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| Overview |
This lesson focuses on a “learn by doing” series of reading and writing
activities
designed to teach research strategies. The activity uses KWL charts
and interactive writing as key components of organizing information. One topic
is
chosen by the
class to investigate as a group. Periodic reviews of gathered information become
the backdrop to ongoing inquiry, discussion, reporting, and confirming information.
The lesson culminates with the publishing of a collaborative question
and answer book which reports on information about the chosen topic, with
each
student contributing one page to the book.
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| From Theory to Practice |
In the Introduction to the January 2000 School Talk focusing on “Using
Nonfiction Literature,” Stephanie Harvey tells us, “The real world
is rich,
fascinating, and compelling. Primary
kids know this. They burst
through the kindergarten door brimming
with questions about the real
world. . . . Nonfiction, more
than any genre, lets us explore the
real world, ask questions, and find out compelling information.”
In the classroom, our job as teachers is to tap the natural curiosity
and inquiry methods students bring through the classroom door to provide scaffolding
for
the research
activities we undertake as part of the curriculum. By focusing on the questioning
strategy that comes so naturally to students, this lesson plan invites students
to explore nonfiction books to find their own answers. The result is a student-centered
inquiry project that takes advantage of the skills that students bring to any
research project to guide the unit.
Further Reading
Harvey, Stephanie. “Bringing the Outside World In.” School Talk 5.2 (January 2000): 1.
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| Student Objectives |
Students will
- use nonfiction texts and the Internet to gather information, generate questions,
and find the answers to questions
- explore the genre of Question
and Answer Books in print and online
- contribute information and illustrations
to create a class book in question and answer format
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| Instructional Plan |
Resources
Preparation
- Gather an assortment of nonfiction picture books about insects
or any other topic. Also collect sample question and answer books to use as models for the writing activity.
See the Insect
Book List and Question
and Answer Book List for suggestions.
- Find and bookmark Web sites for quick and easy access.
- Create a list of ten questions about insects (or the topic that you’ve
chosen for your inquiry project). The questions should be keyed to the
information available in the sample Question and Answer Books that you’ve
chosen to share in Session Four.
- Test the Anatomy of a Hive, Anatomy of a Worker Honey Bee, Changing
Cicadas Slide Show, and/or Dances
with Bees
interactives on
your computers to familiarize yourself with the tools and ensure that you
have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in
from the technical support page.
Instruction and Activities
Session One: Introducing the Topic—What Do We Know
- Post chart paper on the board.
- Gather students together and write at the
top of the chart, “What Do We Know About Insects?”
- Ask students to
tell you what they know about insects, and chart their responses.
- Write
the students’ names (small) at the end of their responses.
- When students
have run out of information, do a picture walk through a book
about insects to model getting information from pictures. Use a book with
large,
clear photographs and minimal text, so that you can read to the students
while focusing on the pictures. Seethe Insect
Book List for suggestions.
- After
reading aloud and doing the picture walk, have students tell what they
found out from the pictures.
- Explain to students that they will be reading
pictures with a partner and that we will all come together after
a little while to tell some things we found out.
- Pair students off and give
them about
fifteen or twenty minutes to explore.
- Allow them to change books
if
they want, but make sure they are really looking at the pictures
together and
talking about what they see.
- Circulate among the students to
ask questions about what they see.
- Regroup and have students tell some things
they found out from the pictures.
Session Two: Expanding the Topic—Asking Questions
- Post a new chart paper next to the first one. On this chart, write “What
Questions Do We Have About Insects?”
- Choose another insect book for reading
aloud. As you read, identify information that is presented and model asking
additional questions.
- Write one of your
questions on the chart.
- Ask students if they have any additional questions,
post them on the chart, and add their names.
- Have students work with
partners to explore more picture books. Make sure they know that they will
be bringing questions back to the group.
- As students
read together, circulate and ask them what they are finding out,
and what else they would like to know. Model questioning if necessary.
- After
about fifteen minutes, bring students back together in a circle, with partners
sitting together with the book (or books) they read together.
- Give
students a minute or two to clarify with their partners one question
they would like to add to the chart. Then, go around the circle and ask each
set
of partners, “What else do you want to know?”
- Post the questions
on the chart, using a different color marker for each question.
Put students’ names
with their questions.
- Keep the charts posted for the next session.
Session Three (and ongoing): Gathering Information—What Are We Learning?
- Post a new chart paper to the right of the question chart. At the top, write “Answers
We Found.”
- Choose a book for reading aloud which has the answer to
the question you posted on the question chart in Session Two.
- Gather students together. Review your question with the students then
read aloud the section of the book that answers the question.
- Have students
tell
the answer to the question.
- Explain that students will explore picture books and easy reading books
each day for a few days and will also explore insect sites on the Internet
to
gather information.
- Before reading/exploring each day, have the whole group review the list
of questions.
- After about 20 minutes or so of picture exploration,
bring the group together and ask if anyone found any answers to any of
the
questions on the list.
- As answers are given to the questions, write
the answers on
the answer chart directly across from the question, using the same
color marker that was used for the question (see example), so that
each question
and answer are adjacent. When charting, be sure to write students’
names next to their own information and questions.
- During these exploration times, add any new questions to the chart that
students ask, and continue to look for answers.
- Also during this
time, have an adult volunteer bring small groups of students to the
computer to type
in questions at the Ask
Jeeves for Kids site, or read information
from selected Web sites to find the information they are looking for. Answers
that
are
difficult to find can be gleaned from selected read alouds and from
the Internet.
- As pertinent for the questions that students are exploring, share one or
more of the following interactives with your class or with small groups of
students:
- Anatomy of a Hive
Explore bee hives and the various roles of the bees who live in them in this PBS resource.
- Anatomy of Worker Honey Bee
Mouse over the bee drawing to see the name and the function of the various parts of the insect’s body. More information about the body parts is provided below the image.
- Changing Cicadas Slide Show
This Science NetLinks interactive slide show features photographs of every
stage of a cicada’s development.
- Dances with Bees
Share small QuickTime videos of bees from the NOVA Web site to explore how
bees interact.
- When all questions have been answered on the charts, prepare for making
the question and answer book.
Session Four: Exploring the Genre—How Can We Share What We Learned?
- Post ten questions about insects with a copy of
the Table of Contents from a Question and Answer book in a study skills
learning center.
Key the questions to the information available in the book.
- Ask students to use the index page to determine where they will most likely
find the answer to each question. They can write the page number(s) on their
answer sheets.
- Once students have had a chance to forecast where they’ll find the answers
to their questions, share the Question and Answer book with the class, noting
where the answers are found in the book and the relationship of the answers
to the index or table of contents.
- After reading the book, ask students to point out what they notice about
the way that the book was put together.
- If someone does not volunteer the observation, ask students how the
structure of the book relates to the information on the KWL charts. Draw
particular attention to the questions and answers on the chart and the question
and answer structure of the book.
- Explain that during the next class session, you’ll publish the information
from your KWL chart in a class Question and Answer book.
- As class time allows, students can explore additional Question and Answer
books.
- Before the next session, prepare the questions as necessary for the class
book. For instance, for younger
students, you can use a word processor to type out all questions and answers
in large font, spaced so that they can be cut apart and distributed to students
for
easy copying.
Session Five
- If there are fewer questions and answers than students, plan to make more
than one copy of the book, so that each student will make one page.
- Pass out the materials for the book.
- If you’ve prepared a handout of the questions for your students, pass
that information out as well. Older students can copy the questions and answers
directly from the charts; however, younger students may need a large print
copy of a single question.
- Ask each student to write the question on a sheet of white photocopy paper.
Trim the extra white space, and glue their writing onto
the middle of a sheet of 9x12 construction paper.
- Repeat the process for the answer to the question. The question and answer
are glued on reverse sides of the same sheet of construction paper
(make sure
they are both right side up).
- When all pages have been completed, invite
students to provide illustrations in color. Students can draw on directly
on the construction paper or work on white photocopy paper, which is trimmed
and glued into place.
- If desired, trace over all student
writing with a colored fine-point marker. You might also laminate
all pages.
- Bind the book so that the question page is seen
first,
and
page
will
be turned to read the answer (see example).
- When the book has been bound, read it aloud to the class and add it to
the classroom library.
Extensions
- Once the students are comfortable with genre of Question and Answer books,
challenge them to write Question and Answer books on their own. Students
might investigate a subtopic of the original topic. For example, if the original
topic was “Insects” (in general)
a subtopic could be bees, ants, or ladybugs.
Question and Answer books
can relate to any school subject; science is a natural, but so are social
studies and other curriculum areas. How about a Q&A book
about life in a historical time period? Or a far off land? Or one about the
lives of famous inventors? Students can work individually, in pairs, or in
small groups to delve into a topic of interest.
- Explore the Question and Answer genre online. General sites, such as Yahoo Kids Ask Earl, allow users to post questions about any topic. More focused sites, such as Kids Money Q&A, focus on questions about a specific topic. You might also draw particular attention to the structure of the Ask Jeeves for Kids search engine, which is essentially an Internet-based Question and Answer tool.
- Follow this inquiry project with a related ReadWriteThink lesson plan:
Web Resources
- Ask Jeeves for Kids
http://www.ajkids.com/
- Type in any question and get links to related topics.
- Backyard Buddies Coloring Pages from National Wildlife Federation
http://www.nwf.org/kidzone/kzPage.cfm?siteId=2&departmentId=160
- Print out realistic drawings of many animals to use for coloring or observation.
- Fun Stuff Coloring Book
http://www.west-ext.com/fun-stuff.htm
- Print out black line pictures of various insects, for labeling or coloring.
- Insects For Kids
http://www.kathimitchell.com/insects.html
- Explore many more links to insect information sites.
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| Student Assessment/Reflections |
Use kidwatching and anecdotal records during the students’ independent
work process to gauge student engagement, reading comprehension, and collaboration
skills.
The finished book product will serve as an overall assessment of the publishing
process.
Have students assess their own work using the Partner
Reading Checklist.
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1 - Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
3 - Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
4 - Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
5 - Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
7 - Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
8 - Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
11 - Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
12 - Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
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