Funded Jul 15, 2020We are using the pens and higlighters in Research Writing to study the Edmund Fitzgerald. This is a large research project that spans several weeks and incorporates approximately 15 different sources including PowerPoint presentations, Facebook pages, book chapters, journal articles, newspaper articles, YouTube videos, etc. My goal is to expose them to as many different types of media as possible rather than simply relying on a quick Internet search. The students have read court documents from the U.S. Coast Guard Hearings as well as personal stories, such as that of Francis D. "Peanut" Parish, who was on Whitefish Bay in a small fishing vessel with his son the night of November 10, 1975 and nearly lost his life. They read the story of Dennis Anderson, of WDIO-TV in Duluth, who had to make the difficult decision to interrupt Monday night football knowing that most of the Northland would be tuned into the game and the station would be breaking the story to family members that may be unaware that the ship had gone down. They have studied the Facebook posts of surviving members to understand the beliefs of the children and grandchildren so many years later concerning the cause of the tragedy. This, and more, is all in addition to studying the theories involving the sinking of the Fitzgerald. With so many sources, the color-coordinating of the sources to the note cards is helpful for the kids to organize such a vast amount of material.
My students were very excited when they first saw the pens and highlighters, as there were so many different bags to choose from! Each student was allowed to pick their own make-up bag filled with highlighters and pens.
My original purpose for the individual supply of materials was to ensure that the students would not be sharing during Covid-19. I did not expect the individual bags to come in as handy as they did! While we have been extremely lucky at my school and have been in session full-time face to face, there have been a few "hiccups." Due to contact tracing, I did have a few students out for a few weeks. During that time, I was able to continue teaching them along with my in-class students via Zoom. Because they already had their materials in their possession, they could continue learning right at home. There was no frantic shuffling around, trying to get things together to prepare these kids to "keep up" at home. Likewise, when our state put the high school students on a "pause," the situation was the same, and my students were 100% equipped and had the necessary materials with them already. That made my job that much easier! I was able to teach them daily through Zoom. It was seamless.
Thank you so much for donating to our classroom. We have used the pens and highlighters daily, and as this semester comes to a close, the materials will be put away for next year's Research Writing class to use as well!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Doyle