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The purpose of this lesson is to use children’s natural curiosity to model the steps to start and complete a research project. As stated by Kuhlthau, the beginning of the research process is the stage that causes the most anxiety. Students will brainstorm questions they have about a particular animal to ultimately create a note taking form they will use to conduct their research.
Topics for research will be pre-selected and students will use pre-selected print and electronic resources to do their research. Students will draw a picture of their animal and have it scanned into the computer to accompany their reports. Students will give oral reports to their class.
Introduction (15 minutes)
1. Students will enter the classroom section of the library. The LMS will have the picture of an odd looking animal projected on the board. In the event a student asks as they enter the classroom, “What’s that?” The teacher could say something like, “Hold that thought.” When everyone is settled, the LMS will tell the students what they are going to do that day and return to the student who asked the question.
2. Before the lesson, the teacher and LMS will work together to come up with a list of topics.
3. LMS will pre-select books and have them set aside.
4. The LMS will have created a PortaPortal or Quia containing links to the Internet sites about the topics and are appropriate for the age group.
Body (40 minutes)
5. The LMS will lead the students through a brainstorming exercise to come up with questions about the animal. As they ask their questions, he/she will type them into the computer so they are projected for all to see. The LMS will coax students to ask questions they don’t come up with on their own and she will encourage students to think about higher level learning skills such as the animal’s ability to adapt to its environment or the animals contribution to the ecosystem.
6. Once they have completed this exercise, they will work together to identify the general categories these questions relate to such as appearance, habitat, diet, and adaptation. When they are finished, there will be a template on the screen the students will use to find information about their animal.
7. While the LMS is printing out the template, the teacher will have the children reach into a hat filled with numbers to determine the order in which they will pick their topic. Coming up to the teacher in this order, the students will select from a card printed with the animal’s names. This card will be turned over and the next student will come up to make their selection.
8. Half the students will work with the print resources on the tables while the other half will work in the computer lab accessing the PortaPortal.
Before library time (20 minutes)
9. Students will review their notes to see where there are gaps in their information. The teacher will ask the students to go around the room and say one fact about their animals. The teacher will coach the students to listen for something they may have left out of their research.
10. The students will have also drawn a picture of their animal to bring to the library.
During Library time (50 minutes)
11. Before students resume their research, the LMS will review the note taking template and ask if anyone would like to add additional questions they found during their research.
12. Students will use whatever resource they did not use during their previous library time.
13. One by one, students will come up to have their pictures scanned.
In the classroom
14. Students will compile their research into a written report addressing all the elements they identified in the note taking guide they created as well as anything else they discovered during their research.
15. Each student will be given a “What I Learned” form with the animal’s name adjacent to a place to take notes for every student in the class.
16. Students will read their report to the entire class. The picture of their animal will be projected on the screen during their speech.
Learning Assessment Methods:
