Animal Research
Collaborate with classroom teachers to work on a research project that meets their science curriculum standards. Here are some excellent resources for elementary school students:
www.kidsclick.org/midanim.html
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals
Equipment needed: computer and color printer
Software needed: Internet browser, Kidspiration or online graphic organizer software such as Webspiration or Bubblus
1. Introduce students to graphic organizer software. Explain that they will make a bubble for each fact they find about their animal. Think out loud as you demonstrate separating a bundle of facts about hawks or koalas. Model putting the facts in your own words. Model saving your document.
2. Allow students several classes to research their animal and collect their facts in the graphic organizer.
3. Demonstrate creating “super groupers” and sorting facts. Have a class discussion about how you can divide up your facts. The science teacher I collaborate with likes these categories: facts, families, and habitat.
4. Students create super groupers and sort their facts. At the end of the class they have an outline to guide their writing.
Living and Non-Living
Every year our kindergarten teachers teach a unit on how to tell whether something is living or non-living. Wangari’s Trees of Peace is a great fit for this unit. After discussing what is alive in the book and what is not, kindergarten students can show what they know using a graphic organizer.
Equipment needed: computer
Software needed: Kidspiration
1. Demonstrate Kidspiration. Show students how to scroll through the pictures and how to place a picture on the T chart.
2. Encourage students to put at least 5 images on each side of the T chart.
3. Allow students as long as needed to finish their T chart, assisting students who need additional help.
Please feel free to email me at jphillips@wswsu.org for a copy of this template if you have Kidspiration.
