Primary Source Exemplar: The Moon


Performance Task Assessment

This culminating performance task is designed to allow students to demonstrate literacy skills and show their understanding of perspectives and the specific domain knowledge necessary to grapple with and/or answer the essential question. Through this exploration, students will demonstrate more of an understanding of change through time.

 

A.  Students will create a presentation for NASA that asks them to fund their next big idea in space travel and space living.

B.  Students will prepare a poster of their NASA presentation.  Source site for project: http://teacher.scholastic.com/space/space_firsts/index.htm

Poster requirements

The poster will be presented on one large piece of poster board and include:

Title

Name of a pretend company

Company slogan

A drawing or other visual of the student’s idea for future space travel or living

Any other items that enhance their presentation

Procedures

  • Review with students the idea of change through time. Talk about changes in the moon phases, how people used to think that people would never go to the moon - and we did. What other things have changed? [strategy: have students talk to their “shoulder partner” -a student[s] near to them] for 1-3 minutes  to come up with an idea. Then have one student share out with the class. Do this throughout the discussion]. Lead the discussion so that as many ideas as possible can begin to float around.
  1. Prompt students to think about the following questions:

For what reasons might people want to go back to the moon?

Could we live on the moon? What would we need in order to live in space?

What would our houses look like on the moon?

How would we get there?

What would we eat and how could we grow food there?

2.  Project on the board this site: http://teacher.scholastic.com/space/space_firsts/index.htm

Highlight 2-3 timeline events that were “firsts."  For each of the events, enlarge the image and use the primary source analysis strategy. Ask students to observe, reflect, and question. Repeat this analysis for each event and end with a look at the whole site [it’s 3 pages]. Note that many changes happened through time.  Now, tell students that they are the future . They are the future scientists, geographers, etc. so they now have a chance to think about the next big change. Maybe they have some great ideas to share with NASA. So they are now going to prepare their idea and present it to a “NASA Good Ideas Review Board." [parents, Principal, etc. Perhaps you can get a small group of adults together to watch demonstrations]

3.  Tell students that they will be making a poster that “sells” their idea to the NASA Board. They want to be clever, innovative, and provide a solution to a possible real need. Brainstorm ideas of what might be needed in the future for space travel or space living.

4.  Write the word: INNOVATION on the board. Invite discussion on the meaning of the word. Lead the students to understand that they are innovators for this project - they get to choose what change will look like for the future. Lead this discussion to get them thinking about solutions. Ask them questions such as:

If we wanted to grow food on the moon, what would our gardens look like? Would they be indoor gardens or outdoor gardens?

If we wanted to go vacation on the moon what would our spaceship look like? What would it look like for a family of 3 or 4; how about if 100 people wanted to go? What would it look like?  

5.  Break students up into groups of 3-5. Let them brainstorm all the ideas they can come up with. Each idea must include:

What their innovation solves

What it could look like

What it could do and why anyone would want to do it

6.  Come back together and list on the board the many ideas and possible products. Have students write the ideas that appeal to them in their journals.  For homework, ask students to think about their possible ideas and choose one for the presentation poster. 

7. The next day, collect the homework. Review it to get an idea of what they’re thinking, the possibilities of their success in explaining their idea and any support you might need/want to give. 

8. Give each student 1 brainstorm worksheet to describe their idea:

Why we need this innovation









Company Name

Company slogan


9.  Have students meet up with ‘shoulder partners’ and discuss ideas.  Be sure that the other brainstormed ideas are on display. Add company names, ideas of slogans, and other helpful ideas onto the board. 

  1. Create storyboards. Procedures:

Allow students to brainstorm by themselves what they’d like to do for the presentation. They can use ideas from the class brainstorm or new ideas. Next to the let them free-write their ideas in the spaces designated on the worksheet.

On the back of their worksheet, have students draft their drawing using pencil. Students should think through and test placement of their information items, where a title should go, the name of their company and the slogan.

Using the board, make a square on the board. Mock up a sample presentation: put the title in small letters and the slogan in big letters. Using a sample from the brainstorming sessions, draw a picture of a pretend innovation. Ask students to look at it and critique the presentation [NOT the idea]. Where do they look first? What should be big? What is the biggest idea [their idea should be biggest]?

After some class discussion, let students to go back to  their storyboards for any changes they might want to make.

After your approval, let them proceed to make their own posters.

Provide lots of colors, string, fabric swatches, and other interesting materials so that the poster can be 3-D if they desire. [Alternative product: students could make a model of their innovation using bottles, wood, etc.].

Allow students time to plan and prepare their presentation. If they want to write notes onto a card, give them a 3x5 card to help them. Notes can consist of one word “sentence reminders” that help them to remember everything they want to say.

Presentation

Invite parents, the Principal, other teachers/administrators, and/or community members to be a “panel of NASA” Scientist Innovators.  

Each student will present their poster and their ‘sales pitch’ to the panel and then hang their poster onto the timeline throughout the room.

At the end of all the presentations, invite the panel to praise all the projects.

Teacher invites everyone to wander around the room to see the timeline, the posters and other artifacts from the unit. If possible, have a small class party so that all can mingle and be proud of their work.

Rubric for assessment. Choose or alter any of those on this site: http://www.schrockguide.net/assessment-and-rubrics.html

EXTENDED ELA Performance Task

At the end of the unit, together, as a class, students will create a class poem.

Gather students together with their journals in hand along with their word clouds and any other document they have.  

Point out that their journals and word clouds are  primary sources, that they have created documents that can have meaning for those who follow.

After that discussion, ask them to name the brightest - their favorite, or the words that were biggest on their word cloud .

Make a list of these words on the board.  

Tell students that they’re going to write a class poem about the moon.

Ask: "What title should we give this poem?” write down all thoughts.  

Vote and choose one. Mention that this might change at the end.  

Next, have students break into pairs and give each pair 3-4 words. Be sure to list on the board any connector words they might like to add [and might not be able to spell].  

Give them sentence strips and have them write their sentences out.

Walk around and help the groups as needed.

Call the class together and place the sentences on the board. Place them where it seems logical, but ask for guidance from the students.  

Ask them to help you fill in where needed, suggest more words, add them in.  

Then read the poem out loud. Ask individual students to read a line.  

Over the next few days, develop a group reading. Make sure to let students know that they can repeat words, look for rhythm where it exists and get creative on how they perform it.  Have fun with it. Make sure everyone participates - not necessarily reading on their own, but in choral recitation. Present it to parents.   Videotape it. post it…   

Example:

The moon changes every day.
We love to watch it grow and then disappear.
The earth just keeps on turning and we watch the moon get big.
Then the moon gets little and then it goes away.

[Performance then allows for students to get dramatic with words like “disappear” and “turning."  Two voices can recite sentence three, and whole class reads sentence 5… etc].

Individual performance tasks may be completed via animoto / timetoast with teacher assistance.



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