One
of the highlights of the Animals literature theme is the animal
research in which each first grade student participates.
First the children visit the
Lower
School library where
they browse through books about all kinds of animals. They select four animals they would like to
study, and they are assigned one of their four choices.
In
the classroom, the children read the book about their animal, and
then they begin to classify their information.
They use graphic organizers to describe the physical characteristics
of their animal, its habitat, its diet, the babies, enemies, and
finally several other interesting facts.
The children learn about tables of contents and indexes which
help them locate the information they are seeking.
With the help of a teacher they may check the animal websites
which are linked from the GA first grade web page.
The
final step is to compose a picture of their animal using KidPix
on the computers in the classroom.
Students use pictures from their books to guide them in their
illustrations. These pictures are featured to the left.
The
students show great pride in their final report when they share
it with the rest of their classmates.
This gives each child a chance to learn more about animals,
and they have the opportunity to be the “expert” about the animal
they studied. This project lays the groundwork for research
performed in other grade levels such as the dinosaur reports in
second grade.
Mrs.
Vernon's Class
Miss Wolf's Class
Mrs.
Joshi's Class
In
first grade students are introduced to the research process. The
first step in research is fact finding. At this step students
are learning to identify facts and to match facts to the questions
they answer. First grade students are not expected to interpret
the facts and they are not required to put the facts into their
own words. This is why you will see statements that are copied
directly from the resources used.
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