Literacy:

Symbolic Competence: In acting as an adviser, learners must be able to gain meaning from and interact with various mediums such as conversations (face-to-face and online), interviews (face-to-face and online), text (print and online), and word processing.

Cognitive Processes: To build knowledge about the various methods of homeschooling through high school, learners will gather and process information from interviews, conversations, printed text, and online venues such as internet sites and blogs.

Discourse Forms: To express their acquired and processed knowledge, learners will document their thoughts and ideas in a blog throughout the project. To conclude the project, learners will prepare an oral presentation supported by visual aids (print graphics and charts and/or computer-based spreadsheets, powerpoint, etc). They will then take part in an oral discussion to determine the best personalized program of study.

Problem-Solving:

Organizing Problem: The general problem for this design is "How do advisers create a plan of study for students entering high school?" To solve this problem, learners must be able to research potential programs of study and compare those with their personal learning goals and/or restrictions.

General Problem-Solving Strategies: Deduction-Assess programs of study, create connections according to determined criteria, prioritize components. Induction-Design personalized program of study, selectively encode various programs of study

Knowledge:

Disciplinary Structures: Guidance counselor, time management, methods of knowledge acquisition, reading comprehension, writing, computer literacy

Disciplinary Processes: Understand various methods of knowledge acquisition; compare with learning goals; create management of time for learning outcomes that meet goals; write to convey personal thoughts and understanding; collaborate with others to develop and carry out a plan of action

Disciplinary Discourse: Create a narrative discourse through the use of a Blog to track the route taken for information discovery and retrieval; Create a final expository discourse that explains individual learning goals and the time management procedures designated to meet those goals

Using Information:

By taking on the role of an academic adviser, learners will have many opportunities to use information.

Search:  Learners will begin by Searching for information using various mediums such as interviews, printed text and online sources.

Sort (and judge):  They will then Sort through the information they have found and judge whether it is helpful in finding an effective program of study.

Create and Communicate:  Next, they will use induction and deduction strategies to create a program of study that best meets their needs and communicate their findings to others using multiple tools. This last step will allow the learner to design, encode, assemble, publish and revise.

Community:

This project incorporates both cooperative and collaborative opportunities to foster a sense of community through group learning.

Cooperation: The learner will be able to interact virtually with peers to compare and contrast homeschooling methods through the use of a blog.

Collaboration: The learner will interact with older learners and mentors both physically and virtually through interviews and blogs to gather and sort through information about various homeschooling methods. The learner will also have the opportunity to share and communicate their gained knowledge with other learners seeking similar information.

Authentic Activities:

To solve the problem of deciding what homeschool program of study is most appropriate, the learner must take on the role of adviser. Advisers will determine the interests and goals of the learner, the learners preferred style of learning, and limitations of the learning environment.

The following tasks are usually completed by advisers:

A1. Determine the learner's interests and goals such as college and/or career plans

A2. Determine learning parameters and restrictions

A3. Research the various homeschool programs of study

A4. Pick the programs of study which allow for the learner to accomplish their goals through their interests

A5. Create methods of presenting possible programs of study

A6. Present options and cooperatively choose one or more programs of study

Background Building Activities:

B1. Discuss with parents possible college and/or career plans.

B2-1. Interview parents to determine learning restrictions and record results

B2-2. Brainstorm and write goals, interests and preferred learning methods

B3-1. Use magazines, blogs, internet search engines and interviews to research programs of study

B3-2. Write a list of questions to ask other homeschoolers during interviews

B5. Use software programs to outline important relevant parts of each program of study including possible college credits through exam and/or dual credit

B6-1. Use charts, diagrams, etc. to present narrowed program of study options to parent

B6-2. Cooperatively work to decide on the best program of study

Constructing Activities:

C1. Create a list of parameters to help in deciding on a program of study

C5. Create a spreadsheet of all parameters and enter in parts of each program of study

C6. Create visual aids to use for presenting possible programs of study

Sharing Activities:

D1. Learners will meet with parents and discuss parameters for choosing a program of study.

D3. Learners will collaborate with homeschool peers through the use of blogs and face-to-face discussions.

D6. Learner will share findings with parents and work together to determine the final program of study.

Contents:

§127.2. Career Investigation.

(a) General requirements. This course is recommended for students in Grades 7-8.

(b) Introduction. Achieving proficiency in decision making and problem solving is an essential skill for career planning and lifelong learning. Students use self-knowledge, educational, and career information to set and achieve realistic career and educational goals.

§126.12. Technology Applications (Computer Literacy), Grades 6-8. 

(1) The technology applications curriculum has four strands: foundations, information acquisition, work in solving problems, and communication. 

(4) Information acquisition. The student uses a variety of strategies to acquire information from electronic resources, with appropriate supervision. The student is expected to:

(A) use strategies to locate and acquire desired information on LANs and WANs, including the Internet, intranet, and collaborative software; and

(B) apply appropriate electronic search strategies in the acquisition of information including keyword and Boolean search strategies

(9) Solving problems. The student uses technology applications to facilitate evaluation of work, both process and product. The student is expected to:

(A) design and implement procedures to track trends, set timelines, and review/evaluate progress for continual improvement in process and product

§110.20. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 8, Beginning with School Year 2009-2010.

(16) Writing. Students write about their own experiences. Students are expected to write a personal narrative that has a clearly defined focus and includes reflections on decisions, actions, and/or consequences.

(23) Research/Gathering Sources. Students determine, locate, and explore the full range of relevant sources addressing a research question and systematically record the information they gather. Students are expected to:

(A) follow the research plan to collect data from a range of print and electronic resources (e.g., reference texts, periodicals, web pages, online sources) and data from experts;

(B) differentiate between primary and secondary sources;

(C) record data, utilizing available technology (e.g., word processors) in order to see the relationships between ideas, and convert graphic/visual data (e.g., charts, diagrams, timelines) into written notes;

(D) identify the source of notes (e.g., author, title, page number) and record bibliographic information concerning those sources according to a standard format; and

(E) differentiate between paraphrasing and plagiarism and identify the importance of citing valid and reliable sources.

§110.24. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 8.

(8) Reading/variety of texts. The student reads widely for different purposes in varied sources. The student is expected to:

(D) read to take action such as to complete forms, to make informed recommendations, and write a response (6-8).

(11) Reading/literary response. The student expresses and supports responses to various types of texts. The student is expected to:

(A) offer observations, make connections, react, speculate, interpret, and raise questions in response to texts (4-8);

(B) interpret text ideas through such varied means as journal writing, discussion, enactment, and media (4-8);

(C) support responses by referring to relevant aspects of text and his/her own experiences (4-8); and

(D) connect, compare, and contrast ideas, themes, and issues across text (4-8).

§111.24. Mathematics, Grade 8.

(14)  Underlying processes and mathematical tools. The student applies Grade 8 mathematics to solve problems connected to everyday experiences, investigations in other disciplines, and activities in and outside of school. The student is expected to:

(A)  identify and apply mathematics to everyday experiences, to activities in and outside of school, with other disciplines, and with other mathematical topics;

(B)  use a problem-solving model that incorporates understanding the problem, making a plan, carrying out the plan, and evaluating the solution for reasonableness;

(C)  select or develop an appropriate problem-solving strategy from a variety of different types, including drawing a picture, looking for a pattern, systematic guessing and checking, acting it out, making a table, working a simpler problem, or working backwards to solve a problem; and

(D)  select tools such as real objects, manipulatives, paper/pencil, and technology or techniques such as mental math, estimation, and number sense to solve problems.

Tools:

B1-1 & C1. Print-based interview form for determining learning restrictions and parameters (to be printed by learner)

B1-2. Print-based outline for goals, interests, preferred learning methods (to be printed by learner)

B2. Magazines (personal and library copies), computer with internet connection for linking to blogs and search engines, Homeschool video clips from news programs, Print-based questions for interviews with other homeschoolers (to be created by learner)

D2. Computer with internet connection for collaborating through blogs

B4 & C4. Computer software (Word or spreadsheet)

B5-1 & C5. Posterboard, markers

To Do List:

B1-1 & C1. Create an interview outline for determining learning restrictions and parameters

B1-2. Create a questionnaire for determining interests, goals, learning parameters and restrictions