Third-grade Inquiry Unit - Explore Lesson

Lesson Title: How Can We Use Resources to Explore Ideas about Inquiry Topics?

Inquiry Phase: Explore

Grade Level: 3rd Grade

Essential Questions:

1. What can we learn by studying the lives of people who have influenced the well-being of a community?

2. How do we formulate open-ended questions and conduct an inquiry project?

Lesson Plan Objectives: At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Identify keywords as important tools for accessing information within resources.

2. Skim and scan resources for information.

3. Identify resources that can support their learning.

Social Studies TEKS (for this inquiry unit):

§113.14. (b) Knowledge and skills.

(1) History. The student understands how individuals, events, and ideas have influenced the history of various communities. The student is expected to: (A) describe how individuals, events, and ideas have changed communities, past and present.

(12) Citizenship. The student understands the impact of individual and group decisions on communities in a constitutional republic. The student is expected to: (A) give examples of community changes that result from individual or group decisions; (B) identify examples of actions individuals and groups can take to improve the community.

(14) Culture. The student understands the role of heroes in shaping the culture of communities, the state, and the nation. The student is expected to: (A) identify and compare the heroic deeds of state and national heroes, including Hector P. Garcia and James A. Lovell, and other individuals such as Harriet Tubman, Juliette Gordon Low, Todd Beamer, Ellen Ochoa, John "Danny" Olivas, and other contemporary heroes.

ELA-R TEKS (for this lesson plan):

§110.14.

(26) Research/Gathering Sources. Students determine, locate, and explore the full range of relevant sources addressing a research question and systematically record the information they gather.

Standards for the 21st-Century Learner Indicator:

1.1.4 Find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer questions.

Assessment Tools: Resources Graphic Organizer and Inquiry Phase Exit Slip (optional)

Resources for this Unit of Study

Resources for this Lesson:

Resources Graphic Organizer

Inquiry Phase Exit Slip (optional)

Estimated Lesson Time: One 30-minute Lessons

Instructional Plan Outline:

Classroom Teacher – School Librarian Collaboration: The educators will model exploring resources. They will guide students in brainstorming types of resources and keywords to use in their search. Optional: Educators model reflection using think-alouds while recording on the exit slip.

Measurable Outcome or Final Products: Students record their explorations on a Resources Graphic Organizer and use an exit slip to reflect on their process (optional).

Preparation

• Educators ensure that print and digital resources are available to students.

• Educators make copies of the Resources Graphic Organizer.

• Educators make copies of the Inquiry Phase Exit Slip (Optional) or educators may direct students to record their reflections on the Evaluate: Reflection Graphic Organizer, which has been added to students’ inquiry journals.

Motivation

1. Using think alouds, educators brainstorm possible types of resources to learn more information about a topic: trade book, reference book, Web site, database, or human resources.

2. Using César Chávez as an example, discuss what kinds of information may be found in each resource and brainstorm keywords related to Mr. Chávez’s childhood.

3. While one educator solicits students’ ideas, the other records them on the whiteboard.

4. Educators post the lesson objectives and let students know they will be exploring various types of resources in order to build their background knowledge about a topic before they develop their inquiry questions.

Presentation

5. Project the Resources Graphic Organizer and review the categories with students.

6. Using a very dense encyclopedia article about pesticides, demonstrate to students that not all resources are written at their proficient reading and may not be useful to them. (The Wikipedia has such an article on pesticides: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticides.)

7. Using the Mr. Chávez biography page on the Ducksters Web site, show students how to use “find” to search for keywords on the Web page (http://www.ducksters.com/biography/cesar_chavez.php).

8. Educators use think-alouds as they skim, scan, and record on the Resources Graphic Organizer. (See the Teacher Resource.) If necessary, review strategies for using text features to locate information in print resources: tables of contents, indexes, bold headings and subheadings, glossary words, and the like.

9. Repeat this demonstration with a database example. (The Teacher Resource includes an example that will be too difficult for most third-grade students to read.)

10. Students explore print and digital resources and record their search strategies on the graphic organizer.

Guided Practice

11. Educators monitor as students interact with resources and complete the graphic organizer.

Closure

12. At the end of the lesson, student volunteers share some of the most promising resources they found.

13. Educators conduct a think-aloud and complete the Inquiry Phase Exit Slip or the Evaluate: Reflection Graphic Organizer found in students’ inquiry journals (optional).

14. Students complete their exit slip reflections (optional).

Reflection

15. How can we use keywords in our search process? 16. What determines whether or not a particular resource is useful to us?

Assessment

17. Educators review students’ Resources Graphic Organizers and Inquiry Phase Exit Slips (optional).

Lesson Plan Resources

For Students

3rd_Grade_Explore_Resources_Graphic_Organizer.docx  

For Educators

3rd_Grade_Explore_Resources_Graphic_Organizer_Teacher_Resource.docx  

Lesson Plans

3rd_Grade_Explore_Lesson_Plan_Only.doc

3rd_Grade_Explore_Lesson_Plan_Full.pdf