8th+Grade+WW2+Diary+and+Letters+Research+Project

=__**8th Grade Research Project**__= During this project you will be working in groups of 3 students to research and create an eBook on WW2. toc You will choose to write either a booklet of diary entries, or a collection of letters home. This will be done in groups of 2 and 3 and each member of the group will be responsible for his or her chapter and or section of the book.

The Tick List
Here is the Tick list for the project.

**__Your jobs will be to:__**
2. Use your research and web evaluation skills to identify sources of information for the project, 3. Share this information as social bookmarks using Diigo. 4. Use Twitter or Today's Meet to share your "nuggets" of information. 5. Collaborate with your group in planning you ebook in Google Docs and creating your ebook using iBooks Author.

__**Questions to Consider**__
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 * Will you be writing diary entries or letters?
 * Who will you be writing as? You could be a soldier, pilot, leader or a couple of friends exchanging letters back and forth.
 * What information will you need to write knowledgeably as and accurately represent this person?
 * What artifacts might you include in your ebook? Images of people, places, documents, others?

Lesson One: Website Evaluation
Work in pairs. Start by using the Google Custom search bar above to browse various sites about WW2. If you cannot see the search bar, us this link to access it.

You may then search outside of the custom search pathfinder. Evaluate the sites and try to find examples of sites that are reliable. Remember to ask yourself the following. Copy the following table into a Google Doc and use it to fill in your findings. You will be expected to report back at the end of the lesson. What makes the author and expert on this subject? Can you find out more about this author? || **Bias:** What language and information does the the author use to convince you about this information? || What is the publisher's reputation. Do they publish anything else? || **Evidence:** Has any evidence been provided by the author? How does this match up with any evidence you have found elsewhere? || Is the information recent? When was it last updated? || **Links** Who links to this page. What does that tell you about the information on this web page?
 * **Author:**
 * **Publisher:**
 * **Date:**

(Remember you can use the AltaVista link:[URL] command to investigate this.) || Is the information on the website accurate? Are their errors in the writing? Does the information fit with what you already know? || **Links To:** What does the website link to? Do the links work? What do these links tell you about the website? ||
 * **Accuracy:**

Lessons 2-3: Search Tools
Install the Diigo Bookmarking Tool or Diglet for the browser you are using.

Use it to capture important information you come across. If you need a brief review of how to do this, Click Here! What can you find out about the topic?

During these lessons you will apply your search skills with boolean operators and utilise a variety of search tools. Your research findings will be annotated, contain your notes and be shared in your Diigo research group.

Smart Search Tools
Here is a link to the Smart Search Tools we have used in the past.

Now try out some of these different Smart Search Tools to find information for the project, remember to evaluate your sources, using the strategies from the first lesson to help you find the best information for your project.

The Pathfinder
You may also want to use this pathfinder of resources when searching for web sources for the project.

Lesson 4 Twitter or Today's Meet
During this lesson you will be using your Twitter account or the Today's Meet Room, to tweet a number of posts using the hashtag #abcict. You must read through the research in your **__Diigo Group__** and extract important information to share in 140 characters or less. This information must not be copied and pasted. Instead you need to read through it, make sure you understand it and summarise the main points to be tweeted. You will need to post a minimum of 3 text tweets in the lesson and 2 images. Please see the ABCICT lesson on Twitter for more details on how to do this.

Your Tweets and those of everyone else in the grade can be accessed after each lesson in our Google Doc.

If you do not wish to use a Twitter account we will provide a secondary chat room using Today's Meet. 8A Research Results //**Please join in with your real name.**//
 * [|8B Research Results]**
 * 8C Research Results**
 * 8D Research Results**
 * [|8E Research Results]**

Creating the iBook
The next step is to use your research to create the iBook. You will be using iBooks Author to do so. Please click here to access the next set of lessons.