Electronic
Book Contest 2000
Purpose: To write a research paper using books and the internet.
Topic: Insects
Initially I selected three categories for research:
Monarch Butterflies
Ants
Honey Bees
I later added a fourth category because the children had written papers comparing the dragonfly to the damselfly. I used their previous writing for the book.
Dragonflies Vs. Damselflies
Previous experiences the children had prior to the project :
We had visited the Hawaii Nature Center in November and the children had a thorough understanding of the cycles in nature. They had been exposed to dragonflies and damselflies and they had a good understanding of an incomplete metamorphosis. They knew what metamorphosis was and they knew a dragonflies metamorphosis was incomplete. ( No one ever asked what a complete metamorphosis was prior to this unit !)
The children had been writing paragraphs using a topic sentence which included the main idea and four supporting sentences for several months. They had a good concept of what a paragraph was.
To Begin :
I filled the bookshelf with five books in each of the three categories. I selected books that were at the students reading level as well as had a lot of specific information in them. The children selected a category that they wanted to research with the understanding that before they wrote they had to read each of the five books in their category cover to cover.
During this project my current unit in science was on insects. We were observing the life cycles of the monarch butterfly, the citrus swallowtail and the oleander hawkmoth. They were keeping detailed journals of their observations.
Before we wrote we did a webbing and a concept map. We also set up a word bank for vocabulary . From the concept map we determined the length of the paper and a general outline. The paper was going to be six paragraphs.
We agreed that the first paragraph should include the animal family that their choice belonged to and the basic characteristics that made their choice an insect. The second paragraph was the life cycle, the third paragraph included what type of food the animal ate . The fourth paragraph described the animal's home . The fifth paragraph explained if the animal had enemies. The final paragraph contained interesting facts that they had discovered about their choices.
I used the projection system and showed them how to use Lightspan to find information on monarchs, ants and bees. We found some great sights and read together. I also showed several videos that pertained to the categories.
The Middle :
Once the papers were written the children went through the writing process. First they conferenced with a peer, then made revisions. Next they had a parent conference where they did individual editing and finally they had a teacher conference. At that point I worked on mechanics and grammar as well as what each individual was lacking pertaining to the outline and structure. The entire process took about a month to complete.
Following the writing process the children typed their stories on the computer using Claris Works. They saved their work in the Classworks folder under Monarch's, Ants or Bees. They were responsible for font and the size of their own writing. They also had to do a drawing in hyperstudio that went with their research. I had initially asked for a drawing to accompany each paragraph, but it was too much. Most of the kids had three in their stacks.
The End:
After the kids had typed their stories then I spell checked them and we went back to the authoring lab. They had already completed their stacks. They still had to choose their best picture from the Hyper Studio stack and Export the screen so that they could use it on the internet. We completed that task and I took it from there. I chose the best pictures and the best writing and made sure to include something from everyone.
The url is: http://www.kamalii.k12.hi.us/EBC2000/bugs_1.htm
Time line:
Set Up Getting books : 30 Minutes
Having Kids Choose categories 10 Minutes
Research Time 1 Week during Reading Time
Pre-writing activities :
Webbing 40 Minutes
Concept Map 40 Minutes
Vocabulary Word Bank 40 Minutes
Writing 60 Minutes (Two Periods)
Writing process 1 Month ** (8 hours)
( Peer Conferencing / Parent Editing / Teacher Conference)
(** We do Writer's Workshop two times a week for one hour. )
Typing and HyperStudio Stacks Two 45 minute sessions in the authoring lab plus everyday during Reading.
Exporting screens from HS 45 Minutes
Compiling Book 2 Hours
Total: 17 Hours 10 minutes
I began this project the first week of the third quarter. It took most of the quarter to complete as we were also doing a research project in Social Studies for the Language Arts electronic book contest entry.
The overall reaction by the students was very positive. I never heard them grumbling about typing, whereas last year that was not the case. The parents were thrilled seeing their child's published work on the internet. Many of them sent notes of appreciation when the children came home and showed their parents their work.
