Common
Core Standards
K.W.6
With
guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to
produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
K.W.7
Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a
number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).
K.RIT.10
Actively
engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
By this time of year my students have developed reading and
writing skills that will enable them to begin research with lots of support
from me. Discovery bags will help them use a variety of materials to collect
information about their pond animals.
I pack each bag with a stuffed pond animal, nonfiction books,
and a laminated information sheet and a word wall . Students are given a fact sheet on which to
collect information. The collected information will be used to write about their pond animal.
We begin the project with a discovery bag that I will use to
model with the whole class. We will unpack the discovery bag and discuss all
the components of the bag. We will complete the fact sheet together and then model
how to use the facts to write an informational piece about the pond animal. I also made videos about each pond animal and uploaded them last year. I want to give my students an opportunity to use technology in their research as well. Here's the link to the pond videos.
I shared information sheets and word walls last year, but I
have updated them and I'm sharing the new ones below. I will share some finished
products as we finish our pond unit.
