Students write journal entries as characters from Animal Farm during the early stages of the project. Frequent discussion of relevant topics provides immediate feedback from the teacher and peers and allows the teacher to assess student understanding. Interviews and written records. Before the interviews, students prepare questions and study proper interview technique through role-play and other exercises. After the interviews, students write up the interviews they conduct with school community members.
Students design the survey and create all questions to gather pertinent information.
Students tally the results. Analysis of the results is done through written group reports. As students explore the various web sites, they keep a log of the site and the information contained on it. This year my students created everything from a sports preparatory academy to a residential school for extremely gifted middle school students. They enjoy being able to make choices and think through the consequences of those choices.