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Welcome- or Welcome Back! to Our Class Wiki As an introduction for our new students to the magic of the Wiki, we are going to use it for our first project: creating a Political Party Ad.

Every day, please visit the wiki and see what there is to do in class, and at home.

Daily Agenda (Students)
Wednesday, April 23 You are all doing a fantastic job. I am learning so much from you. You can be really proud of yourselves. Some groups have really taken on the task of editing their pages down, and putting their information into "kid language". Nice work. This is an important part of your wiki, so keep hammering away at it. All of the pages have great visuals. Remember: pick the ones that give the most information the best, and make sure you have labeled them so the viewer knows what he or she is looking at. Don't overwhelm your visitors.

Today you will spend the morning in your page groups: all the people working on your wiki will be together for the first time. Friday will be the last day you have to work on them. When you meet in your complete group, be prepared to give "two stars and a wish" about your page (two things you think are working and one thing you would like to see improved). Remember, at the end of the unit, you will be self evaluating and evaluating the others in your group.

Nice work!

Monday, April 21 Today will be a check-in day with Ms. Enga. Be prepared to discuss what you like about your wiki, and what you still want to achieve. If you have not contributed to your wiki, think about what you can do. Here are a few tips to take into account:
 * All orange RESEARCH SHEETS will be collected today.
 * this is an overview. EDIT. Only the MAIN POINTS should appear in each category, and they should be in "kid language".
 * any sentences that are cut and pasted from another site are disqualified as information. I repeat: it has to be in your own words.
 * all maps, pictures and videos must be labeled

Thursday, April 17

Our goal today is to work on our research, and then make sure each note is in a category: WHO WHAT WHERE WHEN WHY or HOW.
 * homework for Monday: finish research! You should be able to speak knowledgeably about your topic, and answer the 5 W's

Wednesday, April 16 Congratulations to Janessa, who successfully posted on her wikipage, and to Allie, who did the homework, but in the wrong spot, and Julie, who found a way to do her homework even though the wiki foiled her.

Our goal today is to create the criteria for our wikipages.
 * sit in your groups as assigned on the front board
 * before you do anything else, visit one of the class sites linked under "helpful links" and tell your group one thing you notice that would be helpful to you and your classmates
 * figure out how to add a website that you have been looking at to the "Greek Wars Internet Sites" page (and do it)
 * compare your research information so far: do you think you have enough to build an interesting page?
 * decide on four things that your wikipage is going to have

Tuesday, April 15 Welcome to the Wiki. Today you must:
 * organize yourself into the group you have been assigned
 * watch the video "Wikis in Plain English"
 * figure out how to ask to join the Wiki, and ask to join Clengwell
 * visit one of the linked wikis on the site, look it over, and make three observations about it
 * look at the criteria for the Greek Wars Fact Sheets
 * make sure you have your RSS 4 (1 per student)
 * find two websites dealing with your topic
 * start taking notes, by hand, on your RSS 4

Videos that Teach
media type="custom" key="645135"

Helpful links
Example of Successful Classroom Wikis http://sciencealive.wikispaces.com/ https://socialstudiessimulation.wikispaces.com/

Internet Safety
Students in our two classes have been instructed to:
 * 1) Keep ALL personal information off the Wiki (full name, name of school, email address, even the city we live in)
 * 2) Send email messages with the assistance of their teacher
 * 3) Consider their audience (the world) before they post anything on their Wiki

For Parents
Creating this Wiki has many exciting learning applications, some of which are:

It allows students to determine what they need to learn, manage their learning, contribute to each other's learning and develop metacognitive awareness.
 * Extending students' responsibility for their own learning.

It encourages students to use their existing knowledge, promotes active knowledge construction and higher level thinking, and provides a real audience to make the task authentic.
 * Making learning meaningful.

Parents, please visit the Wiki often and ask your child more about what they are doing and how he or she decides what to post on it.

Sources: https://socialstudiessimulation.wikispaces.com/ Bonnie Skaalid. Application of Constructivist Principles to the Practice of Instruction Technology. [Online] Available http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/802papers/Skaalid/application.html, March 29th, 2007

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns, or if you would like to contribute in some way to this wiki.