into JPEG’s importing of slides and/or other images into Voicethread importing slides from public domain sources inside Voicethread written and audio comments Setting publishing options and playback options sharing work products

8. Activities Week 4: School librarian reviews APA-style citations and the use of Son of Citation Machine to generate citations. http://citationmachine.net/ Week 5: School librarian reviews Big6 skills. Students offer examples of Big6 reflections on this project that utilize Big6 terminology correctly.

9. Collaboration Oral Presentation? What oral presentation ? Getting back on track…

10. Assessment Two assessment rubrics: Teacher and Librarian Elements assessed: CONTENT MECHANICS - capitalization, punctuation, spelling LENGTH – 6 paragraphs; 3-6 minutes ETHICAL USE OF INFORMATION – bibliography INFORMATION LITERACY – Big6 reflections

11. The Students: Eric & Hannah 25 6th grade students per class in a dual language program Students require much guidance and support for report writing in both langauges Hannah: Spanish Langauge Leaner Erick: English Language Learner

12. The Work! Erick’s http://voicethread.com/share/1147464/ Hannah’s http://voicethread.com/#q.b1198172.i6465074

13. What worked and what did not Collaboration with teacher Use of library and computer class time Use of library computer lab for recording Misunderstanding regarding number of information products

14. Thank you! Whew! Was that under five minutes??