Educator+Teaching+Materials

Objectives

 * Given the "I Went Walking" story, students will read text easily.
 * Given a website, students will explore a virtual farm and name at least one farm animal.
 * Students will recall information throughout the unit satisfying the "questioning" phase of the inquiry process.

Language Art Standards

 * 1.1.1 Match oral words to printed words.
 * 1.1.15 Read aloud smoothly and easily in familiar text.
 * 1.6.1 Print legibly and space letters, words, and sentences appropriately.

21st Century Standards

 * 1.2.3 Demonstrate creativity by using multiple resources and formats.
 * 2.3.1 Connect understanding to the real world.
 * 3.1.4 Use technology and information tools to organize and display knowledge and understanding in ways that others can view, use, and assess.
 * 4.3.1 Participate in the social exchange, both electronically and in person.

Lesson - Exploring/Recalling

 * 1) The lesson will begin with a short discussion about the story. Students should be familiar with the story and be able to tell others what happens throughout the story, because they read it together yesterday. For about two minutes students will be invited to share something they learned from the story with the rest of the class.
 * 2) The students will then be divided up in to their small groups. They will spend about ten minutes taking turns reading aloud in the group. (While the students are doing this, the teacher and/or media specialist should take the opportunity to visit each group to listen to the students read aloud.)
 * 3) Once all the small groups have had the opportunity to read the story, students will have the opportunity to explore life on a virtual farm. (The media specialist and teacher should collaborate together about the best way for the website to be loaded on the computers for each student.) The teacher (or media specialist) will begin by modeling to the students how to navigate through the website. Students will be shown different links for them to explore on their own, as well as how to return to the homepage. The teacher should spend about five minutes modeling proper computer and navigation skills. **Teacher/Media Specialist - Modeling**
 * 4) Students will then have about fifteen minutes to explore the virtual farm on their own. (During this time the teacher and/or media specialist should observe students as they navigate the website. They should also be asking the students questions about what they are learning. This will keep the students thinking and questioning more about the animals, as well as inform the teacher as to how much the students are learning.) **Teacher/Media Specialist - Facilitating Inquiry Process; Student - Exploring**
 * 5) After the students have had time to explore the website, they will be asked to complete a short worksheet recalling information they learned while explore the virtual farm as a conclusion to the lesson. The teacher will read the directions aloud and give students an opportunity to ask questions. They will then have about ten minutes to complete the worksheet. **Student - Recalling Information**
 * 6) If time allows, the students will be given the opportunity to share their sentence they wrote on the worksheet with the rest of the class. **Student - Reflection**

Objective

 * Following the inquiry process model, students will design a travel brochure for the setting of the story (Philadelphia).

Language Art Standards

 * 7.4.5 Identify topics; ask and evaluate questions; and develop ideas leading to inquiry, investigation, and research.
 * 7.5.3 Write or deliver a research report that has been developed using a systematic research process (defines a topic, **gathers information**, **determines credibility**, reports findings) and that:
 * **uses information from a variety of sources (books, technology, multimedia) and documents sources independently by using a consistent format for citations.**
 * **demonstrates that information that has been gathered has been summarized and the the topic has been refined through this process.**
 * **demonstrates that sources have been evaluated for accuracy, bias, and credibility.**
 * organizes information by categorizing and sequencing, and demonstrates the distinction between one's own ideas from the ideas of others, and includes a bibliography (Works Cited).

21st Century Standards

 * 1.2.3 Demonstrate creativity by using multiple resources and formats.
 * 2.3.1 Connect understanding to the real world.
 * 3.1.4 Use technology and information tools to organize and display knowledge and understanding in ways that others can view, use, and assess.
 * 4.3.1 Participate in the social exchange, both electronically and in person.

Lesson Plan - Exploring and Assimilation/Analyzing

 * 1) By the start of class today, students should have chosen an aspect of Philadelphia in which they are going to design their brochure around. They spent the day before exploring resources and narrowing a topic. To begin the lesson, the teacher will provide an opportunity for students to share their topic with the class. Therefore, if there are still students trying to decide on a topic, students can get ideas from their peers. The teacher should spend about five minutes discussing various topics.
 * 2) Once time has been spent discussing topic choices, the teacher or media specialist can go over the evaluation worksheets and forms (found on the Student Learning Materials page). The students should be guided through the process of using these forms to evaluate resources. At this point, the teacher and/or media specialist could preselect some resources for the class to evaluate together. If a pathfinder for the project was created, resources from that list could be used as practice evaluations. The teacher/media specialist should spend about ten to fifteen modeling how to effectively evaluate resources. **Teacher - Modeling; Student - Assimilation/Analyzing**
 * 3) After students have learned how to effectively evaluate resources, students will be allowed to begin finding their own resources for their research. They will spend the next thirty-five minutes researching information and evaluating the resources. During this time, the teacher and/or media specialist should facilitate conversations and encourage the students to continue asking questions and seeking information. The teacher and/or media specialist should monitor students and assist those that are struggling to find appropriate resources. During this time, the students should also become aware of how effectively they are locating appropriate resources, as well as whether or not they need to revisit their topic or ask new questions (Questioning - Inquiry Process). **Teacher/Media Specialist - Facilitating Inquiry Process; Student - Exploring and Assimilation/Analyzing, Metacognition**
 * 4) As a conclusion to today's activities, the teacher should facilitate a short discussion at the end of class, approximately five to ten minutes. Students should be given the opportunity to share at least one useful resource with the rest of the class. This will allow all the students to see the resources being used so that they could possibly use that resource in their research. **Student - Reflection**

Note: One more day will be set aside for students to locate and evaluate resources. By the end of the project, the students should have used an evaluation form to evaluate at least four resources, good or bad.