This is great!! What you are already doing is great. Your plans for the next school year are fantastic!! Keep it up! Brad -----Original Message----- From: Jessica Felix [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2004 6:51 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [INPCRP] Cemetery Lesson Ok, people wanted to know more details about the lesson, so I'll post some of what I told Angela when she asked. I typed up a lesson plan to send to organizations for grants. They really liked all the detailed information I included, so I guess I would say, get specific and you'll have a better chance. I had guessed at how much work this would be, but it still didn't prepare me for how much it actually was... I should know by now; when you set up a project for kids, you are basically doing all the work they will do, then doing it again with them. I ended up basically doing all the research once beforehand so that I could check their's for accuracy. I didn't want anything incorrect ending up on our CDROMs. For the project, I compiled the 4 previous readings from the library into an Excel sheet and gave it to the kids, both as a hard copy and in their computer files. In partners, they picked a family to concentrate on and for a week they researched them. For each member of the family they filled out a data gathering form (we did all of this on the computer, so no hard copies--I'm just going to compile it all on CD). They also found their family members on the 1850 census (and other years if they had time) and transcribed it into an Excel spreadsheet I set up. We used a lot of books from the Danville Library (they were wonderful) and ProQuest gave us free trials to Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest. Friday the 1st I spent the whole period telling and showing them all of the restoration processes--EVERYTHING. I figured they wanted to know how to do more than cleaning, so we talked about the Mastico and the tripod, and everything. It got them interested. I made up wooden models and brought in the actual supplies to demonstrate leveling, resetting, repairing, etc. Monday the 4th we spent the whole day at the cemetery. They basically started with a general tour and were able to find their family's stones, some that I had already fixed and some that they could fix. They worked with their partners and went through all the steps the stones needed. Since there were only 15 kids and I had chaperones, I was able to be there enough to let them do everything. They got a lot more out of doing it themselves instead of me showing them how. Larry Tippin came with the tripod and let the kids do most of the repairing of the large stack stone. At this age they're so big on hands-on activities. They want to be responsible, and they want to make a difference. I think this sort of project does that very well. At the end of the day they were able to see a few finished stones that they were completely responsible for. Of course, this whole project has left me sleepless for many nights, but all my stress is worth it! lol After the field trip they had another few days to wrap up the research, and some did extra research on some stones they saw in the cemetery and wanted to know more about. Let me know if you anyone wants anything else. I can send examples of spreadsheets and grant proposals. This was the first round of this (so we're not perfect). We're going again November 16th, and then again in April. Next year I'm trying to get all the 8th grade teachers on board to make it an interdisciplinary unit. Science will teach about the makeup of stones, reactions to cleaners, decay and decomposition, etc. Math is going to work on calculations of age, birthdate, etc. English is probably going to read "Spoon-River Anthologies" and do some writing assignments. Social Studies has the bulk...they're going to do the research that I did in my class. Shop class is going to make wooden signs for the cemeteries, and art is going to do some "kicked-up" rubbings and digital picture manipulations. If anyone has any other ideas of topics that could be covered in the other classes (plus any ideas for gym and home economics????) please email me. I'm trying to put together a list of my brainstormings to give to the other teachers. Hopefully we can get everything set by the end of the year so that next year it will be a full-school unit. Oh yeah...and Brad's questions... Getting the principal involved was no problem. He is a former history teacher and loved the idea. I did come to him with a complete lesson plan and state standards that the project was covering. (That's the kicker right now--school's are held accountable for meeting state standards, so if you can show how the project does that, you're pretty good.) Plus the fact that this is sort of "weird" or at least very different from other projects makes this a standout unit. Kids are interested in the unexpected, so this is just enough to get them excited. In terms of grant money, I now have received a total of $1250. Enough work tools for about 20 students costs about $500. The other big expenses are books. We rented this first time from the library so I could see which books we relied on the most. (The Danville Library was the only cooperative one. The rest refused to loan us any reference materials.) Now I am in the process of buying some of the Histories of Hendricks County, etc. Books are surprisingly expensive. Some more of the money is going towards 1-2 digital cameras. Our school only has one old one, and I would love some for the art department, so I'm making this a priority. We are currently relying on ProQuest to give us free trials of Ancestry and HeritageQuest. They have been invaluable. However, a year's subscription for a school is $1320. Can you believe it?? There's no way we can afford that! Ok. I think that's it. Sorry to ramble. If I missed something, let me know. I know I'm new to this. I have tried to learn as much as I can, but I'm still new and still not perfect. If you see anything I'm doing wrong, please let me know. I'm not trying to run in here and act like I'm the best or anything. I've been working very hard and I know there are plenty of others that work hard too. I just didn't want anyone to think I'm bragging or think my project is any better than anyone elses...it just happened to be a big deal in this county where nothing else is happening! Thanks for all the support! Jessica _______________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today! http://vote.yahoo.com ==== INPCRP Mailing List ==== Blessed are the Elderly, for they remember what we will never know.