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SED 464 Christopher Smudde

Grant Proposal, Portable Audio Equipment

Tyler Deffner

Museum Day Tours

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Abstract

Students in a social studies class far too often believe it as nothing more than a history

class. The lessons of the social sciences are required in order to understand and interpret many

historic facts, statistics, and even researches. Students are in need of a way to learn, interpret, and

produce explanations of historic ideas, topics, and facts. Students may take the role of a Museum

creator and create an exhibit to show their understand of a historical topic and its relevance to a

project of the student's creation. With the use of some new audio equipment students can create a

tour for their fellow students, and community members.

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School Environment Narrative

Paradise Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) extends across 100 square miles in the

northern parts of the cities of Phoenix and Scottsdale. PVUSD has an enrollment of 31,487 K-12

students for the 2016-17 school year according to their website. 47 % of the demographics

currently enrolled in PVUSD are non caucasian. 36% of the district population qualifies for free

or reduced lunches. 13% of the student population is considered gifted.(Overview)

I am an 8th grade Social Studies teacher at Sunrise Middle School (SMS) is within

PVUSD and is 1 of 7 middle schools in the district. SMS is a 7th-8th grade middle school which

has a wonderful staff and prides itself on our active student population and supportive parents.

Sunrise also takes pride in a 33 percent passing rate on statewide math testing compared to a

state average 31 percent. Students also achieved a 41 percent passing rate on the standardised

English language arts exam, compared to the state average 32 percent. However Sunrise is

behind the rest of PVUSD on these tests, boasting a 37 percent and 44 percent respectively.

Sunrise’s demographics are not reflective of that of PVUSD and are as follows, 59.8% of

students identify as caucasian, 26.6 percent hispanic, and the other 13.6 percent identify as other.

SMS also has a gender population of 53 percent female and 47 percent male.

Students at Sunrise have 8 class hours a day one of which is reserved for lunch. Class

hours on a standard day are forty nine minutes long with four minutes reserved for passing

between classrooms. The school day starts at 8 A.M. and the final class releases at 2:40 P.M. My

smallest class at Sunrise is 24 students and is one of 2 honors Social Studies classes that I teach,

my largest class is 38 Students and is a standard curriculum. The class sizes at SMS are capped

at forty students. I teach 6 classes in total 4 before lunch and 2 after. PVUSD has recently

adapted a one on one technology approach to teaching. In this system students are granted a use
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of a laptop for use in class on campus as well as taking it home for use on assignments. While we

are very fortunate to have this technology in the classrooms and at home for the students, there

are some issues with the available technology here at Sunrise.

The current technology at Sunrise middle school’s classrooms has not been updated in

several years. Each classroom has white at least one whiteboard and projector screen mounted to

the wall opposite the entrance to each room. While these provide a great presentation area for

instructional lessons, the projector, document camera and dvd player are situated on a mobile

cart in the center of the room controlling the use of much of the room. This is magnified by the

in ability to have any student seating in front of the project as they would block its use. Since the

adoption of one on one technology there has been a removal and reuse of media centers and

computer labs.

Students at Sunrise have had a tradition of a presentation day that all social studies

classrooms participate in called Museum day. I will go more into detail on the events and lessons

tied into the museum day later, however I mention it now because The technology that I believe

will benefit the students is part of this month long prep and presentation that all students

participate in. Students learn from their peers in this project. I believe if they record their

presentations into an audio tour format not only will it better engage the students, but it would

allow the community to come and walk through our museum day as well. This addition into our

curriculum would allow students to go through a process of recording their presentation. This

recording will be placed on a play list and allow students to listen to other students presentations

as they tour their exhibits.

Introduction
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Who keeps history? An easy answer to that question is everyone, however a better

answer is a historian or museum curator. Students may not know who these people are or what

they do to preserve what is left and the messages they teach others using the raw data available to

them. Students need to learn research and processing tools to make it understandable for others.

With one on one technology for the students there is a perfect backdrop for having

students engage in research projects. In 8th grade a large part of the curriculum is centered

around World War II. We take our time covering this part of history do to its multi faceted

aspects. Students also in large find it very interesting and engaging. It is because of this we have

the Museum day.

Students will be placed into groups of 5 or 6. These groups will be assigned a nation that

was involved in the second world war. Each student in the group will pick a topic to research

about that country's war effort. This means each group and nation will have 5-6 sub topics.

Students will spend time researching and creating a museum exhibit. These exhibits will be

displayed in the library and be available to walk through for a number of days. Students will

record an explanation of their exhibit to be used as part of an audio tour through the makeshift

museum.

Students will be able to learn about the aspects of the war effort they are interested in and

possibly have a extended interest. They also will walk through the museum and learn from what

their classmates have researched.

Need for the Project

Students in social studies usually just see it as a history course. History however is only a

part of the social studies curriculum students are also expected to learn how to manage and

interpret data sets relevant to social sciences. Students need an exercise which gives them the
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ability to research, interpret, and demonstrate historic facts and statistics in a social setting. This

community museum day is just the time and place for these lessons and demonstrations to come

to fruition.

Applicant Bio

Tyler Deffner is veteran teacher with 16 years of experience and a bachelor's in education

from Arizona State University and is pursuing a Masters in administrations. Mr. Deffner has a

passion for the Social Studies and encourages students to find an aspect of their own history to

take pride in.

Project Narrative

Learning goals and objectives

Make your own museum. A playful yet accurate description of what students will do with

this project, they will learn tools for researching and sharing their findings with their classmates.

Students are making their own timelines, charts, and other displays including creating recreations

of relics to put on display. Then playing the role of curator they will record an explanation of

their exhibit for others to listen to on a museum audio tour

Students will use Research, documentation, and other skills such as citing their sources.

These skills will help students in the future in many academic manners. Students will also learn

and use skills in order to interpret and explain facts, statistics, and timelines in a professional

manner.

Standards covered

8th grade Social Studies

Strand 1: American History

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Concept 1: Research Skills for History

PO1: Construct charts graphs and narratives using historical data

PO2: Interpret historical data displayed in graphs tables and charts

PO3: Construct timelines of the historical era being studied

PO5: Describe the difference between a primary and secondary source

PO8: Analyze two points of view on the same historical event

ISTE standards

1. Empowered Learner

b. Students build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that

support the learning process.

d. Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate

the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies and are able to transfer

their knowledge to explore emerging technologies.

2. Digital Citizen

c. Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and obligations of

using and sharing intellectual property.

3. Knowledge Constructor

a. Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other

resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.

b.Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information,

media, data or other resources.

c.Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods

to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.

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d.Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems,

developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.

5. Computational Thinker

a. Students formulate problem definitions suited for technology-assisted methods such as

data analysis, abstract models and algorithmic thinking in exploring and finding solutions.

b. Students collect data or identify relevant data sets, use digital tools to analyze them,

and represent data in various ways to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making.

6. Creative Communicator

a. Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives

of their creation or communication.

b. Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a

variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations.

Activities

Students will engage in the following activities

● Research an individual topic

● Research its application to the group’s nation

● Interpret credible online sources

● Interpret Primary sources to be used as parts of the student’s exhibit

● Create recreations of artifacts relevant to the student’s selected topic for

exhibition

● Design charts, timelines, and graphs to display on their exhibit

● Work in a group to plan and set up an exhibit that displays each member's topic

● Work in a group to write a script for the audio tour guide

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● Record the written script for use as a narration in an audio tour

Assessment

Throughout the project students will be graded on individual parts of the assignment as

they are produced. Items such as timelines, graphs, and charts. A final evaluation will be

completed by walking through the audio tour and grading students based on a rubric. (Located in

the Appendix)

Project Impact

This project is not just for the student’s to learn how to research and interpret historic

data. The museum tour will be open to the public and family will be invited as well as

community members to come and walk through the audio tour and learn along our students.

This communal impact is magnified through the harsh and horrific content these students are

sure to present. It is the reflection these students share with the community that will foster the

students to contributing members of their community in the future.

Sustaining use after project period

The technology this grant will give my student’s access too will be used year over year.

Each eighth grade class will have their own museum day and they will continue for years to

come. The reuse and advancement of this project will allow for students to see previous works

and perhaps they will help them with their own as examples.

Innovation

This project is unlike any I have seen and while the current method of the project is

perfectly suiting for the student’s lessons. I believe that the ability to having an audio tour

through the student works will give members of the community and students an elevated
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experience. While enlightening and relevant to their content this lesson will show students a

method of preserving and remembering history through museums, big and small.

The creation of a digital recording, a story, even the written script requires students to

truly digest their information and research. The students need to truly understand the relevance

of their material and its impact on their topic and the groups nation

Budget Table and Narrative

Cost individual Tax Cost total

(shipping included)

SD card reader $35.94(6) $17.14 $232.78

writer

SD card MP3 $27.69(45) $99.06 $1,345.11

players

Packaged with

headphones

And 16gb SD card

$1,577.89

The Items listed above are the items that are required for the audio tour addition to the

museum day. Students will be using their one on one technology district appointed laptops which

have built in microphones in order to record their audio for their project. They will then take this

Audio and using the SD card reader write their audio on to it each group will take turns writing
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their audio onto every SD card (45 in total). The Mp3 players will play back the different

recordings from each group in the order that the exhibits are displayed creating an audio tour of

the student’s museum. This process will be during class so students could be guided on how to

do it correctly to ensure that the audio tour is correct.

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Inquiry Based Lesson Plan

Teachers: Tyler Deffner Subject:8th Grade Social Studies

Standard:

● American History

o Concept 1: Research Skills for History

▪ PO3 Construct timelines

Objective (Explicit):

Students will be taught effective timeline creation by having them create timelines in class

for a topic they will choose and research in class through one on one technology in

preparation for the timeline they will create for their Museum Day Exhibit.

Evidence of Mastery (Measurable):

Students produce a timeline with…

● at least 5 items

● in chronological order

● context for each event

● short description of event

Sub-objectives, SWBAT (Sequenced from basic to complex):

● Students will research their topic

● Students will identify 5 separate events associated with the topic they chose
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● Students will create a timeline with these items in chronological order

● Students will produce explanations to these event’s importance

● Students prepare for their larger project by building the skills needed to produce a

timeline

Key vocabulary: Materials/Technology Resources

to be used:
Research, Identify, Create, Produce, Explain, Prepare

● one on one technology

laptop

○ district provided

Engage:

Students are encouraged to create this training timeline on something of interest (video

games, movies, books,etc)to them. This also will allow them to tie knowledge they already

have into a chronological timeline.

Give examples of a Band forming, album releases, and the Band disbanding

Explore Teacher Will: Oversee and give Student Will: Research the dates

examples to students who need and context needed for filling in

assistance. Relate the students timeline their timeline.

to their chosen topic for museum day.

● Dates
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● Places (if applicable)

● Actors (if applicable)

Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation

Students if struggling with this assignment may be part of a group who will

work with the teacher while others are researching independently. This

group will work as a team to create a timeline with the teacher giving direct

feedback and guidance.

Explain Teacher Will: Evaluate the student’s Student Will: Explain in a short

explanation and provide feedback to notation the significance to the

guide student progress towards the items on their timeline. Giving

objectives. each item context and their

reasoning.

Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation

Elaborate Teacher Will: Evaluate the student’s Student Will: Explain what their

elaboration and provide feedback to timeline shows in a larger

guide student progress towards the context.

objectives.
i.e. the example given previous

with the Band and its start album

releases and end.

For this example The student

would need to explain that the

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timeline shows a band forming

on a date and that they released

the mentioned albums over _

years and broke up at the end

date.

Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation

Evaluate

Review each timeline and correct and provide feedback to students for use when they

produce their final project.

Appendix
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Works Cited

Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20th, 2017, from https://www.pvschools.net/Page/6286

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