Farewell to Manzanar

Julie Heithecker
10th grade
Twin Falls School District

Content Area Objectives Addressed: 

Students will work in expert groups
Students will research, write, edit and prepare a PowerPoint presentation containing the information gained in their research

Technology Objectives Addressed:

Students will use the internet for research purposed
Students will use Word to write their finding
Students will use PowerPoint to present their research to the rest of the class. 

Activity Description

What was the process that your students went through to complete this lesson?
Students were broken into 5 expert groups
Students were familiar with this process
Students were able to choose which “job” they wanted to fulfill

How did you monitor student progress?
Progress was monitored by moving around the computer lab, observing progress and watching the presentations.

Was there a template or an example that students were expected to follow?
Students were given a pre-set list of sites with information for research
Students were given a handout with their job role

How much time did you dedicate to this project?
Total   5 hours
Daily (approximate)  1 hour

How was the final product presented?
The final product was presented via PowerPoint with a LCD projector connected to the main computer

Who was the audience for the final product?
The project was shared with their entire class

Learning Issues

What prior knowledge was required on the part of the students in order for them to be successful in this project? (include curriculum and technology knowledge)
Students read the novel Farewell to Manzanar. 
Students had background knowledge relating to prejudice, WWII, Japanese interment, civil rights (violations)
Students had PowerPoint experience, Word experience and research on the Internet experience.

Resource Management

What was the student to computer ratio?
The ratio was 1-to-1

How did you schedule your students’ computer time?
I scheduled the computer lab for the entire week

    Day 1=group discussion, role assignment, format layout
    Day 2=individual work
    Day 3= group discussion on individual progress-suggestions-help
    Day 4=role work-meet back to put PowerPoint together
    Day 5=PowerPoint presentations

What was the location of the computers and other technology equipment used by students?
In the computer lab

How would you suggest beginning teachers obtain computer resources for their students? (Knowing some of your strategies would be valuable for our pre-service teachers)
Use the lab as much as possible
Have students bring their old stuff to school –a computer renaissance situation
Beg, borrow and or steal

Rate the level of access for students to use computers/other technologies as they needed - high, medium, low
High

Rate the level of supervision required for students during the project, specifically for computer and other technology use –high, medium, low
medium

Material

What hardware was required for your project?
Computers, projector

What software was required for your project?
PowerPoint, Word

Anything else?
Internet access

Assessment

What categories did you assess? (I.e.:  content, screen design, depth/breadth, etc.)

Minimum of 6 slices

Slide Design

Content

Validity

Originality

Other

How does the product that you submitted compare with other students’ products for this same project?
It was very similar

What did you like best about this project?
Students were able to choose what they wanted to present and how they wanted to present it
Students were able to choose the role they wanted –one that suited their learning style, capability, and interest.

What did the students like best about this project?
Choosing their own role and presenting information they found relevant and interesting.

Rank the level of student involvement in this project - high, medium, low
medium

Rank the level of student interest in this project - high, medium, low
medium

Would you teach this lesson again? 
Yes