Title III Technology Literacy Challenge Grant

Learning Unit

OVERVIEW

This is a writing unit for students in third or fourth grades. It is used in preparation for the New York State 4^th grade ELA Assessment, by using graphic organizers and creating a piece of writing from the organizer. While the planets of the solar system are being researched, students are not being assessed on their knowledge of the planets. The writing process, mechanics, report writing, and the compare contrast essay are being taught and assessed. This unit takes 3-4 weeks to complete. It can be adapted to be used with topics other than planets, such as states, countries, presidents, people in the news, etc.

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

CONNECTIONS TO NYS LEARNING STANDARDS

(List Standard # and Key Idea #: Write out related Performance Indicators or Benchmarks.)

English Language Arts

Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and

understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and

generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

ELA Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen and speak for information.

· gather and interpret information form children’s reference books, magazines, textbooks, media

· select information appropriate to the purpose of their investigation and relate ideas from one text to another

· select and use strategies for note taking

· present information clearly in a variety of oral and written forms such as summaries, paraphrases, brief reports

· use the process of prewriting, drafting, revising, and proofreading

Standard 2: Information Systems Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.

· access needed information from printed media, electronic data bases, and community

resources

· demonstrate ability to evaluate information

INITIATING ACTIVITY

Read The Magic School Bus Explores Outer Space to the class. When finished point out the pictures of the reports done by the students in Miss Frizzle’s class in the book and tell the class they will be writing even better reports about a planet. Using think, pair, share, complete the K part of the KWL chart using what was learned from the book and prior knowledge about an assigned planet.

LEARNING EXPERIENCES

(In chronological order including acquisition experiences and extending/refining

experiences for all stated declarative and procedural knowledge.)

Using numbered heads discuss ways students know to get information. In a full group discussion complete word map categorizing materials (books, computers, other).

Review capitalization skills using concept attainment (examples, non-examples).

Using pairs check, have students correctly punctuate list of unpunctuated sentences or passages.

Use LINKS strategy for note taking. (Listen, Identify cues, Note, Key words, Stack into outline or graphic organizer)

Students will complete central idea graph to show and define steps in writing process. As steps of the writing process are taught, (steps for teaching process are attached) work from students will be collected, and feedback will be given to students. As revisions are made, notes will be taken on how students planned, drafted, proofread, and revised. This will be the teachers’ observation assessment of the writing process.

Students will use LINKS strategy for note taking on the planet they are assigned to research using CD ROM (Encarta, The Magic School Bus, Wonders of Learning: The Solar System, ) internet web sites ( ) , text books, magazines, library books, videos (Magic School Bus Gets Lost in Space, Launch Box Series, Bill Nye, ). Then complete gathering grid.

EXTENDING AND REFINING ACTIVITIES

Students will CLASSIFY specific attributes of an assigned planet using a Gathering Grid. Then they will write a report.

Students will COMPARE their report on a specific planet with a teacher written report on the planet Earth and complete an open compare/contrast organizer. Students will then write a compare and contrast essay.

CULMINATING PERFORMANCE

(Include rubrics, checklists, etc.)

Explain to each student that his or her planet has a certain phenomenon. (Ex. Jupiter has a large red spot. Saturn is known for its rings. Mars is red in color.) Using EXPERIMENTAL INQUIRY, students are to explain to a group why this phenomenon exists. In a short presentation to the class they are to describe the phenomenon, state the reason it exists and explain how they found out why it exists.

PRE-REQUISITE SKILLS

This unit is intended to prepare students for the New York State English Language Arts Fourth Grade Assessment. Sentence writing skills and journal writing should be practiced and assessed to determine the pace to take in this lesson. Also, word processing skills are not addressed in this unit. It may be necessary to address this earlier or add word processing lessons within the unit.

MODIFICATIONS/ADAPTIONS

Modifications may be necessary for at risk students or those that have some difficulty with their writing skills. More time may be needed during the drafting stage. The teacher may act as a scribe in the early stages, especially if this is the first attempt at report or essay writing. A sample report may be given to the students. Also, it may help to give the students specific information research. This could be written out by the teacher in the students’ copy of the gathering grid. (Ex. How many miles from the sun is Saturn? What is the temperature on the surface of Mars?)

The Solar System was used as the topic of research in this unit, but that may also be changed easily. This was a high interest topic at the time with my class, but many subjects may be used since the primary focus here is the ELA standards. It may be used in conjunction with science or social studies units. (Presidents, states, countries,)

UNIT SCHEDULE/TIME PLAN

This unit may take three weeks to complete. It may be broken up this way.

Week 1: Researching, note taking, reviewing capitalization and punctuation skills.

Week 2: Writing process, report

Week 3: Writing process, compare and contrast essay, culminating performance

TECHNOLOGY USE

CD-ROM’s for researching information

(Orbits 3.0:Voyage Through the Solar System, The Magic School Bus Explores the Solar System, A View from the Earth, Wonders of Learning: Explore the Solar System)

Word processing reports and information

Internet sites for researching

(http://www.yahooligans.com/Science_and_Nature/The_Earth/Space/ has hundreds of sites for kids on space. Many of these sites also contain links.)

EXTENSIONS

This writing unit may be used within a science unit on the solar system. If so, you may want to assess the MST Standards. The following is a list of some activities you may want to include in your unit.

• Make models of planets
• Make visit to planetarium
• Include mythology
• Write a letter to an alien describing planet researched
• Create alien puppet that has characteristics that are needed to live on researched planet
• Create and describe space ship needed to explore the planet
• Create a travel log and brochure describing planet

RUBRICS

EXPERIMENTAL INQUIRY TASK RUBRIC

COMPARE/CONTRAST RUBRIC

REPORT RUBRIC