Panda Bears - Ms. Watson's Class

All of the 4th grade students started an extensive research project exploring the body structure, habitat, and behavior of animals.  Their first step was choosing an animal to focus their research.  The library provided a book truck full of animal books so that students could browse in their classrooms and determine which animal to study.  Once students selected an animal, the students began the information gathering process in the library.  A strong emphasis was placed on students developing information literacy skills to access, evaluate and use information to meets their needs.   They were given the opportunity to use a variety of resources in different formats and guided through the processes of paraphrasing and crediting resources.   The students will complete their research this week.  Next, the students will go through the writing processes of drafting, revising, and editing in the classroom using the information gathered in the library to create a writing piece.  Once this process is complete, the students will return to the library to develop the multimedia component of this project.  The students will be developing slides that will be collaboratively compiled to develop an e-book for each classroom.  This process will give students an additional opportunity to use Web tools ethically and responsibly as they gather graphics to illustrate the text presented in their slides.  To ensure the security of our students, their names will not be displayed on the e-book.

Many of the resources used for this project have been posted below.  We are certain that the students will have an increased interest in animals around the world.  We are encouraging parents to take the opportunity to extend our instruction and explore the posted resources as a family.  Please keep in mind, while we promote the Internet as a fabulous source of information, we recommend that Internet use always be supervised by an adult.  Even with kid-friendly web sites, it is easy to link out of these sites.  This would be a great opportunity for you and your child to continue discussions on Internet safety. 

PebbleGo: http://www.pebblego.com/login.php

NC WiseOwl: http://www.ncwiseowl.org/

North Carolina Zoo: http://www.nczoo.org/index.cfm

San Diego Zoo Kids: http://kids.sandiegozoo.org/

Smithsonian National Zoological Park: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/

Zoo Atlanta: http://www.zooatlanta.org/

National Geographic Kids: Creature Feature: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/

Monterey Bay Aquarium:  http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/

Georgia Aquarium:  Animal Guide: http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/explore-the-aquarium/interact/animal-guide.aspx