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 in a project called Wonders of Water, W.O.W.
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 burned onto the first Project WOW CDs. These were ready in August, 1998, and were 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, the time of the writing of these introductory paragraphs.
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 children and the EIU facilitators. 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 social studies methods students 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 pre-service teachers 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 Joliet, Frank Lloyd Wright,
Carl
Sandburg, and John Deere. Third graders used KidPix
to design and present their findings. EIU team leaders 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
Spring, 2006
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. During these years, we made several field trips
west to the Museum of Westward Exapansion under the Gateway Arch in St.
Louis. We visited
Cahokia Mounds, to honor the early people of the Mississippi
valley and the Camp Dubois State Historical Site from
which the Corps of Discovery departed in May, 1804.
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.
Windows on our World: Global Heroes
and Cultures, Fall, 2006
We have selected global heroes whose lives are beacons of achievement
and who model the highest levels of global citizenship, wisdom
and dedication. Each hero has been studies biographically,
historically, and against the background of home country and
culture. In mini-field trips on their computer lab days on
campus, the children have met dedicated people of today who are working
in the same areas of endeavor, or who have the same home cultures as
the eight WOW heroes. Team Web pages are digests of WOW team
work, August through November, 2006.
Wilderness or White House: Lincoln
and
the Land, Spring, 2007
Lincoln Shows the Way, Spring 2008
Lincoln Shows
the Way, Spring, 2009
We have selected
Lincoln in anticipation and celebration of the Bicentennial of his
birth.
Wonders of Wisdom: Illinois Heroes, Fall,
2007
Wonders of Wisdom: The Stuggle for Freedom, 1800's, Fall, 2008
Wonders of the Wilderness: National
Parks and Historic Sites, Fall, 2009
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, National Conference for History Education, Spring 2008.
School-based social studies methods coursework
Course syllabus and calendar for details of curriculum
development within
the course and the day-to-day work of the EIU team leaders with the
third
grade teams.
WOW course
syllabus, Fall, 2008
WOW course
calendar, Fall, 2008