Goals:

The students will use a personal journal throughout the Titanic Unit as a self-reflection on their progress.

The journal serves as an aid to the long term projects.

The students will also hear the story of the Titanic read by the teacher in A Night to Remember by Walter Lord.

Materials:

loose leaf paper

pen

class notes, discussions, handouts, etc. used during the day

Lord, Walter. (1955). A Night to Remember. New York: F. Watts.

Resources which might be useful for journal entries and outside reading:
 

Davie, Michael. (1986). The Titanic, The Full Story of a Tragedy. United States: The Bass Press.

Eaton, John P. & Haas, Charles A. (1996). Titanic, Destination Disaster, The Legends and the Reality. United States: Patrick Stephens Limited.
 
Eaton, John P. & Haas, Charles A. (1995). Titanic, Triumph and Tradegy, A Chronicle in Words and Pictures. (2nd edition). United States: Patrick Stephens Limited.
 
Gardiner, Robin & VanDerVat, Dan. (1995). The Riddle of the Titanic. United States: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
 
Lord, Walter. (1955). A Night to Remember. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Lord, Walter. (1986). The Night Lives On. New York: William Morrow and Co Inc.

Thresh, Peter. (1992). Titanic.United States: Bison Books Ltd.

Time:

This activity will take about one hour each day for the entire duration of the Titanic unit.

Procedure:

1.  The students will participate in various class activities.

2.  The students will then be given a topic to write on. (Example: a chapter from A Night to Remember).

3.  Read aloud one chapter from the book A Night to Remember by Walter Lord, or have a speaker come and address the class.

4.  The students will record the thoughts, feelings, and ideas they experience during the various lessons in their journal.

The students must reread their journals each week and describe five areas where they have progressed. This will give the students the opportunity to self-assess themselves and their learning progress.

The students must write in their journals about the progress of their long term project once a week. This is another means of self-assessment for the students to practice.  

Curricular Strands & Major Concepts:

The journal will be written in and used through the lesson on a daily basis. The students will use it in all areas of the curriculum to express their ideas, frustrations, and knowledge learned.

Possible Extensions:

Have the students write a book from their journal ideas.

Have the students continue adding to and writing in their journals.

Have the students used their journals to support class discussions.

Have the students use their journals to provoke questions and suggest puzzlement/problems.

The Titanic - developed by Kelly Coleman, Nikki Cosgrove, Megan Mills, & Dorothy Weber

Back to First Week Outline

This page was submitted by St. Norbert College Ocean Voyagers Program