Several CLE Live! team members will participate in Project KC3 - Kids Creating Community Content. This standards based project seeks to tap into the creative nature of students as they look at their community with new eyes and explore ways to share their findings with others using videoconferencing and technology as a resource. Students will develop an informational program geared toward a specific audience educating them on the topic.
proposal submitted 11/30/07
Broadcast Journalism students from Howe Public Schools will lead students from other schools on an American treasure hunt, comparable to Egypt’s King Tut’s Tomb, as the story of Native American mound builders and modern-day treasure hunters collide. Howe students will lead the exploration of Spiro Mounds in eastern Oklahoma, considered by archaeologists to be one of the most important pre-Columbian sites in the United States. Students in grades 5-6 and grades 9-10 are invited on this virtual “archeological adventure” that spans from A.D. 1200, the height of the Mississippian culture, to the early 20th century, the time when most of our student’s grandparents were born.
This Spiro Mounds story of unearthed treasure by unemployed miners is unlike no other in the Unites States. Extraordinary, well-preserved artifacts lay untouched for thousands of years, buried deep within a mound chamber near present-day, Spiro, Oklahoma. The mounds respected by area citizens as Native American burial grounds, were eventually looted during 1933-1935. Many of the artifacts that were looted wound up in private collections; however, the Smithsonian, as well as, the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History obtained pieces over the years.
The virtual field trip content is aligned to both State and National standards in social studies, history, geography, and science. Prior to the virtual field trip, participating students will have access to an on-line classroom module specifically designed for this topic. This learning community is developed using Moodle. Students will gain knowledge about the topic through a variety of learning tools, including, forums, glossaries, wikis, chats, and quizzes. In addition to the wide-variety of resources available to both teacher and student in Moodle, a hands-on activity will be mailed to the remote school in advance for participating students to use during our live presentation. Howe Public Schools hopes to create a virtual learning partnership with each school, expanding the interest of Pre-Columbian history in the student’s own communities and state. The success of this collaboration can inspire the participating school to one day develop a Virtual Field Trip to a historical site close to their geographical location, possibly another mound site.
