How can we share what we’ve learned about our watershed with our community?
Overview
Students reflect on their learning throughout the Community Connections Watershed Experience and design educational posters to share information about their watershed with their community. Students and teachers work with local municipal government to plan a presentation of the posters to community members and arrange for long-term display in kiosks at town/city parks, waterfronts, or local natural areas; or in public libraries or other municipal buildings.
This activity was developed as part of the Penobscot River Watershed Education Program, a collaborative project led by Maine Sea Grant, the University of Maine Senator George J. Mitchell Center, and the Penobscot River Restoration Trust, working in partnership with Old Town Elementary School and the City of Old Town, Maine. Fifth grade teachers and students at Old Town Elementary School piloted this activity during the 2007-2008 school year.
This activity incorporates student learning and community perspectives from all of the previous lessons in this watershed experience, and it gives students an opportunity to organize and present their research findings. Students make a transition from learners to educators through the student-driven process of finding meaning in the work they have done and distilling it into simple, coherent messages for their community.
Designing educational posters is one of many possibilities for Student Action as a culminating activity for the Community Connections Watershed Experience. The Activity Procedure outlines the steps that 5th grade teachers and students at Old Town Elementary School took to conceptualize, design, produce, and present their posters to their community. A few of the many other possibilities for culminating Student Action projects include:
Creating full transcriptions of oral history interviews and donating them to local libraries or historical collections.
Working with town/city public work departments to create signage with watershed maps and cultural history information at local water access points.
Creating a video of edited oral history interviews (with permission from interviewees), and asking the town/city for permission to put the video on the municipal website and/or broadcast them on local public access television.
Create a video of the students conducting their social science research and sharing their values for their community’s watershed resources. Arrange for students to present the video at a town hall meeting or town/city council meeting and make recommendations for municipal actions that would enhance stewardship of local resources.
Standards (MLR)
Social Studies
A1. Researching and Developing Positions on Current Social Studies Issues
3-5 Students identify and answer research questions related to social studies by locating and selecting information and presenting findings.
6-8 Students research, select, and present a position on a current social studies issue by proposing and revising research questions, and locating and selecting information from multiple and varied sources.
A3. Taking Action Using Social Studies Knowledge and Skills
3-5 Students select, plan, and participate in a civic action or service-learning project based on a classroom, school, or local community asset or need, and describe evidence of the project’s effectiveness and civic contribution.
6-8 Students select, plan, and implement a civic action or service-learning project based on a school, community, or State asset or need, and analyze the project’s effectiveness and civic contribution.
E2. Individual, Cultural, International, and Global Connections in History
3-5 Students understand historical aspects of unity and diversity in the community, Maine, and the United States, including Maine Native American Communities.
6-8 Students understand historical aspects of unity and diversity in Maine, the United States, and various world cultures, including Maine Native Americans.
English Language Arts
E2. Speaking
3-5 Students use active speaking skills to communicate effectively in a variety of contexts.
6-8 Students adjust speaking strategies for formal and informal discussions, debates, or presentations appropriate to the audience or purpose.
Visual and Performing Arts
B. Creation, Performance, and Expression – Visual Arts
B3. Making Meaning
3-5 Students create art works that communicate ideas, feelings, and meanings and demonstrate skill in the use of media, tools, techniques, and processes.
6-8 Students create art works that communicate an individual point of view.
Learning Objectives
Students reflect on their learning and identify recurring themes in the information they gathered during the Investigation
Students work collaboratively to form these themes into a series of educational messages
Students use writing and artistic design skills to depict and describe their messages in the form of a poster
Students help to plan a community event and present their completed posters to friends, family, oral history interviewees, town/city government officials, and other local residents
Materials
Sheets of butcher paper cut to the same dimensions as final posters
Drawing paper
Scissors, tape, markers, colored pencils, paints
Post-It notes
Small stickers (any type, for students to prioritize poster themes)
Computer(s) and Internet connection
Access to simple graphic design software or someone skilled in graphic design
A scanner, or funds to use a copy shop scanner
Access to a large-format printer or funds to pay for printing of final posters
Light snacks and drinks for the community event, or donations of these items from local businesses
Time Needed
Four to six 40-50 minute class periods, and a 3-hour block of time for the community event.
Activity Procedure
Part I – Reflecting on the Community Connections Watershed Experience and brainstorming a list of poster themes
To help the students reflect on the project and get their creative juices flowing, put together a slide show of photographs teachers and students took throughout the oral history project and the cultural and historical research activities.
Group think: Ask the students to brainstorm a list of important information or ideas that they learned through their Investigation. Capture this list on a flip chart.
Based on this list, ask the students to try to distill the ideas and information that they learned into themes for educational posters they will use to share this information with their communities. Examples of possible themes to help get students thinking:
Who lives in my watershed? A poster on this theme might include a map of the watershed with labeled human communities and geographic features, and student artwork of local plant and animal species and local bodies of water with descriptive captions.
History of Community Connections to the ___ WatershedA poster on this theme might include a series of historical photographs, quotations from oral history interviews, and student artwork along a timeline depicting how cultural, recreational, or commercial uses of local water bodies and other watershed resources have changed over time.
NOTE: If your students wish to include information about or depictions of local Native American communities within one of the Maine tribes of Wabanaki people as part of a history-themed poster, it is important to be sure that the information is culturally appropriate and accurate. You can learn more at the websites of the Maine Wabanaki tribes. Several of the websites include contact information for the tribes’ museums and cultural history professionals.
Taking Care of the ___ Watershed A poster on this theme could include information about getting involved in local stewardship groups’ activities, tips on how to care for local watershed resources, and students’ messages about why a clean, healthy watershed is important for all of the humans, plants, and animals that live there.
Work as a class to prioritize the list of themes and narrow the list to three. You can use the following group process for prioritization:
Give each student three small stickers, and ask them to put one sticker beside each of the three themes that they think are most important
Tally up the number of stickers next to each one, and choose the three themes that received the most votes.
Once you have narrowed the list to three themes, and ask each student to choose one of them. Try to achieve a somewhat balanced number of students in each group, but is okay if one of the groups is larger or smaller than the others, since the most important thing is for each student to be working on a project in which they are truly interested and engaged.
Part II – Designing the posters
Start by showing students examples of educational posters that others have created, so they can get a sense for some different ways of organizing and communicating ideas on a poster. Ask the students to make observations about things they like about these posters and things they don’t like or would do differently.
Here are a few examples of simple educational posters created for public kiosks within the Penobscot River Watershed by the Maine Sea Grant Program:
Here are a few examples of more complex educational posters created by the Chewonki Foundation. You can view interactive versions of these posters online, or request free printed copies for your classroom:
Break the class up into the three poster theme groups and ask them to start by brainstorming a list of information, photos or drawings, quotations from their oral history interviews, and ideas that they want to include in their poster design.
NOTE: Teachers should circulate frequently between the groups as they work through this process, because it is fairly abstract, and can be challenging for students in grades 5 and 6.
Decide how big the students’ final posters will be. Posters between 18”x24” and 24”x36” work well, because they are large enough to include multiple examples of student artwork, along with photographs, maps, and text that is large enough to read easily.
Give each group several pieces of butcher paper that are the same size as the final posters will be, and colored pencils, a stack of Post-It notes or pieces of paper, and tape.
Ask the students to write/draw the ideas and images from their brainstorm list on the pieces of paper and Post-It notes. Then, stick them or tape them onto the butcher paper and rearrange them as they discuss design possibilities. If there is more than one competing design idea within the group, proponents of each idea can create mock-up designs on butcher paper, and then the group can consider both/all of them before deciding on one.
Once each group has come to consensus on the elements they want to include in their poster design, they can begin to locate or create the images they need by drawing or painting them themselves, using photographs from their Oral History Interviews, or asking local watershed organizations or historical societies for permission to use relevant historical photos or watershed maps that they saw during their Cultural and Historical Research. If the students would like to include a map of their watershed with some of its geographic features, you can contact your local watershed organization to ask if they have a digital map you can use, or a printed map that they can give you permission to scan. To find a listing of your local watershed organizations, visit the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Surf Your Watershed, and type your zip code into the box on the right side of the page. Then, click on the Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) for your watershed, which will take you to a page of information about your watershed. Click the tab that says, “Citizen-based groups at work in this watershed,” and you will find a list of organizations you can contact to ask for a map of your watershed.
NOTE: Including student artwork on the posters is one of the most compelling and beautiful ways that the students can make unique posters that truly represent their ideas and their learning. Student artwork ensures that the final versions of the posters, once turned into a digital format, retain the look and feel of student work, and will allow students to proudly point out their work to friends and family for years to come.
When the mock-up poster design is complete and students and teachers have located and obtained permission to use any photographs or copyright-protected materials they need, then it is time to start creating a digital version of the poster. Teachers should identify a simple graphic design program (such as Microsoft PowerPoint) that they know how to use, or ask for help from a fellow teacher or school volunteer who has these skills. If you have students with advanced digital technology skills, they may even be able to help with this process! Use a scanner to create high-resolution images of the students’ artwork or historical photographs, and place these items in the digital poster layout. If you have students with clear handwriting, it can be effective to have them hand-write captions for the photos or quotations from your Oral History Interviews and scan these pieces as well.
NOTE: Double-check to make sure you have photo releases and written permission to use all images and quotations that you want to include in the poster. Include credits for all photos, maps, or other images on your poster.
Share one or more drafts of the digital layout of the poster with the students, so that they can provide feedback and suggestions for edits before it is finalized and printed.
Part III – Getting your posters printed
Convert your digital poster file to a high-resolution PDF file (or leave it as a PowerPoint slide, if you have used PowerPoint to create it). You can either print it at school (if you have access to a large-format printer), or take it to a local print shop to have it printed. It is best to laminate the final printed posters if they will be displayed outside in a space that is not covered or enclosed.
The cost for printing large-format, color posters such as these is highly variable, so it is best to try to find a printer that handles jobs like this frequently. For example, the University of Maine Printing Services Department charges $6.50/square foot for large-format, color posters. It costs an additional $1.00/square foot to laminate large-format posters. So, a ballpark estimate for printing an 18”x24” laminated poster is $22.50, and a ballpark estimate for printing a 2’x3’ laminated poster is $45.00. Be sure that you include these costs in your budget for the project when you start. You may be able to get a local printer to give you a reduced price, since this is an educational project. Some school districts also have funds for service-learning projects that you can apply for to cover your printing costs.
Part IV – Planning and hosting a community event where students will present the finished posters
Though this section is listed last in the Activity Procedure, it is important to contact your city/town manager’s office as soon as you begin the Community Connections Watershed Experience. This allows you to tell them about your project and gain their input and ideas for where the posters can be displayed and how much wall or kiosk space there is for student posters in those locations. Knowing this will help you determine the size of your posters.
The teachers and students at Old Town Elementary School invited their city manager to the school for a meeting about the project before the students began their poster design process. In this case, the school was very fortunate to find that the City of Old Town was actually interested in building two public kiosks to display the students’ posters and other information about the watershed and community events. As it happened, the City was already thinking of building waterfront kiosks at some point, and the students’ project provided the perfect catalyst. This won’t happen in every case, but you might just get lucky, too!
Work with the town/city manager’s or mayor’s office to plan a public celebration where the students will present their finished posters to their municipal officials, families, their oral history interviewees, friends, and other community members. Your town/city office may be able to help find a time when they know local officials are likely to be able to come, and if they know about it ahead of time, they are likely to encourage them to attend.
Ask students to write personal invitations to your school or school district administrators, your town/city manager or mayor, and members of the press. The community celebration is a very important moment for your students, and they will learn valuable public speaking skills and feel even more proud of their work if the event is formal and well attended. A good write-up of the event and a photo in a local newspaper will become a treasured possession of each student involved.
If school administrators and town officials accept your invitation, ask them to say a few words of welcome and support for the project at the beginning of the event. The teacher coordinating the project should also speak to introduce each group of students who will present. Give each group five minutes to present their poster and explain the different elements and messages it contains.
If your project budget allows, or if you can get donations of light snack foods and drinks from your town/city or local supermarket. Offering food and drink will encourage people to stick around for a few minutes after the presentation. This provides time for the students to mingle with the event attendees, answer questions, and talk to reporters about their project. The Old Town Elementary School’s poster project celebration was held at the end of the school year in early June. They invited parents and family members to stay for a picnic lunch with their children in their waterfront park after the event, which was a community-building event in and of itself.
NOTE: The idea of talking to strangers about their project may seem daunting, so one way to encourage students is to give them a challenge of thanking three people they don’t know for coming, and thanking one person they met through the project for helping them to learn along the way. Students can do this in pairs, if it makes them feel more comfortable.
Reflection/Formative Assessment Ideas
This activity can be used as a means for reflection on the entire Community Connections Meaningful Watershed Experience. To help students reflect on the additional learning that takes place through their poster design process in small groups, check in with each small group from time-to-time throughout the process, and ask them each to share something they found challenging, and something they have found rewarding or fun about the design process. This will also help teachers understand which parts of the process are most challenging, and which groups may need extra support. When each small group is finished with their poster design mock-ups on butcher paper, bring all three groups together and ask each of them to show their poster design and describe their design process to the rest of the class. Ask each group to tell the others what challenges they faced and how they got through them as a group.
Extension Ideas
Ask students to collectively or individually write a short article for their local community newspaper about their experience of learning about community connections to their watershed. Ask the students to share their thoughts about what they learned and why the watershed is important to them. Include photographs of the students conducting oral history interviews and cultural and historical research with the article.
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Take Action: Design Educational Posters About Your Watershed!
Author(s):
Beth Bisson, Maine Sea Grant Program;
Sandy Daniel, Old Town Elementary School;
Cheryl Daigle, Penobscot River Restoration Trust;
Ruth Hallsworth, University of Maine Senator George J. Mitchell Center;
Cathy Lucas, Old Town Elementary School;
Kristy St. Peter, Old Town Elementary School
Table of Contents
Question(s)
How can we share what we’ve learned about our watershed with our community?
Overview
Students reflect on their learning throughout the Community Connections Watershed Experience and design educational posters to share information about their watershed with their community. Students and teachers work with local municipal government to plan a presentation of the posters to community members and arrange for long-term display in kiosks at town/city parks, waterfronts, or local natural areas; or in public libraries or other municipal buildings.
This activity was developed as part of the Penobscot River Watershed Education Program, a collaborative project led by Maine Sea Grant, the University of Maine Senator George J. Mitchell Center, and the Penobscot River Restoration Trust, working in partnership with Old Town Elementary School and the City of Old Town, Maine. Fifth grade teachers and students at Old Town Elementary School piloted this activity during the 2007-2008 school year.
This activity incorporates student learning and community perspectives from all of the previous lessons in this watershed experience, and it gives students an opportunity to organize and present their research findings. Students make a transition from learners to educators through the student-driven process of finding meaning in the work they have done and distilling it into simple, coherent messages for their community.
Designing educational posters is one of many possibilities for Student Action as a culminating activity for the Community Connections Watershed Experience. The Activity Procedure outlines the steps that 5th grade teachers and students at Old Town Elementary School took to conceptualize, design, produce, and present their posters to their community. A few of the many other possibilities for culminating Student Action projects include:
Standards (MLR)
Social Studies
A1. Researching and Developing Positions on Current Social Studies Issues
3-5 Students identify and answer research questions related to social studies by locating and selecting information and presenting findings.
6-8 Students research, select, and present a position on a current social studies issue by proposing and revising research questions, and locating and selecting information from multiple and varied sources.
A3. Taking Action Using Social Studies Knowledge and Skills
3-5 Students select, plan, and participate in a civic action or service-learning project based on a classroom, school, or local community asset or need, and describe evidence of the project’s effectiveness and civic contribution.
6-8 Students select, plan, and implement a civic action or service-learning project based on a school, community, or State asset or need, and analyze the project’s effectiveness and civic contribution.
E2. Individual, Cultural, International, and Global Connections in History
3-5 Students understand historical aspects of unity and diversity in the community, Maine, and the United States, including Maine Native American Communities.
6-8 Students understand historical aspects of unity and diversity in Maine, the United States, and various world cultures, including Maine Native Americans.
English Language Arts
E2. Speaking
3-5 Students use active speaking skills to communicate effectively in a variety of contexts.
6-8 Students adjust speaking strategies for formal and informal discussions, debates, or presentations appropriate to the audience or purpose.
Visual and Performing Arts
B. Creation, Performance, and Expression – Visual Arts
B3. Making Meaning
3-5 Students create art works that communicate ideas, feelings, and meanings and demonstrate skill in the use of media, tools, techniques, and processes.
6-8 Students create art works that communicate an individual point of view.
Learning Objectives
Materials
Time Needed
Four to six 40-50 minute class periods, and a 3-hour block of time for the community event.
Activity Procedure
Part I – Reflecting on the Community Connections Watershed Experience and brainstorming a list of poster themes
NOTE: If your students wish to include information about or depictions of local Native American communities within one of the Maine tribes of Wabanaki people as part of a history-themed poster, it is important to be sure that the information is culturally appropriate and accurate. You can learn more at the websites of the Maine Wabanaki tribes. Several of the websites include contact information for the tribes’ museums and cultural history professionals.
Part II – Designing the posters
Start by showing students examples of educational posters that others have created, so they can get a sense for some different ways of organizing and communicating ideas on a poster. Ask the students to make observations about things they like about these posters and things they don’t like or would do differently.
Here are a few examples of simple educational posters created for public kiosks within the Penobscot River Watershed by the Maine Sea Grant Program:
Water Quality in Kenduskeag Stream
The Atlantic Salmon
The Penobscot River Watershed
Here are a few examples of more complex educational posters created by the Chewonki Foundation. You can view interactive versions of these posters online, or request free printed copies for your classroom:
Water Quality
Sustainable Food
Renewable Energy
NOTE: Teachers should circulate frequently between the groups as they work through this process, because it is fairly abstract, and can be challenging for students in grades 5 and 6.
NOTE: Including student artwork on the posters is one of the most compelling and beautiful ways that the students can make unique posters that truly represent their ideas and their learning. Student artwork ensures that the final versions of the posters, once turned into a digital format, retain the look and feel of student work, and will allow students to proudly point out their work to friends and family for years to come.
NOTE: Double-check to make sure you have photo releases and written permission to use all images and quotations that you want to include in the poster. Include credits for all photos, maps, or other images on your poster.
Part III – Getting your posters printed
Part IV – Planning and hosting a community event where students will present the finished posters
NOTE: The idea of talking to strangers about their project may seem daunting, so one way to encourage students is to give them a challenge of thanking three people they don’t know for coming, and thanking one person they met through the project for helping them to learn along the way. Students can do this in pairs, if it makes them feel more comfortable.
Reflection/Formative Assessment Ideas
This activity can be used as a means for reflection on the entire Community Connections Meaningful Watershed Experience. To help students reflect on the additional learning that takes place through their poster design process in small groups, check in with each small group from time-to-time throughout the process, and ask them each to share something they found challenging, and something they have found rewarding or fun about the design process. This will also help teachers understand which parts of the process are most challenging, and which groups may need extra support. When each small group is finished with their poster design mock-ups on butcher paper, bring all three groups together and ask each of them to show their poster design and describe their design process to the rest of the class. Ask each group to tell the others what challenges they faced and how they got through them as a group.
Extension Ideas
Ask students to collectively or individually write a short article for their local community newspaper about their experience of learning about community connections to their watershed. Ask the students to share their thoughts about what they learned and why the watershed is important to them. Include photographs of the students conducting oral history interviews and cultural and historical research with the article.
Resources
References
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