Projects for 3-5 grades-long
*PROJECTS*
I have had 1 year in an elem. after 29 in high school. I wasn't asked back
so you can take my ideas with a grain of salt if you want to.
I did an immigration project iwth 4th grade in which they were taught
note-taking during which the kids researched immigration of the early 20th
century and then researched a country of their own origin and wrote an
immigration narrative as if they were a child from that country
immigrating to the US. Could take 8 weeks.
I am currently finishing a Canada project with 4th grade where they are
paired up and each group is given a province or territory, they research
it and then make a wordle with their important features which they then
present to the class. Could take 5 or 6 weeks. Another presentation idea
for this is to have each pair write a letter to Pres. Obama convincing
him why he should come and visit their province.
I did an almanac project where I taught non-fiction cues and after which
they were each given 5 questions to answer in the kids almanac.
I did a board game project with 5th grade in which they were put in groups
of 3 or 4 and each group had to design a board game about our school--what
behaviors move you forward at our school and which hold you back. I got a
simple board game template from the internet.
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Grade 3: Dewey Decimal posters, brochure on a foreign country,
Grade 4: Erie Canal postcards, using Wordle to describe a character's
changing feelings in a story ( we used Boundless Grace), exploring the
White House ( Smithsonian Institute had a great link for that)
Grade 5: Black History Month biography project- kids had to research a
famous black athlete or a famous black American, research a past US
president
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Projects for 3-5 grades using library skills connecting them with the
school curriculum:
1 Biography reports: (using ComicLife, PowerPoint presentation,
kidspiration map, word cloud)
2 ABC PowerPoint presentation: created by teams of students or total class
contributing information they brainstormed about what they are learning in
classroom
3 Timeline of what they are studying...Civil War, Rev. War, ancient
civilization: (using Timeliner) again divide into teams or a whole class
brainstorm/creation
4 Students search on catalog: locate books with information on topics
they are studying in class
5 Students create an online poster of what they are studying: (using
Glogster)
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Grade 3 - at teacher's request -- did a class recipe book for the holidays =
(introduction to Word processing Lesson) ... took so long because we do not
start keyboarding until Grade 3 - yet initiating teacher ( new to the grade)
was convinced her kids could accomplish it in just a few sessions. One class
was still working on it ( off and on) past Mothers Day, despite the fact I
started them on it in Late October. ( no they were not working every week
on it!)
Grade 3 - in the Spring, introduction to Powerpoint... Showed them how to
create slides, add transitions, and basic stuff. They did a 4-5 slide
project on an inventor or invention, to coincide with their annual
"Invention Convention" and the science unit on inventions.
Grade 4 - to coincide with their science unit on Planets - grade 4 create
brochures, using MS Publisher about their planet -- sort of like a travel
brochure -- things to see, facts, what to bring if you traveled there, etc.
Grade 4 - to cover spreadsheets, we did a project using skittles and compa=
ring the colors in each package and then creating bar graphs
Grade 5 - in Math, does a " Million Dollar Project" -- then they create
their budget using Excel.
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ou could use a combination of print encyclopedias and the computers. Just
in general how can the state reports and plants reports can be in one
library visit. I don't think you could; it would have to be a project that
spans over multiple visits. I give each team a folder and then have bucket=s
for each class. When working on a project I've taught them to go
immediately to the bucket, get their folder, and start to work. I call up
tables one at a time to check out books then. Also in Kidspiration how do
they do a presentation ? They make it first and save it on the computer. =
When
it's finished they print it out and use colored pencils to make it
attractive. But I have a laptop cart so that each team gets a computer. It
would take a long time for a whole class to create a product with only 3
computers. But then you'd have a hard copy to show your administration.
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Here are a few of my planning documents. I only create these for a couple
of new lessons each year, then I can draw upon the previously created
documents to tweak and use with other grades or classes. Example: The 6th
grade lesson that I'm attaching is what I now do with 5th grade.
I have also done some great units of research with 4-6th grades on Native
American tribes; comparisons between early native living and Pilgrim living;
eco-tourism study on Latin American countries. These research units are
built around the Big 6, and include multiple resource exploration as well as
a culminating project/presentation.
I begin my units early with PreK and Kinder classes although their lessons
are experiential and I do not do paper pencil tasks that young. I also work
within a flexible schedule with great administrative support.
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One fun project I did one year was what I called The Cinderella
Project....3rd grade. I read as many different variations of the Cinderella
story that I could find. Each week (I was on fixed schedule then) we
compared character, setting, plot and magical elements and discussed
fantasy. Then the kids had to write their own Cinderella story,
incorporating all elements. I was lucky--the high school was across the
street and their play that year was Cinderella so we wangled an invite for
all 3rd graders to the dress rehearsal. Then we had a Cinderella reading
ball, complete with throne in the library, punch, cookies, and all dressed
up (not in uniforms) to read stories. It was a lot of fun and those kids
learned character, plot and setting well! They typed up and illustrated
their stories--my favorite was the computer mouse who fell in love with the
CPU in the classroom next door! You can tie all kinds of standards to
this....you could also use any other story that has multiple versions.
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Here is one idea from our school, 3rd grade study of 4 explorers.
Students come into the library with a data collection sheet for one
explorer. The class is divided into groups of 4 so that each group has one
explorer. The questions are something like:
who sponsored this explorer/ country/king
what were they looking for
where did they end up
what if anything did they discover
The lms would model how to find this info in books or online encyclopedias
and how to record just the key information on the data sheet.
Next visit, the student groups will now be set up so that there is an
"expert" on each explorer in each group.
Each group is given a sea chest with artifacts inside which give clues to
who the chest belongs too.
EX: Columbus's chest might have a picture of the Kand Q of Spain/ a letter
from his son Diego/ a map showing his route; and a few other items
Each chest has clues in it.
This time the students have a chart which has them identify the artifact an=
d
identify how it is linked to the explorer they think they have.
Next visit is to the lab.
Students create maps to show the voyage track or make a luggage tag for th=
e
sea chest to identify it with the correct explorer Name; from and to etc.
Or write a log entry for a portion of the trip.
New twist might be to have the Columbus team make a voicethread of his trip
and what they identified in the sea chests . Do the same for the others.
You will have connected to the learning objectives/ VA SOL/ differentiated
by the tasks/ and used technology as well.
This is just one example ,but you and your teachers can make some other nea=
t
plans if you work together.
Good luck,xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A couple of quick ideas:
Flat Stanley: read the book, students create their own Flat (add student
name) and mail to a distant friend or relative. Friend or relative writes
email back and sends a picture of Flat (student name) at a local point of
interest. All pictures are added to a wiki by the student. See an example
of ours.
Skills: TECHNOLOGY: student email or use the teacher's email. We used the
teacher's. Wiki, but it could be writing, LIBRARY - research (atlas and
encyclopedia, maybe dictionary and thesaurus depending how in-depth you wan=
t
to get. Book: retell, rewrite the ending with the student's Flat
whoever. COLLABORATION:
get the teacher to be part of this and expand to a writing process and
bulleting board. This was 3rd grade.
http://sjedsflatstanley.wikispaces.com/
ePAL's: connect online with another classroom somewhere and let your
imagination take over. Skills: TECHNOLOGY: email, attaching photos LIBRAR=
Y:
Research the new location with atlas and encyclopedia, maybe almanac. Comp=
are
and contrast locations. Find stories or folklore from that region of the
country or world, read it and exchange one from your part of the
country. Grades
3,4,5
Have 4th grade put on a Reader's Theater for the Kindergarteners. Skills:
Fairy tale genre or whatever genre. public speaking, art connection if they
make masks or dress up, reading aloud, dramatic interpretation.
Upper grades (4th or 5th and above). Read one of the Mysteries in History
series and create a wiki where students use higher order thinking skills. =
See
an example here. http://marycelestemystery.wikispaces.com/
This one requires 2 library times and is online researched based.
http://birthdaytimetravel.wikispaces.com/ Grade 4 and up.
Obviously, I use wikis a lot for projects. It incorporates technology,
holds student interest, covers any research skill, online or print, and is
measurable if you grade.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A few that come to mind immediately are podcast a book review, digital
storytelling (using pictures and voice over of a writing piece and create a
quick time movie) divide kids into groups on a science/social studies topic=
.
They investigate and present collaborated information on a wiki. Most of
mine deal with technology as the medium instead of poster and paints.
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guess you'll have to focus on the Smartboard. There is a great online
source of Smartboard inservice classes - I think I'll post it to LM_NET -
I've learned so much from taking the classes. When I started it was set up
to pay separately for each - now it's something you join. It's well worth
it. Try some of the free video tutorials and you'll see what I mean.
http://www.teacheronlinetraining.com/library/
The one I have attached is about book parts and nonfiction features - In th=
e
first pages drag the correct answer into the book. The undo button is the
curved circle tool - you will need when you try a wrong answer to see what
happens. I learned how to make the pages from the course called "Magic Eye=
"
- I also did a magic eye one about animal classes. In this one, I used a
different picture to look like a book. The last two notebook pages use one
of the activities that comes with the smartboard. You go to "Lesson
Activity Toolkit, Activities, Interactive and Multimedia, and Keyword match=