Web extra: End of school 2006

Moving onward

By the end of the school year, kindergartners are almost first graders and may be more capable of doing research than they will be for several months after they return in the fall. All other primary graders are also at their peak. With vacation so often meaning travel plans, this is the perfect time for a project on transportation.

To keep the unit very simple, have students listen to stories and look at books about different forms of transportation. Then let them trace, copy, or draw what they choose to investigate. Put those working on similar vehicles together so they can help each other. One group may have chosen automobiles, buses, and trucks, another, earth movers, while still others deal with rail, water and air transport.

Once they have found and illustrated transportation types that interest them, students can look for facts or descriptive information about their choice. Many resources are easy to read, allowing them to write the facts on their picture or use a word processing program.

Not just the facts

After all drawings are finished, place them on table tops and have students discuss which ones are similar and can be grouped together and which are very different. As long as the answers are logical, it doesn't matter if some suggest atypical categories such as putting buses, planes and trains together because they carry lots of people to scheduled stops. What they are learning is to identify common concepts among disparate items, a useful skill in organizing information. Encourage them to explain their thinking to help you gain insight into how they approach research.

Second graders can take the project one step further and research the history of these various modes of transportation. Suggest that the teacher prepare a timeline wrapping around the classroom with separate lines for air, land and water. Students will not need to do much reading, since they will be able to find illustrations of these conveyances and look at nearby text for a date. They can then photocopy, print from a computer, or trace the item and add it to the appropriate place on the timeline.

As a logical follow-up, the teacher can lead a discussion of summer travel plans and the forms of transportation students will be using. Referring to atlases for locations adds a geography lesson and computing distances extends the activity to include math. The unit should conclude just as everyone is ready to take off for the summer.
This article appeared in the June 1997 issue.

Previous issues
Spring 2006: Making anthologies

To celebrate Poetry Month in April, set up a display of poetry books from your collection including anthologies selected by writers and/or lovers of the genre. What better way to observe the month than by having intermediate through high school students create their own anthologies? (At the secondary level, invite Creative Writing teachers to collaborate with you on the project.)

Looking at anthologies

Begin by introducing students to the role of the compiler of anthologies. Discuss the fact that he or she must receive permission to include any poem selected and may have to pay for the privilege. Call their attention to the list of copyright statements and use the opportunity to talk about citations and copyright in general.

Show examples where the selector added editorial comments before the poems explaining why they were chosen. Have them look at some of your anthologies and identify the different organizational methods. Some are based on a single author, others focus on ethnic or regional writing, and a number feature a particular theme.

Compiling and creating

Let students know that they should prepare a five-poem anthology of their own. Brainstorm with them topics they might choose, and then let them start making their selections by browsing through poetry books you have previously pulled. Photocopy their choices, being sure they add all bibliographic information.

Students can complete making selections on their own or at additional sessions scheduled by their teacher. Encourage them to memorize at least one of their choices. Poetry is best held in the mind and heart.

Variations

You might consider two variations for this project. As they put their anthologies together, have students illustrate each poem. In addition, have them write some on the same topics as the ones chosen.

If funds are available, purchase presentation books consisting of a pre-set number of plastic pockets (they come in six, twelve, and larger sizes) at office supply stores. Have students put their selections, illustrations, and their own work into these books which you can then catalog and add to your collection.

This article appeared in the April 1999 issue.

Previous issues

Winter 2006: Spring things

Welcome spring with a mural celebrating the earth's annual reawakening. Create it in a short time by having each elementary grade level contribute one part of the changes that come with the new season, or work with one grade and take most of the month to develop the project. Make adaptations to suit your situation.

Start by overlapping light blue and green paper along the wall you have chosen. Cut the top color in gentle curves so that "sky" and "earth" meet more naturally.

Beginning in spring

Now talk with students about what happens in spring. Even kindergartners know that days are warmer and flowers and trees blossom. They may also be aware that migrating birds return, nest building begins, and animals have their babies.

If you involve several grades, have the kindergartners and first graders find out about different animals and their young. Let students photocopy, trace or draw them, recording their names on lined paper along with what males, females and babies are called plus one or two relevant facts.

Have second and third graders research the first flowers of spring, illustrating them the same way. Let them also cut out brown trees and numerous small green leaves from construction paper. Flowers, trees and leaves can be pasted onto the mural. (Once trees are attached, the animals can be positioned because there will now be a place to put birds and nests.)

Seasonal changes

Offer math lovers in fourth and fifth grade an opportunity to explore the lengthening hours of daylight. Tables in the almanac give sunrise and sunset times for different latitudes in Greenwich Mean Time. Once they find which one they are closest to, they must subtract to change from the 24 hour clock to our twelve hour one. (Those who really like playing with numbers can perform the more complex calculations needed to account for the distance from a meridian line.)

Have students then create a March calendar and enter the correct times. To further make the point, they must determine how many hours and minutes of daylight there are on each day of the month.

More on March

Divide the remaining fourth and fifth graders, with one group presenting baseball as the spring sport and another focusing on the March madness that concludes the college basketball season. They have to figure out a way to illustrate their research on the mural.

Those whose interests lie elsewhere can discover March happenings and spring quotes and poetry. These, too, should be translated into pictures as well as text and added to the growing display. With your earth-in-springtime mural in place, you are ready to celebrate Earth Day next month.

This article appeared in the March 1998 issue.

Early winter 2006: El Niño

El Niño, the weather phenomenon with tremendous world-wide effects according to meteorologists and oceanographers, is tied to the Christmas season. Students who love to investigate disasters will be fascinated by the damage this inconsistently appearing ocean current causes. Answers can be found in standard encyclopedias and almanacs. Check also for Internet articles exploring recent findings on El Niño. Divide students in grades three through ten into five groups, giving each two questions to answer.

• How did the El Niño current get its name?
• Where does the El Niño current flow?
• What harm does it cause in South America?
• El Niño usually occurs every two to seven years. Other ocean currents are constant. Which ones ring the United States?
• Which ocean current carried Christopher Columbus' ships from Spain?
• Find a map showing world ocean currents and plot your way around the globe. List the currents you followed.
• How do ocean currents affect climate?
• When El Niño does not occur, the east coast of North America experiences more hurricanes. Name some different types of storms. Which caused the greatest loss of life?
• What extremes in weather are caused by El Niño and where do they occur?
• What is a drought? Find out about some famous 20th century ones. Explain what happened.

This activity appeared in the December 1995 issue

Previous issues

Fall 2005: War with Spain: A news team in action

On February 15, 1898 an explosion destroyed the battleship Maine sent to Havana by President McKinley to protect United States citizens from rioters protesting Spanish rule. Over 250 lives were lost, and William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer had the cause they needed to push for war which would fuel the circulation for their rival newspapers.

Although the war was brief (lasting only from April to August) and the issues murky, by its conclusion the United States had started on the road to becoming a world power. Rather than requiring junior high and high school students to study and research events that seem to have little connection to their lives, have them view the conflict as though they were part of a global news team for CNN or one of the television networks.

From overview research to action plan

Teachers should divide their classes into groups, distributing to each a different overview of the war such as printouts or copies from a number of encyclopedias plus a summary from a textbook or other sources. Have each come up with:

• Names of important people and where they were located during the war.
• Dates and sites of major battles and significant events.
• Issues raised before, during and after the conflict.

Pool results of each group's work during a discussion in which students turn themselves into a central newsroom with reporters sent around the globe to cover the emerging story. Several key dates are chosen. February 15 is an obvious one, as is April 25, the day the United States formally declared war.

The class needs to decide who will be interviewed -- the famous names, the soldiers in battle (on both sides), the innocent casualties and the civilians back home. Have students re-form themselves into groups to cover each of the interviews and/or on-site reports.

Global reporting

Groups should now begin researching the specifics of what they will eventually be televising to the world. They must also select one person to be the reporter, one or more to play the interviewees, and a graphic designer to prepare visuals and background including maps as necessary.

As part of the planning process, have the class create a corps of "resident experts" (one of whom might be the teacher) to be in the "studio" and make comments as requested by an anchor team or panel. The anchors are also responsible for managing the broadcast, introducing and talking to the reporters in the field when appropriate. If at all possible, tape and broadcast these presentations to add a further degree of realism and relevance.

By viewing history through the trappings of modern technology, the past is revealed as very similar to the present, a mirror in which we see how much or how little we have changed. In the process of becoming reporters, students are actually turning into teachers, which is always the best way to really learn.

Possible interview considerations

• Washington, DC
• Guam
• Puerto Rico
• Hong Kong
• Manila Bay, Philippines
• San Juan Hill
• Santiago, Cuba
• Havana, Cuba

People

• President William McKinley
• William Randolph Hearst
• Joseph Pulitzer
• Commodore George Dewey
• Major General William R. Shafter
• Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt
• Col. Leonard Wood
• Adm. Pascual Cervera y Topete
• 2nd Lt. John J. Pershing
• Major General Nelson A. Miles

This article appeared in the February 1998 issue

School begins 2005: A "hands"-on primary orientation

Introduce or reinforce the image of the media center as a very special place in your orientation for the youngest students. Show them that its warm, inviting and exciting atmosphere lets them have fun exploring the larger world, whether they are looking for information or developing a love of reading.

Start by asking for a "show of hands" as to how many students like books. Give a hand to each. (Prepare cut-outs for kindergartners. First and second graders can trace their own onto construction paper and cut them out.) Have students working in pairs scan shelves and displays of new acquisitions to find any two special books.

After selecting their books, have student take them to a table and leaf through the pages for about 10 minutes. When all are seated, ask them to tell you what they can figure out about their books without having read them. Suggest they consider their reasons for choosing the book. This will not only build an early awareness of the importance of making evaluative decisions, but also give you clues as to what interests them or captures their attention.

Challenge the class to see how many things their books have in common, listing answers on chart paper. Before long, students will have identified the parts of the book and recognized the obvious details of the system you are using for book check-out. You can also add details on how to renew a book. Without your lecturing and with little prompting, students will discover on their own the standard components of an orientation and practice their analytical skills.

Before they leave, have students write (or do so for them) their names and authors and titles of the books they have chosen on their hand cut-outs. Help them staple these to the bulletin board and give everyone a "hand" as they exit the media center.

This activity appeared in the September 1996 issue