Subject:
Grade Level: 1-3
Materials:
About: Like the TV show, "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader," students research information to create “Smart” books that will have all the answers to our questions so we can play our own game: “Are you smarter than a bridge class?”
The final project is an individual book of non-fiction produced by each student.
The final lesson assessment of this project is in the creation and playing of the class version of Are You Smarter than a Bridge (1/2/3rd grade) Class? Students must create questions that they can answer and that stump Adults (at least some of the time) as informal assessments for the first two lessons.
Teachers should let the students find subjects that interest them. Students will do more if they love the subject so let their passion lead them. This project is lots of fun for both parents and students--teachers as well!
| Read, Write,listen and speak for social interaction |
| elementary |
| ELL |
| Reads and comprhends informational materials to develop understanding and wxpertise and produces written or oral work that makes connections to related topics or information |
| elementary |
| ELA |
| Prepares and delivers an individual presentaion in shich the student shapes information to achieve a paarticular purpose and to appeal to the interests and background knowledge of audience members |
| elementary |
| ELA |
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| Day 1: tudents will write a questin on a topic of their choice to be used inour class game: Are you Smarter than a Bridge Class? |
| Write questions based on facts that they can answer easily but will stump their parents |
| choose a (web-based) reasearch project of thir choice |
| Plan their own nonfiction book on a topic of their choise |
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| Blank books from Sundance Publishing 800 343 8304 |
| Computers with internet access |
| Library books |
| Folders |
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| Hand out blank books |
| Instruct students to think about something happening in their own lives thay they might like to put on the pages of their blank books. (For example: a pet, a hobby, etc.) |
| Tell students who have trouble finding a topic to bein with an Alphabet book and research each item such as Alligator for A. |
| Have students take turns researching their toic shoices on the computer using Google and in the library--for facts and pictures |
| Saave information to be used in ther non-fiction books in theri forlder |
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| choose a topic such s dinosaurs from the students hoices. Have a student share a few interesting facts from his/her findings. Have studets write a question about a dinosaur that they believe an adult won't be able to answer correctly. |
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| Students were assessed othrough observation of their work and verbal contributions |
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| Day 2: How did vertibrate paleontologists figute out what dinosaus loooked like? |
| Name three dinosaurs |
| name one flying reptile |
| participate in a demonstration of how a sinosaur moved or sounded |
| create an interesting question about a dinosaur that they believe an adult will not be able tp answer |
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| Computers wiht internet access |
| Books on dinosaurs |
| folders |
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| Begin by saying the work “Apatosaurus.” Have everyone repeat the word. Then, show the group the picture of an Apatosaurus. (Explain that the Apatosaurus has traditionally been called brontosaurus, but the name was changed recently. Since dinosaurs are no longer alive, Paleontologists found fossilized remains of this and all dinosaurs and used them to create a picture of what the dinosaur looked like before it became extinct.) |
| Describe the Apatosaurus as a very large and heavy plant eating dinosaur. Have students imitate the walk of an Apatosaurus. |
| Show a picture of a Camptosaurus. Have everyone repeat the name “Camptosaurus.’ Describe it as a dinosaur with short from limbs and powerful hind legs that could probably run very fast. Its speed helped the Camptosaurus run away from hungry enemies. |
| Show a picture of the Tyrannosaurus- rex. Describe it as a meat- eating dinosaur that walked on two legs. I.e. “The Tyrannosaurus rex was the largest meat-eating dinosaur (except, perhaps, for Giganotosaurus). T. rex walked on two powerful legs with claws ...” Have the class say the word. |
| Show a picture of a “pterosaur’ and have everyone repeat the word. Explain that this was not a dinosaur but a flying reptile that lived in the Mesozoic era and had a wingspan of up to 23 feet. |
| Tell the class to think of a question (about a dinosaur or reptile that lived during the Mesozoic era) that they believe would stump an adult. |
| Pick a partner and try your question out. Poll how many people were stumped. |
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| Write your question bring both your question and dictionary to class. |
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| A poll was taken to assess how many students answered questions incorrectly as an informal assessment.. |
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| Day 3: How do we use the dictionary to create Alphabet books? |
| • Understand the alphabetical structure and apply it to their books |
| • Identify alphabetical sequence |
| • Identify guide words a clues to unlock the alphabetic code |
| • Compare letter combinations for alphabetic al order placement |
| • State the definition of a word and google it |
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| • Computers with internet access |
| Dictionary |
| Library books |
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| Introduce words from the dictionary and have students Google these words on the internet.nworking in pairs on the computers |
| Have one students find a word in the dictionary for each alphabet letter and another student Google that word. |
| Have students illustrate and alphabetize words into alphabetical order put into folders or into their non-fiction books. |
| Work on non-fiction books. |
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| Write wuestions for interesting word definitions to stump and adult. |
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| Students had to demonstrate that they had an understanding of the meaning of words.for their non-fiction books to be understood. |
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Pamela Salmon
pnsalmon@optonline.net
PS 373R
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Pamela works at 373R and is now a full time ESL teacher. She works with all kinds of Special Education ESL students in district 75 but this project was done with the SIE 7 (emotionally disturbed.) We displayed this project as part of the District 75 Best Practices Fair. We hope to do more with it in the future and make some kind of interactive, digital display. |
