Social+Studies

__**State Curriculum Standards**__

10. Analyze the causes of World War II including: a. Appeasement; b. Axis expansion; c. The role of the Allies. 11. Analyze the consequences of World War II including: a. Atomic weapons; b. Civilian and military losses; c. The Holocaust and its impact; d. Refugees and poverty; e. The United Nations; f. The establishment of the state of Israel.
 * History**
 * Benchmark F:** Identify major historical patterns in the domestic affairs of the United States during the 20 th century and explain their significance.
 * Indicators: **

a. Collection of data; b. Narrowing and refining the topic
 * Social Studies Skills and Methods**
 * Benchmark A:** Evaluate the reliability and credibility of sources.
 * Indicator** **4:** Develop and present a research project including:

__**Technology Needed**__

Flip video camera or cell phone camera 30 computers Google sites

__**Task/Activity**__ Social Studies 9 students, working in groups of four, will create a news website using Google sites that covers the significant events of World War II. Embedded in the website will be a video news report filmed with a Flip video camera or a cell phone camera.
 * 1) Through class instruction and personal research, students will create a graphic organizer of the most significant events of World War II. The teacher will help students form groups of four. Each group will select four events to cover in depth on their news website. The group will select one of the four topics to cover in more detail in the video news report.
 * 2) Students will create a news website using Google sites. The site must include at least four pages (one for each significant historical event) and the video news report. Students can refer to current news sites such as [|www.nytimes.com] or [|www.washingtonpost.com] for ideas. The site should include photos, graphics, videos, and text and should be designed in a way that is coherent and easy to navigate. All information must be properly cited using APA format.
 * 3) Students will write a script for the video news report and film the report using a Flip video camera or a cell phone camera. Then, students will upload their video to the page for that event (e.g. the Holocaust, D-Day, the bombing of Pearl Harbor).
 * 4) Groups will present their Google site to the class. The teacher will evaluate the sites, and students can comment on one another’s sites.

__**Summary of Resource That Supports Technology**__

In the article “Collaborative Literacy: Blogs and Internet Projects”, the authors found that having students collaborate to create blogs or websites can result in “increased motivation and literacy engagement” (Boling et al). Creating a blog or website allows students to use the writing process in an inventive, twenty-first century way and positively benefits their learning.

Boling, E., Castek, J., Zawilinski, L., Barton, K., & Nierlich, T. (2008, March). Technology in Literacy Education Collaborative Literacy: Blogs and Internet Projects. //The Reading// //Teacher, 61//(6), 504-506. doi:10.1598/‌RT.61.6.10

__**Tried and True or New and Innovative**__

Using a Flip video camera/cell phone camera could be deemed a tried and true method. Most cell phones have video cameras, and most computers have web cams, so the idea of using a video camera is not new to these students. In fact, they probably have video footage of each year of their lives as video cameras have been prevalent since the late twentieth century. However, creating a website using Google sites could be considered new and innovative. Though students may have used a different program to create a website before, Google sites will probably be a new web publisher to them. Considering that they would all be familiar with Google, one could say that this is somewhat tried and true, but students are not often asked to design web pages.