Project Narrative

Need for the Project

It is important to teach students how to use technology since it is available all around them now
that it is the 21st century. It is unfortunate that many students who attend Mountain Sky Middle
School do not have access to technology at home. Students will need the use of Chromebooks to
be able to complete their projects. The Chromebooks will help students with their research,
interviews and presentations. There will be plenty of classroom time to teach students how to
search the Internet for research, read informational text and create their presentations.

Project Impact
This project will have a massive impact on the students, teachers and the community. 153
students will engage in project-based learning. The students will connect with community
members as well as community leaders through interviews conducted by the students. The Social
Studies and Language Arts Teachers will collaborate to make sure the reading, writing and
research skills needed for the project are supported in both classes. At the end of the project,
students will have a presentation showing off their findings to their class and then to their
community. The school will have a research night where members from the community can
come to the Cafeteria and students will be able to present their findings.

Learning Goals and Outcomes

How does the Crusades have an impact on the Middle East today? Students do not think about
how historical events that took place in the past have such an impact on current events. Students
will learn research skills to help students find credible sources as well as expand their ability to
interpret data and informational text.

Throughout this project the students will learn the reasons why the Crusades occurred and the
events that took place during the Crusades. Based off this information, students will use critical
thinking skills to think how they would be able to prevent the Crusades from occurring if they
went back in time. Then after they are able to prevent the Crusades, they would think how the
outcome of History would be different, especially pertaining to the Middle East.
Standards covered include:
SSHS-S2C3-04: Describe the interaction of European and Asian civilizations from the 12th to the
16th centuries:
a. Crusades
b. Commerce and the Silk Road
c. impact on culture
d. plague
SSHS-S2C3-01: Contrast the fall of Rome with the development of the Byzantine and Arab
Empires (e.g., religion, culture, language, governmental structure).
SSHS-S2C1-06: Apply the skills of historical analysis to current social, political, geographic,
and economic issues facing the world.
Technology Standards:
ISTE-T1c- Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students
conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.
ISTE-S3b- Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a
variety of sources and media.

Activities
The activities that the students will participate in to complete the project will be:

 Take notes about the Crusades and current issues in the Middle East.
Conduct further research to better understand the time period, why the Crusades occurred
and what the results of the Crusades on society were.
Come up with interview questions and conduct interview(s).
Formulate how they will be able to prevent the crusades and how it would affect the
future.
Work together with group members to put their information into a presentation.
Present their presentation to the class as well as the community.

Assessment
Throughout the project, students will be evaluated on their researching skills. Once the students
are taught how to find proper research, how to write interview questions and how to conduct an
interview, the students will have a quiz. The quiz will reflect if the students are ready to move on
with the project or need more review on research and interviews. The students will also turn their
individual piece in that shows the research that they personally found and that will be graded as
well as the group presentations. Students will receive rubrics so they know what is expected of
them for all aspects of the project.

Technology Support
Mountain Sky Middle School l has a team equipped to help with any technological issues with
the Chromebooks. The student with the technology issue would just need to go up to the library
so the technology team can take a look at the Chromebook and supply a replacement, if needed.

Sustaining the Project after the Proposal Period

This project can be used for years to come. The crisis in the Middle East does not look as if it is
going to end in the near future, making the connection to Current Events, still applicable. Since
the project will be infused with technology, there will be more resources and technology
applications that the students can use in future years.

Innovation
This project is very innovative and will help students think in a way that they never have before.
Most students accept the fact that an event occurred, however they do not think critically about
how history would be altered if that event never occurred. Students will be able to get outside of
the classroom to speak with members of local government and even churches. This allows
students to better understand religion and current laws pertaining to the past as well as the
present.
Technology will broaden the innovation of this project. Students will need to learn many
different technology skills to conduct their research and tie everything together with their group
for the group presentation. The technology will allow students to easily collaborate with one
another. The goal of the technology portion is to introduce technology to students that will help
them not only with this project, but many different situations in the future.