HIT: Alternatives to Country Reports (Part 3) LONG

["Hynes, Andrea" <hynes@POP.SEANET.COM>]

As LM_NET membership increases, so do responses to our Target
messages. This is the third and last HIT on Alternatives to Country
Reports.

On:  Wed, 19 Mar 1997 20:52:51 I wrote:
> LM Netters,
> My sixth grade teachers are looking for an alternative approach to
> the dreaded Country Reports. They have noticed that the reports
> look more and more like regurgitated encyclopedia articles. They are
> ready for a change. This is our first year on the Net, but access is
> limited to one hour per week in the computer lab.
>
> Are there any folks who have modified this sort of assignment with
>  good results? Am willing to post a hit :-) TIA
>
> Andrea Hynes
> Graham Elementary School
> 10026 204th St East
> Graham, WA 98338
> email: hynes@seanet.com
>
Here are the remaining alternatives I rec'd.  Again, thanks to all who
responded.

Alien Landing
I heard an interesting assignment mentioned somewhere which might work
for a country report.  Have students work in groups and set up a
scenario in which aliens from Jupiter will be landing at a certain
point on the globe.  The aliens will be traveling from point A to
point B (traveling across countries) to rendezvous with their mother
ship to return home.

Each group of students will be working on a packet of instructions to
give to the aliens.  They will have to write out (perhaps with a map)
the routes that the aliens will have to take, the form of
transportation that is available, the food that is available and how
to obtain it, etc. within their country.  You get the picture.
Somehow, the elements you want them to learn about the country must
get worked into the scenario.   Encourage a little creativity
here--maybe the aliens will need to reach the Dead Sea within a
certain time frame because they need to extract some salt from it!
(You could set this sort of requirement up in the scenario, but not
tell the students which country has salt.)  So then the students might
also have to decide in which order the aliens need to visit the
countries, taking each country's terrain and mode of transportation
into account--perhaps even the country's political makeup, etc...

One of our high school social studies teachers has his students
research countries by imagining that they are entrepreneurs and they
are setting up a business in that country.  It is an interesting
assignment, but it's sometimes hard to find info that matches what
they dream up.  This might be a problem in a sixth-grade class in a
smaller size library.

Also, with only an hour of computer time, I suggest you direct the
students in what they access and how much they print. Two Internet
sites that I know of would be useful: the CIA World Factbook and
Yahoo's "Countries" directory...Explore these sites first so you know
how to direct the students. From: Cheryl Wells <cjwells@main.com>

Ambassador's Job
Announce to the kids tomorrow you will be appointed ambassador to XYZ.
What information do you need to know about this country in order to do
an effective job? From: Barb Randolph <barbrand@umd5.umd.edu>

Children's Picture Book
For the last few years, we've had our 6th graders write a children's
picture book on a particular country. We buy blank books for them to
use. Some of the topics have been ABC's of France, my trip to Ireland,
 my ancestors came from Italy, Tweetie Bird goes to Spain, etc. From:
Sheilagh Menzies <Smenzies@aol.com>

Congratulations, You Have Won
Sandy Koehn, Media Specialist, Tillicum Middle School, Bellevue, WA,
and author of an article on Processing Information Environments in the
Aug 96 SLJ, has prepared a comprehensive teaching unit called
"Congratulations, You Have Won..." a cooperative unit for
Intermediate, Middle School. in which students "win" a trip to a
foreign country. The unit includes one country on each major continent
and focuses on geography, cultures, etc. The unit is available for
$12.25 plus shipping and handling from Processing Information
Environments, 4925 East Mercer Way, Mercer Island, WA 98040 or e-mail
<koehns@belnet.bellevue.k12.wa.us>

Country Box
Have you ever seen a "country box"?  You decorate it with all kinds of
information about the country.  The teacher can set up the minimum
requirements like--a map, the flag, statistics (like population),
currency, etc.  They can be very colorful and the hands on is great
for some students. From: Rosemary Knapp <rknapp@teleport.com>

World's Fair
For several years our 6th graders did travel brochures - a tri-fold
with certain information required in each section, including
illustrations, etc... This year, they had wonderful success with a
world's fair.  They were required to create a data bank with certain
required information (language spoken, currency used, type of
government, land area, natural resources, etc.) in poster format.
They also had to create a scrapbook with illustrations of noteworthy
sites, locate a folktale and a recipe.  This work was done in small
groups of 3-4 students.  On the day of the fair, each group displayed
their scrapbook and poster, and prepared their recipe in quantity to
share with all.  It was a great success, and the students really
seemed to enjoy it! From: Leah M Hawkins <leahh@tenet.edu>

Geography Fair
I haven't done this myself, but a friend of mine does it at her
school. They have a Geography Fair. Each class takes a country and
plans a display. The display has to give basic info about the country
and its culture, but may include visuals, music, food,
multimedia--whatever they want to do. They also prepare a short (maybe
5 or 10 questions) quiz that anyone who has experienced their display
should be able to easily answer. Classes "tour" the displays and each
person who takes and passes the "quiz" gets a stamp on their
"passport" for that country and a "souvenir." The souvenir that I
remember best was the Cuban group. They made "cigars" from twisted
brown paper with a construction paper band! I very much want to do
this myself, but we don't have the resources yet for the research.
From: Gayle Hodur <ghodur@redshift.com>

Alliterative Facts
At a workshop given by Nancy Polette an assignment was given that
instructed the student only to discuss facts that began with the
letter of the country--Austria has alluring Alps etc....The Cultures
of the World series from Marshall Cavendish makes a great resource.
From: Lynn McCree <Lmcc@tenet.edu>

Travel Diary
Also, plan a trip to this country:  Itinery, what clothing to take,
money (exchange rate, etc.) housing, travel, highlights of sightseeing
(you could even force certain categories such as literary, arts,
historical, fun, etc).  Pretend to go and keep a travel diary. From:
Kriste Rees <krees@jcf.jonesnet.org>

Dress Up Oral Report
How about doing oral reports where the children could dress up like a
child in the country and report on one part of the total report, ie:
education, food, holidays, etc. From: Roberta Moecker
<rmoecker@tenet.edu>

Notetaking
I combined the report thing with more basic skills, such as
notetaking.  Before the report was even mentioned, I began teaching
notetaking skills in my content areas, esp. social studies and
science.  In the good old days of textbooks, as a class, we would read
a selection, discuss the key elements, students would suggest "main
ideas", etc., and we would write them together.  (I would do it on the
board, students in notebooks).  This was done for quite a while, but
could be condensed, depending on the units, time frames, goals, etc.

Periodically, we would review and discuss the notes we made (Chapeter
review).  Then I would collect and grade the notes.  (What we are
doing here is important.)  Two or three days later, I would pass out
the notes, pose a question, and the students would write, using their
notes.

When we got to reports (states), I used the same procedure.  Students
used their notetaking skills during research.  I collected and graded
the notes.  A week later, when books were back in the library, and we
were in the classroom, I passed out the notes, and we began the
reports.  I broke each session down into segments, so this went on for
a week or so.  Students used their notes to write their reports IN
CLASS. Result?  Great, original reports.  Increased notetaking skills
along with the recognition of the importance of taking GOOD notes.

Now days, I would apply the same elements to taking notes from CD's
and the WEB, and I encourage my teachers to do the same (with my
assistance.) From: Karen Becknell
<becknellk@hiller.lamphere.k12.mi.us>