Kids Fill the Gap in Women's History!

By Gary Hopkins, Education World

This week, Education World talks with the students and teachers behind three award-winning, student-created Web sites. Children's Encyclopedia of Women, Herstory, and Women in Science help fill curricular gaps in women's studies. Learn how these sites can beef up your curriculum as you and your students celebrate Women's History Month in the classroom!

Teacher Terry Hongell couldn't help but notice. Neither could Gary Glassman or Lisa DuFur. Few classroom materials present a full account of women's contributions to their societies and communities

Hongell noticed it in the Golden Book Encyclopedia software her students used: "The index has 25 listings for women -- and 173 entries for men!" Hongell told Education World. "With that kind of imbalance in an otherwise excellent piece of software, I saw the need to remind all students that girls can be anything they want."

The result: Hongell and her students created a Web site: Children's Encyclopedia of Women.

Gary Glassman looked over the textbook he would be using with his tenth-grade world history students and noticed that more than 90 percent of the characters mentioned were male.

"Even the California State Framework mentions 25 male characters that world history must include in its curriculum and only one woman, Gertrude Stein," noted Glassman. "That seemed to be a rather unlevel playing field. In good conscience, I couldn't exclude my female students from an equal opportunity education, inspiration, or role models. I began in earnest to include a healthy balance of the contributions of women in every unit in my curriculum."

The result: Glassman's students created: Herstory Website.

Lisa DuFur found herself seated with Nora Sabelli, from the National Science Foundation, at a ThinkQuest awards banquet. Their dinnertime conversation turned to the lack of role models for young girls in the sciences and math.

The result: DuFur returned to her school and coached the students who created: Women in Science Web site, which connects young learners to women who are making a difference in the sciences.

The students and teachers behind these award-winning Web sites discovered that writing for the Web motivated learners of all ages. In honor of Women's History Month, Education World is pleased to share their stories.

Children's Encyclopedia of Women

Terry Hongell was excited when the idea of having her third and fourth graders create a Web encyclopedia of women came to her. She saw the project as an interesting way for her students to learn about women's achievements while developing Internet searching skills and designing Web pages. Student response to the Children's Encyclopedia of Women has been most gratifying. "This year, the first thing the fourth graders asked was, 'Are we going to do another report on a woman?'"

Responses from complete strangers have been just as gratifying. "We get the best mail," said Hongell, who teaches computers and technology at Pocantico Elementary School in Sleepy Hollow, New York. "I read all the letters that come to us about the site so the students can hear how their work is affecting others. I think that helps them understand the need for accuracy. One of our favorite e-mails was from a graduate student who began with, 'I got to the bottom of the page and was shocked to see that it was written by a third grader.'"

The project offers another big benefit -- it sets young students up as 'teachers.' That sets the stage for some real learning. "There is a pyramid that depicts the amount of information that is retained by a learner," explained Hongell. "It shows that you remember the most when you teach someone else."

This year, Hongell's students continue to teach others by adding to the site. "I ask students to think of something they are interested in -- science, art, sports, literature, TV, history," said Hongell. Then students use the list of Women's History Month sites that she has created to help them narrow the choices. She especially likes the Distinguished Women Web site because students can search by field of interest. Students supplement their online research with print materials and by using Yahooligans! or KidsClick search engines to locate more resources about the specific person they choose.

Students love writing for the encyclopedia, added Hongell. Paul, a fourth-grader last year, told Education World, "On a scale from one to ten of what we learned, it was definitely a ten! We feel that we have created a special site for all ages to use for reports or just to enjoy learning about women doing special things. … This project was definitely worthwhile."

The Children's Encyclopedia of Women continues to evolve, noted Hongell. Last year, fourth graders added a list of related links to each of their encyclopedia entries. Hongell hopes to add a categorical listing to the site, which is currently presented in alphabetical order. Someday, she also wants to add a search engine!

No question -- the Children's Encyclopedia of Women passes the "worthwhile" test!

Herstory

The Herstory Web site passes the "worthwhile" test too! "The site inspires my students to create excellence in hopes of getting their work published online," said Gary Glassman. His students at South Fork High School in Miranda, California, created Herstory. "For the Web site, I'm looking for creativity, originality, depth of thought, a sense of voice, and lots of polish," Glassman added.

Glassman provides a rubric for students. That rubric establishes what it takes to get work published on the site. "I apply a multi-genre approach to the project. Students can get credit for doing a myriad of assignments in which they apply their talents to create art, poetry, historical fiction, music, or the traditional research paper. Representations of all those approaches are included on the Web site."

"I'm never surprised by what my students turn out once they are given the green light that it's OK to let their imaginations soar or to apply their strengths to their work," Glassman emphasized.

The Herstory Web site came about almost by accident. The students were working on their Herstory projects; at the same time, Glassman knew he wanted to create a Web site. "The students' Herstory assignments showed me the way," Glassman told Education World. "Jennifer's Medieval Women and David's African Slave Trade--A Comic demanded to be published. Those were the breakthrough pieces. I knew they were very well done and very rare."

Herstory has received recognition from all around the world. The site received the grand prize in the high school division at the Startech competition organized for northern California schools. The judges cited the original artwork, the quality of the written pieces, and the sophistication of the work by Webmaster Michael Eastwood, who created the site when he was a junior. "One judge said the site took history to a whole other level!" Glassman proudly noted.

Women in Science

Lisa DuFur went away from her dinner table conversation with an idea. That idea was all students Nicole Hassold and Kyle Thomas needed!

"We brainstormed the idea and its possibilities and proceeded to collect information for the site," recalled DuFur, co-director of the Craigmont High School Planetarium in Memphis. "[The students] wanted to create the [ first international registry for women in science on the Internet. They also wanted the site to be more than just a registry. They wanted it to be a source of important information."

The result is clear -- Women in Science is a terrific resource. It has also earned many honors. The Tennessee State House of Representatives passed a resolution recognizing the students' efforts! Click on "Awards" on the site for a list of other awards.

"Young women need female mentors," said DuFur. "When the project first started, Nicole and Kyle began interviewing female scientists. They asked a series of questions, one of which was 'Who was your mentor?' We were surprised to learn that most [female scientists] had male mentors because there were no female mentors in their fields of study. We hadn't really thought about it until then, but it became a driving force to create a site that made females available as mentors." Through the site's registry, students -- boys and girls -- can ask the women scientists questions about school projects, career possibilities, or anything else that comes to mind.

Another chance meeting at a ThinkQuest gathering led Hassold, Thomas, and coach Dufur to team up with a high school student in Germany. Arne Frerichs had the Web-building skills to turn the team's idea into reality. Frerichs and his coaches created a perfectly matched, can-do team, recalled DuFur. "I have worked with several other Web-page teams and have never found a harder working, more positive and compatible team," she said. "We coaches watched and cheered them on as the site grew larger and larger, better and better."

The site continues to work its magic, even though Thomas and Hassold have moved on to college. "Just last week, a sixth grader from Arkansas e-mailed me," said Kyle Thomas from Washington University in St. Louis, where she is now a freshman. "She wanted my opinion about her science fair project idea. I immediately e-mailed her back and encouraged her to follow through with her idea. It's gratifying to know that so many children are seeing and using the site and that they feel comfortable e-mailing us and asking our opinions."

"I particularly like the responses we get from students and other users who say that they never really knew there were that many women who made such a huge impact," said Hassold from the University of Tennessee at Martin. "Women in Science has enabled students all over the world to speak with professional women doing all sorts of science-related jobs."

"These young women brilliantly blazed a path for excellence and have uncovered many misconceptions about women entering the field of science," added Sandra Hodge, principal at Craigmont High School. "This Web site will continue to inspire students all over the world to attain their goals for the future."

"I enjoy receiving feedback from teachers who say that their students are much more interested in science.

Now they can communicate with a 'real' person instead of just collecting information out of a book or off the computer -- copy, paste, copy, paste," DuFur told Education World. "It is nice to have someone there to show you the ropes of higher education and academic growth -- especially in a particular field of study that you are interested in."

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