Task: VIRTUAL SCHOOLS - Performance Tasks, …sustainabilityperformancetasks.weebly.com/uploads/9/5/9/... · 2015-02-09 · word carefully, “Centuries ago.” M ... Gr 9\The Fun

Task: VIRTUAL SCHOOLS

P:\Teaching & Learning\Judy G\Nancy\Common Core State Standards\Performance Tasks\Virtual Schools - Gr 9\Virtual Schools Task part 1 and 2.docx

Grade 9 Virtual Schools Part 1 & 2

Your task:

You will read a short story and article, watch a video, review research statistics, then write an argumentative essay about your opinion on virtual schools.

Steps you will be following:

In order to plan and compose your essay, you will do all of the following:

1. Read a short story and article, watch a video, and review research statistics.

2. Answer three questions about the sources. 3. Plan and write your essay.

Directions for beginning:

You will now read the sources and watch a video. Take notes because you may want to refer back to your notes while writing your essay. You can refer back to any of the sources as often as you like.

Source Information:

Source #1 (Short Story) “The Fun They Had” by Isaac Asimov

Source #2 (Article) “Virtual Schools Not for Everyone”

Source #3 (Video) “Virtual High School Interview” September 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kChHLNgV3ec. Source #4: (Research Statistics) Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning: An Annual Review of Policy and Practice http://kpk12.com/reports/graphics/

Use the notetaking graphic organizer to take notes on these sources.

PART 1 (35 minutes) Student Directions:

P:\Teaching & Learning\Judy G\Nancy\COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS\Performance Tasks\Virtual Schools - Gr 9\The Fun They Had Article.docx

The Fun They Had

Isaac Asimov

argie even wrote about it that night in her diary. On the page headed May 17, 2157, she wrote, “Today, Tommy found a real book!”

It was a very old book. Margie’s grandfather once said that when he was a little boy his grandfather told him that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper.

They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to- -on a screen, you know. And then, when they turned back to the page before, it had the same words on it that it had had when they read it the first time.

“Gee,” said Tommy, “what a waste. When you’re through with the book, you just throw it away, I guess. Our television screen must have had a million books on it and it’s good for plenty more. I wouldn’t throw it away.”

“Same with mine,” said Margie. She was eleven and hadn’t seen as many telebooks as Tommy had. He was thirteen. She said, “Where did you find it?”

“In my house.” He pointed without looking, because he was busy reading. “In the attic.” “What’s it about?” “School.”

Margie was scornful. “School? What’s there to write about school? I hate school.”

Margie always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.

He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at Margie and gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart. Margie had hoped he wouldn’t know how to put it together again, but he knew how all right, and, after an hour or so, there it was again, large and black and ugly, with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked. That wasn’t so bad. The part Margie hated most was the slot where she had to put homework and text papers. She always had to write them out in a punch code they made her learn when she was six years old, and the mechanical teacher calculated the mark in no time.

The Inspector had smiled after he was finished and patted Margie’s head. He said to her mother, “It’s not the little girl’s fault, Mrs. Jones.” I think the geography sector was geared a little too quick. Those things happen sometimes. I’ve slowed it up to an average ten-year level. Actually, the over-all pattern of her progress is quite satisfactory.” And he patted Margie’s head again.

Margie was disappointed. She had been hoping they would take the teacher away altogether. They had once taken Tommy’s teacher away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.

So she said to Tommy, “Why would anyone write about school?”

Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes. “Because it’s not our kind of school, stupid. This is the old kind of school that they had hundreds and hundreds of years ago.” He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, “Centuries ago.”

M

P:\Teaching & Learning\Judy G\Nancy\COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS\Performance Tasks\Virtual Schools - Gr 9\The Fun They Had Article.docx

The Fun They Had Isaac Asimov

Margie was hurt. “Well, I don’t know what kind of school they had all that time ago.” she read the book over his shoulder for a while, then said, “Anyway, they had a teacher.”

“Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular teacher. It was a man.” “A man? How could a man be a teacher?” “Well, he just told the boys and girls things and gave them homework and asked them questions.” “A man isn’t smart enough.” “Sure he is. My father know as much as my teacher.” He can’t. A man can’t know as much as a teacher.” “He knows almost as much, I betcha.”

Margie wasn’t prepared to dispute that. She said, “I wouldn’t want a strange man in my house to teach me.”

Tommy screamed with laughter. “You don’t know much, Margie. The teachers didn’t live in the house. They had a special building and all the kids went there.” “And all the kids learned the same thing?” “Sure, if they were the same age.”

But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently.”

“Just the same they didn’t do it that way then. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to read the book.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” Margie said quickly. She wanted to read about those funny schools.

They weren’t even half-finished when Margie’s mother called, “Margie! School!” Margie looked up. “Not yet, Mamma.”

“Now!” said Mrs. Jones. “And it’s probably time to Tommy, too.”

Margie said to Tommy, “Can I read the book some more with you after school?”

“Maybe,” he said nonchalantly. He walked away whistling, the dusty old book tucked beneath his arm.

Margie went into the schoolroom. It was right next to her bedroom, and the mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her. It was always on at the same time every day except Saturday and Sunday, because her mother said little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours.

The screen was lit up, and it said: “Today’s arithmetic lesson is on the addition of proper fraction. Please insert yesterday’s homework in the proper slot.”

Margie did so with a sigh. She was thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather’s grandfather was a little boy. All the kids from the whole neighborhood came, laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the schoolroom, going home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things, so they could help one another on the homework and talk about it.

And the teachers were people…

The mechanical teacher was flashing on the screen: “When we add the fractions 1/2and 1/4 …”

Margie was thinking about how the kids must have loved it in the old days. She was thinking about the fun they had.

Written in 1951 for a syndicated newspaper page, ‘The Fun They Had’ was later publisher in Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine.

P:\Teaching & Learning\Judy G\Nancy\Common Core State Standards\Performance Tasks\Virtual Schools - Gr 9\Virtual Schools Not for Everyone Article.docx

Virtual Schools Not For Everyone

Adapted from Dallas Morning News August 23, 2012 Wendy Hundley

pproximately 250,000 students were enrolled in full-time virtual schools nationwide in 2010-11, up 50,000 from the year before, according to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning.

At least 30 states offer full-time online education, according to the nonprofit based in the Washington, D.C., area.

Last year, more than 6,000 Texas students were enrolled in the three online schools. Many experts believe their ranks will grow.

Often students want to move ahead quicker than a classroom structure allows. Or they’re falling behind and need more time to master subjects.

Some online students are competitive athletes or budding actors who need flexible learning schedules. Others have medical needs that require them to stay at home. Some students have been bullied at school and parents want them educated in a safe environment at home.

Many had been home-schooled and their parents want a more structured learning environment.

Requirements

The online alternative isn’t for everyone.

An adult, usually a parent, should be at home to monitor a child’s progress, a requirement that would make virtual learning impractical for many families.

“We know students are most successful if they have a loving adult at home,” Gifford said.

Students miss the ongoing, face to face interactions of a classroom teach. Virtual teachers work to replicate this type of interaction by using e-mail, blog postings, and other digital tools, but for some students, they need to closer contact on a daily bases. Parents can help to fill this role but must be dedicated to continued support.

Online struggles

Statistics show that not all students succeed in an online setting.

The I-News Network, a Colorado-based news consortium, and the nonprofit Education News Colorado spent 10 months tracking 10,500 students enrolled in the 10 largest online schools, beginning in 2008.

The investigation, as reported in Education Week magazine, found that half of online students left within a year and dropped out at four times the state average.

And some families simply discover that this new educational option isn’t for them. It requires more structure and discipline than they realized. Or their child misses the socialization of a regular school.

The amount of independent learning wouldn’t suit everyone. Successful students have to be self-motivated, find other ways to socialize, and have an engaged parent supporting them to be successful.

A

Task: VIRTUAL SCHOOLS

P:\Teaching & Learning\Judy G\Nancy\Common Core State Standards\Performance Tasks\Virtual Schools - Gr 9\Virtual Schools Task part 1 and 2.docx

Grade 9 Virtual Schools Part 1 & 2

NOTE TAKING TOOL

Topic: Virtual Schools Performance Task

SOURCE PROS CONS

Short Story:

The Fun They Had

Article:

Virtual Schools Not for Everyone

Video:

Virtual High School Interview

Research Statistic: Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning

NOTE: Your notes will NOT be scored.

Task: VIRTUAL SCHOOLS

P:\Teaching & Learning\Judy G\Nancy\Common Core State Standards\Performance Tasks\Virtual Schools - Gr 9\Virtual Schools Task part 1 and 2.docx

Grade 9 Virtual Schools Part 1 & 2

Research Questions Use your remaining time to answer the questions below. Your answers to these questions will be scored. Also, they will help you think about the sources you’ve read and viewed, which should help you write your essay. You may click on the appropriate buttons to refer back to the sources when you think it would be helpful. You may also refer to your notes. Answer the questions in the spaces provided below them.

1. Analyze the different opinions expressed in “The Fun they Had” and the “Virtual High School Interview” video. Use details from the story and the video to support your answer.

2. What do the statistics from “Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning” suggest about the current trends of virtual schools in the U.S.? Use details from the charts to support your answer.

Task: VIRTUAL SCHOOLS

P:\Teaching & Learning\Judy G\Nancy\Common Core State Standards\Performance Tasks\Virtual Schools - Gr 9\Virtual Schools Task part 1 and 2.docx

Grade 9 Virtual Schools Part 1 & 2

3. Explain how the information presented in the “Virtual High School Interview” video and the article, “Virtual Schools Not for Everyone,” differs from the information in the research statistics. Support your answers with details from the video and the articles.

Task: VIRTUAL SCHOOLS

P:\Teaching & Learning\Judy G\Nancy\Common Core State Standards\Performance Tasks\Virtual Schools - Gr 9\Virtual Schools Task part 1 and 2.docx

Grade 9 Virtual Schools Part 1 & 2

Your assignment:

Your parents are considering having you

attend a virtual high school. Write an

argumentative essay explaining why you

agree or disagree with this idea. Support your

claim with evidence from what you have read

and viewed.

The people scoring your essay will be assigning scores for:

1. Statement of purpose/focus – how well you clearly state your claim on the topic, maintain your focus, and address the alternate and opposing claims

2. Organization – how well your ideas logically flow from the introduction to

conclusion using effective transitions and how well you stay on topic throughout the essay

3. Elaboration of evidence – how well you provide evidence from sources about your opinions and elaborate with specific information

4. Conventions – how well you follow the rules of usage, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling

How your essay will be scored:

Now begin work on your essay.

Manage your time carefully so that you can:

plan your essay

write your essay

revise and edit for a final draft

PART 2 (85 minutes) Student Directions:

You will now have 85 minutes to review

your notes and sources, plan, draft, and

revise your essay. You may also refer to the

answers you wrote to the questions in part

1, but you cannot change those answers.

Now read your assignment and the

information about how your essay will be

scored, then begin your work.