Teaching Digital Curation Using LiveBinders to Study the Life and Times of Mark Twain
Created By:
Emily McDaniel
Title/Role:
8th grade English Teacher & School Librarian Student
Organization/School Name:
Chesterfield County Public Schools
Location:
Virginia
Grade Level:
8 Type of Lesson:
Stand-alone lesson Type of Schedule:
Fixed Collaboration Continuum:
Moderate Content Area:
Language Arts Content Topic:
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Scenario:
In preparation for the class novel study of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, a single 8th grade Gifted Honors English class will be assigned groups to research 1 of 6 unique areas of background information (“Mark Twain,” “Time Period,” “Mississippi River Life,” “Civil Rights,” “Hannibal, Missouri,” and “Literature, Art, & Music”). We will discuss what makes an online resource reliable, what digital curation is and why it’s useful, as well as learn our way around a free, online digital curation program called LiveBinders. Students will then evaluate and curate various multimedia sites for content appropriate to their topic. Once finished, each group will present their section of the binder to the rest of the class – with hopes that the finished product will be used by other 8th graders studying the same novel. [Teacher & I met several times leading up to the start of the unit. Once we began, it required my full attention for 4 consecutive class periods - the first 2 and last 2 of the overall plan. Normally, we are on a fixed schedule of 30 minutes every two weeks.] Overview:
Students will gain background knowledge of the time period surrounding Mark Twain's THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER. They will do this by also learning how to digitally curate multimedia materials and Joyce Valenza's CAARD evaluation and selection method for choosing reliable web-based resources. Final Product:
Upon completion of the assignment, students will have created a LiveBinder full of multimedia resources regarding the six topics: Mark Twain, Time Period, Mississippi River life, Civil Rights, Hannibal, MO, and Literature, Art, and Music. Students will then create instructions for lower-level students to navigate the LiveBinder to learn the same material. Library Lesson:
Students will learn what digital curation is, how to evaluate and select reliable web-based resources, define primary sources, and how to use the program LiveBinders to curate, organize, and share online materials. Estimated Lesson Time:
120 minutes Have you taught this lesson before:
Yes Strategies for differentiation:
Rather than create the actual LiveBinder, teachers could create the LiveBinder and a variety of scavenger hunt-type questions that will send students through the LiveBinder looking for specific information related to the topic (which in this case was Tom Sawyer/Mark Twain).