Choose one of the options below to complete for your project. 
    As with all course assignments, your writing (punctuation, grammar, capitalization, references) will be evaluated by the style standards of the American Psychological Association.  Please check out the site for help with the mechanics of your writing.

Literacy Resource Web Page

•     Design a web page with two components:  literacy sites for children and literacy sites for parents.  Choose a grade level on which to focus, and keep this grade level in mind as you choose your sites--consider especially the difficulty levels of the texts on the children's sites.
•     Find 5-10 great sites for children that you believe would enhance their development as readers and writers.  Try to find sites that have an interactive component and will hold children's interest.  You might want to start by looking at the Kid Sites and the Children's Writing Sites on my web page.  There should be some good ones there.  Be sure that the sites you choose focus on literacy.  Check out these other Kid-Safe Search Engines for some good sites. 
•     Find 5-10 great sites for parents that you believe will give them important information to help them foster their children's literacy development.  You may want to look at the sites I have collected on my Additional Resources page under "Parent Involvement."  You may want to check out the following sites for information on how to evaluate web resources:

• Evaluating Internet-Based Information
• Evaluating Web Resources
• Kathy Schrock's Guide to Evaluating Web Resources
• Blue Web'n Site Evaluation Rubric
• Ed's Oasis

•     Once you have selected your sites, you will need to write annotations or summaries that describe what can be found at each site.  Make sure your annotations are written in a way that will encourage children and parents to visit the sites.
•     Finally, add some color and graphics to your web page to make it attractive to children and parents.  Visit my Technology Page for some sites with free graphics.  Be sure to check out some examples and look at the rubric for this option.

  Literature CyberLesson

A CyberLesson in an Internet-based lesson built around a piece of children’s literature.   It makes use of all the great opportunities for students that are available on the Internet.  Before you get started, there are a few sites you will want to visit.   Start by clicking here to see other CyberLessons my students have created.  I will want you to use the format of the CyberLessons that are posted on my site.  Use these Kid-Safe Search Engines to find sites for children.  Be sure to review the rubric for this option.

There are six different sections in a CyberLesson:

• Materials – In this part of the lesson you will list any materials needed to complete the activities.  Include links to any special plug-ins needed to view web sites.

• Before You Read – Design at least two activities that can be completed before the student reads the book.  Each activity should serve one or more of the following purposes: activate background knowledge, build background knowledge, help students make predictions, set purposes, or generate prereading questions regarding the major concepts and themes in the story.  Try to design activities that make the best use of what is available on the Internet.  If students could complete your activities without using Internet resources, find another activity.

• While You Read – Determine an activity to be completed while the student reads the book.  This could be some questions to which the student would respond in writing, a vocabulary activity, or some way of moving thoughtfully and meaningfully through the reading of the book.

• After You Read – Design at least two response activities that help the student with comprehension or clarification of the story.  These should be activities that take the child more thoughtfully back to the book.  They should also be tied integrally to the major concepts and themes of the book such that they could not be done well by the student unless she/he has read the book.

• Beyond What You Read – Design at least two activities that extend the book in some way. These activities should be logically related to the theme, subject, and content of the book.   This is where the "fun" activities can come in; they don't have to be too "educational".

• About What You Read – Design a rubric to evaluate the content and form of the meaning the student has made of the story.  Your rubric can be one that students would also use to evaluate themselves or one that only the teacher would use to evaluate students.  You can use an on-line rubric generator or create one right in your lesson.

• Quiz/Game/Puzzle - Your CyberLesson must also include an on-line activity using one of the on-line quiz programs. Here are several options.: Internet Coach Puzzle Center, Puzzlemaker and FunBrain.

Design a reading or writing tutorial in which you teach students a strategy or skill.  You can make your tutorial using a web page, HyperStudio, or PowerPoint. Your tutorial should include the following: 

1.    Define the strategy/skill, and tell why it is important.  Mastering this strategy will benefit students in what ways?

2.    Model how to use the strategy using a think-aloud procedure.

3.    Give opportunities for some guided practice.  

4.    Give opportunity for application.

5.    Summarize the strategy and ask students to reflect on its utility.

Some possible reading strategies:

• predicting and confirming
  summarizing
  identifying the most important ideas/events in a  text
  visualizing
  figuring out unknown word meanings
  activating background knowledge
  drawing conclusions and making inferences
  asking questions as you read

Some possible writing strategies:

including all the elements in a story (main character, setting, problem, events, resolution)
how to write a good reading response journal entry
how to come up with a good story starter
how to effectively proofread your writing
how to use more description in your writing
how to write a good conclusion
using imagery in writing
how to tell a story from a consistent point of view
using accurate punctuation
using accurate capitalization

Be sure to check out some examples and review the rubric.

Technology Club

Grant Proposal