8th grade Computers completed a large writing and research project based on the book Hungry Planet by Peter Menzel. Students looked at photos of various families from around the world and what they ate for one week and wrote a report/essay on what they discovered. The primary skill taught in this project was critical thinking---comparing and contrasting different cultures around the world. Other skills taught included the proper creation and formatting of an MS Word document. The students got practice inserting charts and pictures as well.
They also did a project based on John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The students researched some of the theories regarding who may have been responsible for the assassination and created a table in MS Word that compares the theories and evaluates their credibility. Again, critical thinking was expected of the students with this project. Learning to insert a table into a Word document was also taught.
The 7th graders wrote a major report on the history of Nevada that counted for Social Studies and Language Arts. One area that students can’t get enough practice is in learning how to use sites online to gather and evaluate information. This assignment gave the students this practice. They also learned how to properly format a Word document and insert pictures and a chart that they created.
The 6th grade has spent the past few weeks doing a Webquest on the life and death of King Tut. They researched the material that is known to us and wrote a report on their findings. Using information from a specific website that gives information on the life and death of King Tut, students worked on writing good introductory, body, and concluding paragraphs. Again, reading material and analyzing it critically to create a well-written report were the primary skills practiced .