CPS & IVS Teacher Projects in the Collaboratory

The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Illinois Virtual School (IVS) Project is a Virtual School project with support of a US Department of Education Funds for the Improvement of Education grant from the Illinois State Board of Education. Participating schools include:

Thomas A. Edison Regional Gifted Center
F. W. Reilly Elementary School
F. W. Reilly Elementary School Annex
Jose Clemente Orozco Community Academy of Fine Arts and Sciences

Participating teachers created projects for their classrooms and to share with other classrooms. Third, fourth, and fifth grade teacher created projects in the Collaboratory include:

Building A Healthy Lifestyle
Students will gather information to better understand major concepts relating to nutrition and exercise. They will learn how to become discerning consumers of commercials and advertisements that do not always promote healthy messages about food and drink choices.

Chicago Neighborhoods
The second grade students will research ethnic groups that helped in the development of early Chicago. They will learn how diverse Chicago neighborhoods are.

Good, Bad or Just Plain Ugly? Web Page Evaluation
In this project, students will learn the importance of evaluating web pages and criteria they can use to evaluate web pages. They will also create their own fake web page.

Hands Across the Miles
This is an integrated project comparing and contrasting the environments and cultures of Illinois and Arizona. Students will utilize inquiry based projects and online resources to discover each others states.

Imitating Andy Warhol
After researching and writing about Pop Art and the work of Andy Warhol; the students will create art in the style of Andy Warhol. The Warhol style artwork will then be posted in the Nexus along with the student's writings about Pop Art and Andy Warhol.

Learning about Deserts, Prairies and Forests
My third grade classroom will be researching three different biomes in the United States and around the world. At the end of the project they will choose their favorite biome and create an illustration or a diorama to include in the Nexus.

Let's Talk and Write About the Books that We Read!
Students will complete a survey in the Survey Studio. After reading a book together, students will review in the Internet Book Club. After reading a book of their own choice, they will draw a picture of favorite part of the story and share these drawings and descriptions in the Nexus Community. Student will write comments on two photos using the discuss and reply buttons.

Moon Myths From Different Cultures
This project will acquaint students with different moon myths. Students will also read about moon myths and create a moon myth and illustration of their own.

My Family- Sharing History Through Oral Stories
Students will learn about their family history through oral interviews; write stories about family traditions; and share with their classmates through class presentations. Throughout the unit students will explore traditions from different cultures.

Probability or Just Luck?
Students will explore the world of probability through research and hands on experimentation.

Solar Energy in Action
Fifth graders complete experiments and research on solar energy. They will experiment with solar energy to understand how it can be conserved and effectively use to produce other types of energy.

U.S. State Reports
Students will learn about states of the United States through a research project focusing on 7 regions of the U.S. and their home state, Illinois. By repeating the process for each region in a supported environment, students will become more familiar with the research and reporting process as well.

Your Family's Dream Vacation
After researching information about a specific vacation spot, students will create a virtual travel log, time line, post card, and expense report for a two-week family fantasy vacation.

The project development part of this grant culminated in a presentation meeting. Please view the CPS-IVS Teacher Project Slide Show to see more information about each project.

If you have special permission, you may see the Project Evaluation Survey This survey was created as a tool to review the projects created for the CPS-IVS Grant supported by ISBE and the US Department of Education

Workshop Agendas and student work: Jan 17, Collaboratory Overview, Student Work

	CPS-Illinois Virtual School Teacher Created Projects in the Collaboratory
	The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Illinois Virtual School (IVS) Project is a Virtual School project with support of a US Department of Education Funds for the Improvement of Education grant from the Illinois State Board of Education. Participating schools include: Thomas A. Edison Regional Gifted Center F. W. Reilly Elementary School F. W. Reilly Elementary School Annex Jose Clemente Orozco Community Academy of Fine Arts and Sciences Participating teachers created projects for their classrooms and to share with other classrooms. Third, fourth, and fifth grade teacher created projects in the Collaboratory include: Building A Healthy Lifestyle Students will gather information to better understand major concepts relating to nutrition and exercise. They will learn how to become discerning consumers of commercials and advertisements that do not always promote healthy messages about food and drink choices. Chicago Neighborhoods The second grade students will research ethnic groups that helped in the development of early Chicago. They will learn how diverse Chicago neighborhoods are. Good, Bad or Just Plain Ugly? Web Page Evaluation In this project, students will learn the importance of evaluating web pages and criteria they can use to evaluate web pages. They will also create their own fake web page. Hands Across the Miles This is an integrated project comparing and contrasting the environments and cultures of Illinois and Arizona. Students will utilize inquiry based projects and online resources to discover each others states. Imitating Andy Warhol After researching and writing about Pop Art and the work of Andy Warhol; the students will create art in the style of Andy Warhol. The Warhol style artwork will then be posted in the Nexus along with the student's writings about Pop Art and Andy Warhol. Learning about Deserts, Prairies and Forests My third grade classroom will be researching three different biomes in the United States and around the world. At the end of the project they will choose their favorite biome and create an illustration or a diorama to include in the Nexus. Let's Talk and Write About the Books that We Read! Students will complete a survey in the Survey Studio. After reading a book together, students will review in the Internet Book Club. After reading a book of their own choice, they will draw a picture of favorite part of the story and share these drawings and descriptions in the Nexus Community. Student will write comments on two photos using the discuss and reply buttons. Moon Myths From Different Cultures This project will acquaint students with different moon myths. Students will also read about moon myths and create a moon myth and illustration of their own. My Family- Sharing History Through Oral Stories Students will learn about their family history through oral interviews; write stories about family traditions; and share with their classmates through class presentations. Throughout the unit students will explore traditions from different cultures. Probability or Just Luck? Students will explore the world of probability through research and hands on experimentation. Solar Energy in Action Fifth graders complete experiments and research on solar energy. They will experiment with solar energy to understand how it can be conserved and effectively use to produce other types of energy. U.S. State Reports Students will learn about states of the United States through a research project focusing on 7 regions of the U.S. and their home state, Illinois. By repeating the process for each region in a supported environment, students will become more familiar with the research and reporting process as well. Your Family's Dream Vacation After researching information about a specific vacation spot, students will create a virtual travel log, time line, post card, and expense report for a two-week family fantasy vacation. The project development part of this grant culminated in a presentation meeting. Please view the CPS-IVS Teacher Project Slide Show to see more information about each project. If you have special permission, you may see the Project Evaluation Survey This survey was created as a tool to review the projects created for the CPS-IVS Grant supported by ISBE and the US Department of Education Workshop Agendas and student work: Jan 17, Collaboratory Overview, Student Work