Participants

There were seventy-eight fifth grade students who participated in this unit. The students were from three different classrooms, twenty-nine from one, twenty-eight  from another and twenty-one from a 4/5 combination class. They mirror our school demographics of 52% Hispanic, English Language Learners, 7% Black, and 41% Caucasian.  In addition there were five GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) students, four Resource students and four EL level 1 students (new from Mexico within the last year).

Major Goals

The goals of this unit are as follows:

Technology

• Students will become proficient at web based research.

• Students will be able to use PowerPoint to produce a presentation on an assigned body system.

• Students will learn cut, copy, paste, and insert to add pictures from floppy, CD, and Internet resources by "bouncing" between open documents.

Academic

• Students will be able to read, comprehend, and write using summary techniques about an assigned body system.

• Students will be able to present their acquired knowledge about the assigned body system to the rest of the class in a jig-saw method.

• Students will be able to select materials to use to assess class knowledge of their presentations.

• Students will be able to assess their own work using a rubric.

Time Line

This unit should take approximately 5-6 weeks, when working 2-3 times per week for 1 hour each session.

Assessments

Assessment is ongoing through teacher observation, however the following rubrics were used as student feedback and teacher grading:

• Cooperative Group  Evaluation and Observation Record

• Peer, Group and Individual Multi-Media Presentation Rubric

• Standards and Mechanics Rubric

• Oral Presentation Rubric

• Class Assessment Rubric

Standards

Life Sciences

2. Plants and animals have structures for respiration, digestion, waste disposal, and transport of materials. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know many multicellular organisms have specialized structures to sup-port the transport of materials.

b. Students know how blood circulates through the heart chambers, lungs, and body and how carbon dioxide (CO₂) and oxygen (O₂) are exchanged in the lungs and tissues.

c. Students know the sequential steps of digestion and the roles of teeth and the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and colon in the function of the digestive system.

d. Students know the role of the kidney in removing cellular waste from blood and converting it into urine, which is stored in the bladder.

e. Students know how sugar, water, and minerals are transported in a vascular plant.

f. Students know plants use carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and energy from sunlight to build molecules of sugar and release oxygen.

g. Students know plant and animal cells break down sugar to obtain energy, a process resulting in carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water (respiration).

Reading
 

2.0 Reading Comprehension (Focus on Informational Materials)
Students read and understand grade-level-appropriate material. They describe and connect the essential ideas, arguments, and perspectives of the text by using their knowledge of text structure, organization, and purpose.

Structural Features of Informational Materials
2.1 Understand how text features (e.g., format, graphics, sequence, diagrams, illustrations, charts, maps) make information accessible and usable.
2.2 Analyze text that is organized in sequential or chronological order.

Comprehension and Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text
2.3 Discern main ideas and concepts presented in texts, identifying and assessing evidence that supports those ideas.
2.4 Draw inferences, conclusions, or generalizations about text and support them with textual evidence and prior knowledge.

Writing

1.0 Writing Strategies
Students write clear, coherent, and focused essays. The writing exhibits the students' awareness of the audience and purpose. Essays contain formal introductions, supporting evidence, and conclusions. Students progress through the stages of the writing process as needed

Research and Technology
1.3 Use organizational features of printed text (e.g., citations, end notes, bibliographic references) to locate relevant information.
1.4 Create simple documents by using electronic media and employing organizational features (e.g., passwords, entry and pull-down menus, word searches, the thesaurus, spell checks).
 

Evaluation and Revision
1.6 Edit and revise manuscripts to improve the meaning and focus of writing by adding, deleting, consolidating, clarifying, and rearranging words and sentences

2.0 Writing Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)
Students write narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive texts of at least 500 to 700 words in each genre. Student writing demonstrates a command of standard American English and the research, organizational, and drafting strategies outlined in Writing Standard 1.0.

2.3 Write research reports about important ideas, issues, or events by using the following guidelines:
a. Frame questions that direct the investigation.
b. Establish a controlling idea or topic.
c. Develop the topic with simple facts, details, examples, and explanations.

1.0 Written and Oral English Language Conventions
Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions appropriate to this grade level.

Capitalization
1.4. Use correct capitalization.

Spelling
1.5 Spell roots, suffixes, prefixes, contractions, and syllable constructions correctly.

Listening and Speaking

1.0 Listening and Speaking Strategies
Students deliver focused, coherent presentations that convey ideas clearly and relate to the background and interests of the audience. They evaluate the content of oral communication.

Comprehension
1.1 Ask questions that seek information not already discussed.
1.2 Interpret a speaker's verbal and nonverbal messages, purposes, and perspectives.
1.3 Make inferences or draw conclusions based on an oral report.

Organization and Delivery of Oral Communication
1.4 Select a focus, organizational structure, and point of view for an oral presentation.
1.5 Clarify and support spoken ideas with evidence and examples.
1.6 Engage the audience with appropriate verbal cues, facial expressions, and gestures.

2.0 Speaking Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)
Students deliver well-organized formal presentations employing traditional rhetorical strategies (e.g., narration, exposition, persuasion, description). Student speaking demonstrates a command of standard American English and the organizational and delivery strategies outlined in Listening and Speaking Standard 1.0.

2.2 Deliver informative presentations about an important idea, issue, or event by the following means:
a. Frame questions to direct the investigation.
b. Establish a controlling idea or topic.
c. Develop the topic with simple facts, details, examples, and explanations.

Visual and Performing Arts

2.0 CREATIVE EXPRESSION
Creating, Performing, and Participating in the Visual Arts

2.3 Demonstrate beginning skill in the manipulation of digital imagery (e.g., computer-generated art, digital photography, or videography).

4.0 AESTHETIC VALUING
Responding to, Analyzing, and Making Judgments About Works in the Visual Arts

4.4 Assess their own works of art, using specific criteria, and describe what changes they would make for improvement.