This project is designed for 4th and 5th grade students studying Pennsylvania geography and history. Through video conference technology, students are able to meet other students while learning about different parts of the state! Prior to the video conference each classroom will create a presentation with clues about their city or town. The other classrooms, using maps, the Internet, textbooks, and other resources, will try to discover the location of each participating classroom.

This MAGPI program uses the curricular materials and format developed by Berrien County RESA.

Program Outline:

• Introductions and Instructions (10 Minutes)
  Each site will have 1 minute to introduce their school. Introductions should be creative and should include: your school’s name, where you are located, class information and an interesting fact about your school or community.

• Classroom Presentations (30 Minutes)
  Each class will have 5 minutes to present their mystery clues. Please see information about Creating Your Presentation. When your class is not presenting, students should be taking notes using the notes handout.

• The Quest (30 Minutes)
  All sites will mute during this time. Students can use any materials they have in the classroom to determine the mystery cities and states - - EXCEPT an adult’s prior knowledge!

• Question and Answers (15 Minutes)
  This section will be tightly moderated. Each team will be allowed to ask each classroom one question. Each school should come up with a question for all the other classrooms. The questions should be 'eliminating' questions. In other words if the students believe the town or city is this or that, they pose a question that eliminates one. The questions should be "yes or no" questions only! In addition, do not ask, "Is your city Washington, D.C.?" as this type of question gives it away for the rest of the schools.

• Re-Evaluation (10 Minutes)
  Classroom teams 'reevaluate' their answers based on new information gathered during the Q&A Session.

• Guess! (10 Minutes)
  Each classroom presents their guesses. 
• Big Reveal! (10 Minutes)
  Correct mystery locations revealed! Consider revealing your mystery city/state in a BIG way!

Creating Your Classroom Presentation:

As soon as you register for the project, email Heather Weisse Walsh (hweisse@magpi.net) your school’s city/town so she can check for duplication. You should present clues based on the exact city or town your school is located.

Six classes will share a five minute presentation on their location. Each classroom should plan a five minute presentation. Talk to your technology or distance learning coordinator to determine the possibilities available to you in your distance learning room. Your technology coordinator can help you gather the necessary equipment and will be helpful to you in preparing your presentation.

Your students' classroom presentation should answer a geography theme questions about your city/town (you'll find these questions in the Teacher's Guide). In answering the questions you will help other classes figure out your location. Use the research web links to help you find the answers, as well as other print resources you have in your school.

When creating your presentation, please recognize the need to clearly communicate the clues. If you are making a creative presentation, please make sure to clearly indicate which clue is being given. You don't need to present the clues in order, however, please clearly indicate the category of the clue (region, place, etc.). This will help the efficiency of taking notes. Give the other classes time to find the clue and write it down.

To clearly communicate clues, we highly recommend visual cues of the clues. This could be a PowerPoint presentation to accompany the clues; using the document camera to present the text of the clues; or using large signs that students hold up while presenting. Visual cues assist in getting the spelling correct, understanding when students mispronounce location names, and help those taking notes get accurate information. When using visual clues, be sure to leave them on the screen long enough to allow copying.

When working on your presentation, you may wish to divide the questions among the students in your classroom so that all students participate in the research and presentation preparation. Most importantly – creativity is encouraged! There are a variety of presentation formats that work well in a videoconference environment. Some suggestions include: ‘news reports,’ songs, dramatics, performances, skits and more.

For tips on preparing your presentation, see the "Teacher's Guide!"

Preparation for the Videoconference Event

Divide your students into five teams. Each team will be responsible for discovering one mystery location presented by the other classrooms. The students will have half an hour after the completion of all presentations to match the classrooms with their corresponding mystery locations, using books, atlases, the Internet, etc.

Go over the agenda with students so that they understand the process for the day. If possible, take along a poster of the agenda to post in your distance learning room to help students keep on track during the day.

Have students practice the presentation. Time the presentation to make sure it is 5 minutes or less. Emphasize speaking slowly, loudly and clearly. The biggest issue with this project is audio. Remind students that everyone else is listening carefully to their presentation to take notes. The goal is to have the other students clearly hear the clues and be able to record the information. Communicating the clues understandably is crucial! If students are reading clues, have them read from note cards instead of paper. Rustling paper during a video conference can make it impossible to hear the clue.

Make sure students understand the process for asking one question of each classroom. After the half hour is up each team will be allowed to ask each classroom one question. Each school should come up with a question for all the other classrooms. The questions should be 'eliminating' questions. In other words if the students believe the town or city is this or that, they pose a question that eliminates one. The questions should be "yes or no" questions only! In addition, do not ask, "Is your city Washington, D.C.?" as this type of question gives it away for the rest of the schools.

Revealing the Answer
Prepare a visual to reveal the answer to your presentation. If possible write down the name of the city to show on the document camera or with a big poster so that other schools can easily tell whether or not they got it correct. Be creative here if you want!

Materials to Bring

• Bring all materials needed for your presentation. Bring research notes in case another school has specific questions about your state.

• Copy the note taking form for each student in the class.

• Bring any print materials for students to use in their research such as:
  • State Maps
  • Atlases
  • Textbooks
  • Almanacs
  • World Book Encyclopedia
  • Road atlases for USA
  • Wall Maps
  • Reference books from the library

If students have laptops, have them bookmark the Internet resources to be used during the research portion of the event (you might even have them make that the homepage for the day).

If desired, arrange for the use of computers/Internet connection during the half hour students use to guess the mystery location.

Pennsylvania Educational Standards:

Geography
Pennsylvania’s public schools shall teach, challenge, and support every student to realize his or her maximum potential and to acquire the skills and knowledge needed to:

7.1.6 – Describe geographic tools and their uses, including: geographic representations to display spatial information and basic spatial elements for depicting the patterns of physical and human features.

7.1.6.B: - Describe and locate places and regions, including: coordinate systems, physical features in the Pennsylvania, human features in Counties and Townships, ways in which different people view places and regions and community connections to other places/states.

7.2.6.A – Describe the physical characteristics of places and regions, including: comparison of different places and regions and climate types.

7.3.6.A – Describe human characteristics of places and regions by their population characteristics, including: spatial distribution, size, density, demographic characteristics and causes of human movement.

Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking
Pennsylvania’s public schools shall teach, challenge, and support every student to realize his or her maximum potential and to acquire the skills and knowledge needed to:

1.1.5.A – Select texts for a particular purpose using the format of the text as a guide.

1.2.5.A – Read and understand essential content of informational texts and documents in all academic areas.

1.2.5.B – Use and understand a variety of media and evaluate the quality of material produced, including: use a variety of media for research and use established criteria to design and develop a media project for a targeted audience.

1.6.5.A – Listen to others, including: ask pertinent questions, distinguish relevant information and take notes when prompted.

1.6.5.C – Speak using skills appropriate to formal speech situations, including: use complete sentences, use appropriate volume, pace speech so that it is understandable, adjust content for different audiences and speak with a purpose in mind.

1.6.5.D – Contribute to discussions, including: ask relevant questions, respond with relevant information, listen to and acknowledge the contributions of others and give reasons for opinions.

1.6.5.E – Participate in small and large group discussions and presentations.

1.8.5.B – Locate information using appropriate sources and strategies, including: evaluate the usefulness and qualities of the sources, select appropriate resources, use tables of contents, indices, cross-references and appendices and use traditional and electronic sources.