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They are to explore Chanukah. They are to find out what is being celebrated during Chanukah, the traditions associated with Chanukah, and the origins of those traditions. They have been quite interested in the battle with the Macabees, which has lead them to independently research that battle. This had made the use of the Internet suddenly a tool for satisfying their curiosity.
They are to identify Ramadan and its implications. They must find out the meaning of Ramadan, who celebrates it, what it requires and what are the traditions that have arisen from such. They are amazed at the fasting during daylight hours and the subsequent all night feasts.
All of the above work, from Halloween through Ramadan have been or will be done on Word Perfect programs. This has greatly improved their writing skills in that they seem to be able to identify an error much quicker when it is on a monitor. The length and depth of their writing has also increased because it seems that they either feel more confident expressing themselves on a computer, or it is easier to write.
Then, said work is attached to an e-mail and sent to me. The wonderful part of this is that I can respond upon the day of receipt, the students have a record that I received it and I not lose papers. It has cleaned up many of the misunderstandings and tricks that the students sometimes use, as well as guaranteed that I cannot lose it. Our communication has vastly improved avoiding misunderstandings, but the quality of work has improved given the amount of time that has been increased for use.
The final part of this project is that the students will need to create Power Point presentations in conjunction with their own web pages. The students are going to be split into groups of varying cultural backgrounds and ethnicity. The wonderful aspect of teaching ESL is that I have children of almost every religion and culture who can work together to bridge gaps and to share different perspectives. These groups will create a Power Point presentation over these holidays. In this presentation, they are to demonstrate a knowledge of the subject, the variations on similar themes in said holidays, and present a visual representation of the information that they found to be the most pertinent.
The Power Point presentation is to be put on a web page that the students will develop on their own. This web page will cover each holiday, the information that they have compiled, the results that they have developed and their own unique �cultural mosaic� of these traditional holidays.

I am quite positive about the outcome of this endeavor. At the onset, the students have achieved at levels that were higher than I expected. They were able to e-mail, use software tools to create essays and explore the Internet. At no point did any of my students, at multiple levels of English acquisition, notice that they were functioning entirely in English. They failed to see that they were reading in English, writing in English, or disseminating information that was only found in English. This has vastly improved their reading, writing and analytical skills.
The final outcome is a bit loftier. I would like to see that this sort of work vastly improves their abilities to use higher thinking skills in order to develop their own ideas. The development of a Power Point presentation and a web page will adhere creativity with writing, thereby making their productions of high quality. I believe that by using the Internet, they will be able to research successfully and thoroughly, while using a mirad of sources. I also believe that by using software to write, their work will improve the quality of their papers by reducing errors and facilitating the writing process.