Third+Grade+Animal+Inquiry

=**Background:**= While thinking about this project, I wondered what my second inquiry lessons would be. I thought about different research activities that occur throughout the year at our school and how I could help improve the experience.

This lead me to the third grade animal research. Last year,one of the three teachers gave me a day's warning that her students would be coming down to get books for their animal research. They were sent a few at a time to get books, enabling me to help them find what they needed. The other classes just showed up all at once without warning. Students were frustrated because they couldn't get to the shelf where their animals' books were, chaos ensued, and the library experience was not very enjoyable for anyone. How can I make this a better experience?

=Planning:=

Once I decided on focusing on the third grade animal research, I emailed the third grade teachers about working together. I included some preliminary ideas (carrots so to speak) to get them thinking about collaboration. Before our spring break we set a date for the two week inquiry -starting April 12.

When we returned from Spring Break, I shared my lessons with them, along with our tentative collaboration planning sheet (see link below). This generated excitement for the new ideas and activities for the students. My activities inspired them to think about other products for students to generate from their inquiries.



=Lessons:=

I decided to focus on Pre-Search and resources with the third grade as well. As I stated on the eighth grade page, this is an area that is often glossed over or quickly completed.

Our third grade students have had limited opportunities for research. As second graders they have a few mini-research projects to help them understand how to gather answers to their questions. This is the first research project that goes more in depth, so I want to familiarize them with the wealth of resources available for them. They also need some time talking about possible topics before making their selections. One focus of our lessons is to guide students towards lesser-known or less popular animals. This will help them have a genuine inquiry experience, rather than "learning" about animals they already know a lot about.

**Resources Activity:**
Before coming to the library as a class, the class room teachers will introduce the inquiry project and topic (animals). This will be the basis of our resources activity. Click on the link below to see the resources lesson.



For this lesson, students will work in partners filling out a resource evaluation page. The resources will be set up at numbered stations throughout the library. There are more stations than there will be groups, so hopefully this will prevent a backlog at the stations. The handout students will use is linked below, along with the hints that will be posted at each station to assist them.





**Student Samples:**




Feedback/Review
This activity got rave reviews from the third grade teachers. While we only have two teachers this year, I included another teacher who will be teaching third grade again next year. They all liked the idea of helping students explore resources beyond a book all about their chosen animals. The idea of having them work in partners and rotate through stations was a favorite for all of them. When I explained that some resources are included that do not help, they agreed that was a great idea. For students to be able to show they truly understand it, giving "non-examples" is just as important as examples.

Animal Selection Activities:
Students tend to pick favorite animals to "research", although they may already know a lot about the animal. In bouncing ideas off Dr. Lamb, she suggested having students discuss //why// some animals are more popular. I loved this idea! This will get students thinking about why they like certain animals over others, and challenge them to look at "unpopular" animals to see what characteristics may make them undesirable or unpopular. It will also encourage them to have an authentic inquiry by choosing an animal they don't know a lot about. Our enthusiasm about learning unusual or interesting facts will help spur them toward lesser-known or chosen animals.



The preferred avenue of sharing the students ideas, for me, would be using the computer and projector. I can type much faster than writing neatly on a board, and keeping up with the students ideas would be easiest using the computer. This also keeps me facing the students, similar to using an overhead projector, but also allows me to preserve ALL their ideas. Using a board limits the space available, so some ideas might be lost.

Student Samples:


These samples were created with little time, but we would want to afford the students more time to plan their posters. More discussion is needed about promoting the animal and making sure the writing and pictures are large enough to see from a short distance.

Assessment
The posters would be assessed using a checklist. This checklist is simple, but allows the students to self-evaluate. It also gives them the opportunity to make any additions or corrections needed before turning them in and sharing them. The checklist was designed so it could be printed onto 4x6 note cards. It could also be printed as multiple checklists on a single sheet as well.



Feedback / Review
The class room teachers also felt this activity was a great idea. They spoke enthusiastically about it being a great addition to the project. I am sure they feel like they see the same animals every year, but hopefully this year will bring about some changes. One teacher even suggested that the poster should be part of the final product, like a portfolio. This got our thoughts going about process being included as part of the final product! Once again, the saying "Two heads are better than one" comes true. We all have a positive view of the upcoming collaborative unit. I know our enthusiasm will carry over to the students. While this collaboration unit has not started yet, I know as well finalize our plans the lessons may be adjusted to fit the current students (as it should be).

Update (April 5): We will begin this unit tomorrow. (Yea!) Tomorrow, each student will receive a checklist of the research steps (teacher created), so the students can self monitor their progress!

The classroom teachers have been fine tuning this animal research unit over the years. They admitted that they are always tweaking their units to make them better (never seem to be done improving lessons). They have developed great organizational pages to help the students gather all the required information, outline their papers, and complete the written report. From our discussions, they modified the forms to include the social studies connection concerning hemispheres. They feel the students need more help with understanding hemispheres, and determining which hemisphere their animals live in is a great way to incorporate more practice.

They also want the students to share their ideas about the animal facts, so the outlines give students this opportunity. Space is provided for sharing their opinions about the animal's appearance, child versus adult life, and habitat. The teachers added

The overall unit is very structured to give students the guidance they need in completing all the steps in the writing process. All their note taking and outlining will be done on teacher created handouts. The guidance is appropriate for this group, since they have limited inquiry experience and many are unsure of what to do at different steps.