Student+Models


 * 1st Grade Student Models**:

These examples are from a mixed grade and age class of home school students. I was not able to spend an entire week teaching the lessons as the inquiry is presented. I taught a brief overview of the two holidays, we compared the countries' flags and discussed symbolism. I focused on how flags are used in celebrations, how they are representative of beliefs and how the components are symbolic. The students transferred this new knowledge of symbolism into creating a flag that represents themselves and/or their family. They made real world connections by realizing that different countries celebrate their freedom in similar ways and that flags are very symbolic items. The following student models show how students can understand the inquiry concepts by relating it to their personal lives. They included pictures of favorite activities, representations of family and also used colors to symbolize ideas. They then wrote a narration about their personal flags. You will see that they all synthesized the information differently and created unique flags to show their new knowledge of symbolism.


 * Joel**: The two red lines represent his brother that serves as a Navy Seal and his brother that will be entering the military. The stars are the number of people in his immediate family, and he includes drawings of each family member as well. The other drawings are things that he enjoys.
 * Josiah**: He included a drawing of the Bulgarian flag because he was adopted from Bulgaria. He also has a wagon/trailer because he enjoys working around the farm. He drew a picture of playing soccer with his sister (they are about to start a summer league). And lastly, he drew a car because he loves working on, learning about and looking at cars.
 * Mattea**: She has a picture of her house and picnic items because she likes to have picnics. She also drew her family members and placed their initials above their heads. The large drawing on the right is a swimming pool at her house.
 * Aleah**: She drew a picture of herself playing soccer. She also drew an outdoor background because she likes to play outside. The three colors at the top left represent different things: brown= she likes to play in the dirt outside, green= the first day of spring and black=she's scared of the dark.


 * 10th Grade Student Models**:

I did not have access to a 10th grade student that could complete this inquiry before the project was due. Therefore, I created a sample blog so that students can view what their blogs should incorporate. It is not complete and there are many, many other ways this aspect of the inquiry can be approached. My goal for this sample blog is that students can get some ideas that will hopefully grab their interest and jump start them into the inquiry. Teachers and media specialists should review the blog with students, giving commentary, during Day 2 of the inquiry. (Note: I attempted to write the blog posts in language and style congruent with 10th grade students--I may or may not have been successful.)

EDUBLOG

I also created a sample word web through Bubble.us so students can gain a better understanding of how graphic organizers function.

Word Web

Sample of a compare/contrast chart: