N3

Create, name, and save files to personal directory on the network.

Open an existing resource page on the student-shared directory.

Click on link to view web site.

Software Application(s):  Publisher

Directions:

Before the computer lab activity:  You can supplement your "A Changing State" unit by downloading*  all or parts of these videos from the KLRN/Unitedstreaming site on our intranet.  
These videos are long so you should download the sections that apply to what you are teaching.  Each comes with a comprehensive Teacher's Guide to supplement the video.

Each teacher on the grade level does not need to separately download; just one of you can and place them in your staff shared Fourth Grade folder on the server, then you can all play them on your televisions from your multimedia computers. (Make sure you all have accounts with KLRN and have downloaded Windows Media Player 9 before trying to watch them on your tv!)  
 

Search by keywords:

Railroads, Robbers, and Rebels  (26 minutes for entire video; can download sections--see site.)
US Geography: From Sea to Shining Sea: South Central Region  (22 minutes for entire video; can download sections--see site.)
US Geography: From Sea to Shining Sea: The Country Evolves  (21 minutes for entire video; can download sections--see site.)

Lab Warm-up:  The Scott-Foresman Social Studies website has an online activity for each unit.  Here is a mini-quiz on the Civil War as a review of Unit 4, Chapter 8, Lesson 2. 

English:  Grade 4 Unit 4 Activity

Spanish:  Grado 4 Unidad 4 Actividad

Lab Activity: 

This activity is an integrated Social Studies/Writing activity.  Students will work in groups of two for this project. Students finished product will be a short newsletter that correlates with Chapter 9, Lesson 4, "Railroads Across Texas."  (Teacher Edition, p. 291)

In Internet Explorer, right-click the Publisher template link below and choose "Save target as..."  then place it in your Student Shared folder.  Students will double-click on it, and then go to "File--Save As"  to save it to their Home Directory (usually the "G:" drive.  Then they can change and modify it without altering the template).  

Publisher Newsletter
(Both Spanish and English students will be able to work off of the template.)

Each student in the group will write an article for this newsletter.  They can each choose one from the following three choices:
 

a.  Write an article dated about 1900.  Tell how life in a small Texas town has changed because of the railroad.

b.  Write an editorial from the point of view of a cowboy who has just finished a cattle drive to a railroad town.  Provide descriptions of the landscape he saw, and his positive or negative opinions of railroads in Texas.

c.  Write an advertisement about why people should move to the railroad town in which this newsletter is published.

Students outline their writing first.  (This project lends itself well to having students compose their text on the Alpha-Smarts and then using Alpha-Beam to send their text to the Publisher template for editing.  That way it will be very easy to have both on the team working on the same template.)

1.  Click on titles to replace the text with the titles they want for the newsletter or for their articles.

2.  Click on the text to replace it with their own compositions.

3.  Replace the graphics with their own pictures.  Right-click the picture, and choose "Change Picture As...,"

then choose Clip Art.  The clip art menu will pop up.  Type in the keyword "Texas" or "railroad" or "train," or whatever they like.  Right-click the picture they want and choose "Insert."  Now their picture is in their newsletter where they want it! 

Make sure partners check and edit each other's work for content, spelling, and grammar!

Here is an outline form that students can use for planning, and a Rubric for scoring.

Railroad Newsletter Planner

Railroad Newsletter Rubric

*Download Instructions for KLRN Site
Internet Explorer: There will be three letters to the left of the title of the video:  "s,", "d," and "a." Right-click the mouse and hold over download button (the little "d), then select "Save Target As."  You will be prompted to save the media file. Choose the location you want the video to be stored on your system (your Desktop is the most common place).