Developed by Mary Adamcik and Fourth Grade Teachers

Title: Tour of Texas Developed by Mary Adamcik and Fourth Grade Teachers

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Objective: The students will create a web diagram for a trip to the regions of Texas and use it to write a short essay. Timeline: One or two 45 – minute classes

Content Area: Social Studies Grade Level: 4 Materials/Resources: Kidspiration3 Technology Focus: Graphical Organizers Internet TEKS: Subject Area - §113.6.4.7 §113.6.4.23 (A, B, D, E) Technology Applications - §126.3.2 (A-D); §126.3. (A, B);§126.3.4 (A, B); §126.3.7 (A, B, C); §126.3.11 (A)

Procedures:

1. Open Kidspiration3 and select Picture under New. 2. In the Main Idea symbol, type: My Tour of Texas. 3. With the symbol selected, go to the Geography Library and select States O-W. 4. Locate the Texas symbol and click to add it to the symbol. 5. With the symbol still selected, change the fill color to red and the line color to blue.

6. Click on the Add a Symbol icon four times to add four more symbols connected to the main idea. 7. Click one of the new symbols to select it. 8. Select Habitats from the Geography library. 9. Select a symbol for one region of Texas. 10. Click on the next blank symbol and select a symbol from the Habitats library to represent another region of Texas. 11. Continue selecting symbols to represent each region of Texas. 12. Using the websites listed in Additional Resources/Websites below or a Search Engine under Research Tools > Search Engines, locate information about each of the regions of Texas. 13. Use the Forward and Backward buttons move from page to page. 14. Use the Home button to return to the MISD website. 15. To add an image from a website to your diagram, right-click the image on the webpage and select Copy. 16. Return to your diagram. 17. Add a new symbol showing a point of interest in the region you are researching. 18. With the new symbol selected, go to Edit > Paste. 19. Adjust the size of the symbol, if needed. 20. Click the text box below the symbol. 21. Return to the website. 22. Click on the website address to select it. 23. Right-click with the cursor on the address and select Copy. 24. Return to the diagram. 25. Go to Edit > Paste to insert the web address in to the textbox below the new symbol. 26. Adjust the size of the text, if needed. 27. Click on the links line to open the text box there. 28. Type in a label for the symbol—ex. Big Bend. 29. Continue locating information on the Internet until you have added at least two symbols, web addresses, and labels to each region of Texas.

30. Click the Go to Writing button . 31. Click on the blue line in each textbox and write a sentence giving more details about the region or one of the symbols you selected for the region.

32. When you have added information to each textbox, click on the Add Idea symbol in the Menu bar. 33. Use the Move Left arrow in the Menu bar to make this idea a new topic (so it is even with the names of the regions.) 34. Click next to the pink line in this new symbol and type: My Opinion. 35. Then click on the blue line in the new symbol and type a sentence telling which region of Texas you would most like to visit and why. 36. Go to Goodies in the Menu and select Spell Check. 37. Click on the Student Name icon and type in your name. 38. Click OK. 39. Click on the Publish icon and select Microsoft Word. 40. Click OK. 41. Save and Print from Microsoft Word.

Assessment: Rubric and Printed document. Tour of Texas Rubric Expected skill Points Possible Points Earned Diagram complete 20 Resources cited for each image 20 Details added to each symbol in writing view 20 Opinion statement present 10 Spelling and grammar checked 10 Document ‘published’ correctly 10 Student’s name present 10 ModificationsTotal : 100 Require fewer icons for each region of Texas. Extensions: Cover all the regions of Texas, not just the basic four. Create a list of Internet Resources in the “published” version by copying and pasting website addresses from the Internet to Microsoft Word. Additional Resources: ETRIP Research Tools - http://ww2.midwayisd.org/etrip/search/search.htm Regions - http://falcon.tamucc.edu/~edtech/summer.5310.1999/bhinnant/ Regions map - http://www.tourtexas.com/texasmap_regions.html Go Texas - http://gotexas.about.com/od/texasvacations/a/TexasRegions.htm

Skills: Internet/Information/Communication Accessing Information skills utilized in the project Use automated card catalog (lesson done by librarian) R Enter a web address in the browser R X Use a search engine/on-line database to locate valid information R X Copy a web address from the Internet and paste in another I X program to cite the source URL Copy a graphic from the Internet and paste in another program R X Use interactive technology for problem solving R Use electronic communication to share information R Create a product collaboratively R Write any additional skills taught in the project

Graphical Organizers Picture View skills utilized in the project Change the Symbol Color R X Writing View Use Writing View R X Add an Idea R X Move an Idea R X Add Details to an Idea R X