Medieval Times

Overview: Although this project could easily be applied to the study of the State of Texas, our 4th grade students did this while studying Medieval times. Students were assigned a specific topic for individual study such as Village Life, Monks & Nuns, Castles, Clothing or Education and were expected to research their topic using at least four sources - only one of which was allowed to be an encyclopedia. Once their research was complete, they made storyboards for their six card Hyper Studio project. They were encouraged to use as much detail as possible in their storyboards so that when they had time at the computers they knew exactly what they needed to do. Deciding ahead of time where text buttons and pictures should go made the project much easier to assemble. Students were allowed to scan pictures but needed to come before school due to equipment limitations.

Goals and objectives:

Research and take notes on an assigned medieval topic

Plan and complete a storyboard for a six card HS stack

Produce a six card HS stack including:

• title card
• bibliography card with at least 4 sources
• 4 cards with researched information and pictures
• recorded voice, sound effects and transitions between cards

Present finished project to class

Prerequisite skills/knowledge:

Vocabulary:

storyboard, text field, bibliography, stack, graphic object, title page, card, button, clip art

 

In order for this to work most effectively, kids were taught basic HyperStudio skills in 3rd grade. In 4th grade we did a quick review of basic skills such as how to create buttons, cards and text fields right before the project. Students knew how to save their work and reopen it as needed. The technology coordinator did the actual scanning of pictures so this was not a prerequisite skill.

 

Materials/equipment:

 

Hardware

21 Macintosh computers
scanner
printer

Software

Hyper Studio software
Grolier's CD ROM encyclopedia

  Printed Materials (available upon request)

library books
handout
storyboard template

 

Instructional activities/strategies

There were no groups for this project. Each child worked on a different topic related to medieval times. They did help each other a lot with computer skills. When one person figured out a new way to do something, it got passed around the room from student to student very quickly.

 

Sequence of lesson:

Research topic and take notes

Review Hyper Studio skills: how to create a card, button and add text

Storyboard HS projects

Create HS project according to step by step instructions above

Present project to class

Information Acquisition:

Problem Solving:

Communication:

The students communicated the results by presenting their finished projects to the class. They read text fields as needed, played recorded voice buttons and navigated through the stack. In a couple of hours, the entire class was presented with information on 21 different topics.

Assessment options:

We used a check list type grading sheet. Students were expected to:

Research and take notes on an assigned medieval topic

Plan and complete a storyboard for a six card HS stack

Complete a six card HS stack must include:

• title card
• bibliography card with at least 4 sources
• 4 cards with researched information and pictures
• recorded voice, sound effects and transitions between cards

Present finished project to class

Teaching Suggestions/Extensions:

This project could be done with any research topic in Social Studies, Science or English class. Even when assigned in one of those specific classes, it could be graded for other interdisciplinary areas:

* Art: Student generated artwork on cards evaluated.

* English: Writing in text fields checked for correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and paragraph form.

Contributors:

Patricia Smith - Technology Coordinator

Paula Dorsey - 4th grade teacher
Carol Arnold - 4th grade teacher
Good Shepherd Episcopal School