This is an amazing cross curricular project. For this project I collaborated with the English Language Arts teacher to provide the students a technology based research experience. We preselected websites and posted them to the school library website. What made it so amazing, is this was but one station in a three station project which also included reading and summarizing a story and a print-based search.

Instructional Goals: 8th Grade students will retrieve and process information. Objective Goals: Students will be able to use internet to locate information to complete worksheet, use print resources to retrieve information to complete worksheet and to read a fictional story and provide a summary. Motivational Goal: Students will gain confidence in researching topics on the internet.

Laptop computer projected to class through t.v., wroksheet, job aid, computers for students, black board or flip chart on ease

To begin, when the students enter the library classroom, there will be a bell ringer exercise posted to start their thought process accessing prior knowledge on the topic while the class is getting settled. The bell ringer questions would be introductory topic questions and an additional question one on researching on the internet affording the studetns the opportunity to review the research process. The bell ringer allows the students to show what they know and for the teacher and librarian to guide them where necessary. Additionally, accessing prior knowledge on the topic builds confidence as the students demonstrate knowledge and expand their knowledge base with the guided questioning. Then they will be provided a worksheet that they must complete in class today for the technology section of this project. At the top of the worksheet will be the directions stating the time frame and guidelines. The worksheet provides websites and questions to be answered by retrieving information from those sites. The students are working independently utilizing and reinforcing technology and researh skills learned during previous lessons and reviewed today. For the other stations of this project the students read Night of the Twisters by Ivy Ruckman and wrote and submitted a one page summary and then they were required to complete a print resource based worksheet, again, working independently reinforcing search strategies previously learned and reviewed earlier during this lesson. The librarian and ELA teacher collaborated for these sections. I did not instruct or evaluate these sections. I observed the whole unit lesson and all three sections pulled together beautifully. Three stations were covered over a period of three days/40 minute periods. One day for each station.

For the technology aspect of this project the worksheet will be evaluated for accuracy. For the other stations, they submitted a completed print based research worksheet and then a story summary, which will also be evaluated for content accuracy and writing ability..

Mrs. DeGroat, 8th Grade English Language Arts Teacher Mrs. Zuber, Librarian Otto Shortell Middle School