t_script


 * Teacher Script **

**Keep in mind as you work through this activity that the primary goal is for the students to develop skills that they will use in the future to research diseases they face. Try to keep the project as individualized as you can, sometimes this creates more work for you, but it will be well worth it.**

__** Day 1 **__ Open this assignment by discussing with the students what diseases have affected your family in past generations. Explain to them that this does not mean you will face the same diseases, but does increase the possibilities for many diseases. Show how to research credible information using the Center for Disease Control as your resources. As you show how to navigate through the CDC pinpoint to the students what information they will need for their upcoming project. This lesson works best with a data projector and internet access, but it can be done with a simple PowerPoint of preplanned slides. For homework in this class have the students complete a family tree of any diseases that affected their family. With their family history in mind they should explore the CDC website for possible disease choices and bring their top three choices to the next class.

__**Day 2**__ In this lesson you will assign the students their disease for research and form their groups for presentations. As the students enter class have them write down their top choice for researching. If you are uncomfortable with allowing student’s the freedom to pick whatever they want to research you can have a predetermined listing of choices for the students to choose from. If their family history does not fall into any of the predetermined categories you can make adjustments. On this day you will want to have an alternative lesson for the students to work on as you look over and approve their choices. It will not take you long, maybe 10 minutes to look over their topics and approve them. You should plan ahead to what groupings you want. For example are you grouping on the basis of communicable transmission or maybe all heriditary diseases, its up to you? If you have computer access for them they may begin their research during this class period. All students will be researching seperate topics than working with a group to displace commonalities and differences.

__** Day 3 and 4 **__ During these lessons students will be returning to class with parts of their presentations. For example on day 3 you may want to have them return with a description of the disease, who it affects, and how it’s transmitted. Their s mall groups work well for allowing the students to give briefs about what they have learned about their disease as they are also providing new knowledge to the students in their groups. I have found that this also gives me an idea of who has started their project and who hasn’t. You can provide a grade to this portion, but I have chosen not too.

This day is used to develop presentation skills. Those unfamiliar with PowerPoint will need to understand the basics of developing slides and entering their information. You will find that many of today’s students already know more than we do when it comes to technology and they are very well equipped with finding answers on the net. I use this day to show a demo of a disease that I have researched earlier or a prior year’s student presentation. I remind the students that they are to be “experts”, they should not plan on merely reading their PowerPoint slides, but they should be presenters. If you technology is limited you can use other forms of visual aids as a substitute for PowerPoint. I have had students create posters and brochures, both have worked well. Part of this class period should be used in the students brainstorming how they will develop their slides. Use the Power Point helpers on the process page to assist them.
 * __ Day 4 Continued __**

This is the start of student presentations. I usually give the students about a week to create their presentations the randomly assign them a date to present. You will be able to accomplish about 3 good presentations per 43 minute class period. Always plan another alternative activity that takes 15 minutes or so incase the presentations should finish early. You can also use extra time to show students presentations from other classes. The first day of presentations also marks the day student research papers are due; this makes it fair for all as most will create their paper and PowerPoint at the same time. Each student is responsible for a reseach paper on their topic. This makes the quest indvidualized as well as a small group project. By having them turn them in all at the same time will also give you an idea of those who still need help or motivation to complete their project. Good Luck!
 * __Day 5 or several classes later__**

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