Cross Community Project
Project Information
School: Fiske
Teacher: Ms. Laura Knox
Grade: 6th
Subject Area: Fine Arts, Social Studies
Educational Standards:
Illinois State Goal:
Fine Arts - 27.B.2. - Identify and describe how the arts communicate the similarities and differences among various people, places and times.
Social Studies - 17.5.09 - Define and distinguish among rural, urban and suburban areas
National Educational Technology Goals: 1b, 2a, 2c, 6a, 5d
Purpose: I wanted to connect 6th grader students from three different types of communities: a city, a suburb, a small town. I wanted students to share with each other their lives and get to know how they are similar and different.
Procedure: The 6th grade students from Fiske school partnered with two other 6th grade classes in different towns in Illinois. We were the big city, there was a small town, and there was a suburban town as well. First, the 6th grade students created a survey and thought up questions to ask students the same age as they are, in order to learn more about them, their school, and their neighborhood. The other schools did the same thing and then I created a Wikispace where we could post each survey. The teachers at each of the three schools created a Google Doc for the surveys. The surveys were then embedded in the wiki. After the surveys were completed by students from each of the three schools, two students from our school and two from Fisher, Illinois. came up with questions. Next the students engaged in questions over a live Google chat conversation.
Then each of the teachers taught unit on photography to our students. We did a big lesson on photographic elements to introduce the cameras. The students were each assigned three different photographic elements of which to take pictures. We came back together to evaluate our photos.
The next step involved students taking a neighborhood walk and capturing photographs of their surrounding neighborhood. Then we did the same thing inside our school. All three schools then exchanged pictures of their school and neighborhood. Four of our 6th grade students then created a compare and contrast, side-by-side video of all three schools. They used Adobe Premiere Elements to create this video and tied it together with a strong message about students who are the same age as them, but live in three different towns in the same state.
Technology: Computers connected to the Internet, Google Docs, a wiki, screen capture software, digital cameras, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Google Chat.
Teacher: Ms. Laura Knox
Grade: 6th
Subject Area: Fine Arts, Social Studies
Educational Standards:
Illinois State Goal:
Fine Arts - 27.B.2. - Identify and describe how the arts communicate the similarities and differences among various people, places and times.
Social Studies - 17.5.09 - Define and distinguish among rural, urban and suburban areas
National Educational Technology Goals: 1b, 2a, 2c, 6a, 5d
Purpose: I wanted to connect 6th grader students from three different types of communities: a city, a suburb, a small town. I wanted students to share with each other their lives and get to know how they are similar and different.
Procedure: The 6th grade students from Fiske school partnered with two other 6th grade classes in different towns in Illinois. We were the big city, there was a small town, and there was a suburban town as well. First, the 6th grade students created a survey and thought up questions to ask students the same age as they are, in order to learn more about them, their school, and their neighborhood. The other schools did the same thing and then I created a Wikispace where we could post each survey. The teachers at each of the three schools created a Google Doc for the surveys. The surveys were then embedded in the wiki. After the surveys were completed by students from each of the three schools, two students from our school and two from Fisher, Illinois. came up with questions. Next the students engaged in questions over a live Google chat conversation.
Then each of the teachers taught unit on photography to our students. We did a big lesson on photographic elements to introduce the cameras. The students were each assigned three different photographic elements of which to take pictures. We came back together to evaluate our photos.
The next step involved students taking a neighborhood walk and capturing photographs of their surrounding neighborhood. Then we did the same thing inside our school. All three schools then exchanged pictures of their school and neighborhood. Four of our 6th grade students then created a compare and contrast, side-by-side video of all three schools. They used Adobe Premiere Elements to create this video and tied it together with a strong message about students who are the same age as them, but live in three different towns in the same state.
Technology: Computers connected to the Internet, Google Docs, a wiki, screen capture software, digital cameras, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Google Chat.
Ms. Knox
A Student From Fiske School
Project Worksheet
Click on the Download File Links below to download the worksheet for viewing.

fiske_cross_comm_rubric.pdf |