Project Descriptions

Indiana Core Standards - English Language Arts - K-6

Indiana Core Standards - Mathematics - K-6

Indiana Core Standards - Science - K-6

Indiana Core Standards - Social Studies - K-6

Project 1: Team Blog 40 points Team project Standards aligned	A blog is a "web log." That is, a web site to which you make postings and others can comment on your postings. See an example here. The members of your curriculum team will develop a blog using www.blogger.com, upload content and respond to blog postings by other teams in the class.  Blog postings will reflect one of the core standards. Postings can be purely textual in nature, but you'll be challenged to include something beyond text as well.
Project 2: Team TrackStar Track 30 points Team project Standards aligned	TrackStar is a way for classroom teachers to control how their students browse the web. Teachers create "tracks" of links to specific web sites. Along with the site, teachers can add notes to help students better understand what they are looking at. See an example here (click the "View in Frames" button). Curriculum teams will develop a 15-site track using the online application known as TrackStar (http://trackstar.4teachers.org). Contents of the track will reflect one of the core standards.
Project 3: Information/Communication Website 50 points Solo project Not standards aligned	This is a non-team, solo project that need not be aligned with one of the core standards. You'll put yourself in the role of an elementary classroom teacher and develop an information/ communication web site that provides information for both students in your class and their parents. The site will be created using Google Sites, a free online web app available from Google. You can see a sample here. If you consider yourself an advanced (and I mean advanced) user, I'll challenge you to use Adobe Dreamweaver (application download is free for IU South Bend students from the IUWare Site.) You are looking at a Dreamweaver sample: the W200 course site was developed using Dreamweaver . . .
Project 4: iPhoto Digital Book 20 points Team-decision and input, but final product is solo. Standards aligned	iPhoto is the Mac's photos storage and basic editing application. You'll create an album of photos gathered by you and your curriculum team members. Then, using those photos, you'll create a photo book with captions. The final version of the book will be in .PDF form. Contents of the book will reflect one of the core standards. You can see an example here.
Project 5: GarageBand Podcast 50 points Solo project Standards aligned	Another "solo" project! Garageband is the Mac's audio creation and editing application. We'll use it to record you reading aloud a children's book based on one of the core standards. You'll scan the book's pages and create an enhanced podcast of the book. You can listen to a sample here.
Project 6: iMovie 3-Minute Message 50 points Team project Not standards aligned	Probably the most difficult project of the term (it's between this and the web site), but certainly the most fun! You and your curriculum team will create a 3-minute message on any topic you decide (creativity a must for this!). You'll use digital video cameras and iMovie to create a digital video product that can be viewed on any computer. Challenging for sure! A sample will be coming soon.
Project 7: MS PowerPoint Game 20 points Solo project Standards aligned	Most of us think of PowerPoint in a very linear fashion: first we view slide 1, then we go to slide 2, then slide 3. Imagine the power of PowerPoint if you were able to click a button on slide 2 and "jump" to slide 20? Then, another button and your back to slide 3 or on to slide 4. With that in mind, you'll create a digital "game" where students answer multiple choice questions. Get it right and it's on to the next question; pick an incorrect answer and go back to try again.
Project 8: MS Word/Excel Mail Merge 20 points Solo project Not standards aligned	Mail Merge is the process of creating "form letters" so that each student gets a personalized document. That document could be an actual letter, but it could also be a certificate or any other document you create. You'll fabricate a list of student information in MS Excel and merge with a letter to parents created in MS Word.