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How We Did It
Frog Unit by Bonnie Louden


Objective:

To involve the children in using multiple sources of expository texts, researching information specific to the topic FROGS.

Method:

The class was divided into six groups of 4 children each. This was done as the students signed up for one of the six topics related to the frog research unit.

Process:

  1. Students in each group explored 3 books, recording the title and noting if there was information that could fit their specific topic.

  2. After ten minutes books were exchanged between groups and the students repeated step one. Each group explored nine books and then selected two books to research in more detail. They began taking notes on their findings.

  3. One member of the group was chosen to type notes from the previous day and save them on a diskette. A print out was placed in the groups folder along with their hand written notes.

  4. On the second day of research the teacher began meeting with each group. Suggestions were made and questions answered. It was reasonable to expect to meet with 3 groups in a 50 minute period. (The books used for research were available for independent reading time and students were encouraged to use them.)

  5. By the fourth session the students were well on their way to completing their research. Now the teacher could look at the folder, make notes on what was incomplete and edit the typing piece. The next time the group met, they knew what they had to begin working on.

  6. After correcting the typed information, each group decided where there was to be a page break in their writing. They marked these breaks on their edited print out.

  7. The following session each group had a print out of all the pages in their written text. Now they decided who would illustrate the different pages and the second phase of research began as they looked for ideas to illustrate their written text.

  8. Each group submitted their final copy matching the text pages with the drawings.

  9. These pictures were scanned, edited and matched with the text in preparation for posting on the schools web page.

  10. The hard copy is available for overnight visits to the students homes. Children and their families are encouraged to locate their own work on Fairland's web site and begin exploring the web for themselves.