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| Introduction | Task
| Process | Resources
| Evaluation |
Conclusion | Credits |
  
Wouldn't it neat if we could invite anyone we wanted to your next
family dinner?? Anyone?? Well imagine that you had the ability to
bring to your home anyone who you think would be fascinating.
Would you invite Jesus, or one of the Catholic Saints? Would you
invite someone from the past or someone from the present? Would
you invite a Canadian or someone from another country? Would your
dinner guest be a great inventor, or someone who has impacted the
lives of many by their beliefs and actions? Perhaps a Medieval Knight,
or a Great Greek ruler, a Canadian Prime Minister, a Social Activist
or a Sports hero? The possibilities are endless!!!
Imagine that the table is set and the guests to this dinner are
a mystery to all the guests. Slowly, one by one the guests arrive.
They mingle before the dinner and their stories start to come alive.
There are four, or five, or six guests at each dinner party. The
guests arrive in costume, they bring with them items that are meaningful
to them. After the initial mingle they sit at the table for dinner.
At the dinner they get to know each other. As the dinner progresses
the stories of these famous people unfold.
In order for this dinner party to be successful it will paramount
that characters come alive. You are the person you have chosen
- you know about their life, you are dressed the way they
would be dressed, you talk in their voice, you bring with
you items of significance. Like a dinner party, each of the
guests share their story in part, taking turns listening to
each other, asking questions, so that by the end of the night
everyone walks away feeling they have met someone new and
interesting. By the end of the night everyone feels they have
had a chance to tell their full story.
Get
your taste buds going at Chez Andre's with a probability game....
Click the Play button once and then wait until the restaurant
loads.
Once the game loads, click
the green button to play.
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What will you need to create in order to have the dinner party?
- a brief rationale for why you have chosen the character that
you have chosen
- point form research notes on your chosen character
- a written report on what your character will be talking about
at the dinner party
- a plan of how your dinner party will be organized - how will
the stories be told?
- costumes and props that would enhance your presentation
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What will you need to do in order to have the dinner party
- you will need to choose a character to research (BLM 1 Historical
Figures List for possibilities or you may choose a character of
your choice if okayed by teacher)
- you will need to okay the character you have chosen to research
with your teacher and present a brief rationale as to why you
have chosen the character - written, oral, or visual (see BLM
2 Rationale Template)
- collect research material for your character from a variety
of sources - internet articles, reference books, encyclopedia,
newspaper articles, CD ROM, video clippings etc. (see possible
Resource List below and resources the teacher makes
available from your school library)
- you will be given time in class to look through your research
books, materials and make point form notes on significant events
that shaped your character; you will have the opportunity to use
the school library/computer lab; information gathered can be recorded
in your research notebook/duotang/etc. (see BLM 3 Research Tips
for a way to set up your pointform notes and how to collect important
information; BLM 4 Let's Take a Walk in Their Shoes for possible
guiding questions; BLM 5, 6 Gathering Information Templates and
BLM Organizing Research Information)
- you will be put into groups of three to be involved in a "Historical
Talk"; each student is given the opportunity to speak to
the group about his/her chosen person; use the set of questions
the class and teacher created together to guide the speaker in
sharing his/her information; this group of students will not be
going to dinner together; you are just helping other students
in your class to plan for their dinner and to give each other
constructive feedback and suggestions (see BLM 9 Historical Talk
for possible guiding questions to help with this talk and BLM
Interview Planning Guide); the identity in this group is not kept
a secret; the teacher may use BLM 10 (Group Work Assessment) to
give feedback on how you work in this group
- once you have had a chance to research your character and to
complete the "Historical Talk", then it is time to prepare
for the dinner - you will take on the persona of the character
you have chosen and tell their story including the significant
events in their life - in written form, auditory or visual tape;
you are planning for the actual dinner party and what you want
to say; use your point form notes and the suggestions gathered
during the "Historical Talk" to write your report which
will be used for the dinner party
- in order for the dinner party to be authentic you will need
to arrive at the party in costume; you are the character; bring
with you anything that would help the other guests understand
who you are and what your significant contributions are:
What makes you interesting? Why would anyone want you to come
to dinner? The more you are familiar with this person's life the
easier it will be for you to become the character.
- the teacher will put you into groups of 4, 5 or 6; meet with
this group to plan a course of action for your dinner party; the
teacher may use BLM 10 (Group Work Assessment) to give feedback
on how you work in this group ; do not reveal your persona, just
plan how your conversation will unfold so that everyone in your
group will have a chance to reveal all pertinent information about
the character you have chosen (Who will speak first? What sets
of questions can you ask each other to ensure that all the stories
are completely told? How will your table be set? Will there be
name tags with each person's first name for the seating arrangements?
Will there be a server? Will there be an actual dinner?)
- once you have planned, it's time for the dinner party - come
prepared to tell your story(make sure you will be able to answer
any pertinent questions)
- there will be one dinner party each day until everyone in the
class has had a chance to present
- you will need to complete a self and peer assessment on the
dinner party following the dinner party (BLM 7-The Dinner Party-Self
Assessemnt; BLM 8-The Dinner Party-Peer Assessment)
- a rubric has been provided below to help you plan your rich
task (there are also a number of other BLMs that can be used for
assessment purposes by the teacher and/or student)
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Print
- Canada and Its Trading Partners
Johnson Publications Ltd.
This resource is broken down into three topics. For this unit,
topic three relates to
famous Canadians.
- Canada and Its Trading Partners
Trudie BonBernard, 0-919913-69-5
This resource examines Canada's trading partners and Canada's
connection to the world
through culture.
- Canada Revisited 6: Aboriginal Peoples and European
Explorers
Phyllis A. Arnold, 0-919
The first part of the resource examines various native groups.
The second part examines
early exploration and provides information into the events surrounding
each explorer's
life.
- Discovering Canada: The Vikings
Robert Livesey and A. G. Smith, 0-77375209-9
His book explores the life of teh Vikings.
- Everything You Need to Know About World History
Anne Zeman and Kate Kelly, 0-590-49365-5
- Eyewitness Books: Viking
Susan M. Margeson, 0-679-86002-9
This resource tells the story of the Vikings: their ships and
weapons, heroes, games,music,
life at home, farming, jewellery, forts etc.
- Flying Canucks: Famous Canadian Aviators
Peter Pigott, 1550172247
This book documents the lives of 12 Canadian aviators. These stories
give the reader
glance at the lives of some exceptional aviators.
- Narrative Writing
Tara McCarthy, 0-590-20937
This book is divided into five parts: writing narratives about
our own experiences, about
other people, about literature, and stories. In addition, it provides
reproducibles for
composition skills.
- Night Letters
Palmyra LoMonaco, 0-525-45387-3
This children's book illustrates the first-person perspective.
- Questions and Answers About Explorers
Christopher Maynard, 0-590-63251-5
This resource examines the many explorers.
- Teaching Literary Elements
Tara McCarthy, 0-590-20945-0
This book explores the various literary elements and provides
easy strategies and
activities to help children.
- Teaching Literary Elements with Short Stories
Tara McCarthy, 0-439-09843-2
This resource examines the various literary elements. Each chapter
contains a short
story and activities to help students understand the literary
elements
- Tell Me About Explorers and Faraway Places
Christopher Maynard, 1-85697-094-9
This book contains over 30 questions and answers about explorers.
- The Explorer's Handbook
Marilyn Tolhurst, 0-590-12441-2
This book examines how to become a fearless adventurer.
- The Great Atlas of Discovery
Neil Grant, 0-7710-2859-8
A Pictorial Atlas of World Exploration
- The Usborne Book of Explorers from Columbus to Armstrong
Felicity Everett and Struan Reid, 0-590-62176-9
This book examines in detail the lives and careers of the most
famous explorers.
- Writing Sense: A Teacher's Source Book
Gerald Oglan and David Booth, 0-7747-0446-2
This book presents strategies to develop student's skills in writing
various genres of
writing.
Use your school library and your neighbourhood library to find
further resources.
Website
Heroines.ca, Women in Canadian History
http://www.heroines.ca/people/bios.html
Canadian Biographies@Culture.ca
http://www.culture.ca/explore-explorez-e.jsp?category=217
Famous Canadians Theme Page
http://www.cln.org/themes/famous.html
Famous Catholics -Resources for Catholic Educators
http://www.silk.net/RelEd/famegen.htm
Internet Public Library:Biographies
http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/ref15.00.00/
Memorable Canadians
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/8/2/index-e.html
The Biography Channel
http://www.biography.com/
The Prime Ministers in Canadian Life and Politics
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/primeministers/
Well Known Canadians
http://particle.physics.ucdavis.edu/Canadians/
Famous Canadians
http://proudcanadiankids.ca/famous_canadians.htm
Aboriginal Peoples
http://www.operation-dialogue.com/e/rc/g_aboriginalPeoples.html#People
Biographies of Saints
http://www.infocatholic.com/saints.aspx
Black Line Masters
BLM: Teacher Notes
BLM: Real Life Figures
BLM: Exploring Point of View
BLM 1 - Historical Figures List
BLM 2 - Rationale Template
BLM 3 - Research Tips
BLM 4 - Let's Take a Walk in Their
Shoes
BLM 5 - Template - Web
BLM 6 - Template - Character Web
BLM 7 - The Dinner Party - self assessment
BLM 8 - The Dinner Party - peer assessment
BLM 9 - Historical Talk
BLM 10 - Group Work Assessment:
Historical Talk
BLM - Template - Organizing Research Information
BLM - Interview Planning
Guide
BLM - Observational Rubric
BLM - Write Traits Rubric
BLM - Cooperative Learning Evaluation
Checklist - Student and Teacher
BLM - Editing Checklist (Self)
BLM - Evaluation for Cooperative Learning Skills
BLM - PQS (Peer Revising - Praise,
Question, Suggest)
BLM- Revising and
Editing Checklist
BLM - Revising Checklist
BLM - Rubric for a Speech
BLM - Teacher Tips for Editing, Revising and Conferencing
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It will be important that you receive
constant feedback during the process in order to ensure that you
are on the right track. This activity will allow you lots
of opportunities to work on a variety of learning skills that
will help you complete this rich task - research skills, organizational
skills, peer and self assessment skills, collaborative skills, goal
setting skills and time management skills to name a few. These
skills are skills that you can use as you continue to become a life-long
learner. The richness of the task will allow you to be evaluated in
reading, writing, oral, drama, learning skills, and social studies/science/religion
depending on the character you choose.
You will use the variety of checklists and
rubrics provided above in the Black Line Masters to get feedback
from your teacher, as well as from your peers. It will also
be important for you to self assess along the way in order
to do your best work, and in order to ask questions that will help
you better understand what you need to do. As you self
assess set goals with specific steps to achieve your goals.
You will look at the checklists and rubrics
so that you know what is expected of you.
The rubric below may be used to evaluate
the final summative task.
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Categories
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1
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Level 2
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Level 3
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Level 4
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| Knowledge
and Understanding Subject-specific
content acquired in each grade (knowledge),
and the comprehension of its meaning and significance
(understanding)
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The
student will demonstrate understanding of
the character chosen to research by planning
and executing a biographical profile in first
person. The profile will include the
relevant, pertinent and significant events
of the character's life.
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Knowledge of content (e.g.,
facts, terms, definitions)
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? demonstrates limited knowledge
of content
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? demonstrates some knowledge
of content
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? demonstrates considerable
knowledge of content
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? demonstrates thorough knowledge
of content |
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Understanding of content
(e.g., concepts, ideas, theories, procedures,
processes, methodologies, and/or technologies)
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? demonstrates limited understanding
of content
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? demonstrates some understanding
of content
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? demonstrates considerable
understanding of content
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? demonstrates thorough understanding
of content |
| Thinking
The use of critical
and creative thinking skills and/or processes
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The
student will choose a character, provide a
rationale for the choice, research the life
of the character, meet with selected peers
to receive and give feedback along the process,
plan and deliver a biographical presentation
from a first person perspective. Setting
goals during the process will ensure good
use of time.
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| Use
of planning skills (e.g., focusing research,
gathering information, organizing an inquiry,
asking questions, setting goals)
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?
uses planning skills with limited effectiveness
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?
uses planning skills with some effectiveness
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?
uses planning skills with considerable effectiveness
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?
uses planning skills with a high degree of effectiveness
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| Use
of processing skills (e.g., analysing, generating,
integrating, synthesizing, evaluating, detecting
point of view and bias) |
?
uses processing skills with limited effectiveness
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?
uses processing skills with some effectiveness
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?
uses processing skills with considerable effectiveness
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?
uses processing skills with a high degree of
effectiveness |
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Use of critical/creative
thinking processes (e.g., inquiry process,
problem-solving process, decision- making
process, research process)
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?
uses critical/creative thinking processes with
limited effectiveness
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?
uses critical/creative thinking processes with
some effectiveness
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?
uses processing skills with considerable effectiveness
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?
uses processing skills with a high degree of
effectiveness |
| Communication
The conveying of meaning through various forms
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The
student will communicate in written form,
as well as oral, the biography of a chosen
character. When presenting at the dinner
the student will become the character, using
costumes and props to help bring the character
to life. The audience will be the other
dinner guests, the teacher, as well as the
students observing the dinner. The purpose
is to reveal the new dinner guest in an authentic
manner, as if the character was actually at
the dinner party.
Consider
projection of voice, using a voice that would
reflect the character, eye contact, use of
props, use of costumes, and use of authentic
vocabulary. You will have the opportunity
to communicate orally, in written form, and
visually.
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Expression and organization
of ideas and information (e.g., clear expression,
logical organization) in oral, visual, and written
forms
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? expresses and organizes ideas
and information with limited effectiveness
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? expresses and organizes ideas
and information with some effectiveness
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? expresses and organizes ideas
and information with considerable effectiveness
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? expresses and organizes ideas
and information with a high degree of effectiveness
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Communication for different
audiences (e.g., peers, adults) and purposes
(e.g., to inform, to persuade) in oral, visual,
and written forms
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? communicates for different
audiences and purposes with limited effectiveness
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? communicates for different
audiences and purposes with some effectiveness
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? communicates for different
audiences and purposes with considerable effectiveness
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? communicates for different
audiences and purposes with a high degree
of effectiveness |
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Use
of conventions (e.g., conventions of form,
map conventions), vocabulary, and terminology
of the discipline in oral, visual, and written
forms
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? uses conventions, vocabulary,
and terminology of the discipline with limited
effectiveness |
? uses conventions, vocabulary,
and terminology of the discipline with some
effectiveness |
? uses conventions, vocabulary,
and terminology of the discipline with considerable
effectiveness |
? uses conventions, vocabulary,
and terminology of the discipline with a high
degree of effectiveness |
| Application
The use of knowledge
and skills to make connections within and
between various contexts
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The
student will make a connection between the
contribution of the character's life and how
it relates to the students' life. How
has the life of the character contributed
to society today in a positive way?
How can the life of the character affect the
students?
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Application
of knowledge and skills (e.g., concepts, procedures,
processes, and/or technologies) in familiar
contexts
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? applies knowledge and skills
in familiar contexts with limited effectiveness
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? applies knowledge and skills
in familiar contexts with some effectiveness
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? applies knowledge and skills
in familiar contexts with considerable effectiveness
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? applies knowledge and skills
in familiar contexts with a high degree of
effectiveness |
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Transfer of knowledge
and skills (e.g., concepts, procedures, methodologies,
technologies) to new contexts
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? transfers knowledge and skills
to new contexts with limited effectiveness
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? transfers knowledge and skills
to new contexts with some effectiveness
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? transfers knowledge and skills
to new contexts with considerable effectiveness
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? transfers knowledge and skills
to new contexts with a high degree of effectiveness
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Making connections
within and between various contexts (e.g.,
past, present, and future; environmental;
social; cultural; spatial; personal; multidisciplinary)
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? makes connections within
and between various contexts with limited
effectiveness
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? makes connections within
and between various contexts with some effectiveness
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? makes connections within
and between various contexts with considerable
effectiveness
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? makes connections within
and between various contexts with a high degree
of effectiveness |
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Consider
the following questions now that you have experienced the unique dining
experience:
What have you learned?
Did anything in this task trouble you?
What might you do differently given the
opportunity to do a similar task again?
What suggestions would you share with students
who are about to take on this task?
Complete the
Self Assessment section of this form.
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If you are interested in learning more about
this subject matter, you can find related hyperlinks at Student
Links 2 on the LDCSB "Intranet" Website.
* Note: This link is not licensed for home use by students |
Some ideas
were adapted from the integrated unit found on the LDCSB Junior Curriculum
Site which were adapted from the Unit "What's Your Story"
from the Ontario Curriculum Planner by Shelley Wasmund, Donna Cox
from the Renfrew County District School Board. |
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Publication
& Copyright Details |
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Last updated on December 4, 2006.
Copyright © 2006 London District Catholic School Board
and its licensors.
All rights reserved.
This
Rich
Performance Task is modeled
on the WebQuest
format.
Keywords: Biography, Student,
Rich Performance Task, RPT, Science & technology WebQuest
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