General Information Project Overview Curriculum Connections Learning Outcomes Resource Connections Evaluation

  General Information

  Project Overview

This project fulfils the objectives of the Grade Three Language Arts unit on Islands Treasures. One of the intents of the Primary Language Arts program is the facilitation of concept development, problem solving, and knowledge and skill acquisition in the various areas of the curriculum. One of the goals of the program is to create classroom and school environments, rich in learning experiences and print, which will motivate and encourage children to use and produce language.

In the implementation of this project the students will be actively involved in the using a variety of resources (print, non-print and human resources) to gain an understanding of an island's culture or heritage (festivals, storytelling, literature, music, food), what an island is, where some are located in relation to Newfoundland and kinds of landscapes, recreation, clothing and home of people on several islands.

The students at Sacred Heart will be twinned with students in elementary schools on such Islands as Ireland, Japan, Iceland or Hawaii. The Internet will provide the opportunity for students to communicate directly, through the use of e-mail with students on some of those islands. The students will exchange not only text material but also images. As well the children will access the Internet for research purposes, including sites with information about Galapagos Islands.

  Curriculum Connections

Sacred Heart Elementary has been actively involved in delivering a curriculum which promotes the philosophy of resource-based learning. This unit for our Grade Three students fits into this type of curriculum initiative. For two years a committee at Sacred Heart worked to develop an Information Learning Skills plan for the K-6 curriculum. The staff has now given their consensus for the implementation of this plan. Many of the skills from this plan will be integrated into this project.

Sacred Heart Elementary received a HRD grant last May for twenty-five thousand dollars enabling us to purchase an additional computers. With the addition of those ten computers Sacred Heart's initiative of integrating computers cross the curriculum has been greatly enhanced.

This project involves our Language Arts curriculum, social studies and areas of Technology Education.

  Learning Outcomes

Language Arts:

The students will:

1. Explore new environments (islands) through reading and on-line communications to
      find similarities and differences with their own island community.

2. Develop an appreciation for an island's literature, customs, festivals, music and food

3. Identify various islands in the world

4. Learn about transportation routes to these islands

These objectives tie into the Provincial Language Arts Curriculum goals, some of which include:

1. Listen to and talk about books, videos, music, plays and poems

2. Interpret, select and combine information using a variety of strategies, resources and technologies

3. Select, read and view with understanding a range of texts

4. Write to organize ideas, ask questions, express opinions, record experiences, make plans and discover attitudes and opinions

5. Experiment with technology to assist the writing process

In this project the students will be addressing some of the General Curriculum outcomes for Technology Education. They will be investigating the role of information and communication technology in society.

  Resource Connections

The STELLAR Schools Internet connections in critical to the success of this project. Our students will be able to interact directly with students on some islands. This kind of learning is more meaningful for children; such direct interaction has a greater impact on the learning experience as it is more personal and more motivational.

Many other resources will be used in this project. The children will be accessing print (books and magazines) videos, slides, resource people in our community, and CD-Rom technology. A scanner will be used to digitize images so that they can be sent to the participating school.

  Evaluation

Process Skills:

1. Have an understanding of the Internet and Internet services

2. Link with other students on various islands using online communication (e-mail) to share information and resources

3. Ability to log on

4. Composing e-mail using word perfect and uploading to the Internet

5. Ability to download messages to a printer or disk

Content Objectives:

The content objectives previously listed will be used to evaluate student achievement. The children will be evaluated on such things as their ability to work together, to follow directions, their research abilities using different media, their involvement in the writing process. Rough drafts and final drafts of projects will be evaluated.

We believe that this project will demonstrate to the teachers at this school the exciting possibilities that the Internet has to offer in the area of Curriculum delivery. It will expose students to the wonderful possibilities of information technology. This project will demonstrate to parents, teachers and students that learning can take place outside the four walls of the classroom and two covers of a book.