Weather and War Project

My students just finished their weather and war project. They worked in groups of three to create a visual presentation about how weather affects war. Each student had one of the following roles: mapmaker, weapons researcher, and weather reporter. I loved bringing in two guest speakers. The kids especially enjoyed learning about the Vietnam War. I allowed the students to choose how they presented their information. Some chose SmartNotebook and others chose PowerPoint. I was surprised that no one chose PhotoStory. I had one group that added music from the era the war occurred and just did an outstanding job. I asked to keep their presentation!

The next time I do this project I will require them to connect with students in the countries that we were researching to gather some of their information. It would be neat if both classrooms of students could create one presentation through a wiki or some other means! My students would benefit from cooperating with students from different cultures.

I had also thought about interviewing veterans through social networking. Does anyone have any other ideas about incorporating technology?

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Comment by Lori Roberts on March 5, 2009 at 1:29pm: I love PhotoStory. Do you have any ideas for doing a PhotoStory about insects?

Comment by April Nelms on March 5, 2009 at 1:34pm: In reply to Lori- I would have students take a picture of the insects and identify them by scientific name in photostory instead of the bringing in the big ole' bug collection. :)

Comment by Kathy Eldridge on March 5, 2009 at 2:59pm: Great idea April! Usually the kids bring in insects that are still squirming on their pins or bugs that have been half eaten. Lori could require some of the PhotoStory pictures to be local insects and then other pictures to be insects from other locations. Maybe your kids could do some social networking and have students from outside of our school to take photos of their local insects to share.