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October 1, 1999
Move Over Oprah!
By Muggs Murphy
This past school year, my fifth-grade GT class at Burris School in Mitchell, Indiana, did its own takeoff of Oprah Winfrey's famous book club using distance learning. The kids hooked up with Mr. Horner's fifth graders in Tell City, Indiana, to share their thoughts on the book Rifles for Watie. Mr. Horner and I used Microsoft's NetMeeting program to do the initial project planning. We usually met before school to discuss what activities each class would be responsible for and how we would share them with each other.
The students began the project by reading Rifles for Watie. This wasn't easy because the Tell City book order did not arrive on time. But, as teachers know, where there is a will, there is a way. We shared 13 books between the two classes. My husband, a private pilot, flew to Tell City to deliver them in person! The kids thought that was pretty cool!
After the students got into the book, we had our first class NetMeeting. The students spent time introducing themselves and then made a Venn diagram on the whiteboard to compare the main character to a modern fifth grader; some of their insights were very interesting.
Meanwhile, back in our Burris class, my students had to complete literary packs made with the Inspiration program. Some of the activities dealt with the literary elements of character, setting, theme, and conflict. As the students completed their packs, they prepared multimedia book reports using HyperStudio to share with the Tell City class.
At the second class NetMeeting, Mr. Horner's students had an Inspiration web that of character traits that they shared with my class. My students had to type in the character that matched the trait described by their Tell City classmates. They also spent time discussing the book with each other.
The culminating activity for this project was supposed to be a teleconference to share the HyperStudio book reports prepared by the Mitchell students and the Civil War timeline created by the Tell City students using the TimeLiner program. Unfortunately, our field trip was cancelled, so we had a culminating NetMeeting to share our information.
The students enjoyed this project and realized that it can be fun to read a book and share thoughts and reactions with peers. As a teacher observer, I saw the kids getting more involved than if I had assigned the book and a book report. One of my students enjoyed the project so much that she already has written seven chapters in her own sequel to Rifles for Watie! Using distance learning in your classroom can put a new twist on a tired, old assignment.
E-Mail: Muggs Murphy
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