Pam's+Project+-+Discussion

Pam's Project - Discussion
__Project - Topic Description__


 * Pam:** My dilemma with identifying a topic for the portfolio project is exactly what objective and which subject area. Being a librarian, we work with all of the teachers in the entire school and often need to strongly persuade them to work with us on a project. At the secondary level, many of the teachers think that they know how to do everything and don't need the assistance of a resource specialist, such as a librarian.

Here is what I'd like to do for a project, but I will need to confirm the topic and schedule the lessons with the core area teacher. I would like to work with grade 6 Science on a PBL activity involving soil. Students would work in teams of 2-3 and each team would be presented with a scenario involving an abundance or deficit of a mineral in the soil of a particular community. Students would use electronic resources to research the properties or characteristics of that mineral and what benefits or problems that mineral in abundance or deficit would cause people who leave in that area. The group would then use further research to make recommendations to the community that would help to preserve the health of the population and/or identify ways that the community could capitalize on the mineral abundance/deficit while not creating an imbalance.

I would like to use a variety of subscription databases that are available in our school division, especially Gale Group resources and ProQuest. Other websites would also be identified and made available on a pathfinder for the project. Students would take notes using the Stixy site, providing access to the teacher(s) who will monitor and review work. A variety of technology-based tools/resources will be recommended for each group to present their problem and solution--including digital video with a Flip video camera, VoiceThread, Glogster, and MuseumBox.


 * Tracye:** Pam, would each group have the option of selecting which resource/tool that want to use? If so, being that you don't have a particular group of students, would learning how to use the resources/tool become a lesson as well? Would you be able to collaborate with the teacher and they teach the content area and you teach the research skills, resources and tools?

I think it would help with students organization to put the pathfinder on a bookmark tool such as the portaportal, I think this would help the student manage their research. I know they are in middle school, but you could also try creating a reference sheet outlining the specifics of the what you are looking for, keeping them from venturing too far off. I really hope this help, other then the above clarification, I would love to adapt this lesson for my fifth graders. If you can enlist the help of the teachers, this would be a wonderful lesson that would allow the students to really explore the use of great technology tools and resources.