Submitted by Sabrina LaPointe, Queensbury, New York
Idea posted February 22, 2005
I did a "Careers in Music" unit with my sixth graders. The students worked in groups to read/highlight information about four careers (music teacher, professional musician, music therapist, and music businessperson). The students then presented their information to the class. After the presentation, the students used the computers and the "Inspiration" computer program to create computer collages about the careers they researched. The collage included the most important facts about each career along with appropriate pictures. The software allowed the students to create a flow-chart effect and helped them to create interesting artwork. Finally, the students e-mailed me their collages, and I put them onto a PowerPoint for all to view. Each student got up and spoke a bit about their collage. They loved this activity! If you don't have "Inspiration" on your school computers, a hand-made collage on posterboard would work just as well. I believe this project could be easily adapted for fifth grade.