Standards Met
1. Creativity and Innovation 2. Communication and Collaboration 3. Research and Information Fluency 4. Critical thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making 5. Digital Citizenship
Students will be introduced to the concept of freedom by reading and discussing the book, The Big Box, by Toni Morrison. From the reading and discussion the students will generate an initial class definition of freedom. (This definition will be enlarged and refined as students develop their understanding of the concept of freedom.) The class will have a text set (books, magazines and internet resources) that closely matches the various reading levels, areas of interest, and learning profiles of the students in the class. (differentiated instruction a la Carol Ann Tomlinson)
Students will then spend a few days “wandering and wondering” through the text set. Student findings and learning will periodically be shared with the whole class. (See blogs/videos.) As this process continues, students will be expected to develop a special area of interest within the concept of freedom. Some examples could be freedom fighters, child labor, slavery, economics and freedom. Students will also be expected to complete a project on a particular area of freedom that will include taking action on behalf of a group that is being denied a basic freedom.
Students will blog regularly about their learning and will also respond to a blog written by the group or advocates of the group that they are taking action for. In addition, the class will create an online hypertext resource on the concept of freedom. Students working either alone or with a small group will make a short video (to be posted on YouTube) about their project and the action that they are taking.
I love your project idea! Here are a few thoughts that spring to mind:
ReplyDeleteWhat about making a collaborative class knowledge bank about freedom issues that they are learning about. They could use a wiki, all collaborating together, to compile resources they find useful as well as the products they produce around the concept.
Lots of activists around the world are willing to speak to students for free. What about encouraging students to try to contact an activist in their area of interest to see if they would be willing to Skype into class?
Would it be possible to connect with people living in some of the countries you might end up looking at? Even if they are in international schools, it might be helpful to get a more first-hand view of what things are really like. This could be organized in advance, or the students could do the research and then contact the appropriate people with your help.
Looking forward to seeing how it all works out!