Brief Description

Monster Exchange is designed to encourage the development of reading and writing skills while integrating Internet technology into the classroom curriculum. Classrooms from a variety of schools worldwide are paired together; the students in each classroom are split into groups, each of which designs an original picture of a monster. The students must then write a description of the monster. The partnered classes then exchange their descriptions via e-mail and the Internet. These students are then challenged to use reading comprehension skills to read the descriptions and translate them into a monster picture. The true challenge involves creating a redrawn picture as close to the original picture as possible without looking at the original and using only the written description of the monster.

Standards and Frameworks

Technology Standards

• 3T-E1. Use formatting capabilities of technology tools for communicating and illustrating
• 3T-E3. Publish and present information using technology tools
• 4T-E2. Use technology tools for individual and collaborative writing, communication and publishing activities to create curricular related products for audiences inside and outside the classroom
• 4T-E3. Collaboratively use telecommunications and online resources

• W-E6.Write formal communications, such as personal or business letters, messages, directions and applications, in an appropriate format and for a specific audience and purpose
• W-E1.Use correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and usage, along with varied sentence structure and paragraph organization, to complete effectively a variety of writing tasks
• R-E2. Use reading strategies such as making inferences and predictions, summarizing, paraphrasing, differentiating fact from opinion, drawing conclusions, and determining the author’s purpose and perspective to comprehend written selections
• R-E6. Compare and contrast the historical and cultural perspectives of literary selections
• R-E3. Analyze selections of fiction, nonfiction and poetry by identifying the plot line (I.e., beginning, conflict, rising action, climax and resolution); distinguishing the main character from minor ones; describing the relationships between and motivations of characters; and making inferences about the events, setting, style, tone, mood and meaning of the selection
• R-E5. Evaluate an instructional manual such as assembly directions or user’s guide for clarity and completeness

Academic

• Students will write a five sentence descriptive paragraph of a fictional “monster.” This paragraph should include adjectives that tell about the appearance of the monster, its size, shape and its color.

• Using a scanner or digital camera, students will scan or photograph, and save their monster drawings to a file on Desk top, as a JPEG file, so that they can later download the drawing on to the  “Monster Exchange” web site.

• Teacher will know how to use a scanner or digital camera. This will help if and when the students have difficulty using these tools themselves.
• Teacher should know how to save the monster drawings as a JPEG file and as a file on the computer.
• Teacher will know how to download the pictures on to the Monster Exchange site.
• Teacher will know how to access the Monster Exchange Internet site.
• Teacher will know how to bookmark the Monster Exchange site for their students’ ease of access.
• Teachers will be able to instruct their students in all of the above, because they will be expected to perform the tasks themselves.
• Students must know how to use a scanner to scan their monster drawings on to the project site.
• Students must know how to use a digital camera to take a picture of their monster drawings. (This is to be used if a scanner is not available in the classroom.)
• Students must know how to access the Monster Exchange Internet site.
• Students must know how to use “favorites” or “bookmarks” in the tool bar to quickly access the site.
• Students will have some exposure to keyboarding skills for typing on the computer.
• Students will know how to edit their descriptions using the mouse or arrows, backspace and delete keys.
• Students will know how to access their saved monster drawings from a JPEG file and on to the Monster Exchange site.

Computers in the classroom or access to a computer lab with Internet access.
Paper, crayons, and or colored pencils for drawing.
A scanner connected to the computer or a digital camera.

Accommodations for Special Needs

• Second language learners and/or special education students with language, writing or reading difficulties will benefit from being paired with students who are strong in these areas. Prior to accessing Website, have the student copy pre-written sentences describing a monster. The student would only have to add the descriptive adjectives that would specifically describe their monster.
• The teacher or a skilled volunteer (adult or older middle school student aide) will help any second language learner, special education or any student having difficulties scan their drawings on to the computer and help download their monster drawings on to the website.
• Gifted students could be encouraged to use colorful, descriptive adjectives for their monster descriptions. These students could also be given the option to work alone instead of working with a partner. If the student chooses to work with a partner, then they could choose which partner to work with as oppose to the teacher making the choice.
• For further extension, both groups could be encouraged to write a story or create a Power Point presentation involving their monster in different escapades, or to make 3-D models from clay, paper mache or recyclable trash of their monsters. This could be attempted after the original drawings and descriptions have been submitted on line.

• Teacher will access the site http://www.monsterexchange.org/

Teacher will Log In and receive an access password from Monster Exchange.
When the teacher has the password, then they can become familiar with the Monster Exchange site and how to maneuver through its links.
• Teacher should also sign up for several collaborative classrooms from the site since some teachers may decide not to participate in the project or respond to the exchange request. It is nice to have several classrooms outside of the school’s area to choose from to exchange monster descriptions.
• Teacher should open the “teacher/parent” link. This link describes the project in detail, lists two detailed lessons, and gives a project-time line for the teacher to follow when implementing the project. Teacher should present the first lesson at this link. This is to give the students background information about “monsters of the world”.
• Teacher will give students the KWL form. Students are to complete only the K and W (what they know about downloading and accessing drawings on Monster Exchange, and what they want to know about downloading and accessing drawings on Monster Exchange) portion at this time. Teacher will collect KWL and hold on to them until the final evaluation.
• Teacher should then present the second lesson. This is the actual lesson that guides the teacher through the Monster Exchange Collaborative.
• Teacher should pair students together; students can choose their own partner to work with when they write a rough draft of their fictional monster.
• After the paragraph has been written, the partners will self-evaluate their paragraphs using the check list. The partners can also try out the description by exchanging the paragraph with another pair in the classroom. This gives the authoring pair another opportunity to edit the paragraph before it is written as a final copy to the Monster Exchange Collaborative site.
• Once the paragraphs have been typed on the web site, the partners will need to add their drawing to the paragraph. The site makes this very easy to do, providing the students remember where they have saved their monster drawings.
• As soon as the collaborating class has written their monster descriptions at the site, then the partners can begin to draw a monster based on the written descriptions of those students.
• This site also has a help link to aid the teacher with any problems they may encounter while completing this project. Teacher may direct specific questions to Monster Exchange if the help link is not specific to their needs.
• After the collaborative project has been completed and the exchange with the collaborating class has also been completed, then the students can complete the “L” section of the KWL form.

Students will self-evaluate their written descriptions using a writing rubric checklist for students. Students will evaluate their paragraphs on their word choice, sentence fluency and conventions. Students must score 10 out of 12 points on the checklist in order to be ready to type their descriptions on the Monster Exchange web site.

Students' technology skills will be judged on their ability to type their descriptions, scan and/or download their drawings and access their drawings. This will be evaluated on a KWL (what do I know, what do I want to know and what have I learned) form. The following are the three questions for students to answer on the KWL.

The questions are,

1. What do I know about downloading and accessing my drawings on Monster Exchange,
2. What do I want to know about how to download and access my drawings on Monster Exchange and
3.  What have I learned about downloading and access my drawings on Monster Exchange?