Mike+B+Parent+Letter

Dear Parent/Guardian,

We are about to embark upon an exciting adventure In our social studies class that may be new to many of you. Traditionally, education has been very teacher-centered. The teacher designs and delivers instruction to their students. When this happens, the teacher decides what information is "important" enough for the students to learn. However, as technology progresses and information becomes more adult available for our students, it is important that we give our students the opportunity to discover and guide their own learning.

It is with this goal in mind that I am introducing a new type of project in my Social Studies class. The students have been given a number of essential questions from which they must choose one to answer. The questions, all about the Civil War, will be what guides their learning in my class. The students will be asked to develop research questions to help them find information to support their answer of the essential question they choose. Finally, the students will create a mini-documentary that blends images, narration, music, writing, etc. to answer their essential question. There is a strong possibility that the students will be spending much of their class time using web-based programs to collaborate and create their videos.

Some of the programs and resources the students will be using will require them to use an email address to create a user account. The students will never be asked to provide personal information--the email they will use is the one provided for them through Moodle (username@students.ojrsd.com). For this reason, I am asking hot sign this permission form and return it to me by ___________. Please feel free to contact me with any other questions or concerns and be sure to check the Moodle site for key information and due dates.

Sincerely, Michael Brilla

Maroon Team Social Studies