Mt. Washington Valley School To Career Partnership

Project-Based Unit

Title of Unit: Freedom School Addition

Subject Area	Grade Level	Time to Complete
Social Studies Language Arts Math	Third and Fifth	Term 1

Author’s Name	School Address	Phone, E-mail
Karen Shackford Kathy Cogger	Freedom Elementary Loon Lake Road Freedom, NH 03836	603-539-2077 freedom@worldpath.net

Framing Question

The school board has determined that we need an addition to the Elementary School. Justify the increase in taxes based on cost in relation to the benefits to the town and the needs of the school.

Workplace or Community Context

This is a real issue taking place in Freedom at this time. The following groups would be used by the students as a resource.

School Board

Selectman

School Administrators

Community Members

The Project
Overview

The students will research the problem and make a presentation of their findings to the

School Board, Selectman, School Administrators, Community Members and Parents.

Alignment with New Hampshire Curriculum Frameworks and SAU 13 Curriculum Standards

Framework	How it is addressed in your project
Social Studies/Civics and Government Curriculum Standard 4 Students will demonstrate an understanding of the meaning, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship as well as the ability to apply their knowledge of the ideals, principles, organization, and operation of American government through the political process and citizen involvement.	Students will use community members as experts Students will use textual resources and technology to gather information Students will develop a presentation that will apply their knowledge of the ideals, principles, organization, and operation of American government through the political process and citizen involvement.
Social Studies/ Economics Curriculum Standard 9 Students will demonstrate the ability and willingness to apply economic concepts in the examination and resolution of problems and issues in educational, occupational, civic, and everyday settings.	Students will examine the effect of the addition on the tax rate. Students will examine the effect of the increased tax rate on the citizens.
Mathematics/ SAU 13 Curriculum Standard 7 Students will understand and apply basic and advanced concepts of data analysis and distribution.	Students will create graphs based on data compiled. Students will analyze graphs and draw conclusions.
Mathematics/ SAU 13 Curriculum Standard 11 Students will understand and apply concepts of mathematical reasoning.	Students will analyze graphs and draw conclusions. Students will understand how to calculate the tax rate. Students will understand how to apply the cost of the addition to the tax rate.
Language Arts /SAU 13 Curriculum Standard 4 Students will demonstrate the ability to use the skills and strategies of the writing process to write effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences.	Students will use brainstorming skills. Students will develop interview questions to be used with the community. Students will develop a written conclusion that addresses how they justified their findings.
Language Arts /SAU 13 Curriculum Standard 6 Students will demonstrate competence in using reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing to communicate effectively.	Students will interview community members. Students will select and listen to expert speakers. Students will develop and present a written, visual, and oral project for the community.

Timeline

Project Step or Supporting Activity	Description
Activity 1: KWL brainstorming session as a whole group activity. One session	(Teacher Input: Teacher will present the problem to the students.) Students will be given the problem. On chart paper students will brainstorm what they know about the addition, what they think they know, and what they will need to know to solve the problem.
Activity 2: Using the list of what the students need to know, the students will decide how they are going to get the information they need. Two sessions	As a whole class students will brainstorm the different ways they can find the information that they feel they need to solve the problem. The methods will include experts from the community, as well as textual resources, and technology. (Teacher Lesson: Students will be taught how money is collected by the town and what the political process is to make a decision involving a building project.)
Activity 3: Students will locate needed information based on the list of needs. One session to three session	(Teacher Input: Teacher will provide cards that will have one of the needs from the students need to know list. Included must be: How do you calculate the tax rate? How are taxes collected?, and How does the town pass a building project?.) Students will be split into small groups and given a card with a need written on the card. They will figure out a plan to gather the required information and then they will be given time to carry through their plan.
Activity 4: Students will calculate the increase in tax rate with the added cost of the addition. Two sessions	Students will develop a chart that shows the calculations of tax rates with and without the addition. The students will find out how much more a family will have to pay for the addition. ( Teacher will develop project cards, which will include only the value of the home.)
Activity 5: Analyze the information they have gathered and present it to the rest of the class. Three sessions	Students will work in small groups to analyze their information, and figure out a way to present it to the class. (Teacher Coaching: Teacher will help coach groups as needed.)
Activity 6: Based on the information gathered, students will generate a list of ways the addition will benefit the school and the community. One session	Students will work in small groups to generate a list of five benefits to the community and the school. They will share their lists with the whole class. The lists will be placed on chart paper and be evaluated. The class will decide the five most important benefits to the community and the school. (Teacher will lead the discussion.)
Activity 7: Students will develop interview questions and practice interviewing skills. One session	(Teachers will model an n interview session with a community member. Teachers may dress as a community member and a child.) Students will generate a list of interview questions that will be used to interview the community member. Working in pairs students will practice interview techniques.

Activity 8: Students will interview a community member. Homework	In small groups students will be assigned a community member to contact and interview. (Teacher will make a list of community members to be interviewed and will insure that both those for and those against the addition will be included. Teachers will contact these volunteers ahead of time to get their permission.)
Activity 9: Students will bring back the interview results and tabulate the responses. Three sessions	(Teacher Lesson: Students will learn how to create a bar graph, line graph, and a pie graph.) Students will compile the results of the interviews and create a graph of each of the responses.
Activity 10: Students will prepare a presentation for the community based on their findings. Four sessions	(Teacher Lesson: Teachers will model a presentation on a totally unrelated topic. An example could be to do a presentation on a good presentation.) Students will develop a presentation using student-generated lists and findings. The presentation will include visuals, graphs, written findings, and an oral presentation.
Activity 11: Students will present to the community. Evening	(Teachers will arrange the time of the presentation for the public and invite all school board members, administrators, community volunteers and parents.)

Project Resources

People

Community Members

School Board

Materials

Copy of Facilities Committee Report

The Tax Rate

Superintendent

Principal

Selectman

Town Tax Collector

Magic Markers

Graph Paper

Index Cards

Compasses

Chart Paper

Magic Markers

Project Cards

Overhead

Overhead Transparencies

Assessment

Other assessments will be developed as the unit progresses. They will be added to this plan, as they become available.

Implementation Plan

When do you plan to implement your project-based unit?

This project will be done in the first term. It will be done jointly with the third and the fifth grades. The two classes will meet twice a week for a period of

List the steps you need to take to implement your project-based unit. Include approximate meeting dates with your peers and your project-based learning consultant.

Mt. Washington Valley School-to-Career Coordinator
PO Box 1066 Conway, NH 03818 Phone/Fax: 603-447-2350