Cookie Cutters - Class Web Site

Thematic Unit

Overview: This was a kid created web site that covered the TEKS for Language Arts, Technology, Science, Social Studies, and Math. We wanted the kids to experience the wonders of the Internet, to gain knowledge of computer terms, to learn how to safely travel along the Internet. We wanted to build their critical thinking skills, writing skills, and communication skills as they wrote the text that goes into our site. In order to participate, the kids had to express an interest in the project, they had to follow specific behavior guidelines set up in the classroom management system, they had to follow the "cybersafety" guidelines and be willing to work hard each time we met. Each student had a job assignment to complete that we rotated on a monthly basis. We had kids that interviewed VIP's within our school, wrote articles about special visitors and guest authors. We had kids that wrote articles telling about specific concepts we were learning about in the classroom, including volcanoes, earthquakes, weather, math games, holidays, and important people from our history. We had kids that would travel the Internet looking for great educational sites that we could link with our web site and they also wrote articles to describe the sites that they selected for the links. We had creative story writers, cartoon writers, games and activities creators. We had a response form and received e-mail about our site from all over the country, even Australia. We counted "hits" to our site and got up to over 1600.

Goals and objectives:

Technology

The TEKS involved from Technology include 1A, B, and C. We introduced the kids to terms like link, browser, e-mail, all hardware components.  In addition, they had to be able to save their stories on diskettes and use the Internet to browse for educational links. We used Foundations TEKS 2A, B, C, D, and E as the kids would input their stories or articles into the computer software. In our "Cybersafety" lesson, we covered TEKS 3A as the kids learned about how to safely use the computer to cruise the Internet. We used Information acquisition TEKS 4A and 4B as the kids did searches throughout the Internet to access information for their articles and then shared their findings using links on our web site. We used Solving problems TEKS 7A, 7B, 8A, 8B, 9B as we cruised the Internet we had to load plug-ins to view audio, video and graphics that enhanced the site we were visiting. We added graphics and video to our web site, too. We used the word processing software to input our stories and articles and e-mail to respond to our visitors comments concerning our web site. We viewed our site at deadline time using a 27' TV computer monitor connecting to our computer to evaluate how our web site stories turned out for the month. In the area of Communication, we used the TEKS 10A, 10B, 11A, 11B, 12A, and 12B. The kids had to plan out the entire site, deciding on font size, and color for text and links. They had to select background colors and graphics that would go along with their stories. Most of the graphics they drew themselves and then we scanned them into our site. Each student also had their own web page as a part of our site under the link Cyberheads. We published an updated version of our site once each month and had a deadline party as we examined a hard copy of our site as well as viewing it on the TV monitor. At the deadline party, we evaluated our product, and the kids with the Internet assignment evaluated appropriate links to our site.

 

Mathematics

The TEKS involved from the 2nd grade curriculum include Mathematics TEKS 2.13 A and B and 2.14. The kids were expected to explain math concepts using words, and pictures and to relate informal language to mathematical language. They were also expected to write about how the math concepts we were learning in class related to their world.

 

Social Studies

In Social Studies the kids were expected to focus on a study of their community. For learning about web sites, we related the hardware and software components to an electronic community with each PC being a house, the driveway is the gateway, a browser is a type of vehicle, the neighborhood streets connect to the larger streets where companies have web sites, the interstate highways act like the Internet. This corresponds to Introduction, a1, and a4. The kids wrote about historical characters like Columbus which correlates to TEKS 2.1a., 2.2a, and 2.4a. For TEKS 2.5 through 2.8 using Geography, we made the correlation of the Internet being a world wide network and we would locate on a map where our e-mail responses had been sent from. And finally, we used TEKS 2.18 b in the creation of our written and visual material we placed on the web site.

 

Science

In Science, we covered TEKS a5, the investigations of our natural world, as the kids researched the effects of volcanoes and earthquakes.

 

Language Arts

In the area of English Language Arts, the TEKS covered included Introduction 4, the student will demonstrate exemplary performance in the reading and writing of the English language. As we shared our stories on deadline day, the kids were meeting TEKS 2.1 as they listened to others reading their articles so that corrections could be made. We covered TEKS 2.6 as the kids were expected to read the information and follow directions as they cruised the Internet. TEKS 2.10 was covered as the kids responded to each other's articles and also to what they had found on the Internet. TEKS 2.12 was covered as the kids asked questions and researched answers on the Internet. TEKS 2.14 was covered as each month the kids wrote an article or story for a variety of audiences and purposes and in various forms. TEKS 2.15 was covered during the editing process as the kids meet with the cybermoms to make corrections to their stories and articles. TEKS 2.16 was also covered during editing as spelling mistakes were corrected before we would allow the kids to type their stories on the computer. We used TEKS 2.18 as we followed the writing process from sloppy copy or rough draft to the final edited version to the web site. During the deadline party we covered TEKS 2.19 as each kid evaluated their own writing and the writing of others. We used writing as a tool for learning and research which is covered in TEKS 2.20.

 

Materials/equipment:

Hardware

Two classroom computers
Laptop (loaner)
27" monitor connected to the computer
Scanner
Extra keyboards to practice

Software

Netscape Gold and a FTP program that are free to educators
Word processing software that was provided by the district

 

  Printed Materials

We created our own handouts so the kids had a computer sheet to label, a web page to create, a keyboard to practice on, a matching page for vocabulary, and lots of white paper to create icons, graphics, and to draw a picture of the world as it relates to the Internet.

 

 

Instructional activities/strategies:

Lesson One (of 36)

Objective: To familiarize students with the hardware and components of a computer
Materials: Note cards, post it notes, markers, "Miss Netty" story
Vocabulary: monitor, mouse, printer, hard drive, desktop, CD ROM, modem

1. Read "Miss Netty" to the class.

2. Introduce the hardware vocabulary, write the vocabulary words on post-it notes, then have volunteers label the parts of the classroom computer.

3. Students draw and label a picture of a computer using the key vocabulary words.

Lesson Two (of 36)

Objective: To familiarize students with vocabulary that deals with software
Materials: Legal-size white paper for each student, markers or crayons, "Miss Netty" story
Vocabulary: software, cyber street, cyber interstate, highway, Internet link, address, log-in, password, file, save, buttons, cookies, plug-in,s .com, .edu, .gov, .org

1. Have the students retell the story of "Miss Netty."

2. Introduce the vocabulary for the software and how it relates to a neighborhood.
*We created a guide that goes along with this lesson.

3. Have the students draw a picture on the large paper that shows a picture of the
world of "Miss Netty."

Extension: Have the students draw a map mural of the Internet using the terms superhighway, links, and show how the different links go together. Process from sloppy copy or rough draft to the final copy.

 

Information Acquisition:

My cybermom also joined newsgroups and used e-mail to gain knowledge about our project. Jeanne Snyder-Ashbaugh is my cybermom and she also wrote a story called "Miss Netty's World" that made the correlation between the Internet and the world around us. For classroom management, we would have activities for individuals like story writing, we had small groups that searched the internet, we had whole group activities when we had a deadline party and when we learned about the Internet, and computer hardware and software. The kids decided on the topic to investigate in correlation to their writing assignment.

Communication:

The kids communicate their results via the web site "cookie cutters".

Assessment options:

For assessment, teacher observed behavior objectives and finished projects for assessing other TEKS involved. We also created our own blackline masters to assess knowledge based skills like keyboarding and vocabulary.

 

Contributor:

Susan Cook
Heritage Elementary School 

Lewisville ISD