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