The best thing about my Instructional Collaboration course was that I was able to immediately put into practice the assignments I completed. I was fortunate that my colleagues were eager and willing to have me do something new and different that would support their curriculum. This was especially true of the two RPCS second grade teachers who graciously spent a lot of time with me for the Introduction to Biography unit I wanted to develop. The students read the book Helen Keller: Crusader for the Blind and Deaf by Stewart and Polly Anne Graff in their language arts classes every year, and I decided that I could develop a unit on biographies to supplement this book. My goal was to include some inquiry-based lessons that would eventually increase the interest level in the biography section of my library. There are so many wonderful biographies that are at the perfect reading level for second graders, so I wanted to capitalize on their interest in Helen Keller and motivate them to read about other notable people.
The “Who Am I?” Headbanz game was a perfect engagement activity to begin the unit; it got the girls excited and eager to talk about biographies. I decided to use the David Adler A Picture Book of… series and ordered almost all of them that were available so that there would be plenty to choose from for the partner activity. I am pleased that I did this. We only had a few of the Adler books prior to this assignment, and now we have almost the complete set. They have circulated very well, and I will use them every year. I also had the brainstorm to use A Picture Book of Louis Braille as the model for the student activity, which dovetailed perfectly into the students’ study of the Helen Keller book. The plan came together very smoothly.
There was another fantastic outcome of this project—I convinced my supervisor to order the ALL of the PebbleGo databases after I showed her how well the PebbleGo Biography would work with my unit. The lower grade teachers and I now use PebbleGo in many different ways and in different assignments throughout the school year. It is a perfect research tool for the younger set.
The biggest problem with my lesson plan was the Bio Cube assessment tool; it was too sophisticated for second graders. The students completed a simpler version of the Bio Cube after much time and effort, but I looked for an alternative the following year. I developed a great chart for students to record their notes from both the print and the database resources, and then I used a booklet idea that comes directly with PebbleGo Biography. I am pleased that my second graders now have an inquiry-based research project that is perfectly suited to their level of learning, and I will continue to use it every year.
The “Who Am I?” Headbanz game was a perfect engagement activity to begin the unit; it got the girls excited and eager to talk about biographies. I decided to use the David Adler A Picture Book of… series and ordered almost all of them that were available so that there would be plenty to choose from for the partner activity. I am pleased that I did this. We only had a few of the Adler books prior to this assignment, and now we have almost the complete set. They have circulated very well, and I will use them every year. I also had the brainstorm to use A Picture Book of Louis Braille as the model for the student activity, which dovetailed perfectly into the students’ study of the Helen Keller book. The plan came together very smoothly.
There was another fantastic outcome of this project—I convinced my supervisor to order the ALL of the PebbleGo databases after I showed her how well the PebbleGo Biography would work with my unit. The lower grade teachers and I now use PebbleGo in many different ways and in different assignments throughout the school year. It is a perfect research tool for the younger set.
The biggest problem with my lesson plan was the Bio Cube assessment tool; it was too sophisticated for second graders. The students completed a simpler version of the Bio Cube after much time and effort, but I looked for an alternative the following year. I developed a great chart for students to record their notes from both the print and the database resources, and then I used a booklet idea that comes directly with PebbleGo Biography. I am pleased that my second graders now have an inquiry-based research project that is perfectly suited to their level of learning, and I will continue to use it every year.