01

Read The
Zman Story.

02

Greetings
to Earthlets

03

Colors of Zman.

04

What could it be?
Flowers and What?

05

Picture us
Aliens

06

A Sailboat
picture for Tom

07

9/11/2001
Nine Eleven

08

Peace Pictures
for Zman

09

Colors of Humans

10

Beth Sharon Math
Estimate

11

Vote for a
Sun Picture

12

New Computers
We Can Paint

Original lesson on the Colors of Zman was done January 24, 2001.

Colors of Humans Page created January 12, 2002.

Social Studies:
Discuss current world events and help students understand the role of the United Nations in promoting World Peace. Use a world map to point out places in the News. View the Cyberschool Pictures For Peace. Locate the countries of the artists on a map or globe. Discuss what the artists are expressing. Invite students to express their thoughts on Word Peace. They may do so by creating a picture or poster showing how they visualize peace. Students should then dictate or type the meaning of their picture. Send pictures and descriptions to The Zman Project.   

Credits: Photo from in " Tribute to the Towers" by Robert Zenhausern and Nina Alexander. 

World Peace Page created December 15, 2001.

Peace Pictures Page created November 18, 200l.

Social Studies:

View the pictures with the students, and explain that this is how the skyline of New York City looked before the destruction of the World Trade Center Twin Towers on September 11th, 2001. Discuss what happened on September 11th, and current events since that time. Encourage students to express their feelings about September 11th by creating pictures or writing their thoughts. Send the pictures or writings to The Zman Project. 

Language:

Encourage your students to write what they like best of the pictures of The New York Skyline. Discuss the events of September 11th. Discuss the Eagle with a Tear picture and how it symbolizes the events of September 11th.  Discuss current events since September 11th. Set up a group e-mail and let each student dictate or type one or a few sentences describing their feelings about these events. Send the e-mail to The Zman Project.

Credits: Photos in "Tribute to the Towers" by Robert Zenhausern and Nina Alexander taken in August, 2001, before the destruction of the towers.

New York City Skyline page created November 29, 2001.

Sailboat Photo and photoediting credits: Dr. Robert Zenhausern. 2000. All rights reserved.

Sailboat Project published November 30, 2001.

This Sailboat Project was created December 24, 2001.

A generic photo-editing software was installed on each of the computers at Southside for Zman's visit.

Your students can study these pictures, and experiment with similar software.

Students can turn themselves into aliens and print their pictures.

Aliens Project published September 10, 2001.

Teachers and parents

Language:
View the pictures and discuss the details in each enlargement. Encourage students to verbalize what the objects in the pictures seem to be in each version. Let each child choose a favorite picture.  Set up a group e-mail and let the students dictate or type one or a few sentences desribing what they see in their favorite pictures.

Flowers and What Photo Credits: Dr. Robert Zenhausern, 2000.

Flowers and What project published November 30, 2001.

E-mail List

Materials

Grades 1-2:

Use this lesson as an introduction e-mail correspondence with Zman.
Students

• read the Zman story
• views one of the materials sets
• Students answer the questions by each student dictating or typing his/her response in a single email.
• Send the email

Writing to Zman: Use this lesson as an alternative to replying to Zman. Zman may be traveling or unavailable, but you can keep up the weekly lesson by choosing one of the above Materials set.

Our First E-mail

Target Curriculum: Reading and Writing with Technology

Target Grade: 1 - 2

SOLs: C/T.5.2, E/R.1.11, E/W.1.11, E/W.1.12, E/R.2.8, E/W.2.9

Time: 25 minutes.

Objective:

Introduce students to writing e-mail.
Students dictate or type a greeting.
Students type their name to sign the e-mail.

Purpose:

Using this web prompt for first e-mail lets the teacher choose the best timing for this lesson. The lesson provides creative reading and writing experiences for students.

Materials:

Computer with Internet access and a printer.

E-mail account that can be used to send and receive class mail.

Set the email account to save all sent mail.

Procedure:

Load browser and point to http://www.educationalsynthesis.org/mrsp/zman/Greetings.html

Have class or good readers read Zman's first message to Earthlets.

Look at the first picture of Beth Sharonian Zman. Discuss what Zman may look like.

Discuss how to say hello to an alien.

Set up E-mail. Address to zman@enabling.org

Type: Hello from [teacher's name] Class in the subject line.

Address the note to Zman, and briefly describe the class. Tell Zman that your class has just read his Greeting to Earthlets.

Let each student dictate (while teacher or aide types) or individually type a greeting to Zman.

Read all the greetings aloud and correct any errors.

Let each student type his or her name in the signature.

Let one student click to send the e-mail.

Click on copy of sent mail. Print and display in class.

Observations:

This lesson is only the beginning! The real fun begins when the class receives it's first reply from Zman!

Conclusions:

E-mail correspondence is a fun way to provide practical reading and writing skills through technology.

For Your Information:

You will need to have an e-mail account that lets you receive and send mail from your classroom computer.

Extension:

Use this lesson to begin a correspondence between your class and Zman or between your class and a class at another school somewhere.

Future correspondence will depend on Zman's replies and especially any advance advice from the teacher to Zman suggesting what the students are studying.

Click on http://www.educationalsynthesis.org/mrsp/zman/Greetings.html. Print enough copies for each student. Ask the students to draw pictures of what they think the Alien Zman looks like. Scan and display the students' drawings of Zman on the school website.

Class Discussion Questions:

• Do you think Zman is a real alien?
• What do you want to say to Zman?

Cautions and Concerns:

Make sure that each child participates. Come back to students who need more time.

If students protest that Zman couldn't be a real alien, suggest that they pretend he is. How would the child write to a real alien?

Encourage students to think creatively.

Comments from Author:

It's fun to talk this lesson up in advance, and to see how the students draw an alien. You can let the students be curious if Zman is a real alien for a while, or you can share with them that Zman is a real person living in New York City who is writing to them. Perhaps you can arrange for Zman to visit your school.

Lesson 2 Make Student Charts

This Lesson can be used with a classroom computer, or without, if all materials are printed in advance.

SOL Objectives:

• Math: Make charts and graphs. K.16,  K.17, 1.18, 1.19,  2.23, 3.21, 4.20, 5.18
• Science: Plan and conduct scientific investigations. K.1, 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1
• If classroom computer: Technology: Using software: 5.2, 5.4
• English-Oral: Participate in Discussion. K.1, K.2, K.3, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1

Materials/Preparation:

• Print out a copy of the Chart for the Picture Set for each student.
• If no classroom computer, print out color copies of the large versions of each of the pictures.
• If a classroom computer is used, set the browser's Favorites or Bookmarks to use it easily in the class.

Procedure

• Show the pictures to the students. Explain that the different views were all created with software starting with the same picture.
• Students read the story on the web page.
• Engage students in a discussion of the problem presented.
• Pass out the Charts.
• Explain how students will use a tally to vote on the chart.
• Use colored dot labels as tally's, or let student write their name.
• Explain how the tallies will be counted.
• Discuss student preferences and why.
• Be sure each student has chosen a favorite.
• Students vote on the class chart or spreadsheet,
• Students vote on each other's chart.
• Be sure each student has voted on each chart.
• Teacher demonstrates how to count the tallies and record the vote on the Class Chart.
• Students do the same on their own charts.
• Discuss why the Total Tally and the Total Votes must be equal to the number of students in class.

Conclusion:

Discuss the picture that received the most votes in the class.
Discuss how this solution answered the problem.

Assessment:

Grade the individual Charts as a math and science project.