TitleofLesson:AnimalResearchProject

Instructors:JeanineScheele(LMS)andK.Voigt(Homeroomteacher)

School:Ellio@Elementary

GradeLevelandSubject:FirstGrade,WriFng

CurricularConnec9on:FirstgradefocusesonnonficFoningeneralduringthirdquarterandanimalresearchinparFcular.Historically,thestudentshaveusedbooksonlytoresearchtheirspecificanimal,butthereisinterestinhavingourfriendsresearchonlineaswellasinprint.MyfocusastheLibraryMediaSpecialistwillbetointroducePebblegotoourstudentasasupplementtotheirresearchproject.IwouldalsobehelpingthemnarrowthetopicearlyinthewriFngprocess.

Project:ThisunitlastsseveralweeksandincludesmanyvisitstotheLibrary.Thisisalsothestudents’veryfirsta@emptatresearchandtakingnotes.

DayOne:(includesavisittotheMediaCenter)Studentswillcometothelibrarytoviewthevariousanimalbooksavailabletothem.Theyneedtohaveabookaswellasamediasourcebytheendoftheproject.Ifstudentsareready,theymaychooseananimalbooktocheckoutandbeginexploringit.OtherstudentsmightneedextrahelpfromthehomeroomteacherortheMediaSpecialist.DayTwo:TheteacherwillmodelusingatableofcontentsandfindinginformaFoninabook.Studentswillbelookingfor“bigideas”.DayThree:(SupplementaryLessonwithmaterialsthatareincludedhere.)TheLibraryMediaSpecialistwillcometotheclassroomandusethecomputerandprojectortointroducePebbleGotothefirstgradeclass.PresentaFonwillinclude:• NavigaFngtheLibraryMediaSciencewebsite(includeslocaFnglinks)• NavigaFngthePebbleGowebsite(includeslocaFngtheanimaltabandsearchingfortheiranimal.• Lookingfor“BigIdeas”DaysFour,Five,Six,andSeven:(IncludesmulFplevisitstotheMediaCenter)Studentswilllearntotakenotesintheirownwords.Studentswillvisitthelibraryindividuallytoconferenceandlearnhowtochoosetheideasfornotes.

RemainderofLessons:StudentswilllearntoorganizetheirinformaFonandpresentitinbookformatthatincludestheinformaFonthattheyhavebeengathering.Theywillincludeatableofcontentsfortheirbookandadiagramoftheiranimal.Theywillalsoincludeasimplereferencepage.Manyoftheseitemsareworksheetsprovidedtothestudenttofillin.Thestudentswillalsoeditandproofreadtheirwork‐shouldbeascorrectaspossible.

Exampleoffinishedpage:

WhatTheyLookLike

Seahorseshavelongsnoutsandnoteeth.Theyhaveoneeyeoneachsideoftheirheads.

ThefollowingslidescontaintheactualPowerPointpresentaFontobepresentedtothestudents.ThewordstheLMSwouldsaywillbeprintedatthebo@omofeachslide,alongwithexpectedresponsesofthestudents.

ExpectaFons:ThestudentswillbeabletonavigatethewebsitesindependentlywhenthepresentaFoniscompleted.TheywillbeabletolocatetheiranimalandfindtheinformaFontheyneedfortheirreport.

WhenstudentcometotheMediaCentertolearntotakenotes,theywillhavetheopportunitytoexplorethewebsiteandtakenotesatthisFme.

Readtheheaderandthenlistsomeoftheanimals.Callonafewstudentstosharetheiranimal.

Whateveranimalyouchose,thereisalotofinformaFonavailabletoyou!Everyonehasabookabouttheiranimal,buthowmanyofushaveusedtheinternettoresearchouranimal?(Waitforresponses)Today,wearegoingtolearnaboutadatabasethathaslotsofanimalinformaFonavailableforourproject.

ThewebsiteiscalledPebbleGo,butinordertouseit,wehavetoknowhowtofindit!Whenyoucometothelibrarytolearnaboutnote‐taking,youwillhavethechancetoexplorethesite,butforrightnow,let’sseewhatwecanfindoutaboutthesite.

Pleasechooseacomputerandhaveaseat!

MostofyouhaveusedFirefoxtogoonline.WewillbeusingFirefoxtogettoPebbleGo.

AssoonasyouclickonFirefox,youareonourhomepage!YouwillneedtoscrolldowntofindPebbleGo.Let’sdothatnow!

Whenyouscrolldown,youwillseePebbleGoundertheHomeAccesssecFon.Clickonit!

ForourAnimalResearchproject,weneedtoclickonPebbleGoAnimals,butatanotherFme,pleaseexploreEarthandSpaceaswell!SoyouwilluseyourmousetoclickonPebbleGoAnimals.

WhenyougettoPebbleGo,youwillseethisscreen.Atthispoint,youmaychooseaboxthatyouranimalfitsinto,orusethesearchboxtotypeinyouranimal’sname.

Typeyouranimal’snameinthesearchbox…

…wearegoingtopretendmyanimalisthepandabear.SoItypePANDAintothesearchboxandpress“Enter”.

Panda

HereisthepageaboutthePanda,thefirstpagetellsusaboutthepanda’sbody.Ifyouclickoneachofthepurplehalf‐circles,thereisallkindsofexciFnginformaFon.Youcanevenheartheanimal’ssounds!

WewillbelearningtotakenotesaaerweexplorePebbleGo.WewillseehowtheinformaFonthatthedatabasecontainscanhelpustowriteourownbooks!Wewilllearnaboutanimalbodies,habitats,babies,andfoods.

WhatIwouldlikefrommyfirstgradefriendsisthatbetweentodayandwhenyoucometothelibrary,thatyoulookatyouranimalbookandthinkofinformaFonthatyouneedthatmightnotbeinyourbook!Ican’twaittoseeyouinthelibrary!

FirstGrade,ThirdQuarterWri1ngProject.LincolnPublicSchools.(2009)

PebbleGoDatabase(2010,November).www.pebblego.com