Artist Research Station

On most Fridays, the students work in Art Based Learning Stations. One of the stations is Artist Research Writing. In this station, the students choose an artist to read about. The artist cards that I provide are from Teachers Pay Teachers and can be found here. There are several sets of these available. After reading, the students write key facts about their artist on a Thinking Map, typically a Circle Map. They then use the Circle Map to help them write sentences to summarize the information read about the artist.

David Shannon Author Study

While reading David Shannon books, we also learned about him as an author and illustrator. We watched a short interview with him from Scholastic and then created a Circle Map about facts learned. The students used the Circle Map to write a shared writing piece about him.

Inventors Research

We visited the computer lab on Thursday so the students could research an inventor of their choice on their own. We use PebbleGo as our main online research tool. I love PebbleGo because the students can choose to have the information read to them and the words are highlighted as it is read which naturally leads them to read along. There are also historical videos imbedded within the biography section. After choosing an inventor to research, the students listened to each section and recorded at least two facts per section on their student-created Circle Maps. Next week they will use their Circle Maps to write a research paper independently. They will get to share their papers with their classmates and become the "expert" on their inventor.

Space Research

The students used their questions they had about space from a previous lesson and then worked in small groups to find answers using a variety of sources. They recorded their answers on a Circle Map. They then used the Circle Map to  help them write about the facts they found on a non-fiction text feature template. They wrote details and drew pictures including captions.

Inventors Research

In the computer lab the students used PebbleGo to research various inventors of their choice. I love PebbleGo because not only can the students read the information themselves but they can have it read to them as well. There are also various pictures, videos, and timelines to help them comprehend the material. As the students learned about their chosen inventor, they recorded facts on a Circle Map. They then used those facts to help them write a research paper about their inventor.

Space Research

In reading we have been learning about informational texts. As a part of those lessons, the students have been using various non-fiction sources to research space. The students were divided into groups. In their groups they chose a specific topic about space: astronauts, space shutttles, stars, the sun, or the solar system as a whole. They worked in small groups with me to research using PebbleGo. They recorded important information on a Circle Map. They then worked together to find book sources to record addtional important information.

Stocking Descriptive Writing

As a fun homework project, the students decorated their own Christmas stocking. Then in class they wrote sentences to describe their stocking. They first brainstormed what it looks like, what it has, and what it can do on a Circle Map. They then transfered those ideas to a Tree Map which they used to write their sentences. They wrote their final draft of stocking paper which was hung on the fireplace with their stocking art.