Curriculum Instruction that works

Technology infused within the curriculum has positive effects on student achievement. Students are virtually connected through cell phones, facebook, gaming and texting etc. most of their waking hours. They use these as a form of socialization, so if a teacher can tap into these already available resources we can use this to improve achievement. Recently I designed a project that I hope will increase my students knowledge of the era surrounding the Harlem Renaissance. It is a cross curricular project centered around the social studies and language arts 7th grade standards. The students are asked to investigate this time period in history for its economic impact, social impact and ethnic impact. Students will be required to do a two part project using Web 2.0 tools. The first project is to be completed once they have finished their research. They are to create a Prezi that can be shared as a visual presentation to demonstrate knowledge gained. The second part of the project uses a template of a full newspaper where the students must write and produce authentic information of the time period. The students will work cooperatively in groups of four to produce the newspaper, but individually each must create their own Prezi. This type of cooperative learning and project based lesson is a best practice and will increase the students knowledge base in multi-cultural literacy, civic literacy, critical thinking skills as well as develop oral and written communication. With the teacher acting as a facilitator rather than a lecturer we can hope that the students will gain insight and develop other interests from this investigative project.