Active Research: Fourth Grade
April 24, 2014
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For the past six weeks, the Fourth Grade has been working on a research project in the library. The context is from their timeline on the walls of their classrooms covering the years 950-1664CE. In the classroom, students have been adding events to the timeline. To connect this learning in the library, students are engaged in an in-depth research project on a topic from that timeframe. Some of the topics include castle defense, gold, the sitar, tapestries, the lives of kings and queens, Black Death and more. The goals of this project are to:
- Expose students to a wide variety of print and digital resources
- Develop research questions to drive the focus
- Work collaboratively with a partner
- Take effective notes and avoid plagiarism
- Give credit to the work of others by building a bibliography and webography
- Present findings with peers digitally and socially
- Use the iPad as a presentation device
- Self-reflect upon project completion to review their work and their process
This week, many students began organizing their notes for presentation. We will use the app SonicPics to create the digital presentation. Each group demonstrated collaborative effort, synthesis of information, and a new enthusiasm for the work at hand. We look forward to sharing news of the presentations in mid-May!