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Hello there, friends. Harlene and I have been implementing our project since the first week of September, and it's been interesting. Let me share some "works in progress" and we look forward to your feedback. 1. After we returned from DC, we worked on refining the ideas from the Institute into workable materials for classroom instruction. For example, working from our unit draft developed at the Institute, we created these items, and are gradually working them into classroom instruction to facilitate the unit. A. Packet of sample sources of all types on the AMMEM site. B. Guided tour for students of the AMMEM site, where they encounter all types of sources, plus learn how to do searches using the Learning Page, in specific collections, and in the entire collection. Students bookmarked various pages so they could easily return to them later on. C. A project overview for the students, which laid out the goals, the process for student work, the types of final products, and a "get started" process to facilitate group organization, with an initial timeline. Because the project is "evolving" this quarter, more handouts from Harlene and I are forthcoming. D. Research Investigation Structure Form: This form places the student in the position of developing 3 investigative questions about their particular theme. I then reviewed the questions to help students refine them for clarity and relevancy, and they then identified relevant topics for researching information about their questions, as a starting point to answer them. Some students faced a bit of difficulty with this task, but they are improving as we give assistance. One student said to me " I usually get a topic assigned to me, this is hard." I said, if you develop your own questions, you'll own the process and topic more. We'll see. E. Preliminary bibliography form: We're requiring a minimum of 10 secondary sources and 15 primary sources (at least 5 from the AMMEM site) in the final projects. This form requires the student to identify 5 secondary sources about their topic and turn in the references in proper bibliographic form, with a description of how the source contributes to their topic. F. Library research: In addition to classroom-based activities (we have some computers in each room, so Internet access is possible for small groups any day) we've worked with students in the library to find materials, primarily their secondary sources. This worked well and was concluded last week. G. Using Primary Sources: What Can They Reveal to Us about the Past: This form was created as a generic analysis form to help students learn the utility of primary sources in understanding larger historical trends. It builds upon the activities we participated in this past summer, and we've used it in two ways: first, with selected eyewitness accounts of late 19th century historical issues in the book Ordinary Americans, which we assign to each student in our US I and US II program; and second, as an analysis form for one document from the AMMEM collection that each student selected and analyzed related to their topic. We're grading them now, and we'll see about the results. H. Citing Electronic Sources: Harlene developed an excellent, concise summary of how to cite the different types of electronic sources on the AMMEM site. This type of documentation will be required of all students as they build their presentations. I. List of Core Historical Topics: I elaborated how to develop a set of investigative questions about their themes for the students as a model, and linked specific topics to it. This served as a starting point for student development of their questions and related topics. J. Historical Resume: Since each student will assume an accurate historical role for their time period as they make their presentation, they will complete an "historical resume" that helps them structure their persona. K. Here are the forms we've worked on, but haven't finished yet. They will be forthcoming as the project emerges. 1. Project specifications for each type of project: to be completed this week so students can prioritize their project focus and begin creation of their final product. 2. Strategy for sharing: Each group will develop a strategy to have others in the class understand the "essential findings" of their group, either through an in-class evaluation, a review, or some other mechanism. 3. Peer review form for projects 4. Annotated bibliography form 5. Rubric for project evaluation (ideas are particularly welcome here--our project options are on our draft plan on the site) So, we've been busy. I also have a student teacher from Rutgers this quarter who I'm sharing with another social studies teacher, and I've retained primary responsibility for this project, although he assists very capably. We're thinking of videotaping selected projects, and we'll definitely be collecting student work products along the way from 6 students, 2 high, 2 low and 2 middle level achievers in the class, balanced by gender. Harlene and I will be reflecting on what we gather as we go along. If possible, I will be giving a survey to the students this week and at the end of the project about primary source use, group processing, and related instructional issues which we've used in other action research projects. This survey needs to be modified for the AMMEM project, but I've been sick for the past 5 days and you know what that's like. So, this rather endless stream of consciousness has now concluded. We look forward to your feedback and hope that this has been as helpful as the many fine contributions to this list have been to us. Oh yes--Harlene and I are intending to put in a proposal for the Northeast Regional Conference on the Social Studies in Boston MA for March 1998. Would any other AMMEM fellows like to particpate too? We want a 2 hour clinic timeslot. Please reply by 9-26 to me via this listserv, or directly to me at my new email: [log in to unmask] Thanks gang, and t--shirts are also moving forward! More info on that next week. Sincerely, Bill Fernekes Hunterdon Central Regional HS