Skip to main content

Goal List to Research Template







I saw a goal list on Pinterst (see first picture) and I thought it would make a good research collection template for students (what student wouldn't love working with post-it notes!). I created a template for upper grade levels (collection of six facts - using 11x17 paper) and a template for lower grade levels (collection of four facts - using 8 1/2 x 11 paper). 

I printed out 24 copies of each on card stock and laminated them. I worked with third graders using them to collect biographically information for a black history project and with first graders collecting facts about habitat specific animals. 

The idea, in my mind at least, was that these collection boards would allow for more research and collection opportunities in the classroom...other then the typical 1-2 a year. 

Here is what I learned...

1. The third graders really didn't know how to gather pertinent information. They were a bit all over the board with their facts so I had to direct them a bit (see 3rd picture). I posted sample collection boards ranging from grade of A - D and we went over how what made each one better then the next.

2. Kids argued about the color of their post-it notes (should have seen that one coming!). It's best to give them only one color.

3. The post-it notes came off over time. Since this was a project over time this was a problem (they had a couple of days to collect their data and then a couple of days to sketch out their rough draft and then a couple of days to finalize their project). I worked with 3rd graders first and decided fast that it wouldn't work with the 1st graders. For them I just printed out the sheets on regular 8 1/2 x 11 paper - no post-its for them (they liked the boxing of information so it wasn't a total bust - they also needed a "how to" of collecting facts lesson). FYI - The earlier finishers were then able to turn over their paper and draw a picture of their animal in their habitat which they wouldn't have been able to do on a laminated template. 

Overall I would use the templates again primarily as a "fun" way to collect information. If you are interested in the templates I created they can be downloaded for free on my TeachersPayTeachers site -  11x17 template or 8.5x11 template

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Digital Citizen Cards

This project idea came from a monthly challenge put out by Adobe Express. We have the free EDU version deployed in our district and I thought this might be fun to try with a class. I liked that there was a prize element where the students could win a classroom set of hero cards  and it tied in with Digital Citizenship Week (October 17-21).  I teamed up with an elementary technology lab teacher and we decided to try it with one fifth grade class.  We looked over the available templates and decided we liked the layout of the 6-8 template the best (because they had to list advice for staying safe online).  One of the best things about these Adobe monthly challenge templates is that they can be modified. The revised template can then be sent to students via a link or through Google Classroom.  All the templates for this challenge Adobe gives you a sample template with sample wording but we wanted students to come up with their own wording. Neither one of us was ke...
Post a Comment
Read more

Random Idea - Website Domain Name

For the past two years I have purchased a yearly subscription to a stand alone website (School World) which I love. I did this because our district was using a very nonuser friendly website for its teachers and I was tired of not being able to do what I want with the website they had given me. I got the idea of a separate website from one of my son's teachers who had done the same thing years ago, she used a different teacher website then School World but it was the same principle. The yearly subscription rate for my own website was $35 and was extremely reasonable. I simply provided a link on my district website to my new site. The district did not have a problem with this. Several teachers were doing it. I am one of these "don't ask...don't tell" teachers so even if there was a problem I wasn't going to find out about it :) Last year the rest of the fourth grade team purchased subscriptions to the site as well. We also purchased our own domain names throug...
1 comment
Read more

Picture of the Day - Activity

I attended a training class and a science coach shared an activity that he does with his students to help them differentiate between observations, inferences, and predictions. He puts a picture on the interactive white board as a warm up (he gets the pictures from a variety of sources but uses National Geographic's Picture of the Day a lot). The picture above is from the National Geographic site. He has the students make five observations. Then he makes the students make five inferences. Finally he has the students make five predictions. He does this every day and it really drives home the difference between those three key inquiry vocabulary terms. I've done this activity with both my sixth and fourth grade science classes and the students really got into it and became proficient at telling me the difference between those terms.
13 comments
Read more