General Information Project Overview Curriculum Connections Resource Connections Evaluation

  General Information

  Project Overview

Through our presence on the World Wide Web http://www.k12.nf.ca/matthew we have developed a relationship with Mr. Mick Rouemaine (1 00335.3033@CompuServe.COM). Mr. Rouemaine lives in Stockwood which is in the boundaries of Bristol, U.K. from where the new "Matthew" will set sail for Bonavista to celebrate our province's quincentennial celebrations.

The local library and the four schools of Stockwood are interested in pursuing a joint Internet connection with Newfoundland during 1997 as their contribution to our celebrations. Two of these schools are Primary schools with the age range of five to eleven years. One is a Junior school with an age range of seven to eleven years. The fourth school is an Infant's school with an age range of five to seven years.

Mr. Rouemaine, working with these schools and their local library, will send 500 individual pieces of E-mail to Matthew Elementary. As our time, human, and technological resources permit, we will endeavour to respond to each piece of mail. (Naturally, the addition of seven work stations to the one we have already will help facilitate this effort.)

This E-mail exchange will occur during the last three weeks in April of 1997, which will allow us ample time on this side of the world to compose and reply to these messages.

At Matthew Elementary, we plan to print each of these messages and display them in the foyer of the school for the duration of school year and into the summer months as the celebrations continue. We will also involve the local media to highlight this international event. We will also describe this activity on a "Special Projects" section of our school's Home Page.

Mr. Rouemaine has also created a Stockwood Home Page which our students and staff will access as a backgrounder to this activity. The URL for the Stockwood Home Page is http://www.sbln.org.uk/wwwuk/stokwood/stockwd.htm.

  Curriculum Connections

This project is directly connected to the Elementary Language Arts curriculum. It is our intention to integrate this project with the following Student Learning Outcomes for Elementary reading and writing:

Our students will:

 Read with skill and understanding.

 Read to find and use information by reading across the curriculum; read text that goes
   beyond present knowledge and linguistic development; and, consistently use a learning
   resource centre.

 Understand and engage in the three broad functions of writing by writing to inform;
   writing to reflect on and organize learning; and, writing to express personal
   experiences and the thoughts, ideas and experiences of others.

 Writing for a variety of audiences and recognize the variety of information required by
   various audiences by writing for self, younger children, general audiences, peers and
   older audiences.

 Independently engage in stages of a writing process by understanding and using the
   language of writing (e.g., drafting, revising, description); using pre-writing techniques;
   engaging in a drafting process; revising for organization and style; editing written work
   for appropriate use of language conventions; and, engaging in the publishing process.

This project is directly connected to the Technology Education curriculum. It is our intention to integrate this project with the following Student Learning Outcomes for Technology Education:

Our students will:

 Demonstrate knowledge of the nature and characteristics of a variety of media and
   communications systems.
 Identify and investigate real life communication problem situations and opportunities.
 Identify and clearly state communication problems.
 Identify ways in which information and communication technologies are used.
 Identify advantages and disadvantages of selected communication technologies.
 Develop a vocabulary of terminology and language, related to communication
   technologies.
 Employ the language and terminology of communication processes and communication
   tools.
 Work effectively in several communication medias.
 Explore and identify information and communications tools in daily use at home and in
   school.
 Use communication technologies to build new knowledge from existing information.
 Use communication technology as a tool for a variety of purposes.
 Use a variety of communication technologies and tools.
 Use communication tools to access, evaluate and select appropriate information, and
   to create, modify and disseminate information.

  Resource Connections

The STELLAR Schools Internet connection will greatly enhance this project. Currently, we have one computer in our Resource Centre where students might be able to access the Internet, and then only with a teacher using his/her personal STEM-Net account.

This type of situation is not really conducive to effective teaching/learning for whole classes or even small groups of students as a direct "hands-on" experience is not possible. The STELLAR Schools Internet connection will enable us to have up to eight work stations. It goes without saying that research and communications will be greatly enhanced with the addition of seven work stations with Internet access.

We will also use a variety of resources in our school's resource centre such as the Atlas and Encyclopedia to supplement our Internet research about Stockwood and Bristol.

  Evaluation

 Our students will develop a key-pal type of relationship with the students of
   Stockwood.
 Our students will learn valuable lessons in history as it relates to Cabot's voyage of
   1497 from Bristol.
 Our students will become active contributors to an international event in celebration of
   the five hundredth anniversary of Cabot's voyage.
 Our students, at all levels, will be exposed to the concepts of electronic mail and the
   Internet as a whole.
 Our school will play host to a significant international event in celebration of Cabot's
   voyage, the results of which will be displayed and promoted.