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Overview
Below are instructions for a class writing activity. A link is provided to a student worksheet that you can print and make copies of. Step-by-step instructions show you how to turn the students' writing into a Student Showcase page. We provide a graphic of a crystal ball that you can add to the page.
In this activity you will help students set reasonable goals -- relating to their school and home lives. You can revisit these goals throughout the year -- as report card time or the end of the year approaches -- so students can reflect on their progress. Posting the goals on your website allows you to share this information with parents and will hopefully spark conversations at home.
Here's a webpage a 4th grade teacher built based on this lesson. She used the Simple Page format to build her page. Here's an example using the Student Showcase format.
Materials for classroom activity:
- Paper, pencils, markers, crayons, colored pencils
- Click here for the printable student worksheet Looking into the Future. Make one copy of the worksheet for each student.
The Lesson
1.) Explain to students that you want them to think of three goals that they'd like to work toward this year. Share some of your goals and/or brainstorm some goals together. Help students shape the goals so they are attainable. The goals should relate to different areas of the students' lives: school, home, relationships, hobbies, interests, and sports, are good areas to explore. Students can start their goal sentences using these phrases:
I predict that ...
My resolution is to
My goal is to ...
Sample goals:
My goal is to complete my homework by 8:30 each night/ to not leave school projects until the last minute.
My goal is to keep my school papers more organized this year.
My goal is to improve my spelling skills.
My resolution is to read for at least 15 minutes each night before I go to bed.
I predict that I will make my bed / take out the garbage/ feed the fish without my mom/dad/grandmother having to remind me.
My resolution is not to tease my sister when she is tired.
My goal is to be more patient with my little brother.
I predict that I will improve my passing skills in soccer this year / my drawing skills.
2.) Pass out one crystal ball worksheet to each student. Tell the students that they will be writing their goals inside this crystal ball - one sentence for each goal. You can have the children use colored pencils, crayons, and markers to decorate the crystal balls, so you can make them into a bulletin board display. If students have keyboarding skills, those who finish early can type their goals into a word document or into the Student Showcase page itself while the others are finishing their crystal balls.
Building the Webpage:
1.) From the Main Menu, click Student Showcase.
2.) Enter Title of Student Showcase: Looking into the Future: Our Goals.
3.) Enter Short Description of Student Showcase: (This text will appear on your homepage and let visitors know what to expect when they go to this page.) Here's text you may want to use:
Our class brainstormed some goals we'll strive to reach in the coming year. Here's what we came up with! We'll check back throughout the year to see how we're doing!
Here's an example of how this will appear.
4.) Student Showcase Content: For the Title, you could, for example, write Jimmy T's Goals. If you plan to include several students' goals in a single description box, use a more general title like Our Goals.
Type the text as you would with a word processor. Hitting the "enter" key will insert a line break. If you have already typed the information into a word processing document, you can copy and paste the text into the description box.
5.) If you want to add a crystal ball graphic on your Student Showcase page, locate the word Image and click the Select button. Once you are on the Add/Delete Images page, scroll down and click on the Clip Art directory link. Click Open next to the category Lessons. Find the crystal ball image and click in the circle underneath it. Hit Submit. On the next screen, Select the image position, choose the position where you'd like the image to appear on your page. Then click Submit.
6.) You should now have returned to the Create/Edit Student Showcase screen. Continue to add students' goals in the 'brief description' boxes. You might want to use the crystal ball image more than once to dress up the page.
7.) Click the Preview button. A Preview Page appears which shows you how your webpage will look when it's published.
8.) Click Save to save the page without publishing it live to the site, or click Save & Publish to save it and publish it so visitors can see it on your site.
9.) If you have Saved & Published your page, to view the page on your site, click on the View Site link in the upper left corner of the screen.
Enjoy!
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