Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Cultural Standards
B. Culturally-knowledgeable students are able to build on the knowledge and skills of the
local cultural community as a foundation from which to achieve personal and academic success
throughout life.
1. acquire insights from other cultures without diminishing the integrity of their own;
E. Culturally-knowledgeable students demonstrate an awareness and appreciation of the
relationships and processes of interaction of all elements in the world around them.
7. determine how cultural values and beliefs influence the interaction of people from
different cultural backgrounds;
Writing Standards
W.3.3. Use narrative writing to develop real or imagined characters, experiences, or events
using effective narrative techniques (dialogue, description, elaboration, problemsolution,
figurative language) and clear event sequences (chronology).
W.3.7. Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through
investigation of different aspects of a topic.
Technology Standards
B. A student should be able to use technology to locate, select, and manage information.
1. Identify and locate information sources using technology;
As the author, you will be using your research notes and outlines to craft a detailed adventure journal.
This journal should both entertain and educate your readers. The information you use needs to be based
on the research you conducted during the unit and the journal itself should utilize the narrative writing
strategies that youve learned thus far in class (detailed in your writing notebook) so that your story
feels real/convincing. Your journal should flow from one entry to the next and follow a logical
sequence of events. This story should demonstrate your knowledge of new areas, including geographic
and cultural facts, and should originate in Sitka. While building your research into your journal writing,
you should ask yourself these questions, 1) Does my journal incorporate information from new places?
2) Does this information include geographic and cultural facts? 3) Is all of this information based on
actual research? 4) Does my journal follow a logical sequence and adhere to standard conventions of
English writing? 5) Have I incorporated the use of several narrative writing strategies to enhance the
telling of my story?
Lessons 1 & 2 are mostly pre-assessment lessons and wont provide students with materials for
their adventure journals. So not to lose the momentum provided by the hook, I believe this
piece should be inserted after the 2nd lesson and in conjunction with the sharing of the unit
goals.
Write and then read aloud your own adventure journal without revealing that you are the author
or that the story if journal is fictional. When finished, reveal that you are the author and that
not all journals have to be non-fiction.
Describe your own interest in the story content. Explain all the neat things you learned about
other places and people through the creation of this story.
Explain that students are going to create their own adventure journals. Appeal to their natural
curiosities about the world and their desire to live a life of adventure. Really sell the idea that
this is a creative project and students will be holding the reigns for what theyll learn and what
theyll do.
Explain that while this will be a fictional work, it will be based on non-fictional details
acquired through real research. Talk about the fact that this is the perfect opportunity for
students to learn about almost anything they want.
Discuss the length and commitment required for this project, but also reassure students that if
they let their curiosity guide them, their journals will essentially write themselves.
Discuss the goals of the project and introduce the parameters of the adventure journal 1)
Starts from Sitka. 2) Must travel to new locations, meet new people, and experience new
events. 3) Journal details must be based on research.
Discuss your expectations of student work, work ethic, and expectations for learning. (Did you
challenge yourself? Were you productive and dedicated? Did you put forth your best work?)
Lead students in a brainstorming exercise in which they identify several topics that are
important or interesting to them. Next, for each of these items, have students think about where
in the world they might be able to explore/experience/learn about those topics. This should
generate a couple ideas for Adventure Journal stories.
Have students select one and conduct a little bit of research to confirm a potential final
destination somewhere that could provide a conclusion/major event/learning experience/etc.
related to their chosen topic (e.g., exploring ancient pyramids would probably take place in
Egypt).
Cultural Capital:
Adventure journaling provides students the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of other
cultures and places in the world in a way that mirrors and teaches real-world, life-long-
learning strategies. Further, by embedding this learning into the activity of creative journaling,
students are asked to imagine themselves actually experiencing these new cultures and places.
This mental immersion provides a deeper and more meaningful connection to the world-
diversity the students are learning about.
By starting their adventures (and research) in Sitka, students are able to make an immediate
connection between their own world and the project. From here, students are given full
creative license with their adventure journals. This allows them to pursue questions and ideas
that are meaningful to them; and in a way that will lead them to exposure and virtual
interaction with the unfamiliar. They are both in full control of their learning and delving
headlong into the unknown diversity of our world.
The unit takes place over several weeks and follows a highly structured process in which the
skills necessary for virtual exploration and communication are delivered through 11 scaffolded
lessons. Each lesson provides skills and information that students will build upon and use in
the subsequent lesson, ultimately leading to a culminating writing activity that is fun,
rewarding, and demonstrative of their learning.
Throughout this process, students will be building self-regulation skills through self-
assessment and review. Additionally, while students are expected to complete tasks, the
ultimate expectations set forth for students are growth-focused and not product-based. This
helps students to develop a mindset where they see learning as an end-in-itself as opposed to a
means to an end.