Day: May 3, 2018

Literature Circle Project Guidelines!

To practice the core competencies of critical thinking and communication, and to deepen our reading comprehension skills, we will be doing a Literature Circle Project over the next five weeks.

Each student has been placed in a group with a different book to read. Everyone had their choice from 15 different books Ms. D provided.

What do students have to do?

We will have five meetings with our literature circle groups. For each meeting, students need to prepare the handout for their specific role related to looking closely at their book. The roles are based on the Reading Power model and include:

• Connect — Finding connections between what you read and real life
• Question — Leading the group discussion with questions
• Visualize — Drawing and talking about images we make in our head while reading
• Infer — Looking between the lines at the message behind the book
• Transform — Identifying how our thinking changes as we read

Ms. D will circulate during literature circle meetings and provide a check plus, check, or check minus to indicate the level of participation and preparation. After the meeting, students need to turn in their work from their role on a lined piece of paper.

Here are our books based on student selection and interest:

• Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
• The Hero by Ron Woods
• Safe as Houses by Eric Walters
• Sketco the Raven by Robert Ayre
• Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
• Zebra Forest by Adina Rishe Gewirtz
• Eleven Birthdays by Wendy Mass 

Our first meeting will be on Wednesday, May 9th. We will generally meet on Wednesdays, but we will need some flexibility given other events at school. Reading time will be mainly in class; however, I will be signing out books as needed if anyone needs extra time.

When we are finished, each student will make something to recommend or not recommend their book to others. Choices include:

• short written recommendation for posting on the blog
• short oral presentation for sharing in class
• short electronic presentation using Book Creator, Puppet Pals, PowerPoint, etc.

Happy Reading!

 

Hello all!

Here are some guidelines for our INDEPENDENT PROJECT!

The steps in our inquiry process are:

1. Choose a topic of passion and narrow it down enough so you can finish it within this timeframe.
2. Do some general research in that area to become more familiar with the topic.
3. Create some questions to start (minimum 8), using our wonderings wall as a guide.
4. Do some more research, taking care to record any websites, books, people, or resources used, and take notes on paper or in Google Docs.
5. Think about: Why is the knowledge you are learning important? Find a way for those visiting you to make a CONNECTION to what you have studied. Find RELATIONSHIPS between your topic and other important things we need to know and do in our world. This will be the glue between all of our different topics.
6. Find an interesting way to present your information.
7. Present your project to the public on June 22nd Friday 12-2:30 PM.

Here is a Question and Answer Document about the project!

Q:  What are the minimum requirements for this project in terms of marks?

A:  You need to complete a presentation, have a formal bibliography typed and printed, turn in your notes to Ms. D on Google Drive, and use a variety of resources to find your information. A rubric will be provided for guidance.

Q:  How many resources do you need to use?

A:   You can use as many resources as you need to answer your questions and to show some depth of research. This probably means going beyond five resources.

Q:   What kind of resources do you need to use?

A:   Use a variety of resource types: At least one encyclopaedia, one book, websites, and primary research.

Q:  What is primary research?

A:  Primary research can mean doing an experiment and recording the results, conducting an interview with an expert, visiting a location and recording notes from the experience, or doing observations of something and recording them in your notes. Primary research is first-hand, straight from the source knowledge; Secondary research is from books, internet websites, and written resources where another person did the research, gathered it together, and published it for you to read.

Q:  What kind of presentation can I do?

A:  Try to think of something unique and original! This is not a Science Fair and I am going to ask you to avoid just having a trifold. We will brainstorm in class, but past projects have involved: booklets, comics, models, dioramas, taste tests, handouts, activities for visitors to do, posters, PowerPoints, Puppet Pals, Prezis, puppet shows, poetry, paintings, art, etc. It doesn’t have to be something that has a ton of writing on it. For example, you can talk about your topic as people are looking at something you have made, and you can write down talking points for yourself on cards.

Q:  What if I am having trouble finding resources?

A:   Make sure to talk with Ms. D. Also, please visit your public library for additional resources. We have some resources here in class, Ms. Ho from our library has put out requests to other schools for books on your topics, Ms. D has sent out email to our school community and parents asking for mentors and help, and Ms. D will be gathering some websites to post on the blog to help if needed.

Q:  When is all of this due?

A:  The bibliography and notes are due June 11th. Your presentation piece is due June 20th end of day so we can trouble shoot any issues prior to the actual presentation day.

Q:  Will I have technology to be able to present my project?

A: Yes, if you need a laptop or iPad on the day of the presentation, then you can sign up to use one and have it at your station on the presentation day.

I will add questions as they come up!