• Title: Ennis A History

    Subject Areas: History, English, Art, Design

    Specific Topic: Local historical sites of Ennis

    Goals
  • That the children would observe, appreciate and respect some of the popular landmarks in Ennis.
  • That they would learn about their historical relevance to the town.
  • That they become proud and protective of the environment that they live in.
  • That they design a multimedia presentation for others to use, based on what they learned about the Sites of Ennis.
  • That skills of co-operation and collaboration are developed.

    Age Range: Third and fourth class children (8-10 years)

    Display
  • The end product will be a Hyperstudio Multimedia Presentation, which will be available on CD for other classes and teachers to view and use.
  • Highlights of the project will also be displayed on the school web site.

    Prerequisite learning
  • basic reading and writing skills
  • basic word processing skills
  • basic familiarity with Hyperstudio

    Prerequisite resources
  • library books on local History
  • Digital Camera/Scanner
  • PC
  • Microsoft Word
  • Hyperstudio

    Field Management
  • The teacher and children selected seven local sites that they wished to study.
  • The teacher designed a questionnaire based on each site to enhance pupils' powers of observation.
  • On three separate occasions the class visited the sites, took photos, drew sketches, observed and answered the questionnaire.
  • The children were organised into mixed ability groups on these occasions.
    Class Management
  • Groups were organised to
    a) research & write up on each site using local books, brochures and their observations from the questionnaires.
    b) select appropriate photos, line drawings and graphics. These had to be prepared for insertion into the Hyperstudio presentation.
    c) design the Hyperstudio layout and insert materials as they became available.

    Evaluation
  • The project content was highly relevant to the 3rd/4th-class curriculum.
  • These children are now more knowledgeable about the landmarks of their town.
  • More importantly though is the fact that they enjoyed the process of learning.
  • The class was involved in a creative process, with each pupil having an important role to play.
  • The children had a first hand learning experience where they were designers of a product that would teach others what they had learned.
  • The project was a positive experience for the children. Hopefully as teenagers and adults this positivity will not be forgotten and the beautiful town that they live in will be fondly appreciated and respected.
  • The project could have been completed without the use of ICT. It would not have had the same positive outcomes however, as pride in designing such a professional piece of software has definitely boosted self-esteem, class co-operation and the confidence of the children.
Holy Family Junior School, Traveller Unit
SIP 058
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