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Introduction Stories Past offers a new and different way to promote learning through an interactive web site. Designed to increase language, social studies, mathematics, science, and computer/technology skills for middle school students, Stories Past is an important tool in building a curriculum. The first module in this series, Upstairs in the Past, asks students to weigh evidence, look at bias, evaluate sources, and analyze data to answer a set of broad questions based on the contents of a fictional English country house. First, they explore the family's living quarters by navigating an interactive floor plan. In each room, students gather virtual items--toys, photographs, letters, diaries, household accounts, and other materials--related to the residents of the house. Next, they return to a modern Research Center where they can look in more detail at the virtual items that they collected. Each item has one or more associated pages that might include related links, a history note, a problem to be solved, and/or a set of discussion questions and enrichment exercises. Beyond examining individual items, students are asked to analyze groups of items to solve four broad interrelated problems: What's the Year? Where are You? Who's Home? and What's Happening? A final problem, Tell the Story, invites them to summarize their findings through news articles, editorials, book reviews, obituaries, or cartoons in an issue of the virtual (fictitious) village newspaper. ^Top Check out our demonstration pages to see how it all works. ^Top Lesson plans within the teachers section detail the National and State standards met. Currently these are completed for Virginia. (see Virginia SOL). ^Top The site consists of two parts: an interactive section modeled on a house from the past that students explore, and a research section where they answer questions based upon what they have found. Students may use the site individually or in small groups. While the site has been designed as an integrated series of lessons, teachers can elect to use all or part of it depending on subject area, class time, or other considerations. ^Top How do I Access the Site? The Stories Past education site can be reached at: www.storiespast.comThe site operates through subscription and is password protected. Please click here for subscription information. Are There Any Teachers’ Materials Provided? School licenses include access to the teachers’ resource section. Here you will find a comprehensive overview of the site (Teacher’s Guide) detailing the rooms and contents that make up the house. We provide suggested lesson plans as well as answers to all of the exercises. There is also a separate page (Teacher Resources) that provides technical tools for use on the site. What To Do First? Teachers: Use the Resources link on the Study Room page to familiarize yourself with the site. The Teacher’s Guide includes a Lesson Plan link that provides information about how to structure your use of the site and estimates of how long different activities may take. Students: Use the Visit The Past Link from the Study Room to start the exercise. We suggest that the time students spend in this part of the site be limited – they may need several visits to find all of the rooms and items. They should look for items in the rooms that they can click on to save (details of all items are in the Teachers’ Resources section). Upon returning to the Study Room, they should visit the Research Center to answer the questions provided. Some of the items have further supplementary exercises that can be done as time and interest dictates. Please contact us if you have any questions. What are the technical requirements for using the site? All materials on the site are produced by an internet education company based in Lynchburg, Virginia. For further information, please contact: Stories Past ^Top |