- C. Valleau, Hurricane Middle School, Hurricane, West Virginia, USA
- Elizabeth Lallathin, Kellogg Elementary School, Huntington, West Virginia, USA
Description / These two projects use Gigapan photographs to help students visualize the setting of novels and make inferences about place.
A. Walk Two Moons
B. Travels Through Literature
Objectives /
- Students will identify key objects within a Gigapan as mentioned in the story.
- Students will comparegigapansand write a compare/contrast essay between two images.
- Students will gain understanding of a culture different from their own.
- Students will make inferences about a place within the literature.
- Students will compare and contrast two real places.
- Students will use cause and effect to predict how changes in the setting could change the story.
Grade Level / Elementary/Middle/High School
Generative Topic or Essential Question:What topic(s) are important for your students to understand? / How doour imaginings of a place described in literature differ from the reality in a photograph?
What additional information can we get from a photograph?
What information can a photograph not provide that a well-written description can offer?
Activities
Phase 1: Introductory Performances
Activities to set the stage: What do they
know? What else do they need to know to
begin the project? / Introduction to Gigapan
Class Introduction Activity
A. Walk Two Moons- This activity can be done prior to reading the book as an APK activity or after reading chapters 1 and 2: students view the Gigapan titled "Native American" and discuss snapshots of this photo. Their goal is to identify how this picture differs from the landscape of their home region.
B. After reading a detailed excerpt or the entire story, students will use inferential skills to visualize and create a detailed drawing of the setting of their story. The teacher will model fluency by reading aloud a section of the literature that describes the setting in detail.Students will draw a picture of the setting of the story from their own visualizations(quick draw).
Phase 2: Guided Inquiry
•Activities to engage students in learning
(fieldtrips, visiting experts, vocabulary sets, map work, interviews, research….) / A. After reading chapter 23, students will view the twogigapansassociated with this project (Badlands and Black Hills) and take snapshots of areas within the Gigapan that were discussed in the novel. Every student must snapshot and write an appropriate (approved) comment at least once on each Gigapan.
B. Students locate theactualplace oneducation.gigapan.org and
post 3 grammatically correct comparative statements about their inferences and the actual spot:
- 2statements must show how theirideas were different. (i.e. The buildings in my imagination were much bigger.)
- 1 statement must show how their ideas were the same. (i.e. Both the forests in my mind and in the actual place filled with pine trees.
Phase 3: Culminating Performances
Activities in which students share knowledge in culminating event, as well as reflect on project and learning. / A.After finishing the novel, students will go back to thegigapansand review the approved comments/snapshots to fill in a graphic organizer (Venn diagram) comparing/contrasting the two landscapes. Students then write a comparative essay about the two landscapes, describing each and using evidence from the novel to support their comparisons.
B.Using a Venn diagram, compare and contrast the Gigapan of the actual place within the storyand the place within their communitywhich is within the students' frame of reference.
Students can tag points withinthe Gigapan of theircommunity mentioning how the story may have changedifit had taken place at this location. (i.e. The main character would not have had to run so far if the story had taken place here because it is so much smaller.)
Planning
Understanding Goals:What do you want students to understand about those topics? What should they be able to do?
(Standards) / Common Core
CC Reading:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.1Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.7Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
CC Writing:
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.2 Informative/Explanatory Writing
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.4-5 Development of Writing
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.10 Routine/Regular Writing
Interdisciplinary:
How does this unit fit with other topics? What, if any, cross-cultural links can be made? / Technology
3a. Use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
5a. Use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.
Global Competence
Investigate the World
Ongoing Assessment: What would be acceptable evidence of their understandings? / Students navigate the Gigapan website with ease.
Students self manage and post appropriate comments to Gigapan Dialogues.
Writing Rubrics
Materials and Resources:List the physical and digital resources required to teach the unit. / Internet Access
Projector or SMART Board
Venn diagrams
Literature choices
Weisel’s Night)
(Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales)