J.
Barford
Wonders
of Water, 1997-1998
Toward
the end of the fall semester, 1997, Lou Conwell, 4th grade teacher, and
Kathy Miller, 3rd grade teacher, Carl Sandburg School, Charleston,
extended
a marvelous invitation. They asked the social studies class to
participate
with teams of 3rd and 4th graders who were investigating 15 of the
major
rivers of the world. The EIU social studies students would work
with
a river team once a week for the semester. Project WOW began as a
T.I.M.E. (Technology Integrated Methods in Education) grant, written by
the teachers and funded by Community Unit School District #1,
Charleston,
IL. The river teams would display the results of their research
first
in linear format with CLARIS Slide Show, and then in multimedia format
with Hyperstudio 3.1. Explanation of the further objectives
of Project WOW -- cooperative strategies, cross grade level teams,
research
guided by children's questioning, the cultural, historical,
environmental,
geographic, scientific dimensions available, the technology to be
learned,
the opportunity to learn social studies while at work for a semester
with
a team of children -- resulted in unanimous acceptance of the
invitation
from the ELE3340 social studies methods students. Yes, they would
reconfigure their semester and learn to teach by joining Project WOW,
Rivers.
The results of the semester long voyages along the rivers were pressed onto the first Project WOW CD which was ready in August, 1998, and was distributed to all participants at Carl Sandburg and at EIU. In our group photo all are easily visible except Katie Pippenger (top of her head and one knowing eye showing) between Amy and Kari. Lisa Puzerewski couldn't come for the photo, but we remember her anyway! The first WOW participants were pioneers and adventurers. Carl Sandburg School was in the midst of complete renovation, remodeling, and enlargement from 10 to 30 classrooms. L. Conwell and K. Miller borrowed computers from other teachers on WOW days. About 20 MACs were rolled down the halls and assembled in a makeshift lab. Finding quality children's literature and adequate Internet resources on 16 major rivers was challenging. Before WOW, access to the HyperStudio program was not available to pre-service teachers on the EIU campus. We found ways to learn the program. We all pulled together and were amazed with what the teams accomplished. A viewing of the completed rivers stacks was held in the new auditorium of the Buzzard Hall, EIU, for parents and interested EIU faculty and students in May, 1998. The momentum created by the earlier WOW experiences is felt as we look forward to our eleventh WOW semester, Fall, 2003.
Wonders
of Wisdom, 1998-2001
The
College of Education and Professional Studies supported the project
with
telefund dollars and a PDS mini-grant (1999-2000). The
project
design for 1998-2001 features 16
global heroes, two each in the 8 multiple intelligences
categories.
Project WOW curriculum begins in the fall with autobiographical
research
among the team members and facilitators themselves. We identify
our
own unique characteristics to relate to the heroes who will be
studied.
Similarities are discovered among the children and class graphs
are
made to display results in categories such as favorite school subjects,
places of birth, 'in the future I see myself...' Claris slide show was
used to enable the children to present linear information.
Children and EIU facilitators went on to develop autobiographical
HyperStudio
stacks. During the current year we have used KidPix slide
shows.
EIU facilitators introduce global heroes to the third graders in
carefully
researched skits, using comparative data between participants and
global
heroes in multiple intelligences categories. Once the children
select
themselves into global hero teams, the EIU facilitators prompt team
questioning
and guide team investigations into the culture, geography, and
historical
contributions of the global hero. The teams select
prominent
topics from their accumulated research and design a HyperStudio stack
(through
spring, 2000), KidPix slide show, and web pages featuring
the
global hero. In July, 1999, and again, July, 2000, one hundred
copies
of the Project WOW CD were distributed to participants. The
Project WOW II CD features the global heroes projects and the
autobiography
stacks for each third grade author. The Project WOW III CD
includes
all of the above and also autobiography stacks for each EIU
facilitator.The
WOW IV CD will feature the WOW Web site.
spring
1999 group photo, EIU participants.
Wonders
of Wisdom:
Global
Heroes, Fall, 2000 / Illinois
Heroes, Spring, 2001
This
year WOW curriculum changed from the 16
global heroes for the fall semester to 16
significant individuals of Illinois for the spring
semester.
We want to investigate the contributions of home state heroes such as
Jane
Addams, Abraham Lincoln, Marquette and Jolliet, Frank Lloyd Wright,
Carl
Sandburg, and John Deere. Third graders used KidPix
to design and present their findings. Teams used Netscape
Composer
to post their work on our new Project WOW website. Support this
year
has come from a CEPS telefund award and from a PT3
mini-grant.
Our
latest technology application will be use of the GPS Magellan 315 to
enhance
geographical perceptions associated with the WOW curriculum.
Group
photo, Fall, 2000.
Wonders
of Wisdom: Global
Heroes,
Fall, 2001 , **Fall,
2004**
Wonders
of the Wilderness: The Lewis
and
Clark Expedition, Spring,
2002, Fall, 2002, and
Spring, 2004
Spring, 2005
This
year WOW curriculum began with sharing of autobiographies, class
profile
graphs, and global hero skits. The autobiographies enable
participants
to get acquainted and to realize the individual as the fulcrum of
history.
Class graphs utilize interest categories from the autobiographies give
participants full group profiles. The global hero skits introduce
third graders to team possibilities. Children select heroes whom
they would like to investigate further and who may match their own
interests
and intelligences. In Fall, 2001, teams used KidPix
for their team author statements. Inspiration
software was used for the overview pages which summarize the main ideas
about the hero investigated by the teams. Netscape Composer,
available
in the Buzzard labs at EIU, is the HTML editor. Children
and
EIU facilitators used the PT3 portable iBook lab as well as the Gateway
PC workstations to develop the hero pages. Support for the
project
continues from the Charleston School district and from the PT3
grant at EIU.
WOW teams explored the journey of Lewis and Clark to the
Pacific in commemoration of the bicentennial of the expedition under
our
new WOW heading: Wonders of the Wilderness/ The Lewis and Clark
Expedition. Spring 2005 culminated in a field trip to
Cahokia Mounds and to Camp Dubois State Historical Site from
which the Corps of Discovery departed in May, 1804.
The course
calendar, Spring, 2005
Wonders
of Wisdom: American Heroes,
Fall, 2003
For
2003, we are studying American Heroes in the multiply intelligences
categories.
The curriculum goal is to nurture authentic patriotism as service to
others
and to the community by writing, exploring, creating, inventing.
Our heroes have contributed to the value-base of American
culture.
Professional literature continues to feature heroes curriculum. We find
WOW wonders of wisdom strategies particularly appealing to first
semester
third graders. In the Spring, we will return to Lewis and Clark,
because, as clearly stated at the November National Conference of the
National
Council for the Social Studies, this is not a teachable moment, but a
teachable
two years.
Windows on our World: Environmental Heroes, Fall, 2005
Environmental Heroes who have alerted the national and global communities to the wonders and needs of the environment engaged eight WOW teams. Pre-service teachers, WOW team facilitators, have combined social studies, science, and language arts methods to explore the life and achievements of persons who have dedicated their lives to environmental understanding and stewardship. See course syllabus and calendar below.
Presentations
The
project has been presented nationally for the National Council of
Social
Studies, the Organization of American Historians, the Association of
Teacher Educators, the Association
for
Childhood Education International, and at state conferences of the
Illinois
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and the Illinois
Association of Librarians and Media Specialists, and the Illinois
Association
of Teacher Educators. At EIU, Project WOW has been featured
at
the
CEPS research fair, 1999 -- 2004. The WOW Open House during
which team table displays and Web pages are viewed by children and
their families occur at the end of each semester in the Buzzard Atrium,
upper floor, EIU. The Wonder of the
Wilderness
teams presented at the PT3 EIU Technology Fair.
EIU student work for Project WOW was featured in the Hall of Excellence, ACEI annual conference, Tampa, 1998, and San Antonio, 1999, Toronto, 2001, and at the Illinois state colleges' student research fair, Springfield, 2000, 2001, and 2003.
In April, 2001, Project WOW was presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for Childhood Education International, Toronto, CAN. Collaborative strategies from Project WOW have been selected for presentation at the national conference of the National Council for the Social Studies, Washington, D. C., November 2001, November 2002, and the Innovations in Collaboration Conference, NCSS and OAH, June, 2003.
School-based
teacher education coursework
Visit
the course calendar for details of curriculum development within
the course and the day-to-day work of the EIU facilitators with the
third
grade teams.
WOW course
syllabus, Fall, 2005
WOW course
calendar, Fall, 2005