Brief Description Objectives Materials and Resources Activity Description

• Grade Level: High School

• Subject Area: Social Studies, Language Arts

Brief Description

    Students request feedback on their projects from N/R experts they have contacted. Students work in pairs to critique each other's work.
Objectives

    Students will:

• Work collaboratively by critiquing a peer's N/R project and providing feedback.
• Request feedback on their projects from N/R experts they contact over email.
• Reflect on the qualities common to all of the well thought-out projects.
• Enhance writing skills by summarizing their partner's project in a brief written statement.

Materials and Resources

    In developing our lessons and activities, we made some assumptions about the hardware and software that would be available in the classroom for teachers who visit the LETSNet Website. We assume that teachers using our Internet-based lessons or activities have a computer (PC or Macintosh) with the necessary hardware components (mouse, keyboard, and monitor) as well as software (operating system, TCP/IP software, networking or dial-up software, e-mail and a World Wide Web client program, preferably Netscape, but perhaps Mosaic or Lynx). In the section below, we specify any "special" hardware or software requirements for a lesson or activity (in addition to those described above) and the level of Internet access required to do the activity.

1. Special hardware requirements: Storage and publishing space for completed N/R projects.
2. Special software requirements: Multimedia design application such as ClarisWorks, HyperCard, or Director; software application such as SoundEdit.
3. Internet access: Medium-speed (28,000 BPS via modem) or High-speed (greater than 1 MBPS via network).

Activity Description

    Pre-Activity Preparation:

• Pair students so that each student edits the work of and is edited by the same student.

• Prior to the lesson, have students request feedback on their projects from members of an e-mail discussion list they have joined or an N/R expert they have contacted. Students should have access to this feedback during this lesson.

    Activity:

• Discuss with the students the purpose of the peer critique. It is a valuable experience for students to critique the work of others. By doing so, students gain a sense of what makes a well-supported argument or a nicely turned phrase, as well as a sense of what can be done to strengthen sections of a work that are less strong. Development of these understandings carries over into the students' own projects.

• Provide students with time to examine their partner's project closely.

• Provide students with time to discuss their critiques of the project with their partners. Students may also discuss with each other the feedback they have received from N/R experts with an emphasis on determining how best to implement this feedback.

• Have students write a brief statement of their reactions to their partner's project. These statements may be exchanged so that students may consult them for Lesson Five.

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