After a week of MCAS testing in the library, along
with every other possible space in the school, classes returned to the library for
their scheduled times. The children continued their work exploring Canada’s provinces and
territories as part of the 4th grade social studies standard to
study North America. The lessons I
observed on 3/28/13 showed the students involved in the inquiry process. Prior to the students entering the library,
the LMS had placed each team’s folder on a table along with books pertaining to
that province.
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| Canada Geopolitical Map by E. Pluribus Anthony courtesy of Wikimedia Commons |
As usual, the class began with a recap
of previously learned concepts and terms.
For these two classes, a recap was especially crucial since it had been
two weeks since their previous class. There was a brief informal discussion of the 3
terms written on the board. These terms
were bibliography, plagiarism and paraphrase.
The students were able to give accurate definitions or descriptions of
each term. The other side of the board
contained 3 bulleted areas the lesson would focus on. The first was to go over a plan for the day
which included splitting resources and each partner using one source. The second was to collect all information on
a resource sheet. (See Resource Sheet
below) The third reminded the students
to take notes in their own words or “paraphrase.” I can see the reasoning in reviewing since
one child had confused quoting verbatim and paraphrasing. In a group environment, the LMS was able to
clarify the misunderstanding before a bigger error was made by more than one
student. Mrs. Soghomonian then reminded
the students of their goal which was to be such an expert on their province or
territory that they would be able to make a commercial or website about it.
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| Resource Sheet Created by Mrs. Soghomonian |
Mrs. Soghomonian then turned their
attention to the books on the tables which the students would use to gather pertinent
information. She reiterated that the
students needed to focus on the positives!
Student examples of areas of interest for their province or territory
were scenery, weather, entertainment, historic sites and tourist
attractions. Mrs. Soghomonian briefly reviewed
the tools available in the index and table of contents to locate the above
information. She was also pleased when
the students were able to tell her where in the book they would look to find
each of those tools. Being able to
quickly access the information is critical especially in this time sensitive
learning environment. Each student was
directed to find between 5 and 8 facts about their location. (Each class was at a different point in the
amount of information they had gathered, so Mrs. Soghomonian altered the amount
of information to complete this stage of the project.)
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Montréal & Québec City by Sacha Jackson
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| I is for Island: A
Prince Edward Island Alphabet by Hugh MacDonald |
As I walked around the class, shadowing
the LMS, the discussions that the students had with her showed that they were
engaged in the learning process. Discussions
such as, “Are there really a lot of potatoes in Canada?”, “What do I cite if
there is no author listed in a tourism book?” and “Is there an author for an
article in an encyclopedia?” cropped up as Mrs. Soghomonian circulated among
the students. Mrs. Soghomonian had a
variety of resources available from encyclopedias and tourism books to picture
and nonfiction books on the provinces and territories. As one student found out the picture books
were easier to read but the information was not as easy to detect since there
was no table of contents. Even with
previous reminders, the students needed some probing questions of what they
were looking for and where they could find it.
As the time quickly ticked down, the LMS gave the class a 5 minute
warning that the class would be ending soon.
As always, some groups were extremely productive and others were more
jovial. The LMS was aware of this and
allocated her time predominantly between the higher need groups while still
briefly checking in with the more self sufficient groups. At the end of class, Mrs. Soghomonian
announced that next week’s class would be their last opportunity to get all the
facts that they needed.
After both groups left the library, I
spoke with the LMS about this project.
Her concerns were the amount of time left in the next class for the students
to have enough information. Naturally,
she had already devised a plan for those students that were not able to provide
the facts and information needed. While
the goal was for each team to make a commercial or web site to get tourists to
visit their province or territory, the LMS realizes that sometimes you need to reassess
a project based on the individual students.
For those students that will not meet the information requirement, she
will have them put together an informational flyer on their province or
territory rather than a website or commercial.
Students discovered some great facts
about their areas. One attraction, that
I found as interesting as the students did, was the Capilano Bridge in North
Vancouver, British Columbia. This popular
tourist attraction is an enormous suspension bridge that the book prefaced was
not for the faint of heart. Just looking
at it makes me appreciate its beauty nestled along a trail in the private
nature preserve and be grateful for the firm land currently beneath my feet.
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| Capilano Bridge by Leonard G. courtesy of Wikimedia Commons |
