Black History Research Project
Objective for Today
- Students will learn to ask relevant questions before beginning a research project and learn to take notes and categorize information as they create graphic organizers.
- Students will improve comprehension as they read and skim text for main ideas and details and develop research skills (book and Internet) with the purpose of teaching the class what they have learned.
- Students will learn to think critically as they use rubrics and written feedback to evaluate their classmates and themselves.
Agenda for Today
- Bellringer: You and your partner will sit together in the library and wait for instructions.
- Using your school library, you will check out a biography of the famous person for black history you previously chose.
- Mr. D will pass out a Sample web graphic organizer and discuss how categories and subcategories can be used to summarize a person's life achievements. In the sample for Martin Luther King, Jr., categories include "childhood and young adult," "beginning of his career," "turning points," "march on Washington," "what he wrote," and "assassination."
- Mr. D will pass out the Web Rubric and go over expectations and criteria for this project.
- We will use the sample web for Martin Luther King, Jr. to model for students how each item of the rubric applies to the creation of the web.
- You will skim (or preread) their biographies and work with your partners to group the information they find into appropriate categories and start a rough draft of their webs.
- You will read independently or work on the Internet to complete their webs. Here is a list of some suggested websites to find more information for your web:
(*) Bartleby.com. Provides students, educators, and the intellectually curious with unlimited access to books and information on the Web, including 17,000 up-to-date biographical entries
(*) Biography.com. Features a searchable biographical database of 25,000 famous names
(*) Biographical Dictionary. Contains information on 19,000 notable people from ancient times to the present day; the dictionary is searchable by names, keywords, and dates
(*) Black History Month: Biographies. Presents the biographies of significant African-American individuals
(*) Distinguished Women of Past and Present. Includes biographies of women who contributed to our culture, such as writers, educators, scientists, heads of state, politicians, civil rights crusaders, artists, entertainers, and others
(*) Images of Greatness. Focuses on 12 famous individuals selected and researched by a class of fourth- and fifth-grade students - When the webs are complete, have each student use the Web Rubric to evaluate his or her own web.
- You will share your web with your partner and give each other feedback and suggestions for improvement. The partner can fill out the same rubric using a different color.
- Mr. D will collect the webs, review them, and use the same rubric with another color to make suggestions for improvement.
Core Reading Skills Review
Objective for Today
- Learners will demonstrate their understanding of the core reading skills learned so far this year.
Agenda for Today
- Bellringer: You will read chapter eight of Stepping on the Cracks.
- Today you will use the Internet and the books from the library to research information on World War II to give you some historical background on the setting of Stepping on the Cracks.
- You will create a timeline of events for World War II and write a one paragraph description of which period on the timeline this story probably takes place.
- You will present your findings to the class and you will have to defend your timeline.
