Turkey Time

As Thanksgiving approaches, I took the opportunity to use the Super 3 with first graders to learn more about wild turkeys. To show them how to use a variety of information sources, we observed them in this 1 minute clip from ARKive, read about them on this website, and looked them up in an online encyclopedia (we used Amazing Animals from Grolier through NC Wise Owl.) After gathering information, I asked the kids to draw a turkey and write four facts they learned on the tail feathers. They did a great job! Here are some of their pictures/facts. I hope you can read the facts because they did a good job remembering a lot of neat stuff like they sleep in low branches, can have up to 18 eggs, use their feathers to attract females, the skin on their head can change colors (which I didn't know!), and they eat seeds and insects. You can also see some of the information they gathered in details they have in their pictures. Great job first graders!

Animals Everywhere

It seems like everyone is learning about animals this time of year - 4th grade has been studying animal groups to be able to create their own animal, 2nd grade has been researching animals, and a first grade class is working to partner research an animal and create a powerpoint as part of the common core informational writing standards. The first grade group came today to start their powerpoint with the graphic organizer we had already filled out. They are making one slide for each question on the organizer. They did such a fantastic job! They worked together, took turns typing, got way more done than I thought they would, and are excited about the project. Tomorrow, they will be back to finish typing and add colors, pictures, etc. Here are some pictures of them working on the research portion. We spent one day using books and one day using an online encyclopedia through NC Wise Owl.

Time to Harvest the Plant Projects!

We started a plant project in late September with third grade. Because there are so many classes (eight this year!) it has taken us a little longer to finish, but they presented at the end of October. Each class was divided into partners and assigned a plant. They were to use the Big 6 process to research the plant, create a powerpoint, and present it to the class. Last year, we did the same sort of project with odd plants, but with a change in online encyclopedia options, we had to change them up this year and went with more plants that help people somehow - either as an herb, a fast growing food for animals, fire deterrent, or some other use. I was happy with what most of them came up with for their first big research project in the Big 6. (I use Super 3 with K-2.) Here are some of their powerpoint slides. They were asked to choose a color that represented their plant and to include their citation for their information. All of their pictures were from clip art.

 

Bee-Ware of a Fun Project

I did a Super 3 bee lesson with my Kindergarteners right before book fair last week, and it actually worked out playing into the pumpkin lesson I am doing now. (More on that one later!)


I wanted to introduce the Super 3 Research Process to them, and used bees as an example of an animal that gets ready for winter during the fall. (They make extra honey to store.) I like to use the Super 3 as a backbone for lots of lessons throughout the year so the kids get used to hearing it, how to follow the process, and can kind of know what to expect from a lot of lessons, though the topics and end products change.

We brainstormed questions we had about bees, where to find the information, and how we could show information. Then, we read a non fiction book about bees and made observations from some bee photographs. The kids drew a picture of a bee using the things we observed and tried to write something they had learned about bees if they could. They turned out well and some added some good details to the pictures like the honeycomb cells or bees on flowers getting nectar. Here are some of their pictures.

She wrote 'Queen bees lay eggs.'

Bees have 6 legs and 2 wings.

A bee getting nectar.

A bee in the hive

Sir Walter Raleigh

Timelines are a great way to create a summary of someone. Our fourth graders are working on learning about the Lost Colony in North Carolina, so they asked if I could work with the kids on learning about Sir Walter Raleigh a bit more in depth. I decided to use this as an opportunity to also work with the kids on finding important information in an article and creating timelines. We started off as a group and I modeled adding a couple of dates. Then, we talked about how to add events that were important, but didn't have a specific date in the article by locating what other events came before or after and making a best guess where it might fall on the timeline. The timelines also helped the kids think about numbers when we talked about having to estimate where the years would fall on the timeline, rather than just putting them anywhere, why there might be a long space at the beginning with no events, and how they begin and end unless the person is still alive. This was also a good way for the kids to break an article down into important events. I am thinking about maybe using the timelines next time to create a project of some sort, but have not decided what yet. (Edited below to add our follow up!) Here are some of the kids working on reading the articles and creating their timelines.

Edited to add: We have finished the written timelines and are using the online timeline from ReadWriteThink to type and print the timelines.

Explorers A to Z ... or not?

I am preparing a unit for my 5th graders on explorers and was looking for sites to add to my livebinder for them to use to research their person. I came across Explorers A to Z and it looked like a great site! Looking a little closer, I realized it will be a great site...but not for the reason I thought. Instead of using it for our explorer unit, I will be adding it to my website evaluation unit - on my list of hoax sites. You can see more about the Explorer A to Z site here and how it is meant to be used. They have even color coded the Treasure Hunts for facts by easier with more surface level fact problems to harder, more fact specific issues so you can challenge kids at the level you want. The Treasure Hunts give a real site to visit and their own fake one so they can compare the information.

This is a perfect site to use along with sites like the Northwest Tree Octopus in helping students learn more about how to look at a site and that just because it looks legit, doesn't mean the information is correct. As I was reading about Christopher Columbus, I thought at first they made some typos, because I know he didn't sail in 1942, but of course he didn't have infomercials or a toll free phone number either. Hopefully, kids would catch these things, but then again I was surprised how many still thought the Northwest Tree Octopus was real even after really exploring the website.

What sites do you use for website evaluation and examples of hoax sites? (See a list of my main ones on my livebinder.)

What sites do you use for information about explorers?

Plant Big 6

We are working on a plant project in third grade. We did a similar project last year, but this year we are not doing unusual plants. I am trying to build in the Big 6 and Super 3 more often with my classes so the information will hopefully travel with them year to year as they get more used to hearing it and doing it. So, we are using the Big 6 process to research plants. They will be taking notes, compiling their information, and creating a powerpoint about their plants. We have just started working on note taking and discussing that notes should be important key words, not whole sentences. Here are some of the kids getting started.

Our state is kind enough to fund several resources through NC Wise Owl, so we are using the Britannica encyclopedia through that to read about their assigned plant. They are working with a partner. I can't wait to see what their finished products look like!

What are you scared of?

Our 4th grade AIG students have been working on a project about phobias. Each was given the name of a phobia to research, then prepare a powerpoint presentation containing the information, citations, and a picture and background that represents the phobia. They did a great job and we got some creative presentations! Here are some of their presentations.

Dog-Gone Fun

We have been working on finishing up the cat and dog projects we started recently. 1st and 2nd graders used the Super 3 to research a breed of cats or dogs and create a project. 2nd graders were making a Lost Dog poster describing their breed and included citations. This was a great way to get them started on taking notes in the form on key words and phrases rather than copying or writing in whole sentences. Here are some of the 2nd grade notes and projects in progress!

From notes...

...to finished poster.

Citations