http://maker.mozillapopcorn.org/507df2e3e3044c033c000087.html

Ours is a mash-up of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with stereotypical quotes of upper class white society and deals with racism.
Paula, Kelsey, and Carolyn

Hi, my name is Carolyn and I'm a fifth-year Senior at Penn State. My mom used to tell me when I faced a difficult decision that I was "between a rock and a hard place". This is when a person faces two options within their mind that they cannot come to a decision upon. It can also be said as "an offer you can't refuse," and "choosing between the lesser of two evils." So the expression can give us an idea of a literal meaning:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4Cb_t7BLaIA/TSs6vBfesbI/AAAAAAAAB80/H_pAELCbl8M/s1600/220127929_55d535ba92.jpg

But it can also mean a position that you can be in where there seems to be no right way out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFwm5Xk1YUw

First thing I noticed is that there is a definite theme! From the introduction to the journey, to the names of the pages and links, the traveling theme is fun and exciting! It pulls everything together. I think that it is definitely age appropriate and well put together. The actual lesson plan was unclear to me. I didn't know I had to click on the balloons for the longest time. Once I got there I liked the look of the pages and can't wait to see what they look like. I don't know if the pages are not created yet or not but I feel that they know what they are doing. I know that the links to things like the "greeting cards" are not set-up yet. The transitions from day to day seem to be right on track and it helps to see the schedule. The students have to start out researching other countries' holidays before moving on to eventually create their own based on what they have learned. I did not see any rubric yet on the page. A web 2.0 technology I saw was the use of blogging. The students will post what they have learned throughout their excursions on the website and will be required to comment on each others progress. This gives a chance for peer reviewing and perhaps even scaffolding. This is where the students will interact with each other.

All in all I like the ideas and I like the page and theme. The "Excursions" page was a nice touch for those who may finish fast! Just watch spelling and grammar because there are a lot of mistakes on the Let's Celebrate! page. One last thing, there are a lot of links! It took me a while to find the lessons so maybe limiting the confusion or making the setup consistent would be easier. The layout for the Excursions page was very easy to understand.

I like the fixed background! Something to change , in the drop-down "movements" tab, the movement options cannot be seen when they hover over the "The Task" box. I thought there were only four options listed but then I realized there were more links. I think its a good idea that you have your class researching so much on their topics before they jump into their projects. The Movements pages seem very precise and helpful and the lessons page is easy to follow (just watch out for misspellings! Magazines was misspelled on the Lessons page stage 2). There is no rubric yet. At the end of the lesson, the students are able to collaborate with each other to create their final project. They begin making individual sketches/collages and move onto one final painting in small groups. The one Web 2.0 technology I found was the use of YouTube videos to help students in researching the movement of their choice. I think that more YouTube videos would be useful since kids are more visual and it may explain the movements more precisely than reading through so many ordinary links.

http://pss5097.wix.com/contempcartography#!home/mainPage
For Grade 9