2008 Award Winners

Bringing Science to Life in an Elementary School

Clare Taylor - Duffy Elementary School, West Hartford

Bringing Science to Life in an Elementary World is a fifth grade geography program that gives students first-hand experience with mapping and satellite technology by integrating science and mathematics. Using global positioning and imaging systems students create maps of their community and plot coordinates of their homes. They analyze data and write essays supporting hypothesizes about the accuracy of GPS systems in comparison to satellite imaging systems. The students utilize the GPS units in their community by navigation during field trips, Nature's Classroom experiences, and GPS treasure hunting. Science in school now takes place with real-world measurement and visualization tools. From observation and questioning latitude and longitude coordinates to analyzing, critiquing and synthesizing unique data from high tech sources, students learn about their world in an exciting elementary program.Bringing Science to Life in an Elementary School Digital Storytelling

Digital Storytelling

James Crawford and Nancy White

Beecher Road School, Woodbridge

This digital storytelling project involves a sixth grade class, a general education teacher and a special education teacher. This project integrates various elements of Language Arts, Social Studies and digital media to express the students' thoughts and ideas on various subject matters. Students gain the necessary skills to produce their digital stories through a four-tiered approach in which the special education teacher is incorporating the teaching of successively sophisticated technical skills in a series of four mini projects. In this tiered approach the students learn how to take digital still photographs, create music soundtracks, record narration, use digital video cameras, and import these media into the iLife suite of software on their groups' computers. Students then publish and/or present their work. Students are asked to evaluate their movies as they would for their writing for ideas, organization, voice, word (picture) choice, fluency and conventions. Digital Storytelling exemplifies a project that showcases how technology can be used to enhance learning for all students.

Electronic Portfolio

Victoria Priddle, Bunnell High School, Stratford

Career Planning Seminar is a one-semester course, which provides the student with an opportunity to develop an individual career portfolio. Students enrolled in this course collect information, samples of their work and documentation to be included in their electronic portfolio. Their task is to create a portfolio utilizing a web-based software. They must integrate graphics, digital pictures, scanned documents, Internet resources and use additional software to demonstrate innovative use of technology. Unlike traditional assessments, this authentic assessment drives the curriculum. Students learn by doing. They gain valuable life skills that will enable them to be productive citizens in the real world. Annually, guests are invited to attend the Career Planning Seminar "Open House". Students are able to demonstrate their knowledge and skills as they navigate through their portfolios to an expanded audience. This electronic portfolio is a collection of work that tells the story of their efforts, goals and achievement.