Classroom+Use


 * Title: **Courage in America: A Digital Story

ELA (GPS), Grade 8, Writing ELA8W1: The student produces writing that establishes an appropriate organizational structure, sets a context and engages the reader, maintains a coherent focus throughout, and signals a satisfying closure. Social Studies (GPS), Grade 8, Historical Understandings SS8H6: The student will analyze the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia. Character Education Trait: Courage
 * Standards: **
 * a. Selects a focus, organizational structure, and a point of view based on purpose, genre expectations, audience, length, and format requirements.
 * b. Writes texts of a length appropriate to address the topic or tell the story.
 * c. Uses traditional structures for conveying information (e.g., chronological order, cause and effect, similarity and difference, and posing and answering a question).
 * d. Uses appropriate structures to ensure coherence (e.g., transition elements, parallel structure).
 * e. Supports statements and claims with anecdotes, descriptions, facts and statistics, and specific examples.
 * b. State the importance of key events of the Civil War to include Antietam, Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, the Union blockade of Georgia's coast, Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, Sherman's March to the Sea, and Andersonville.

ELA: The student produces expository writing that: SS: The student will understand how courage plays a role in war and that when there is conflict between or within societies, change is the result. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Character Education Trait: Courage: Students will understand that courage played an important part in the Civil War and in all wars.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Purpose: **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Students will learn about the impact of the Civil War through key events of the war and how courage plays a role by creating a digital story of one of the key events. Student will use expository writing to create the narration for the video. They will use the Courage in America Digital Story File to access audio, images, video, and websites for their digital story.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">a. Engages the reader by establishing a context, creating a speaker's voice, and otherwise developing reader interest.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">b. Develops a controlling idea that conveys a perspective on the subject.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">c. Creates an organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, and context.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">d. Develops the topic with supporting details.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">e. Excludes extraneous and inappropriate information.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">f. Follows an organizational pattern appropriate to the type of composition.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">g. Concludes with a detailed summary linked to the purpose of the composition.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">a. The production, distribution, and consumption of goods/services produced by the society are affected by the location, beliefs, customs, and laws of the society.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">b. The actions of individuals, groups, and/or institutions affect society through intended and unintended consequences.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">c. The beliefs and ideals of a society influence the social, political, and economic decisions of that society.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">d. The actions of individuals, groups, and institutions affect society through intended and unintended consequences.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">e. The production, distribution, and consumption of goods/services produced by society are affected by location, customs, beliefs, and laws of the society.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">f. That the economic, political, and cultural differences between the northern and southern states contributed to sectionalism and conflict. (H6a)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">g. That Sherman's march through Georgia played an important role in the northern victory in the Civil War.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Target Audience: **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">8 Grade Social Studies

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Theme: Courage in America by understanding the importance of key events of the Civil War to include Antietam, Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, the Union blockade of Georgia's coast, Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, Sherman's March to the Sea, and Andersonville. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Curricular Objectives Addressed: <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">ELA: The student produces writing that establishes an appropriate organizational structure, sets a context and engages the reader, maintains a coherent focus throughout, and signals a satisfying closure. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">SS: The student will analyze the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Character Education: Courage is an important trait when facing war.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Theme of the Project and Curricular Objectives Addressed: **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">a. Selects a focus, organizational structure, and a point of view based on purpose, genre expectations, audience, length, and format requirements.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">b. Writes texts of a length appropriate to address the topic or tell the story.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">c. Uses traditional structures for conveying information.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">d. Uses appropriate structures to ensure coherence.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">e. Supports statements and claims with anecdotes, descriptions, facts and statistics, and specific examples.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">b. State the importance of key events of the Civil War to include Antietam, Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, the Union blockade of Georgia's coast, Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, Sherman's March to the Sea, and Andersonville.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Examples of instructional activities that one can implement: **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Courage in America Digital Story can be used to introduce key events of the Civil War.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Courage in America Digital Story can be used to emphasize character education by highlighting courage as an important character trait and necessary for soldiers.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">By using the Courage in America Digital Story, students can see an example of digital storytelling as they begin to create their own digital stories.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">With the digital story student will learn about video production using Movie Maker or other video production tools (iMovie or Photo Story).

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Example of assessment strategies that one can use: **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A quiz on The Courage in America Digital Story
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">An assessment/rubric for The Courage in America Digital Story Project