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MiniLessons and Activities
Recognizing Hyperlinks
Type www.yahooligans.com in the address bar and put honeybees in the search bar. Demonstrate what hyperlinks look like and how they work. Have students look at an article (projected through an LCD projector or using a smartboard). After a first reading have students look for 3-dimensional learning strategies, where other sites might be linked to or cited.
Using a Power Point Template
Save the template from the layout of your choice (see resources for downloads) to the desktop. Model inserting pictures and text. Don't forget to save!
Importing Graphics
Scan student artwork or download pictures located through Google.com to import into the template. If students are searching for their own online graphics, include a lesson on safe searching and copyright free pictures.
Lintor Publishing
Print the finished Power Point project onto the Lintor publishing materials and assemble as directed.
Publishing books online
Use software to make the powerpoint book webready with a program such as Impatica or Adobe Presenter.
Accessing Prior Knowledge to Drive Instruction
Create a KWL chart with the students to begin the study of honey bees. As the students share what they know and what they would like to know, you will have direction for how to structure your lessons and their learning. At the end of each research lesson, students can share what they learn to complete the last column. When students are working on the mastery project, they should create another KWL chart. Not only will it access their prior knowledge, but also structure their research and set goals for their learning.
Sorting and Choosing Books
Give the children the opportunity to work with their group to sort through a pile of books and locate books that might have information about honeybees. Instruct them not to read the book at this time. Once they have sorted the books, have the students put a colored post-it on the first page of the books they chose and return them to the bin. The bins are then delivered to the next group who sort them and add a different color post-it to the books they choose.
Circulate among the groups and invite the students to explain orally why they chose certain books. When all the groups have sorted the books and added their post-its, collect the bins and review their choices. Some books will have been identified by all groups while others may not. Discussion about their appropriate and inappropriate choices follows.
The books that do contain information about honeybees are then placed in a bin marked ‘Honeybee Research’. Books of various reading levels should be included in the bin. Additional research materials can be added later including magazine articles, diagrams with labels, pictures and videos.Discuss the difference between nonfiction and fictional texts. Use the books the students selected to inform this conversation.
Visual Aid to Help Students Remember Tools Nonfiction Authors Use To Communicate
Create a large chart labeled 'Nonfiction Authors Use:' and write each of the following tools at the conclusion of each mini-lesson.
Fact vs Opinion
Refer to the chart and ask the students if they know the difference between fact and opinion (i.e. bees have wings, bees sting people). The teacher puts F and O next to information on the ‘what I know’ chart. Talk about how using words like ‘some’ or ‘sometimes’ can make an opinion into a fact (i.e. sometimes bees sting people). Write the word Facts on the ‘Nonfiction authors use:’ chart. Write uses words like some and sometimes on the ‘Nonfiction authors use:’ chart.
Table of Contents and Index
As you go through choosing books, show the class how nonfiction authors use a Table of Contents at the beginning of a book to present the main ideas and the Index in the back of the book to help the read find details. How many times have we picked up a nonfiction book, and looked in the index to see if it had what we were looking for?
Chapters and Page Numbers
After each group has reported back to the class with the results of their research, their paragraph becomes a chapter in the book. Discuss the order of the chapters and how nonfiction authors use chapters to organize their ideas.
Working Title
Introduce the concept of a ‘Working Title’ and tell the students that when their book is finished they will have an opportunity to suggest a real title that will invite readers to open their book. You can hold up several books and ask children if the title tells them what the book is about and if it makes them want to read it.
Reading Photographs and Illustrations
A picture tells a thousand words. Pictures and illustrations in fiction reflect information in the story. Pictures and illustrations in nonfiction can provide additional information and sometimes give the reader information in a way that is better than words. Have your students locate pictures in their books and do a Google image search to find pictures on their topic. Students can save pictures by scanning or downloading them into a file on the desktop that is labeled with their topic (i.e. Worker bees).
Charts and Diagrams
Nonfiction authors often use a chart or a graph to give their reader information while using less words and space. It also makes it easier to make comparisons. Write the words Charts and Graphs on the 'Nonfiction Authors use' chart.
When you come across a labeled diagram or a honeybee, have your students copy it, label it and color it in. Do the same for their animals.
Focus Box
Nonfiction authors sometimes give the reader additional facts that are not found in the running text but add to the content. Nonfiction authors can also take information from within the running text and repeat it to focus the reader's attention .
Fun Facts
“A long time ago women used to comb their hair to look like a beehive and it was very fashionable.”
We came across this image as we were looking for pictures of a 'beehive'. The student found this to quite funny. We discussed how we could use it in the book and learned how to insert a FACT BOX.
Labels and Captions
When students have finished making a drawing, ask them to tell you what each part represents. Have them write down the name of each part with a line connecting to it.
Bold and Italic Text
Discuss different ways authors draw attention to text with the use of bold in a heading and italic text within a paragraph. This is also a good time to discuss a color scheme for the chapter headings.
Voice
Read similar information from a sample of nonfiction literature and an encyclopedia entry and invite students to compare the two forms of writing. Discuss which kind of writing they want to include in their book.
Glossary
One group can be responsible for creating the glossary. Words and definitions can be obtained from groups working on content topics. You may want to italicize a vocabulary word in the running text to indicate that it will appear in the glossary.
About the Author
Make one group responsible for creating this page for the book. Use the digital camera to take a class photo. Have them write a paragraph describing how they learned about bees and became experts on the topic, what makes their book unique and why people whould be interested in reading it. Discuss how the 'About the Author' page in a nonfiction book usually explains why the author is an expert on the topic discussed in the book.
Note Taking
The class can create a "honeycomb" of bee facts at an activity suggestion center. Set out several books about bees, and provide paper pieces cut into the shape of a honeycomb cell. Students can visit the center and read about bees. When they find a new bee fact, they can write it on a piece of the hexagonal paper and add it to a growing honeycomb bulletin board. |
