Multimedia in a Project-Based Classroom
The Blackfoot
By Michelle Speight
Rationale for the activityProblem: A common problem is that there is a lack of age-appropriate websites and texts
for grades two and three students to gather information about our First Nations peoples.
The creation of the website itself has been implemented to give students the opportunity
to learn about the Blackfoot people in an age-appropriate context. The other problem that
remains is how to address the wide range of reading and comprehension skills that exists
in most elementary classrooms. How do we assess that students understand what they are
reading and experiencing?
As an educator the questions to consider then are
1. How do we measure comprehension in students with a broad range of reading and
comprehension skills?
2. How do we present information for students at varying levels of reading and
comprehension when resources are few?
Goal: Through the use of a classroom and teacher-generated website, students will use
information gathered on the website in small groups to create a multimedia presentation.
This presentation will highlight their learning through hands-on experiences, interviews,
and information gathered through books, movies and websites. This will give students
who struggle with reading and comprehension an opportunity to share their learning
(through experiences) in a collaborative multimedia project.
Rationale for using Technology
Technology is used at various stages throughout this assignment. It is used for the
research component, collection of photographs and experiences, in the planning of
writing, demonstrating learning creatively, and to present a cumulative collection of our
experiences and learning.
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It allows students the opportunity to access age-appropriate
information quickly and without “getting lost” on the Internet
Technology provides a meaningful platform of learning whereby
students are actively engaged in “real-world” experiences in a projectbased setting and are given the opportunity to share their knowledge
with a keen and interested audience.
It promotes collaboration both in our own classroom and beyond the
walls of our school. Students in other classrooms are also encouraged
to take part in the creation of this multimedia presentation.
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It accesses a variety of learning styles and abilities by giving the
students the opportunity to choose how they will learn and how they
will best represent their learning in the multimedia product.
It meets the demands of many areas of the curriculum.
The finished product is an excellent platform for assessment.
Outcomes
The assignment allows for many of the Grades two and three Social Studies and Division
one ICT outcomes to be fulfilled. I will specifically focus on the Grade three Social
Studies curriculum and the division one ICT outcomes.
Social Studies Outcomes:
Grade Three, Social Studies, Topic C
Focus: Communities
Special Communities
Questions:
1. How do people keep their customs and traditions?
2. Why do people keep their customs and traditions?
3. Can we keep our customs and traditions and still be members of a larger group?
4. Should people keep their customs and traditions?
5. Should we be concerned with others’ feelings about change?
6. Should individual differences affect how people treat each other?
7. Should people in special communities be allowed to live as they want?
Process Skills:
The students will be able to do the following:
Locating/Organizing/Interpreting Information
 Identify possible sources and locations of information
 Acquire information to answer questions through listening, viewing and reading
 Acquire information by skimming materials to select specific information and/or
supporting information and/or supporting details
 Distinguish between fictional stories and factual information about people in
communities
Geography/Mapping
 Read and interpret maps
 Locate communities under study relative to one’s own community
 Describe locations using intercardinal directions (NE, NW, SE, SW)
 Compare distance
Analyzing/Synthesizing/Evaluating:
 Examine case study descriptions of communities to identify ways people
perpetuate their lifestyles
 Identify differences in perspectives and the underlying values of those
people/individuals who may choose to change some specific of their lifestyle and
those who desire to remain the same.
Communication Skills:
 Chart or draw a picture to show the contributions made to society b culturally
distinctive groups
 Orally, present information on a community, giving consideration to content,
audiences, social studies vocabulary, pronunciation and enunciation
 Present information iu written form, applying the skills of revising and editing b y
considering content, organization, vocabulary, sentence structure and mechanics
Participation Skills:
 Observe established group or class rules
 Participate cooperatively in group work and class discussions by contributing
ideas
 Plan and carry out an action that would show an appreciation of someone else’s
way of maintaining a tradition
Attitude objectives:
The students will be encouraged to develop:
 Respect for someone’s opinion and viewpoint
 Appreciation, understanding, and tolerance of people who maintain a distinctive
lifestyle
 Appreciation of the contributions made to society by culturally distinctive groups
 Understanding of the forces that temper change in a distinctive community
Division One ICT Outcomes:
C.1 - Students will access, use and communicate information from a variety of
technologies.
Students involved in the project are provided with a variety of technologies including use
of the Internet, Search engines, a variety of multimedia software, use of chat rooms to
share information, video conferencing to interview others, video creation and exchange,
and the use of filmstrips, videos, slide projectors, digital cameras, and digital camcorders.
More specifically, students accessed and retrieved appropriate information from
electronic sources for a specific inquiry and were given the opportunity to process
information from more than one source to retell what has been discovered in a variety of
ways throughout the projects.
C.2 - Students will seek alternative viewpoints, using information technologies.
Responsible Technology education inherently means that one technology or source of
information is simply inefficient and irresponsible. Students in the project are asked to
access a variety or sources including magazines, movies, pictures, hands-on experiences,
books, interviews, and the Internet. During the projects, the students have had many
meaningful opportunities to evaluate sites during research about our First Nations people.
Most importantly however, is the “real people” aspect that this project, like many
telecollaborative projects has created. Students are actually able to contact and speak to
First Nations people, for instance. This is so much more valuable than any text book!
C.3 - Students will critically assess information accessed through the use of a variety of
technologies
Students are asked to think critically about sources of information on a regular basis.
Students are taught how to look for authenticity on Internet Sites and in other resources
throughout the projects. Internet sites are specifically focused on in Division I as sources
to be skeptical of. Students are asked to constantly compare and contrast information
from similar types of electronic sources to authenticate information. The project itself
gave the children many opportunities to access Internet sources and sites and to
communicate with a variety of “experts” from all over the world.
C.4 - Students will use organizational processes and tools to manage inquiry.
Students are given a specific plan to follow when accessing new resources. They are
asked to formulate new questions as they learn new information and to organize
information using a variety of resources given specific age-appropriate strategies. This
means teaching students to use technology to track sources and gather information so that
it can be used meaningfully in the project. This process is an evolving one since children
are constantly questioning themselves and information because the projects inherently
provide so many points of view.
C.5 - Students will use technology to aid collaboration during inquiry.
The inquiry stage of learning is one of the most important elements of these projects.
Collaboration in the classroom is a very important way to collect information to share
information before, during, and following the completion of the project. Since this
project is so inherently collaborative in nature, making collaboration in the classroom
lends nicely to the success of the project. Information gathered and shared in the
classroom is also shared with our collaborative classrooms in the project through our
project website and correspondence.
C.6 - Students will use technology to investigate and/or solve problems.
Students have been asked to define problems within a context using our web quest and
then solving our problems using a multimedia displaying their own work which has been
supported by the use of technology. The project website has been a specific trigger in
order to successfully meet these standards.
C.7 - Students will use electronic research techniques to construct personal knowledge and
meaning.
Using the project’s theme as a starting point, students have been developing questions
that reflect a need to know more about the First Nations people. The project has given the
children the opportunity to gather information in a meaningful way and to then construct
conclusions based on the work and experiences from collaborating with actual First
Nations people and learning from other students around the world. Electronic research in
these projects is so much more meaningful because we are actually investigating and
questioning in order to learn more about others.
F.1 - Students will demonstrate an understanding of the nature of technology.
These grades two and three students have become quite proficient at identifying the
appropriate techniques and tools for needed to communicate with others (email) and
storing, retrieving, and selecting information necessary to ensure the success of the
project that means so much to them. The terminology that the students use is used in
context of the project and is used proficiently and knowledgeably.
F.2 - Students will understand the role of technology as it applies to self, work and
society
Because the project has driven the children to learn more, the children have become to
understand the value of technology in real-world applications and its value in everyday
life. The fact that we are corresponding and collaborating with “real” people adds a real
and meaningful aspect to the use of the technology itself. The children are better able to
recall and identify appropriate technologies to be used for specific tasks to make the
project itself be successful.
F.3 - Students will demonstrate a moral and ethical approach to the use of
technology
Given the often difficult financial circumstances of many classrooms around the world,
computers are not always available or even working. The children in these projects have
developed an outstanding ability to work collaboratively to share these limited resources.
Since the computers have become so important to our learning, the children consistently
demonstrate and recognize the incredible personal value of the technology itself and
always demonstrate proper etiquette in using computers.
F.4 - Students will become discerning consumers of mass media and electronic
information
During these projects, students are consistently asked to compare and contrast different
electronic sources including video, CDRom, Internet explorations, filmstrips, photos etc.
in a project-based setting. These students are always asked to have at least three different
resources when accessing information. Since the children have become proficient at
accessing these different resources it tends to become a bit of a personal challenge for
them. The project has opened up their eyes to the world of possibilities. Their interest in
the project motivates them to want to learn more and from wherever they can!
F.5 - Students will practice the concepts of ergonomics and safety when using
technology
Because the children become so proficient at using the technology, appropriate posture
and safe behaviour on the computers is not only emphasized, but it becomes quite natural
for the children.
F.6 - Students will demonstrate a basic understanding of the operating skills
required in a variety of technologies. Including: perform basic computer
operations, which may vary by environment, including powering up, inserting disks,
moving the cursor, clicking on an icon, using pull-down menus, executing programs,
saving files, retrieving files, printing, ejecting disks and powering down, use proper
keyboarding techniques for the home row, enter, space bar, tab, backspace, delete
and insertion-point arrow keys, operate basic audio and video equipment, including
inserting, playing, recording and ejecting media
Not only can the students perform all of the above operating skills, I believe that because
of their involvement in the project, they far exceed it. This project asks the children to
push themselves to learn more. Our students are creating and editing movies and photos,
creating Claymation videos to showcase their knowledge of legends, creating Power
Point Presentations, using chat rooms, making virtual reality images. The projects are
inherently generative; therefore the children ask themselves to learn more because it
interests them. All they need is a little guidance.
P.1 - Students will compose, revise and edit text.
The students create their own original text, using word processing software on a daily
basis. Correspondence with experts and other students not only gives the children an
opportunity to compose, revise, and edit their work in a meaningful way, the children are
then motivated to learn how to insert pictures, photos, and then create their own “special
technology features” as a part of their learning.
P.3 - Students will communicate through multimedia.
To support communication with our collaborative classroom, students have had access to
a variety of multimedia applications. This includes using clip art and a part of our
research and correspondence, using paint programs for creating books and quilt patches,
accessing sound clips and voice applications in projects like learning how to speak
Inuktitut, creating movies and presentations to communicate ideas and a sense of
collaborative learning.
P.4 - Students will integrate various applications.
The project itself integrates a variety of applications into a meaningful learning package.
Students learn how to balance not only text with graphics but to also understand that the
ultimate goal in these projects is demonstrating what we have learned using technology
as a means of expression.
P.5 - Students will navigate and create hyperlinked resources
Students are consistently navigating not only on the Internet, Intranets, and guided
CDroms and PowerPoint “Quests,” but are we are also giving the children the
opportunity to navigate and hyperlink between resources and applications. Students are
also using the information attained by these navigations in meaningful and guided
projects. An example of this would be the use of web quests to attain information that
would be used to construct their own Power Point presentation. Students also learn how
to make direct reference to resources by making hyperlinks.
P.6 - Students will use communication technology to interact with others.
What more can I say…. That is exactly what this is all about. The project gives the
students the opportunity to interacting with others, near or far, using technology. The key
is that it is done in a constructivist, project-based, and generative fashion lending itself to
deep and meaningful learning.
Assessment Rubrics
For this assignment, several rubrics are presented. These rubrics are provided during the
introduction of the assignment so students are aware of how they will be evaluated and
how they will be graded.
The following two examples are rubrics specific to the Power Point presentation itself.
Depending on the skills of your students, they may actually create the Power Point
presentation from scratch or if they are younger and less experienced, they may be using
a teacher-generated template. Either way, the rubric may need to be revised to better
reflect the skills of your students.
Our Power Point Presentation
Names of group members: _____________________________________________
Congratulations! You have finished your project! Now it is time to see how you did.
Together as a group, write down how your group did in each box. Write at least one
comment in each box. When you are finished looking at your project as a group, find
another group to help you evaluate your project. They will use the second column.
When you are finished both of these, then you are ready to have your project evaluated
by me. I will use the third column.
1. Student evaluation
2. Peer Evaluation
3. Teacher Evaluation
We have
completed our
story board
Our story
board has both
pictures and
text which
describes our
slides
Our title page
has a title, the
names of our
group, and an
interesting
graphic
1. Student evaluation
Each member
of our group
has completed
his/her slide
Each page has
information
and graphics
found in our
research
We have each
of our sources
2. Peer Evaluation
3. Teacher Evaluation
documented
on our
references
page
Write one
sentence about
how you
worked
together as a
team
Teacher
comments:______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
This rubric, or something similar could be used for the assessment of the presentation of
the Power Point to the classroom.
NAME:_____________________________
KNOWLEDGE: 4 3 2 1 0
Shows an understanding of the material
Able to answer questions
PARTICIPATION: 4 3 2 1 0
Does their “fair share” in presenting the material
Participates in each part of the presentation
LENGTH: 4 3 2 1 0
Long enough to adequately cover assigned material
CONTENT: 4 3 2 1 0
Topic covered thoroughly
Enough information has been given to explain the topic
Did not exclude any important information or include
any unnecessary information
DESIGN: 4 3 2 1 0
Very creative
Easy to see and follow
Did not include any unnecessary graphics
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: 4 3 2 1 0
Included class in the learning process
Did more than lecture to the class
TOTAL ________
Something like this can also be given to the students to evaluate their peers while
presenting. Some of the wording may need to be changed to better support the needs of
your students.
Rubric for Peer Evaluation (5 points possible)
Each of your classmates not presenting on the day you are will evaluate your presentation
using the Scoring Rubric below. Your final points for this portion of your evaluation will
be the average rating from everyone who hears your presentation divided by 3.
Performance
Criteria
Preparation
Organization
Technical
Specifications
3 Points
Presentation was
"ready to go"
when it was this
student's turn.
2 Points
1 Point
0 points
Presentation was The student ran
"almost ready to the presentation
go". We had to off her/his disk
wait for this
student to copy
the presentation
on to the
desktop.
The student did
not have the
presentation
completely
ready and was
finalizing some
things as class
began and/or
while other
students were
presenting.
Information was
presented in an
interesting way
that was easy to
follow
There did not
appear to be any
sequence or
order to the
information
presented.
Information was
somewhat
difficult to
follow because
student was
"jumping
around" from
topic to topic
Show contained Show contained
between 5-10
<5 or >10 slides
slides
Every slide
Slide transitions Slide transitions
contained a slide were not used
were not used
transition
for 1-2 slides
for more than 2
slides
Mechanics
Overall
Presentation
An outstanding
presentation.
The presentation
kept my interest
and was among
the very best in
class.
Demonstrated an
outstanding
effort presenting
the information
through creative
use of graphics
and text
Showed good
effort in the
presentation,
however
graphics and text
reflect only an
"average" effort
Showed little
effort in the
presentation.
Graphics and
text appear to be
"thrown together
at the last
minute"
A good
presentation.
The presenter
demonstrated the
ability to utilize
the various
features of the
program,
however, the
presentation did
not always keep
my interest
The presenter
did not seem
comfortable with
the program and
needed a lot of
outside
assistance in
getting through
the presentation.
The presenter
displayed little
knowledge and
understanding of
the components
of assignment,
software,
computers, etc.
I have also created a rubrics link at:
http://projects.cbe.ab.ca/ict/2learn/mmspeight/museumconnections/html/rubrics.htm to
better support these types of projects. It includes a wide range of different rubrics as well
as links to may sites with a wide range of rubrics for different types of projects and grade
levels. Please feel free to refer to and revise any of the rubrics provided.
Interviewing students following the completion of a multimedia project is also helpful to
provide feedback for both the students and teachers involved in the project. I also often
ask each student to independently demonstrate some of the technology skills acquired
through the project to ensure that each student has had equal access and understanding of
the knowledge acquired from the project. I use a checklist of specific skills learned to
assess this area of achievement.
Feedback or Interview Questions for participants:
The following questions can be used to gather student feedback:
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Did this project help you learn more about the First Nations people? Why or Why
not?
What three things did you learn about First Nations people?
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What three things did you learn by using Power Point to show your learning?
What are the advantages of using technology to show your learning?
What were the problems you came across when using technology?
Why do you think it is important to share our learning through Power Point
presentations? Why is it important to share our learning on our web site?
Resources
Resources/support needed
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Internet access to Blackfoot Web Quest
(http://projects.cbe.ab.ca/ict/2learn/mmspeight/blackfoot )
Email accounts for each student
Encyclopaedias, movies, slides, book tapes
Blackfoot Band members for interviewing, story tellers, dancers if available
Computers in classroom, computer lab and/or at home where available
Connections with another classroom interested in Blackfoot culture.
Useful Links
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http://projects.cbe.ab.ca/ict/2learn/mmspeight/museumconnections/html/rubrics.ht
m Great Rubric Links
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/ Canada’s Digital Image Collection
http://www.2learn.ca An amazing resource site
Great Blackfoot Information sites
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http://projects.cbe.ab.ca/ict/2learn/mmspeight/blackfoot Our project web site.
http://www.gbso.net/skyhawk/blackft.htm Factual information about the
Blackfoot.
http://libmuse.msu.montana.edu:4000/docs/tipi-prints.html Traditional Tipi
designs.
http://www.glenbow.org The Glenbow Museum.
http://www.civilisations.ca/tresors/treasure/treasure.html#menu Artifact
Collections.
http://www.bluecloud.org/11.html All about the Buffalo and how it was used by
the First Nations people
http://www.head-smashed-in.com/ Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump
http://library.thinkquest.org/3081/jingle.htm A student generated Web Quest
including information about Powwows.
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/notukeu/pemmican_e.htm How to make pemmican
http://pages.prodigy.net/jzeller/storyrobe/srobe.htm All about Story Robes
Professional Development
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http://www.2learn.ca/
A website created to help Alberta teachers. Includes computer tutorials, lesson
plans, techniques, and a slew of other pieces of information.
http://www.galileo.org/ The Galileo project. This site contains projects for K-12
using a professional development model to reform the use of education through
technology.
http://www.thinkquest.com ThinkQuest U.S.A- a catalogue of education websites
http://projects.cbe.ab.ca/ict/2learn/mmspeight/thinkquestcanada ThinkQuest
Canada, an opportunity to enter your finished web quests in a National
competition
Activity Description:
As part of a project-based unit on the First Nations People, students will be engaged in a
number of hands-on, “real world” experiences which will be culminated together with
research about the First Nations people into a multimedia collaborative presentation. The
finished presentations will be presented to the class and exchanged with students in
another community via our project web site.
The assignment is designed to:
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Teach students the importance and the influence of the traditions and customs of
the Blackfoot people on our own culture.
Test students' ability to collaboratively use a variety of sources to solve a
problem.
Give students a variety of learning opportunities in a project-based, differentiated
environment to learn more about the Blackfoot people.
Have students create multimedia presentation highlighting their discoveries about
the Blackfoot people using experiences from interviewing, viewing and listening,
fieldtrips to the Glenbow Museum, and research through books, movies, and our
Blackfoot website.
Give students the opportunity to learn more about themselves and our community
by looking at its history.
Assignment
Using the Power Point template provided, complete each slide using the knowledge that
you and your group members gained from our classroom learning and using the Internet
links provided on each slide. Read the title of each slide carefully and decide together as
a group how you will enter all of your information. You are welcome to add photos from
our experiences and any descriptions of things that you experienced to help you learn
more about the Blackfoot. Remember that you are trying to teach an audience everything
there is to know about the Blackfoot by creating this presentation.
Step by step description of the activity:
Since the creating of this multimedia presentation is a culminating element of our
learning, there are a number of things that will need to happen before the children can
successfully create this project.
1. Teacher Preparation:
1. Spend some time looking at the curriculum. What objectives do you intend to
cover through the teaching of this unit?
2. Take a moment to write a project-based unit description. Ensure that it is written
in forty words or less. Sell your project to the participants (and yourself) with
your description.
3. Think of all of the real-world opportunities possible for the duration of your
project. Examples of these experiences could include: interviews with band
members or band elders, First Nation Story tellers or dancers, opportunities to
make pemmican or bannock, “museokits” from the Glenbow museum, field trips
to the Glenbow Museum or Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, connections with
other classrooms; and possibly connections with students from a reservation who
could participate in email correspondence. Take time to plan out when and how
all of these things can happen. Making a time-line will give you the opportunity
to better plan when and how the learning will develop over the duration of the
project.
4. Take a careful look at your computers. What software and hardware is available
to you for this project. What tools do you have to make this project a success?
Ensure that you have equal access for all of your students to alleviate problems
during the project. A word of advice: having computers in the classroom with
Internet connection would ensure that your students could use the technology as a
part of the project-based activities during the project, thereby making meaningful
connections for you and your students for the duration of the project.
5. Look for resources in the classroom such as books, posters, ordering videos, and
hands-on manipulatives. This could include the use of artifacts and hands-on
centres that focus on specific aspects of traditional First Nations’ lifestyles.
Preparing these ahead of time will give you the opportunity to better function as a
facilitator and problem solver once the project begins.
2. Introducing the project:
1. Introduce the project. Using First Nations artifacts is a fascinating way to
spark the interest of the students. Since many of the artifacts are unusual and
made of unfamiliar materials, students will enjoy guessing about what they are
and what they could have been used for.
2. Ask the students to sketch individual artifacts. For this activity, students may
enjoy having the objects inside of a bag so that they can not actual see the
object and then attempting to feel as they draw. I begin with students only
being allowed to feel from the outside of the bag and then being allowed to
actually touch the artifact and draw. Students are only allowed to look at the
artifact at the end.
3. Ask the students to use descriptive language to describe:
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What the artifact is made out of
What it could have been used for
If it is “man-made” or not
What it feels like
What it smells like
Its weight
Where it would be if they could imagine it somewhere else: “What would you
see around it? What do you hear? What do you feel? What do you smell?
What is happening around this artifact?”
4. KWL: (Know, Want to Know, and Learned) Once the students have had a
long “deep” look at the objects, ask the students to imagine who the people
were that owned and used these artifacts. What could we conclude about
these people? Then tell the students that they belonged to the Blackfoot.
Generate a list of things that the students know about the Blackfoot people
and/or First Nations peoples. Ask the students what they would like to learn
about the First Nations people. Giving students the opportunity to express
their knowledge and the direction that they want their learning to take is a
very important generative element to project-based units.
5. First Nation Centres: Prepare hands-on centre activities based on what the
students want to learn more about. The following are some ideas for centres
for you and your students. What you choose will depend on the interests of
your students.
3. Possible First Nations Centres:
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Tipi making: A hands-on opportunity to create models of tipis using
construction paper. A tracer is provided. Students will read an information
card about tipis, their history, tipi designs and how they were constructed.
Students will answer questions about what they have read and then construct a
tipi using the information read on the information card. Later students might
like to make a village for display using the tipis that they created.
Story Robes: A hands-on opportunity to create story robes using pictographs
on brown paper. Laminated cards with traditional pictographs and their
meaning are provided for the students as well as an information card about
story robes and an example. Students will read the information card about
story robes and then answer questions about story robes. Students will then
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create their own story robe using traditional pictographs. Students will then
write a story to describe the story on their story robe.
Uses of the Buffalo: Students will have a hands-on opportunity to put
together a “buffalo puzzle,” which pictures all of the different parts of the
buffalo used by the First Nations people. Once put together, students will
make a web using pencil and paper or Kidspirations to describe what the uses
of each part of the buffalo were. Students will use this website to find out the
traditional uses of each part of the buffalo: http://www.bluecloud.org/11.html
Music of the First Nations People: Students will have the opportunity to
listen to a variety of First Nations music. While listening to the music,
students will use pastels or other media to draw “what they see” while
listening to the music.
Looking at People: This is a hands-on opportunity for students to look
carefully at First Nations people through old photographs. Students will use
an overhead projector to project images of First Nations people onto a screen.
While looking at each photo, students will write a story based on what they
“see, hear, smell, and feel,” as they stand next to the person in the overhead.
Students are asked to reflect about what life is like and how it is different than
life today.
Aboriginal Masks: This is a hands-on opportunity for students to look at the
differences of First Nations people around North America by looking at
masks. By looking carefully at what each mask is made of, how it is
decorated, what it depicts, and the stories that accompany each mask, students
will have the opportunity to decide which mask would best augment the
lifestyles of the First Nations people of the prairies. Students will learn about
each mask and then choose one of their favourites to recreate using
construction paper.
4. First Nations Legends: Students will have the opportunity to learn more about the
Fist Nations people in our study of Language Arts. Looking carefully at different
Legends of the Blackfoot people, students will have the opportunity to identify:
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What is a legend?
What are the elements of a legend?
What characters are repeatedly used in the legends of the prairie First Nations
peoples?
How legends from the First Nations people of North America are similar to
the legends of other aboriginal peoples from all over the world
Students will then have the opportunity to plan and write their own legends based on
what we know about them. There are several ways one can do this:
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Plan and write a legend independently in the form of a simple story
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Create their own books featuring a known legend or one they have created on
their own
Work collaboratively to create a legend in the form of a story
Work collaboratively to create a legend in the form of a reader’s theatre script
Working together collaboratively to create a legend in the form of a reader’s theatre
script can add other exciting elements to your students’ learning. Students could then
create puppets or masks to perform the plays they have written or they could even
create a claymation movie using the scripts created. There are several resources
available in creating a claymation movie, easily and with limited resources. Refer to
the following links to learn more about how you can make claymation an exciting
element of your students’ learning.
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http://www.logitech.com/?languageid=1&countryid=19 Logitech sells
affordable web cameras which come with free claymation software. The
cameras are also useful for taking photos in the classroom and for web
conferencing.
http://www.stopmotionanimation.com Stop Motion claymation software is
affordable and easy to use
http://www.animateclay.com/download.htm Free claymation downloads and
ideas
http://www.sfsu.edu/~teachers/workshops/clayanimation/stepone.html An
awesome step-by-step tutorial with movies to show you how to do it!
5. Real-World Experiences: Give your students real-world opportunities to learn more
about the First Nations people while engaged in centres and discovering about
legends.
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Going to the Glenbow Museum and participating in curator-guided programs
about the Blackfoot are an excellent way to provide opportunities for students
to learn more about the Blackfoot people. Often these programs are curated
by Blackfoot people. The Glenbow Museum also offers a week-long
Chevron-Texaco sponsored Museum school program which gives the students
the opportunity to learn more about the Blackfoot people. You can find out
more about this program by looking at our experiences on our Museum
School Connections project site at
http://projects.cbe.ab.ca/ict/2learn/mmspeight/museumschool
Asking students to generate questions for a real interview with a First Nations
person will also be a wonderful opportunity for your students. Contacting
Aboriginal Support through the Calgary Board of Education at:
DLDeptAboriginalEducation@cbe.ab.ca may be an excellent resource to help
find someone to visit your classroom. Generating questions ahead of time is
very useful in ensuring student input and appropriateness of questioning.
Story tellers and dancers are also another wonderful resource for children.
There are many story tellers and dancers that will visit schools for a fee.
Contacting and booking can often be done through websites like:
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http://www.otacimow.com Performance costs are dependant on audience
size.
Connect with another classroom to give your students an opportunity to share
their learning with others. This could be a simple exchange of project
learning, or even connections with students who actually live on a reservation
or in communities with a high percentage of First Nations Students. Students
could then use other students as “experts” as the project develops. With these
kinds of connections, students will have a target audience to share their
learning with which develops a meaningful and engaging medium for their
learning. If you are interested in learning more about this telecollaborative
format, please take a look at some of the examples of such projects at
http://www.2learn.ca You will also be able to find other amazing project
support resources; both material and human.
6. Art Activities: Students will enjoy making their own life-size paper mache tipi in
your classroom, (which is great for reading or working inside of!), or painting trifolds
using First Nation Themes to give your classroom that “extra touch.” As a part of
your study of First Nations legends, student may also enjoy learning about the legend
of the dream catcher. Making a dream catcher is also an easy and engaging hands-on
activity to enrich your students’ learning. You can learn more about Dream Catcher
legends and how to make them at the following sites:
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http://members.tripod.com/solitarywitches/dreamcatcher.html Dream Catcher
instructions
http://users.erols.com/brddwolf/dreamcatcher.html This link includes a
legend and excellent diagrams and instructions
http://www.dreamers-world.com/legend.html Different Dream Catcher
legends from different nations
Your students will be simultaneously engaged in all of the above activities throughout
the project depending on how you choose to group your students. You may want to
group your kids by:
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Area of interest or ways the student learns best
By topic
Or randomly
Eventually each student will have an opportunity to learn all of the areas described
above in a project-based, differentiated fashion.
Once the project begins to complete, the students are ready to make their multimedia
presentation.
7. The Multimedia project: Depending on the applications available on your school
computers, either Hyperstudio or Power Point are excellent programs for your students
to use to create a presentation that culminates their learning. Depending on the skills
and grade-level of your students, your expectations for the completed project may be
different. If the skills of the students are low or if you are worried that the “bells and
whistles” may take over in place of content, a template may be most appropriate. An
example of such a template can be found at:
http://projects.cbe.ab.ca/ict/2learn/mmspeight/blackfoot/html/powerpoint.htm
Getting Started:
1. The templates should be loaded onto each computer ahead of time for use by
each individual group or into individual folders. It is helpful to have one
template on each computer available if a server is not available at your school.
2. Spend some time demonstrating what the template looks like. Using a Smart
Board, projector or Averkey attached to your television are excellent ways to
demonstrate to the entire classroom. Printing copies of the template can also be
used if these options are not available to you. In such cases, however, it may be
more beneficial to take a couple of students at a time to the computer to show
them the template while others are engaged in other project work. It is
important that students have the opportunity to look at the template and watch it
being used so that they can begin planning what they will be adding to their
presentation. At this point, advise the students how they will be graded and
provide an evaluation rubric to the students.
3. Teach a few students at a time how to use hyperlinks to access the website and
how to enter information. Choose students who you know have good technical
skills to be the first students. Ensure there is at least one “technically-able”
student in each group.
4. Ask the students who you have taught to demonstrate what you taught them to
at least one other student. Use the “driver seat” rule. This means that if you are
in the driver seat, or chair in front of the computer, you have control of the
mouse. Trained students are to use their words, not the mouse. This process is
a little slow at first but will save you many hours of stress in the end. Slowly
each student in your class will be “trained” by their classmates and with
assistance from you.
5. Once everyone is “trained” use a centre approach for students to have the
opportunity to work on their multimedia presentation. Encourage the students
to add information from their own experiences and from research using books,
notes taken from movies, and the project website.
6. Present the projects using a Smart Board, projector, Averkey, or private
demonstrations to others. Ask students to evaluate their peers based on a rubric
provided to the students ahead of time. The rubric should be consistent with the
one provided to the students at the beginning of the project.
8. Follow up activity:
A First Nations Assembly!
Some incredible learning has no doubt taken place. The students will be excited to share
what they have learned with their peers, teachers, parents and learning community. An
assembly that includes the learning of students through multimedia and more traditional
forms of expressing our learning can be incredible! Why not:
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Feature some of the music your students listened carefully to?
Ask students to share what a legend is?
Act out the legend of the Dream Catcher through puppetry?
Show your amazing Claymation movies?
Demonstrate some of the dancing you saw when your First Nations dancer visited
your school?
Show off some of those amazing trifolds you painted?
Re-enact the chasing of the buffalo off of cliffs?
Sing some traditional First Nations Songs?
Make a classroom-generated Power Point showing some of the incredible things
you have been learning, trips you went on, artifacts you studied, and guests you
have had?
Read some of those incredible story robe stories and show them to everyone?
Just imagine!
Student Feedback
Here is some of the feedback from some of our students on a similar project we did
studying the Inuit:
“In our Arctic project we had pen pals. We wrote to them and they gave us responses. I
liked doing it because we actually got to talk to people from the Arctic. I learned that
they didn’t like to be called Eskimos and they are supposed to be called the Inuit.
Eskimos is what they are called in the U.S. and that’s not good because its not a very nice
name to call people and I would not like to be called that if I were them. Our library
books didn’t talk about all of the people in the Arctic and how their school was. We
found out all of that by talking to the people. The first thing I would tell people is to not
call the Inuit “Eskimos”, and not to ask them too much in email because they might not
be able to answer all of the questions you ask. I liked doing this because you can learn
how they are different from us from emailing them. Making our website gave us the
chance to tell people stuff that wasn’t in books because we could actually talk to the Inuit
and not a lot of people get to do that” By Connor, grade three
“In our Arctic project we made little igloos and we made one big igloo which wasn’t such
a success because it kept on falling over. We made it out of milk jugs. We made a
website and we put on some projects that we did and we also emailed people in Nunavut.
My pen pal was about eight years old. His name was Swen. I learned that it was a tough
life getting to school on winter days because it was snowy there. I also learned that he
didn’t have a lot of toys and that they had to kill some of their food. His dad hunted
caribou and Swen went hunting with his dad to catch caribou. Books in the library don’t
always have the information that you need. When you talk to someone who is actually
from the Arctic you know it’s true because they have actually experienced it. They have
even had stories told to them by their elders. It was more fun talking to someone than
just reading a book. You could even find the information faster. Everyone should make
a website because they’re really fun to make and you can put lots of things on them like
research projects, things you did, pictures, and things you have learned from your
penpals. By Mikala, grade two
“We made an igloo out of milk cartons and we had got the Glenbow museum to lend us
some artifacts that were from the Inuit. I liked that because it was fun to see how many
different things that they had from us. I learned that it can be very cold there and it’s
hard for them to live when it’s very very cold. My pen pal was Palou. He has a dog and
one of them died. He also has a sister and a fish. He is kind of the same as us but he is
different because he lives in a different climate and wears different clothing for the
weather. It’s more fun writing letters because some of our books are older and we don’t
know those people. When we email them they tell us about themselves. You can’t write
to a book. I also learned that people actually live in the Arctic! It was not how I
expected it. I thought they had no flowers up there but they do in the summer and the
spring. They usually get a special kind that is pink. I would tell kids to try this because it
is very interesting and you get to learn about people from all around the world from just
one project.” By Kristian, grade three
You can also read more from other students about other similar projects at this site:
 http://projects.cbe.ab.ca/ict/2learn/mmspeight/museumconnections/html/reflection
s.htm
 http://projects.cbe.ab.ca/ict/2learn/mmspeight/museumschool/html/reflections.htm
Read what parents have to say about similar projects:
“…During the “Arctic and Alberta” project, Rowan participated in an email pen pal
program with a boy in Nunavut, learning firsthand about how his lifestyle in Nunavut
differed from hers in Alberta. For the “Virtual Pioneer Museum”, Rowan was able to take
digital pictures of her pioneer artifact and learn how the Virtual Reality software worked
to make her artifact “move” on the web. Digital pictures from both Zoo School last year
and Museum School this year are posted on the school website, along with the students’
journal writings and drawings. Rowan finds it very thrilling to see her and her classmates
work on the Internet!...”