Choose Your Ow Adveture P B L U. O R G CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Last Revised 04-17-2014
Table of Cotets SECTION I. Project Overview...2 SECTION II. 8 Essetial Elemets of PBL...4 SECTION III. Teachig Choose Your Ow Adveture...6 Sequece of the Project...6 Step-By-Step Teachig Guide Preparig for the Project....8 Lauchig the Project...9 Scaffoldig ad Maagig the Project... 11 Assessig ad Showcasig Studet Work... 17 Extesios to the Project... 18 SECTION IV. Studet Hadouts Risk Joural... 20 Risk Iterview Packet... 21 Risk Story Checklist.... 27 Risk Story Feedback Form... 28 Iterview Summary... 29 Choose Your Ow Adveture Scaffold... 31 Sceario Writig Guide....................... 33 Sceario Critique... 35 SECTION V. Teacher Materials Project Checklist... 37 Presetatio Brochure (? missig).... 38 Sample Paret Letter... 39 Risk Scearios... 40 Sample Risk Ma... 40 Blak Risk Ma............................... 41 Sample Sceario... 42 CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 1
SECTION I. Project Overview Subjects Eglish Laguage Arts, History Grade Level 4 Time Required 12-15 hours of class time Project Idea 4th grade is the year whe studets across the Uited States study their state s history. This provides a opportuity for studets lear about people i their family i the past who took risks to shape their futures ad who helped provide the studets with the opportuities from which they curretly beefit. I the Choose Your Ow Adveture project, studets explore their state ad family history by aswerig the Drivig Questio, What makes people take a risk? Usig examples of risk takig from persoal ad state history, take from a variety of literary cotexts, studets create their ow Choose Your Ow Adveture iteractive stories. They combie family histories with those of two other studets ad develop outcomes based o historical probability. Studet teams preset their advetures i a iteractive presetatio with a audiece of parets ad other studets. This project is desiged to teach state history to 4th graders i a maer authetic to their ow lives ad experieces. The aim of this project is for studets to lear more about the motives that brought settlers to their state or coutry, ad to explore decisios that were made ad risks that were take i the process. I teachig this project, there should also be a itetioal coectio to the studets themselves ad the risks that have bee take for them ad also the risks they have take ad would like to take i the future. Cotet History Readig Writig state history immigratio historical risk takers Biography Choose Your Ow Adveture stories Narrative Persuasive writig CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 2
Commo Core Stadards The Choose Your Ow Adveture project addresses the followig Commo Core State Stadards i Eglish Laguage Arts. For more iformatio see corestadards.org. ID 4.RI.3 4.RI.6 4.RI.9 4.RL.10 4.W.8 4.W.6 4.W.5 4.W.4 4.SL.4 4.SL.1 4.SL.1.b STANDARD Explai evets, procedures, ideas, or cocepts i a historical, scietific, or techical text, icludig what happeed ad why, based o specific iformatio i the text Compare ad cotrast a firsthad ad secodhad accout of the same evet or topic; describe the differeces i focus ad the iformatio provided. Itegrate iformatio from two texts o the same topic i order to write or speak about the subject kowledgeably By the ed of year, read ad comprehed iformatioal texts, icludig history/social studies, sciece, ad techical texts, i the grades 4-5 text complexity bad proficietly, with scaffoldig as eeded at the high ed of the rage. Recall relevat iformatio from experieces or gather relevat iformatio from prit ad digital sources; take otes ad categorize iformatio, ad provide a list of sources. With some guidace ad support from adults, use techology, icludig the Iteret, to produce ad publish writig as well as to iteract ad collaborate with others; demostrate sufficiet commad of keyboardig skills to type a miimum of oe page i a sigle sittig. With guidace ad support from peers ad adults, develop ad stregthe writig as eeded by plaig, revisig, ad editig. Produce clear ad coheret writig i which the developmet ad orgaizatio are appropriate to task, purpose, ad audiece. Report o a topic or text, tell a story, or recout a experiece i a orgaized maer, usig appropriate facts ad relevat, descriptive details to support mai ideas or themes; speak clearly at a uderstadable pace. Egage effectively i a rage of collaborative discussios (oe-o-oe, i groups, ad teacher-led) with diverse parters o grade 4 topics ad texts, buildig o others ideas ad expressig their ow clearly. Follow agreed-upo rules for discussios ad carry out assiged roles. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 3
SECTION II. Essetial Elemets of PBL Choose Your Ow Adveture reflects the followig Essetial Elemets for effective Project Based Learig: 1. Sigificat Cotet This project provides a vehicle for teachig studets about the history of their state, which are importat Social Studies stadards for this grade level. It ca also be used to teach about immigratio i the Uited States today ad i the past. The project addresses several Commo Core State Stadards i Eglish Laguage Arts, for readig iformatioal text, coductig research, writig, ad speakig ad listeig. (See the complete list of CCSS o page below). 2. 21st Cetury Competecies This project builds studets competecy i critical thikig ad problem solvig, collaboratio, ad commuicatio ad provides opportuities for creativity. Studets must thik critically as they cosider the reasos why people take risks ad how this behavior is iflueced by factors such as persoality, probability, ad cost/beefit aalysis. Studets collaborate as a team to draw from each member s family history to create a uique adveture story. They use commuicatio skills to iterview family members, share ideas with teammates, egotiate compromises, coduct meetigs, ad preset their stories to a audiece. 3. I-Depth Iquiry Studets i this project ask may questios whose aswers are ot available i a referece book or a olie search egie. They have to ucover family stories by plaig ad coductig iterviews, addig backgroud research o the times ad places they are learig about. Studets also iquire ito the philosophical questio of why people take risks today ad i history ad come to their ow complex uderstadig of the topic. 4. Drivig Questio The Drivig Questio for this project is, What makes people take a risk? The questio frames the studets readig assigmets about state ad atioal history, ad guides their iquiry ito their ow family history. 5. Need to Kow I a egagig activity that lauches the project, studets are itroduced to the cocept of a Choose Your Ow Adveture story. They are the told they will be creatig a similar story of risk-takig, based o their ow family history, ad presetig it to a audiece. This creates a strog eed to kow more about how ad why people i the past took risks, ad how to write a compellig story. 6. Voice & Choice Sice this project focuses o each studet s persoal family history ad how to write about it, studet voice ad choice are cetral to it. Studets decide what questios to ask, what stories to tell, ad how to combie ideas with teammates whe plaig a uique iteractive adveture for their audiece. They must decide what choices the characters i their story will make, ad what the cosequeces might be. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 4
7. Critique & Revisio At several checkpoits durig the project, studets receive feedback from the teacher ad from each other i peer critique sessios so they ca improve the quality of their writte work ad live presetatios. As they read about the history of the state ad atio ad lear about their family s history, studets reflect ofte o the topic of risk, ad cosider how they themselves might someday take risks. 8. Public Audiece The whole poit of writig a Choose Your Ow Adveture story is to have a reader iteract with it, so the role of the audiece is kept foremost i studets mids durig this project. The project culmiates whe studet teams share their stories with visitors to the classroom, icludig parets ad other studets. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 5
SECTION III. Teachig Choose Your Ow Adveture Studets complete Choose Your Ow Adveture by followig a recommeded set of activities i the order below. Withi these set activities, however, there will be variatio i the timig ad i the way studets complete them. The sequece of istructioal activities is described below. This sequece is based o pilot testig i school classrooms. Although chages may be ecessary to meet time costraits, address the eeds of specific studet populatios, or iclude additioal istructioal materials ad learig opportuities, we strogly ecourage teachers to adhere to the sequece of activities as closely as possible at least for the first several times the project is taught. Each step is discussed i more detail i the followig sectio, the Step-by-Step Teachig Guide. Sequece of the Project Preparig for the Project 0 Teacher prepares for successful project implemetatio. Lauchig the Project 1 Etry Evet: Studets are itroduced to the cocept of a Choose Your Ow Adveture story by participatig i a activity. 2 Teacher itroduces project ad studets geerate Need to Kow list. Scaffoldig ad Maagig the Project 3 Studets read various stories of immigratio ad idetify risks associated with each move. 4 Studets write about risks they have take. 5 Studets lear about the decisio makig process ad how people decide whether or ot to take risks. 6 Studets do backgroud research about immigratio i their family ad idetify the risks take i that process. 7 Studets complete Family History writig, based o the iterview they coducted. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 6
8 Studets share out the details of the risk they have chose to highlight for their Choose Your Ow Adveture. 9 Studets complete a Iterview Summary to idetify the most importat details from their iterview. 10 Choose Your Ow Adveture teams are geerated. 11 Teams begi work o first draft of their adveture. 12 Critique ad revisio of Choose Your Ow Adveture stories. 13 Teams assig likelihood to each outcome ad make spiers. Assessig ad Showcasig Studet Work 14 Studets practice their Choose Your Ow Adveture scearios with other studets. 15 Teacher ad studets prepare for presetatios. 16 Studets preset their advetures to a audiece. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 7
Step-by-Step Teachig Guide Each of the above istructioal activities is discussed i more depth below, with tips for successful classroom implemetatio. Preparig for the Project 0 Teacher prepares for successful project implemetatio. Get the ecessary readig materials. Choose a variety of Choose Your Ow Adveture texts for studets to read as examples. Books addressig state history, particularly those that focus o risk takig, are also helpful. The theme of this project leds itself to some powerful read-alouds, either several short stories or oe loger class ovel, so pla for that if you wish. Make a class set of project folders with a Project Checklist stapled to the frot, to keep track of studet work completed. The Project Checklist may be foud i Sectio V, Teacher Materials. To lear how to implemet a project, take classes at PBLU.org, ad ear certificatio as a PBL Teacher if you try this project with studets! Assemble a Risk Reader cotaiig short stories for studets to read about immigratio ad risk takig, alog with space to take otes. (See list of suggested readigs uder Step 3 below.) Set a date for the project presetatio ad ivite a audiece, icludig family ad commuity members, as well as other classes ad teachers. Because the presetatio of this project relies upo audiece iteractio, it is importat to ivite eough people so that all studet teams will be able to preset to at least oe audiece member. The larger the audiece, the better. Studets should sed a ivitatio to the audiece several weeks i advace. They may sed the Presetatio Brochure provided with this project or create oe of their ow. The Presetatio Brochure (STILL MISSING) may be foud i Sectio V, Teacher Materials. Before lauchig this project, it is also importat to cosider: How will you commuicate the scope ad sequece of the project to parets so that you gai their support i the research ad iterview process? (See attached Sample Paret Letter, which ca be modified to cover ay social studies stadards that are beig addressed.) The Sample Paret Letter may be foud i Sectio V, Teacher Materials. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 8
What history cotet do you wat to teach i coectio with the project? What techology is available ad how will it be used? (Either MS Word/Excel or Google Documets ad spreadsheets are recommeded, but the project ca be doe without them.) If techology is to be used, is it ecessary to arrage access to the media ceter or computer lab? Lauchig the Project 1 Etry Evet: Studets are itroduced to the cocept of a Choose Your Ow Adveture story by participatig i a activity. I a Choose Your Ow Adveture story, the book opes with a itroductio where the backgroud ad time period are set, the reader s possible motivatios are outlied, ad a choice is give (usually with two or three differet optios). Based o which optio is chose, the reader is told what page i the book to tur to ext. There, the reader lears the outcome of the choice ad is give aother choice (agai, usually two or three differet optios). This process cotiues as the reader progresses through the book ad lears his or her fate. I the case of the book pictured at right, there are up to 45 differet choices ad 15 differet outcomes. To itroduce studets to the cocept of a Choose Your Ow Adveture story, coduct the followig activity: Preparatio: Make copies of all of the differet choices (ad backgroud readigs) that could possibly be made i oe adveture book. (This roughly traslates ito makig copies of the etire book.) Take each set of readigs ad put them ito idividual evelopes with the first page of the sectio writte o the outside. For example, if the first choice studets make leads them to either page 13 or 16 i the book, there should be evelopes with 13 ad 16 writte o them ad the iside should be the passage associated with those choices. Evelopes should be orgaized aroud the room by LAST umber (which will keep studets more spread out tha if the evelopes are orgaized by first umber). After you have chose your Choose Your Ow Adveture book ad have made all preparatios, read the itroductio to studets, who each get to make their first choice. From there, studets cotiue makig choices, based o the outcomes of each previous decisio, util they reach their ultimate fate (fortue, family, death, illess, etc.). Most studets will take differet paths, depedig o their choices. Some will die early or get sick ad their adveture will ed. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 9
The process by which studets move from locatio to locatio ca get complicated. Some of the pages studets will eed to read are log. It is best if oe studet voluteers at each statio to read the passage aloud. I some cases, there may be several studets at oe statio or late arrivig studets, which ca make it difficult for all studets to hear ad uderstad the passage ad their choice, so moitor the statios closely. Potetial Hurdle: To make sure all studets are able to hear/read the passage beig read, have a few extra copies of the book or each passage o had. To reflect o the activity, studets should draw a flow chart of each of the choices they make. This ca be doe by had, or by usig bubbl.us free olie software. Each of them ca add the differet decisios alog the way to a larger poster that the class creates together. Have studets reflect o their outcomes ad choices alog the way. u What was the fate of your adveture? u Why did you take the risks you did? u If you could redo ay of your decisios, would you? Explai. Oce their adveture comes to a ed ad they have writte a reflectio, they may choose to begi a ew adveture. As a class, talk about the motives behid each decisio ad why differet studets took differet risks. Possible motivatios that studets may give are: u The pursuit of moey u The protectio of family u Fidig adveture 2 Teacher itroduces the project ad studets geerate Need to Kow list. Tell studets they are goig to be creatig their ow Choose Your Ow Adveture stories, based o their ow family history. Explai that they will be learig about someoe i their family who immigrated to (or moved withi) the Uited States ad that they will try to uderstad the motivatios uderlyig their family member s decisios ad the risk ivolved i the process. Also talk briefly about what the presetatio of the studets advetures to a audiece will look like. Tell studets about the project s Drivig Questio, What makes people take a risk? Lead the class i a discussio of what questios they have about the topic of immigratio, risk-takig, ad the project itself. Ask, What do you eed to kow to be able to aswer the Drivig Questios ad do this project? ad record their questios o chart paper or digitally, so you ca refer back to the list later. Example of Iitial Need to Kow List What do we eed to kow? Why did people come to our state? What were some of the reasos people moved to the Uited States? CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 10
How ca I fid out which perso i my family took the biggest risks? What does it mea to take a risk? Are there differet kids of risk? What does a Choose Your Ow Adveture story iclude? Ca I iterview ayoe i my family? What if o oe who lives ear me has a iterestig story about immigratio? Why do some people take big risks ad others do t? Scaffoldig ad Maagig the Project 3 Studets read various stories of immigratio ad idetify risks associated with each move. Distribute a Risk Reader to each studet ad give them a chace to flip through it, lookig at the readigs ad the format. Decide ahead of time o the readigs, either drawig from the list below or o your persoal prefereces. Compile the readigs ito a stapled or boud reader so they all will be i oe place. After each readig iclude a lied page with guidig questios to help studets reflect o the readig. Be ope to addig ew readigs as the project progresses, as areas of studet iterest become apparet. Have studets read about risk takers i history ad i the preset day to lear about the differet kids of risks people take. It is importat to begi developig a vocabulary with studets about risk takig ad idetifyig the various circumstaces ad values at play i each decisio. Studets should lear to evaluate the coectio betwee decisios ad outcomes. This is where the history beig coected with the project should be icorporated. Studets ca read about risk takers both i preset day, ad also i the historical time period beig studied. Possible Risk Reader Texts: Books (possible read-alouds or Book Club selectios): By the Great Hor Spoo, Sid Fleishma The Drago s Child: A Story of Agel Islad, Lawrece Yep Seedfolks, Paul Fleishma Iside Out ad Back Agai, Thahha Lai Short Stories: If I Never, Forever Edeavor, Holly Meade Jessie Came Across the Sea, Amy Hest Gradfather s Jourey, Alle Say Articles (about both immigratio ad risk takig): Youg immigrats: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigratio/youg_ immigrats/ CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 11
Spies: http://www.timeforkids.com/ews/destroy-after-readig/27276 Tuskegee Airme: http://www.timeforkids.com/ews/flyig-high/26571 South Pole: http://www.timeforkids.com/ews/race-south-pole/23816 Lauchig ito Space: http://www.timeforkids.com/ews/space-statio-relief/19816 World s Biggest Emerald: http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3756901 (Is it worth the risk to buy it?) 4 Studets write about risks they have take. This activity is a good time to further the coversatio about circumstaces ad values. From here, studets are asked to idetify the differet kids of risks people take. As a first, step, have studets complete the Risk Joural writig assigmet about risk takig. The Risk Joural may be foud i Sectio IV, Studet Hadouts. After studets have writte i their Risk Jourals, coduct a follow-up coversatio, askig questios such as: What is a risk? What motivates people to take risks? (You ca use examples from their writig as a jumpig off poit for this coversatio.) Are risks a good or a bad thig? Ca ayoe give examples where takig a risk has bee a good thig to do? (Braistorm risks ad positive outcomes.) Ca ayoe give examples where takig a risk has bee a bad thig to do? (Braistorm risks ad egative outcomes.) Has ayoe bee forced to take a risk to help himself or herself, or to help someoe they kow? Potetial Hurdle: The strogest lik betwee the studets lives ad the decisios made by their acestors whe emigratig is the importace of takig risks. This lik provides some valuable opportuities to talk about risk takig ad to establish a culture where studets feel safe to take risks (both i other areas of class ad also i life). Make sure there is ample time spet o talkig about the importace of beig able to take risks i a classroom, so that studets feel comfortable sharig their work with their peers. 5 Studets lear about the decisio makig process ad how people decide whether or ot to take risks. Read each of six differet risk scearios to studets ad ask them to decide what they would do i the sceario. The Risk Scearios may be foud i Sectio V, Teacher Materials. The have studets braistorm the differet kids of risks ivolved with each decisio ad use the CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 12
scearios to geerate a list of differet types of risk. Some examples are: academic, social, persoal, physical, ad fiacial. Lead a discussio about the possible outcomes for each of the choices, ad for studets to be able to articulate why they would make each choice. Whe talkig about the decisio makig process, it is importat to focus o the factors that ifluece people s decisios other tha just what the possible outcome might be. For example, i the sceario about the Disey Studios auditio, studets will be divided i their choices. Some studets are outgoig ad like to perform, which would ifluece them to make a differet decisio tha the studets who are shy or do ot like to sig. This is also a good time to talk about the probability of outcomes. (A math lesso is ot ecessary here, but ca be added as a extesio activity.) As the teacher you could list several factors people cosider whe makig decisios (such as likelihood of success, persoality type, cost/beefit aalysis), or lead studets to come up with their ow factors. For example, agai lookig at the Disey Studios example, studets could debate how likely it is that they would actually wi the competitio. Some studets will also brig up the questio, Where would I get the moey to pay for my retur ticket home if I did t wi? At this poit, is it importat for studets to be able to visualize the risk takig process ad to uderstad how people decide whether to take a risk. Usig a large pritout (if possible), show studets the Risk Ma diagram ad walk them through a risk that they have take, or oe that you have talked about i class. A Sample Blak Risk Ma ad Blak Risk Ma diagram may be foud i Sectio V, Teacher Materials. 6 Studets do backgroud research about immigratio i their family ad idetify the risks take i that process. Explai to studets that their assigmet is to talk with someoe i their family about how they got to the place where they ow live. It could be ay kid of immigratio a jourey from aother coutry to the Uited States, from oe state to aother, or from oe tow or city to aother. I additio to documetig the facts of the jourey, studets are to determie the factors ad values that iflueced the decisios made by the family member. Distribute a copy of the Risk Iterview Packet to each studet ad go through it with the class. It discusses what makes a good iterviewer ad cotais prompts to help studets to decide what questios to ask. The Risk Iterview Packet may be foud i Sectio IV, Studet Hadouts. 7 Studets complete Family History writig, based o the iterview they coducted. Assig studets the task of writig a short essay, itroducig the family member they iterviewed ad describig i detail the risk they took. This is a importat part of the project process, as it forces studets CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 13
to articulate the specific risk that was take, to uderstad why it was take, ad to lear about all of the possible outcomes associated with that decisio. Distribute the Risk Story Checklist to guide studets i the writig process. The Risk Story Checklist may be foud i Sectio IV, Studet Hadouts. After the studets complete a rough draft, they will share their writig i small groups ad get feedback. The fial draft should be ready by the time of exhibitio. Have studets use the Risk Story Feedback Form to guide the peer critique process. The Risk Story Feedback Form may be foud i Sectio IV, Studet Hadouts. 8 Studets share out the details of the risk they have chose to highlight for their Choose Your Ow Adveture story. As studets are iterviewig family members, they will be ucoverig differet gems from their family history. There should be regular opportuities provided (morig or class meetigs) for studets to share out the stories they are learig about their families. This process helps the studets make coectios betwee each other s histories ad to get excited about learig ew stories from their ow families. Ultimately, whe studets are writig their advetures, they will be able to use stories from their peers as some of their potetial outcomes. Also, o the ight of presetatios, it eables the studets to say thigs like, You eded up becomig a successful cabiet maker i the Uited States, just like Johy s gradpa. 9 Studets complete a Iterview Summary to idetify the most importat details from their iterview. This process will be helpful whe it comes time to form teams for the presetatio. Have studets tease out the importat aspects of the risk take by their family member ad record these details o the Iterview Summary form. The Iterview Summary form may be foud i Sectio IV, Studet Hadouts. 10 Choose Your Ow Adveture teams are geerated. This is a tricky, but importat process. Studets eed to be placed i teams of three, or if ecessary two or four. (A group of two is oly advisable i cases where there are two really strog studets who ca carry the weight of a three-perso team.) From the stories shared by studets ad the studets Iterview Summaries, the class chooses themes that categorize each of the risks. Some possible themes are: CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 14
risks ivolved i immigratio from a particular coutry or cotiet risks ivolved i the eed to ear moey risks ivolved i the eed to lear a ew laguage risks ivolved i the decisio to go to war O a idex card, have studets write dow all of the themes that could possibly relate to their story of risk. From here, put the studets ito teams. It is importat that the theme they are placed i coects to their story. 11 Teams begi work o first draft of their adveture. Have studets share their stories with team members ad begi to braistorm a idea for the Choose Your Ow Adveture sceario. Distribute a copy of the Choose Your Ow Adveture Scaffold to each team, to help them tur their three stories ito oe adveture. The Choose Your Ow Adveture Scaffold may be foud i Sectio IV, Studet Hadouts. The first thig studets eed to do is idetify the first choice that will be made ad the begi to braistorm a pro/co list based aroud the two (or three, for a group of four) choices. Studets should icorporate elemets from their ow family histories at this poit. Teams should the use their Choose Your Ow Adveture Scaffold to write the first draft of their adveture, usig the Sceario Writig Guide. Studets should create at least four distictly differet outcomes coected to their decisio: a Great, Good, OK, ad Bad outcome. The Sceario Writig Guide may be foud i Sectio IV, Studet Hadouts ad a Sample Sceario may be foud i Sectio V, Teacher Materials. Potetial Hurdle: At first studets may have a hard time creatig outcomes that are mutually exclusive ad coected to the decisio beig made. For example, if the risk beig take i their adveture is to immigrate to Califoria to fid a better job, studets may decide to have family member dies ad you ed up beig sad as their outcomes. Although it is always possible to have a family member die, that outcome is ot coected directly to their decisio. Havig someoe die ad beig sad are part of the same outcome. Better outcomes might be: You start workig at a small market that your ucle ows ad work your way to the top of the compay. Evetually, after havig made a pretty good amout of moey, you decide to ope your ow store. You make a good livig, are happy with your job, ad are ow able to afford to raise a family. ad You move to Califoria ad have very little luck fidig a job. You search ad search but do ot fid oe. You are still learig the laguage ad are t able to make frieds ad ed up feelig very sad about your decisio. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 15
12 Critique ad revisio of Choose Your Ow Adveture stories. Oce studets have completed their first drafts, have them critique each other s work. Give studets the Sceario Critique form to guide their feedback. The Sceario Critique form may be foud i Sectio IV, Studet Hadouts. Check the studets stories to offer your feedback as well, the ask studets to revise their work ad complete fial drafts. 13 Teams assig likelihood to each outcome ad make spiers. Now that studets have created all the possible outcomes for each of their choices, they eed to decide how the audiece members fates will be determied. (We will describe the use of spiers; aother optio is to use dice. This allows studets to explore the probability of rollig a give umber usig two dice. See coected math lesso.) Though studets will ot kow exactly how likely each of their outcomes would be, they should agree that the really good ad really bad outcomes are less likely tha the good ad bad. They ca assig radom likelihoods to the outcomes, as log as they all add up to 100%. Step i ad discuss the issue of probability if studets choose likelihoods that are particularly urealistic. Whe they make their spiers, coach studets to see that: A outcome that is more likely should take up a larger part of the spier. A outcome that is less likely should take up a smaller part of the spier. Oce a team has assiged a percetage of likelihood to each outcome, have peers look over the umbers chose to see if they agree or disagree ad offer feedback. Sample Likelihood of Outcomes Choice 1 Great You stay with family, get a good payig job 20% Good: Get job, i small market 25% Bad: Get sick, see by Japaese solider ad your life is ow out stake 0% Very Bad: Go to priso for 5 years whe released ed up livig o the streets 15% Oe spier is made for Choice 1 ( yes to the decisio). Oe spier is made for Choice 2 ( o to the decisio). CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 16
14 Studets practice their Choose Your Ow Adveture scearios with other studets. Before studets preset their adveture to a paret/adult audiece, have them practice with a audiece of their peers. After each presetatio, peer audieces should give both supportive ad costructively critical feedback. The the presetig team should be give a chace to revise their work before presetig agai. Coduct the practice sessio usig the followig format: 1. The arrator of the adveture (Team Member #1) reads the team s Itroductio. He/she sets the scee, gives the time period, tells the audiece about their backgroud iformatio, ad explais the decisio to be made. 2. Team Member #2 makes a argumet to the audiece about why they should make the decisio. 3. Team Member #3 makes a argumet to the audiece about why they should NOT make the decisio. 4. Both studets debate back ad forth about whether the audiece should or should ot make the risky decisio beig preseted. 5. The audiece member(s) decide to choose yes or o. 6. The studet team presets oe of the Choose Your Ow Adveture spiers they made (correspodig with the choice that was made) ad a audiece member spis. The team reads their fate. Have studets revise their Advetures, based o feedback give to them by their peers. Studets should preset their advetures, receive feedback, ad revise their work util they are ready to preset before a paret/adult audiece. 15 Teacher ad studets prepare for presetatios. Take the followig steps to prepare for the presetatio to the ivited audiece: Studet teams should be spread aroud the room i statios. Each statio should have several chairs i frot of it, ecouragig audiece members to sit. Nearby, studets writig pieces should be displayed for the audiece to see. Studets should cosider what they will wear (it makes for a more festive evet if studets dress up as the perso they are talkig about). Studets may wat to decorate their statio, based o the theme of their adveture. Studets (or teacher) should make a sig welcomig families, explaiig the ageda for the evet. They should all kow that their participatio relies o them joiig a adveture at the begiig of the presetatio ad sittig through util it is over. Each team should have a sig that idicates whe they are acceptig ew audiece members ad whe a adveture is already i sessio. Remid studets about what makes a good presetatio: eye cotact, a loud, clear voice, expressio ad emotio, audiece ivolvemet. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 17
Studets should practice ways to ivite people over to their statio. This last step is extremely importat. The audiece will be movig aroud the room, ad ofte they wo t stop ad sit for the duratio of a adveture. It is importat for studets to aticipate this ad practice how to ivite a audiece to sit for their presetatio. 16 Studets preset their advetures to a audiece. Have studet teams take their places aroud the room at their statios. If possible, have the audiece assemble outside the room so you ca explai the project ad their role durig the presetatios. Make sure the audiece members uderstad they eed to iteract durig the exhibitio ad familiarize them with the kids of questios they should ask to push the studets thikig. Oce the audiece eters the room, studets welcome people to their statio ad egage them i their Choose Your Ow Adveture scearios (as previously outlied). Each team should put up a sig oce their advetures are i progress. Cotiue the process for as may rouds as you ad the class have decided is appropriate. Coclude by thakig the audiece ad askig for their feedback i whatever format you wish. Coduct a fial reflectio o the project with studets after the presetatios. Extesios to the Project Art: Studets could create a piece of tribute art for the perso beig recogized i their adveture. Some techiques are relief prit, photomosaic, paitig, or photo editig usig Photoshop Math: Studets ca explore probability i a more i-depth maer ad use this kowledge to create the outcomes of their advetures. Studets start by figurig out all of the ways to roll the sum of 2-12 usig two dice. From there, they ca graph the outcomes. They ca also coect the outcomes of their advetures to the umbers that are more likely. I this case, the audiece at the presetatio would roll dice to determie their outcome. Debate: The debate portio of this project could be expaded. Studets could practice debatig a variety of topics, icludig differet risky decisios. As a class, studets could debate each of the decisios to be made i other Choose Your Ow Adveture books. This will help them prepare for the debate portio of the exhibitio. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 18
SECTION IV. Studet Hadouts Risk Joural...x Risk Iterview Packet...x Risk Story Checklist....x Risk Story Feedback Form...x Iterview Summary...x Choose Your Ow Adveture Scaffold...x Sceario Writig Guide.........................x Sceario Critique...x CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 19
Name What is a Risk? Draw or write about what you thik a risk is. Draw or write about two risks you have take i your life. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 20
Name: Habits of a Iterviewer What is a iterviewer or reporter? What are some habits of a iterviewer? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What is the laguage of a iterviewer? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 21
Name: My Family History: Sample Iterview Questios Read through the list of iterview questios. Pick the 10 best iterview questios that you would really like to ask your family member. Try to pick questios that you thik would ucover a iterestig story to write about. Highlight the top 10 questios you wat to ask your family member. 1. Whe ad where were you bor? 2. How did your family come to live there? 3. What was the house (apartmet, farm, etc.) like? 4. Were there ay special items i the house that you remember? 5. What is your earliest childhood memory? 6. What kid of games did you play growig up? 7. What was your favorite thig to do for fu (movies, beach, etc.)? 8. What was school like for you as a child? What were your best ad worst subjects? 9. Who were your childhood heroes? 10. What world evets had the most impact o you while you were growig up? Did ay of them persoally affect your family? 11. Describe a typical family dier. Did you all eat together as a family? Who did the cookig? What were your favorite foods? 12. How were holidays (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) celebrated i your family? Did your family have special traditios? 13. How is the world today differet from what it was like whe you were a child? 14. What stories have come dow to you about your parets? Gradparets? More distat acestors? 15. Are there ay stories about famous or ifamous relatives i your family? 16. Are there ay special heirlooms, photos, bibles or other memorabilia that have bee passed dow i your family? 17. What did your family ejoy doig together? 18. What was your professio ad how did you choose it? 19. If you could have had ay other professio what would it have bee? Why was t it your first choice? 20. Of all the thigs you leared from your parets, which do you feel was the most valuable? 21. What accomplishmets were you the most proud of? 22. What is the oe thig you most wat people to remember about you? CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 22
23. What are some risks you or your family members have take? 24. What values motivated you/them to take the risks? 25. What were the circumstaces surroudig the risk? 26. What were some of the potetial positive ad egative outcomes that came, or could have come, from the choices you made? CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 23
Coductig the Iterview Choose 10 questios from the list to ask your family member (6 from the top PLUS the four bold questios at the bottom.) Coduct your formal iterview. Write dow the resposes i the lies below. Who are you iterviewig? What is his/her relatio to you? What is his/her full ame? Itroduce your iterview. Explai the purpose ad the types of questios you will be askig. Describe how you will be recordig your iterviewee s resposes. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 24
1. 2. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 25
3. 4. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 26
Risk Story Checklist Risk Aalysis: Does your story aswer all of these questios about risk? If so, check the box ad write the aswer that is foud i your story. If ot, what iformatio could you add or what questios could you ask your family member to fid the aswer? Risk: What was the risk that your family member took? Circumstaces: What were the circumstaces that led your family member to take that risk? Values: What did your family member value that made him or her take that risk? Sacrifices: What were the sacrifices he or she made because of takig that risk? Positive Outcomes: What were the positive thigs that happeed because of takig that risk? Negative Outcomes: What were the egative thigs that happeed because of takig that risk? Importace: Why was this risk importat to your family member ad the rest of your family? CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 27
Risk Story Feedback 1. Read your parter s family story, just to ejoy it. 2. Read your parter s family story agai, this time with your critique glasses o. 3. Warm Feedback: What did you ejoy about your parter s story? What surprised you? What iterested you? 4. Risk Aalysis: Does your parter s story aswer all of these questios about risk? If so, what are the aswers? If ot, recommed questios your parter could ask their family member to fid the aswer. What was the risk that the family member took? What did the family member value that made them take that risk? What were the sacrifices the family member made because of that risk? What were the positive thigs that happeed because of that risk? What were the egative thigs that happeed because of that risk? Does the author thik it was a good risk or a bad risk? Why? 4. Cool Feedback: What recommedatios do you have for your parter to help him or her improve the work? Remember to be kid, helpful ad specific i your feedback. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 28
Name: Iterview Sum mary The perso I iterviewed was: My relatio to this perso is: I leared about the emigratio of my family from: to The reasos they made the decisio to move were: The risks they took were: The sacrifices they made were: The positive thigs that happeed were: CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 29
The egative thigs that happeed were: Some iterestig details I leared that we could icorporate ito our Choose Your Ow Adveture are: If I could talk to someoe else i my family, I might ask them: The thigs I leared about my family that I did t kow before are: CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 30
Adveture Scaffold What was the risk take? Or what the decisio beig made? Example: My great gradpa was bor ad raised i Mexico city. He came from a poor family ad was oe of seve childre. He wated to move to Califoria to make a better life for them. 1. Optio Oe: Leave his family behid, move to Califoria ad work as a farmer. 2. Optio Two: Stay behid i Mexico Pros: u He ca make more moey i the Uited States tha he ca i Mexico. He would be able to sed most of this moey back to Mexico to help support his family. u He kew that whe he got married ad had childre they would be U.S. citizes ad would be able to go to college ad get good jobs. Cos: u He might ever see his family agai. u The jourey to the U.S. might be dagerous. u He is ot a Uited States citize, so he risks beig deported, payig fies, or beig mistreated i the Uited States. Pros: u He will be with his family u His life is ot at risk. He will be safe. Cos: u His family might starve. u He may ot be able to provide for his ow childre dow the road. 1. Decisio that was made: My great ucle decided to move to the Uited States. It was a risky move, because he had to move illegally to the Uited States. He left behid his family. 2. What happeed? The outcome was: As soo as my great ucle arrived to Sa Diego, he made a fried, who was the ower of a small market. The ma gave him a job. Because my great ucle did t kow ay better, he eded up workig 15 hours a day ad was oly makig $100 per week. He worked very hard ad saved as much moey as he could, but he was paid so little it was really hard to save. The ower of the store was mea to my ucle ad did t let him take time off work to try ad fid a place to live. He also refused to pay him more moey. For a while my ucle had owhere to live. But, he was so happy to have a job that he worked there for several years. Evetually my ucle made ew frieds who told him that he was beig cheated. My ucle was too afraid to tell the shop ower that he was quittig, so he just ever wet back to work. Evetually, he foud aother job doig the same work, but this time for a hoest ma. He was paid miimum wage ad was fially able to make eough moey to sed home to his family. Evetually my ucle owed a store of his ow, which became very popular i his eighborhood. People came from far ad wide to buy his fresh produce. My ucle got married ad had two childre who grew up to go to good colleges. Oe became a doctor ad oe became a teacher. 3. Was this a good risk or bad risk? At first it did t seem like a good risk to him, because life was very hard. Evetually the risk paid off ad my ucle became very successful ad happy. CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 31
What was the risk take? Or what the decisio beig made? 1. Optio Oe: 2. Optio Two: Pros: Cos: Pros: Cos: 1. Decisio that was made: 2. What happeed? The outcome was: 3. Was this a good risk or bad risk? Why? What was the risk take? Or what the decisio beig made? 1. Optio Oe: 2. Optio Two: Pros: Cos: Pros: Cos: 1. Decisio that was made: 2. What happeed? The outcome was: 3. Was this a good risk or bad risk? Why? CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 32
Sceario Writig Guide Your sceario: Facts about your topic (for example: the place ad year whe it was happeig, what was happeig i history the, what laws were curretly i place, what rights people did or did ot have, what resources people did or did ot have, etc.) 1. What facts do you eed to kow for your itroductio? 2. Itroductio/ Story (Circumstaces): CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 33
Optio 1: Optio 2: Pros Cos Pros Cos Choice 1 Outcomes Great: Choice 2 Outcomes Great: Good: Good: Bad: Bad: Very Bad: Very Bad: CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 34
Sceario: Feedback from: Sceario Critique Itroductio: There are a lot of details i the itroductio You kow WHERE the story takes place You kow WHEN the story takes place The story is VIVID You kow how OLD the character is Argumet 1: There are at least 3 pro argumets The argumets are iterestig ad creative The argumets make sese If you could add oe more argumet, it would be: Argumet 2: There are at least three pro argumets The argumets are iterestig ad creative The argumets make sese If you could add oe more argumet, it would be: Outcomes (for choice 1) The outcomes are realistic The outcomes relate DIRECTLY to the choice you made The outcomes each tell a story Outcomes (for choice 2) The outcomes are realistic The outcomes relate DIRECTLY to the choice you made The outcomes each tell a story Warm Feedback: Cool Feedback: CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 35
SECTION V. Teacher Materials Project Checklist...x Presetatio Brochure (? missig)....x Sample Paret Letter...x Risk Scearios...x Sample Risk Ma...x Blak Risk Ma.................................x Sample Sceario...x CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 36
Name: Perso iterviewed (ame/relatio): Risk Project Checklist Iterview completed Iterview quality check Iterview summary Picture brought i Risk-Taker Write-Up Rough Draft Risk- Taker Write-Up Feedback received Risk-Taker Write-Up Fial Draft CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 37
Presetatio Brochure (? missig) CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 38
Dear 4th Grade Families, We are excited to aouce the start of a major project, Choose Your Ow Adveture. We will be ivestigatig the Drivig Questio: What makes people take risks? Coected to their study of our state s history, studets will also explore the questio: What brigs people to (state) ad to the Uited States? I class we will study historical motives for movig to (state) ad will evaluate the risk ivolved i people s decisios to make this move. Studets will also be explorig their persoal family history ad will be iterviewig a family member to lear more about their ow family s jourey to where they live ow. Alog with this project, our class is readig, a story of risk ad adveture that is set durig the period of. Additioally, the theme of our ext book club will be risk-takig ad immigratio. Studets will also have the opportuity to read a variety of other texts about risk-takig ad will be asked to empathize with historical figures ad their decisio-makig process. Ultimately they will write about whether they thik the decisios studied were worth the risk. Oe of the thigs we have already bee talkig about is the decisio-makig process oe uses whe makig a difficult decisio where risk is ivolved. Studets are learig to cosider values, goals, ad probability of outcomes. Their study of probability will be wove throughout the project, as they lear about math i a real world cotext. Fially, studet teams will be combiig what they lear from their persoal family history, from historical stories of immigratio ad risk, ad from their classmates to write stories about risk-takig. We are excited to begi this project ad wat to ecourage you to talk to your child about their family history. For some of you this will be easier tha others. Ultimately, we would like the studets to choose a member of their family to iterview. Please help them select someoe who ca share a story of immigratio or of risk takig. Thak you i advace for your support with this project. Warm regards, CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 39
Risk Scearios 1. Three middle school studets are makig fu of a 4th grade studet. They are laughig at the 4th grader s project by callig the studet ames ad teasig about the studet s itelligece. You see this happeig after school ad there are o adults aroud. What would you do? 2. There is a storm approachig while you are climbig i the moutais. I order to escape the storm a helicopter has come to rescue you. Sice the helicopter caot lad o the rocky terrai, you must climb up a rope to the helicopter. You are afraid of heights ad have ever climbed up a rope before. You look aroud ad see a cave o the side of the moutai. What would you do? 3. The filmmakers at Disey Studios i Hollywood have asked you to auditio for a part i their ewest movie. They will give the wier of the tryouts $300,000,000. I order to wi, you will have to act out a fuy script i frot of three judges ad o live T.V. i frot of millios of viewers. If you lose, you have to pay for your ow trip back home. What would you do? 4. It is Sprig Project Presetatio Day at school! You are with a group of classmates who are presetig their project. While you are presetig, the Superitedet of the school district visits your classroom. He asks your group a questio about the global impact of your project. Your teammates do ot speak up ad the Superitedet is still waitig for a aswer. What would you do? 5. You just received a letter i the mail sayig that you have bee accepted to a very good school ad you ca start ext year. This school goes from 5th-12th grade ad graduates go o to become successful doctors, lawyers, actors, politicias, egieers, teachers, presidets you ame it! You kow that if you go to this school ad do well, you will have amazig opportuities. The oly problem is that the school is i Lodo, Eglad, ad your parets would stay here. Would you go? 6. A ew law has just bee passed sayig that left-haded people ca o loger atted the same schools as right-haded people. I fact, they ca t eat i the same restaurats, or use the same restrooms, either. Left-haded ad right-haded people ow have to live completely separate lives. Your best fried uses a differet had tha you do, so you o loger go to the same school. You have heard that authorities are very strict about the ew law. You eve heard a rumor that eve kids your age have bee caught by police ad set to jail for disobeyig this law. However, despite the laws, your best fried has ivited you to her (or his) birthday party ext week. What do you do? CC BY 3.0 Buck Istitute for Educatio bie.org Choose Your Ow Adveture 40