This past year, I had pullout classes for ESL students in the 3rd and 4th grades. Some of my students had been steadily working their way through the red, yellow, and green levels of the Leveled Research Library in my classroom. My research library was a part of a permanent Research Station. Students would choose a book from the Leveled Research Library to continually attend to during their “station time” while I pulled small reading groups to the table.
As weeks passed, I observed that several students had grasped the idea of ordering paragraphs into main ideas more quickly and efficiently with the green level of the library. To introduce students to the next level, I decided to give every student an opportunity to try the blue level with teacher support. For their reading groups, I chose a nonfiction book on their level and ordered more nonfiction books, on the same topic from the local library. One of the group’s research topic was Antarctica.
I start the research process during our reading groups, we began by obtaining some background knowledge by reading the book Antarctica. I followed reading group lesson plans as directed by my school and school district.
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Then, I presented the students more books about Antarctica in their research station, while I worked with another reading group on a different research topic. I gave the students a couple of days to explore and talk about these new books in their stations without any pressure or hovering from me.
(picture 2 all the books on Antarctica) computer
(picture 2 all the books on Antarctica) computer
Next, I introduced them to the detail template for researching continents in their reading group. I gave them a few minutes to read and process it before they asked any questions about the template. I reminded them that this template worked the same as the other levels of the library. Students only needed to write the answer as a sentence fragment and not worry about making a complete sentence.
As a quick review, I restated how the table of contents shows the order or the book and how the index in the back shows the main ideas of the book in alphabetical order. These concepts were a part of the skills previously taught while researching the yellow and green levels of the Leveled Research Library. The students researched at my table until the end of their reading group time and then went to the Research Station to continue their project together.
During their stations, my students spent the next three to four days researching and recording the information requested before I stepped in and reviewed the research they accomplished over the past few days.
During their stations, my students spent the next three to four days researching and recording the information requested before I stepped in and reviewed the research they accomplished over the past few days.
| This meeting occurred during reading group time. We have since moved onto another book for their reading group to keep the reading group pace going in my classroom. I instructed students to complete the last few boxes and to correct any misunderstanding of the gathered information. |  |
 | The next step was cutting the boxes apart. Students first initialed the back of every box and then cut them apart. Once the boxes were cut apart, I sent students to the Research Station to organize their boxes into groups, also known as main ideas. I provided them with a paperclip and an envelope to keep their current ideas intact after their station time came to an end for the day. |
After a couple of days of organizing their report during their stations, students returned to the reading table to justify why they organized their boxes for their report in a particular way.
After they organized them into groups we both agreed upon, they glued the boxes onto half sheets of paper and wrote the main idea at the bottom. These boxes glued to the half sheets of paper would be written as paragraphs for their reports.
(picture 7 glued boxes with main idea written on papers)
(picture 7 glued boxes with main idea written on papers)
Students did not have the same paragraphs from report to report. Each time, I always learned something new about how student organized these facts and justified them to me. I loved to see ideas from them that I never thought about before to write this report. As an adult, I see the report being organized one way, but as novice researchers, my students saw main ideas and paragraphs at times that I had never thought of writing.
Before students wrote their report, the next step was to order the half sheets of paper to practice the skill of ordering paragraphs. Once the papers were organized, I would staple them together to keep them in their chosen order. This helped my students stay organized. As they become comfortable with the process and maintaining their work space, students will keep their own research organized and properly ordered on their own. (Yes, I does happen. I have seen it!)
Before students started to write their report, I told them to use their two-finger indent for each piece of paper because each paper was one paragraph. I also instructed them to read the boxes before writing them to decide which box they were going to write first, second, third, etc. The skill of ordering sentences was added on as additional practice for most students, but my main concern for this report was writing multiple paragraphs with a two-finger indent at the beginning.
The writing process was completed in the research or writing station. It was a task that students could complete independently and at their own pace.
Once they finished their reports, I provided them with some pre-printed pictures and a map of Antarctica to color with various markers, pencils, and crayons. They planned and implemented a poster by gluing the items to a large piece of construction paper, including the written report.
For publishing, some students read them to the class, a student, or another adult in the building of their choice. Then, I hung them in the hallway for the entire school to see. As a follow up, there was a blue level bin of various books about the other continents and this same template in the Leveled Research Library for some students who were ready to research at the blue level independently and wanted to research another continent of their choice.
I truly enjoyed this new process of introducing students to the blue level of the Leveled Research Library. The reports were very good for a first time on the blue level. Some students were ready to research another, but some needed more understanding of the researching process so they returned to their regular researching level. However, this experience at a higher researching level with teacher support improved their researching at the lower levels and gave several students a goal to improve their researching and writing skills so they could research at the blue level independently all the time. I continued to plan more ways to implement other topics at the blue level of the Leveled Research Library in my classroom for students to complete and master the standards of researching and writing informational text.
Lesson Modifications for the Future: I would have the students complete the template after every small group meeting and reading to establish a purpose for reading and an after-reading and writing activity, as well as, a comprehension check. My future blog will discuss these procedures to assist the students in completing the template.
To purchase this product please click the link below:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Continents-Research-Template-3476627
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Continents-Research-Template-3476627
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