Trees

=Grades 1 and 5 Tree and Plant Inquiry Project=

**Overview:**
This project will be two lessons on the topic of trees, one for grade 1 and one for grade 5. For both of them I will take the role of the librarian and will work with the class teacher for each grade, focusing on the area of science. For the grade 1 project, the teacher and I will be focusing on critical literary as it relates to learning about trees. The students will make a mini book of five different types of trees found in the school's outdoor lab. While the school supplies identification plates for many tree types, the students will have to conduct research to verify or disprove the information. Their final project will include drawings/pictures of the chosen trees, a brief description of the trees (taken from books or other resources), and a short narrative of their personal experiences with trees, including what they can do to help trees grow healthy. I will also collaborate with a fifth grade teacher on using critical literacy to research a tree or other plant that is suffering from or part of a current environmental crisis. The students can find inspiration from diseased trees in the outdoor lab, personal knowledge of the environment, or stories in the news. Their final project will be a pamphlet and include research on the plant, a description of the related environmental crisis, and a proposal of how to fix the problem. At the conclusion of each project, we will have the students reflect on their projects' strengths and weaknesses, so they can improve their future application information skill.

Both lessons will take about three weeks to complete, from introduction of the lesson to the final product. Since they will be working on other projects and classes throughout the duration of this inquiry, they will only be devoting a few hours every week to working on the project in class. For the first grade class, in week 1 the teacher will go explore the outdoor lab with the class and look at the different types of trees, taking pictures, writing down nameplate information, and collecting leaves. Week 2 the teacher will take the class will look through different books at the school library and look at online resources to verify or disprove the nameplates. The librarian will discuss how to evaluate resources and the importance of keeping an open mind when doing research (i.e. just because the nameplate said the tree was a particular species, doesn't necessarily mean it is correct). This week we will also have a speaker come in from the Department of Natural Resources to talk about trees, the environment, and the impact humans have on the environment. Week 3 the teacher will give the students time to compile their information in their mini books and time to write their personal experiences with trees. They will be able to come down to the library to do additional work and ask the librarian any more questions they may have regarding the research and critical thinking they need to do for their project. At the end of the third week, the students will meet with the kindergarten class at the library to share with the kindergarteners what they learned about trees and the environment through this project, after which they can help the kindergarteners pick out books of their own about nature. The class will meet with the librarian for a group discussion of making sure sources have the right information and the value of sharing what you learn with others. Finally, the class will turn in their mini books to their teachers.

Week 1 of the fifth grade lesson, the teacher will take the class to the outdoor lab to introduce the students to different types of plants, after which she brings the class to the library, so the librarian can introduce the class to different environmental crises various plants are experiencing. This will allow her to introduce them to a variety of resources on the environment including books, the internet, pamphlets from various organizations, and media sources. The librarian will discuss with them the importance of taking different perspectives into account when evaluating resources because their beliefs or the beliefs of resources are not always right; they have to evaluate the material on their own to come to a conclusion they create themselves that will bring about a change for the better (Callison 354). They will then choose a plant in an environmental crisis to do their project on. We will also have a representative from the Department of Natural resources come in to talk about different crises our state is facing, as well as crises happening in other places of the world. During week 2, the class can use any of the sources the librarian introduced them to or any other source to research the crisis, working toward a conclusion that will help them shape a change and course of action. Their critical literacy skills will require them to evaluate these resources to find the most reliable ones which will help them convince others of the problem's seriousness and the need for action to correct the problem. If the problem is one of local nature, they will be able to make the observations first hand on their own time, or they can use secondary sources during class time to make observations. In week 3 the students will be given time by their teachers to create their pamphlets, making sure to accurately convey their observations and convince others of their plans for change. At the end of the week they will turn in their projects to their teachers and meet as a class with the librarian to have a group conversation on affecting social change, whether in the environment or any other realm. The whole project will conclude with a class presentation night to do a presentation to the class' parents on their subjects.

**Information Skill:**
These lessons will focus on the information inquiry still of critical literacy. In addressing this aspect of information inquiry, the lessons will improve the students' information fluency, helping them "solve problems across disciplines, across academic levels, and across information format structures" (www.virtualinquiry.com). Regardless of the grade level, fostering critical literacy will challenge students to not only critically evaluate their sources and previously held ideas, but it will provoke them to use their knowledge to affect and change themselves and the surrounding world. Callison states the three basic rules to follow in critical literacy:

"Rule number one: Don't believe everything you read. Rule number two: Don't read only what you already believe... Rule number three: Through critical selection of what you read, hear and observe, apply actions to change your self and/or society's status quo in order to move closer to the common good." (354)

While the steps are simple, execution of and continual growth in critical literacy is a constant challenge and continual learning experience. Working together, the teacher and librarian will form an instructional support team which strives to scaffold and model the inquiry process for the young, novice learners. When students are only novices, their inquiries will need more guidance, to be more heavily controlled. Novices in critical literacy may take from sources without evaluating them, which experts will use a variety of sources and references to obtain quality information that they can rely on for their project. Relating to the social change element of critical literacy, the information skill of future applications (www.virtualinquiry.com) will also show growth from novice to expert through this project. The novice information scientist will savor the good feeling that comes from completing a project, like this tree and plant inquiry project. They will simply be satisfied that they fulfilled the requirements of the project, accept that they learned something in the limited realm of the classroom in these particular circumstances. The expert information scientist, on the other hand, will reflect back on both the process and the project, thinking about what he or she could have done better and how they could carry the information and skills they learned in this project to a wider arena, applying their knowledge to future projects both in and out of the classroom (www.virtualinquiry.com). The expert's review and reflection on the project will help them to improve on the weaknesses, retain the strengths, and expand on learned information. In applying this experience to future applications, the students will be improving their critical literacy, especially rule three's statement of the importance to change the world for the better (Callison 354), no matter how small or big a piece of the world is affected.

The importance of critical literacy and future application are both reflected in the standards this lesson focuses on (see below for statement of these standards). These inquiry skills will help the students draw conclusions that consider the quality and variety of their sources, so that they can make their decisions and subsequent actions based on research and resources that will allow them to create a quality project for the class as well as a quality learning experience to apply to real life. In making these informed decisions and drawing conclusions for the real world and future investigation, the students will be meeting the 21st Century Learner information inquiry standards outlined below. Critical literacy's importance in also reflected in the science standards for the students because it helps them evaluate and apply the knowledge they gain by exploring, observing, counting, collecting, measuring, comparing and asking questions (science standard 1.1, see below). In describing their observations and explaining and justifying those observations (science standard 5.2, see below), the students will move from novices in future application to experts in this information skill. Practice and continued guidance when necessary will allow the student information scientists to progress from novice to expert in all information skills, just as they will progress in critical literacy and future application through this project.

**Standards for Learning:**
These lessons will focus on the 21st Century Learner information inquiry skill 2 - Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge. Particular attention will be paid to 2.1.3 - Use strategies to draw conclusions from information and apply knowledge to curricular areas, real-world situations, and further investigations.

For the content area standards, the first grade lesson will meet science standard 1.1 The Nature of Science and Technology - Students are actively engaged in exploring how the world works. They explore, observe, count, collect, measure, compare and ask questions. They discuss observations and use tools to seek answers and solve problems. They share their findings. For the fifth grade project, the lesson will meet the science standard 5.2 Scientific Thinking - Students use a variety of skills and techniques when attempting to answer questions and solve problems. Students describe their observations accurately and clearly using numbers, words, and sketches, and are able to communicate their thinking to others. They compare, contrast, explain, and justify both information and numerical functions (Indiana Academic Standards )

**Student Audience:**
The school is small K-6 elementary school with only 300 students in the entire school. In rural Indiana, the student population is predominantly white and the majority of the families are poor.

There are 25 students in this class. The kids are novice information scientists, with very little, if any, background in inquiry projects and a very limited knowledge of the library's resources, services and diverse functions. They are low level readers and are working on improving their ability to apply the information they read to circumstances beyond just reading the book for pleasure. The class has however done a few forays into other small research projects, like their last project that required them to interview family members to create a family tree. Since they have not yet had experience or formal lessons on evaluating resources, we will have to introduce them to the concept that not all information was created equally. Since they are used to sharing their class work with each other, they are familiar with the importance of sharing information, but we will have to work with them on taking their learning beyond their selves and their class, encouraging them to share what they learn with other people. For the tree project, we can connect their research and learning to the real world when we talk about the importance of sharing with others. Since they are just learning about the inquiry process, I want the main focus of what they can take to the real world to be the skills of evaluating resources (on a basic level) and sharing information with others. Luckily for us, this first grade class is eager to learn. The school's focus on getting them out of the classroom on field trips and bringing in outside speakers keeps them continually entertained and always ready for the next exciting project. They love getting feedback from the teachers, librarians and parents, and I expect that having the opportunity to be the teachers for once will really get them excited to share what they learn.
 * First Grade--**

There are 23 students in this class. As fifth graders, they have more skills in information literacy than the first grade class does. Over the years they have done multiple project in multiple classes where they have had to use the library and other resources to do research for a project. Compared to the first graders, they may seem like experts; however, they are novices in their own right. They are still learning what it is exactly that makes a reliable resource, as the librarians have been working with the teachers over the years to scaffold this information, allowing the students to gradually learn more and more specifically what it takes to be a reliable resource. One of the most important things I want to address is that just because they think they know something, they still need to look at resources that they may not agree with because new information is generated all of the time, and they need to keep reevaluating what is true and appropriate to use for their work. The fifth graders are really beginning to get interested in moving up to high school after next year, so they get really excited when they are treated like adults. By having them draw their own conclusions and create their own solutions that they can present at the parent night, I think they will feel a sense of pride and accomplishment getting to share their knowledge with the adult community. This lesson will show them how important it is to do research of their own to generate their own conclusions--not simply take solutions from resources they use--that they can share with others. They can take the skills and lessons they learn from solving environmental problems and apply it to any problem they see in the world, learning to create their own original solutions to problems they see around them in the real world.
 * Fifth Grade--**

**Collaboration:**
As stated earlier, the librarian would work with the first grade teacher on the first grade class' project and with the fifth grade teacher on the fifth grade class' project. In each case, the librarian and teacher share responsibilities throughout the lesson, with the focus of the librarian on the inquiry standards and the focus of the teacher on the subject area standards. The particular roles are outlined above in the overview section's summary of the three weeks' events. The teachers and librarians can work together throughout the project bouncing ideas off of each other and working to fit the project the needs of the class as new considerations are discovered throughout the process. The first grade project would also require collaboration with the kindergarten teacher, who would work with us to allow the first graders to present their mini books to her class and then guide the younger students to picking out nature library books. The fifth grade project would also require collaboration with the parents of the students, as they would need to come to the parent night, so the students could present their findings to the class' parents. The parents of both grades could be used as resources for their children throughout the inquiry process, depending on their knowledge of the subject and the time they have to devote to helping their kids conduct research. The librarian could be the liason between the different teachers and parents to make sure everything works together as a cohesive whole.

**Educator Teacher Materials:**
__Week 1__ Monday the teacher will introduce this unit on tree research, the "tree-search" lesson. Begin by giving the class a brief introduction to nature. Talk about the fact that there are various types of trees, each one unique and playing a vital role in our world. The teacher can pass around books the librarian picked out from the library with pictures and descriptions of different trees to illustrate to the children that there are many different kinds and to get them used to the idea of being able to identify them based on the way they look. Take them on a walk through the outdoor lab to look at the different kinds of trees the school has on its property. Point out the nameplates that identify the trees, but stress that just because the nameplate says that a tree is a certain type (briefly explain the concept of a species) doesn't mean that the nameplate is necessarily correct. Tell them we have to use books and other resources to check for ourselves if the tree identified on the nameplate is the same as the actual tree.
 * First Grade--**

On Wednesday, explain the project that the kids will be creating for this lesson. They will make a mini book that identifies five different trees from the outdoor lab, using the library's resources to check for themselves what species of trees they are. By doing their own research, they will become more proficient in critical literacy, by taking the first step of doing one's own research to find answers instead of taking previous knowledge for granted as true. Explain that for each tree, they will be drawing pictures of the trees/leaves and be pasting in information from the library books about each tree. Finally, their book will end with them writing about their personal experiences with trees, either in this project or outside of it. After explaining what is expected of them in this project, take them back to the outdoor lab to gather and collect data. In order to make the project easier for them, you will model an example of one tree for them. They may use the information from your model in their own books. When you are in the outdoor lab, take a leaf from the example tree and write down the information from the name plate that goes with the tree. Have the students follow suit with four other trees, stressing the importance that all five leave that they gather look different and come from different trees. Give each child a baggie to store their leaves in until you work on the project again.

__Week 2__ This week the bulk of the work lies with the librarian. The Monday after having collected the data from the outdoor lab last week, the students will now go to the library to conduct research in library books to find out if the identification on the nameplates matches the information found in the books. Before research begins, the librarian will talk with the class about how important it is to do your own research and think critically about the information that other people put out there, and even information you may think you already know. Tell them that the library is a great place to come when they want to do some fact-checking, just like they are here to see if the nameplates are right in the outdoor lab. The librarian will complete the example tree that the teacher collected a leaf and information from, modeling for the students how to use the books on trees she has pulled for them to check whether or not their leaves match. In actuality, all of the nameplates are correct, as the teacher and librarian checked them all beforehand to verify their accuracy; however, the students will not be aware of that and will need to verify that information for themselves. The basic searching the students will be doing is looking up the name of the tree given on the nameplate, looking to see if their leaf matches the picture of the leaf in the book, and writing down the tree on a list of the trees they are putting in their book. They will then be able to spend time about an hour in the library looking through the books to check if their leaves and tree names match the species identified in the outdoor lab. They will have notebooks to keep track of their five trees and the information they find out from the books. If they think they find a identification and tree that do not match, they will be told to take it to either the librarian or teacher so they can help them check the information and show them that they really do match. If the students want to conduct additional research at home, either in print or online, they are allowed to do so.

On Tuesday, the class will come back to the library for another hour to finish up their research. When they are done, they will give their list of five trees to the teacher, who will pass them on to the librarian to make copies of those tree's information (just a short blurb from an easy to read book). The students can then paste this information into their final mini books.

Friday a representative from the Department of Natural Resources will come into the class to talk about trees, the environment, and the impact humans have on their environment. A big focus of this presentation will be on how humans have to pay attention to how they treat trees and other things in the environment because we can either help or hurt them through our own actions. After the speaker leaves, the teacher will have a discussion with the students about what they learned from the DNR representative and what they can do to help trees like those in our outdoor lab. This will help them understand the social action part of critical thinking, but on a more simple level that they are able to understand and act on right now. They can stay in the sphere of themselves and the school, rather then attempting to change the beliefs and actions of the whole world.

__Week 3__ On Monday the teacher will give students time to compile their mini books in class. They will be putting together the identifications on the nameplates, the information blurbs that the librarian made copies of for them, and drawings of the leaves. Since the actual leaves will get dry and crunchy, the kids will do drawings of their own. They can use crayons, colored pencils, paints, chalk, or anything else they would like to use that we have available in the class. If they find they have any gaps in their information, they can come back down to the library to ask the librarian to help finish up their research. The teacher will have her example of the example tree set out for the children to look at as a model. She will be able to help them with any questions they have on their projects.

Here is the template with accompanying directions for the trees' information:

Tuesday the class will be writing the section of their mini book that tells their personal experiences with trees. Remind them about what the DNR representative talked about and ideas and feelings the class talked about after he left. The teacher can take them back to the outdoor lab to do this writing exercise so that they will be able to be surrounded by nature while they are writing about it. Stress they should be thinking about their own personal knowledge of trees and themselves; there is no right or wrong answer. They should just write about what they know and include ideas they have of how they could improve their behavior toward trees or their actions that affect trees and the environment. Give them example ideas like, "I won't throw my candy wrappers on the ground at recess," and "I will pick up any litter I see in the outdoor lab." It's fine if they choose to write down the example ideas in their book, as long as they come up with something of their own as well. They can also include advice they would give to other people about how to help trees and nature. When they are finished writing these entries in their books, take them back to the classroom. Since this was the last part of the book they had to do, their projects should be complete. Tell them that tomorrow they will be sharing what they learned about trees and helping the environment in this lesson with the kindergarteners on Thursday. Tell them they will be helping teach the little kids about how to help nature, and they can just share how they plan on helping the environment themselves, or they can share advice they would like to give to the younger kids.

Thursday the class will meet the kindergarten class in the library to do their sharing time. They will each go in front of the class and give quick a summary of what they learned in this project and advice they would like to give the kindergarteners. At the conclusion of the presentation, the first graders will each be paired with a kindergartener, and they will help their partner pick out a library book on something about the environment, be it trees, oceans, leopards, or anything they think of. After the kindergarteners leave with their new books, the librarian will sit down with the first grade class and have a discussion about how important it was to make sure that the information was right on the nameplates, so they had the right information to share with other people through their mini books. She should tell them that this idea applies not only to the nameplates in the outdoor lab, but in all situations; they always need to keep an open mind and check the facts for themselves. This will allow them to be able to come up with the best information for them to make their ideas about how to help not only the trees and nature, but themselves and their friends. They will also discuss how it was sharing what they learned with the kindergarteners, talking about the value of sharing information with others. This will be helpful in forming their critical literacy skills of affecting change in the world, but for this grade level we will keep the scope of change small and the effects of which they can see for themselves. At the end of the day, the students will turn in their mini books to their teacher for grading.

The thrust of the project is really on learning the importance of researching information for yourself and using that information to share to improve yourself and the world. The project's grade will be based mainly on participation throughout the process, and only a small portion of the grade will be on the product itself. As long as students have five different trees; identified them correctly; included leaf drawings, species identification, and copies of the tree's information; and wrote an entry on their personal experiences with trees with ideas of how to help natures, the students will receive full credit on the product. The teacher will assign an additional 10 points for the process of research, exploring and writing, as well as 5 more points for the presentation to the kindergarteners. The total points possible for the lesson will be 25.

Here is the grading rubric for the mini book:

__Week 1__ Monday the teacher will take the class to the outdoor lab and talk with them about the project they are about to begin. She will explain that they will be doing a research project on a plant that is part of an environmental crisis. Since some students may not know exactly what she means by environmental crisis, she can give them an example that many of them may have heard of: the emerald ash boarer and ash trees. They may have heard that they are not supposed to transport firewood when they go camping, and she can explain that this is because people are trying to stop the insect from spreading to new places and killing more ash trees. The teacher can use the ash tree and its environmental crisis with the emerald ash borer as an example to introduce environmental crises to the students. She should tell them they will be creating a pamphlet on an environmental crisis and they will be conducting their own research to find out about the crisis and to help them figure out a plan of action to put a stop to the crisis. While she is explaining, the kids can be looking at the trees around them for inspiration, writing down species names off of nameplates for possible topics and getting a feel of how the environment works as a whole. The teacher will also announce that they will be sharing these projects with the class' parents the third Friday from now. She will send home an announcement of the upcoming activity, inviting all parents to be there Friday night when the students do their presentations.
 * Fifth Grade--**

Wednesday a representative from the Department of Natural Resources will come to the class and talk about different crises our state is facing, as well as crises happening in other places of the world. The representative should talk about the role humans played in the environmental crisis and some ways that the department is working to reverse and fix some of the environmental problems. This will help students realize that their actions affect the world around them, and by changing their actions they can have an entirely different effect. The DNR representative can answer any questions the students may have about the crises they discussed. After the presentation, the teacher should talk with the class about how we are able to identify problems and work as a community, local or global, to solve them.

On Thursday, the class will go to the library and computer lab where the librarian will lead them in a search for a plant and an environmental crisis they are interested in researching. Before they begin researching, the librarian will discuss that it's important to keep in mind when doing research that the sources will have to be evaluated for truth and accuracy of information. This will allow her to introduce them to a variety of resources on the environment including books, the internet, pamphlets from various organizations, and media sources. The librarian will discuss with them the importance of taking different perspectives into account when evaluating resources because their beliefs or the beliefs of resources are not always right; they have to evaluate the material on their own to come to a conclusion they create themselves that will bring about a change for the better in their world. Even once they find reliable information, they will have to ask themselves questions to further expand their idea of what they need to learn and research for the project. The librarian should warn them especially with environmental issues like the ones they are looking for, they will have to be aware that every person has an opinion and may even tell lies to make the students believe what they have to say. Since they may not be very familiar with possible topics, it would be helpful to provide them with a few resources to start them off with a variety of potential ideas. Websites like the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources are good places for students to get reliable information on topics they might be able to use for their projects. The class should have one to two hours to look up information and decide on a topic they want to pursue. They will write down these topics and turn them into the teacher to get her approval. They can use any of the topics the DNR representative discussed or any of the topics that the teacher or librarian touched on while explaining the activity, except they may NOT use the emerald ash borer (the topic discussed in class) or the invasive species Japanese honeysuckle (the pamphlet example).

__Week 2__ Monday the librarian will talk about citing resources during research. The will give them a handout with the most likely types of citations they will use in their research this week, and tell them they need to keep it with them at all times to fill out whenever they decide to use a resource for their project. She will go over the examples listed on the handout and then have the students try one on their own with a book of their choosing in the library. The entire exercise should take no more than half an hour. She will then stress that it is essential that they bring this worksheet back with them tomorrow and every day they come to the library to do their research, so they can fill out their resources' information, just like they have done with the examples.

Here is the citation handout:

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday the class will spend about an hour and a half going to the library and computer lab to do further research on their approved topics. They may use any of the library's print resources and any of the online resources they evaluate as reliable. While they are working on their projects, the teacher and librarian will be going around to the students to check on their progress; talk with them about problems they are facing in finding, evaluating and applying information, and work with them individually to figure out the issues. This way the experience will be scaffolded and tailored to each student's needs. Having a lot of research time in the library will allow the students to get a lot of attention during their project research, rather than just at the end after they have turned it in. It also allows the librarian and teacher to get a look at the process and effort the students are employing in their work. They will be able to see what the students need to work on and help them understand the areas where they are lacking. At the beginning of the research time on Tuesday, the teacher will remind them that the research they are doing is going to help them figure out a way to solve the problem, so they need to keep that in mind when they are looking for information. The student's critical literacy skills will require them to evaluate the resources to find the most reliable ones which will help them convince others of the problem's seriousness and the need for action to correct the problem. If the problem is of local nature, they can make observations first hand on their own time, or if not, they can use secondary sources during class time to make their observations. They will be required to include a chart of some sort in their pamphlet, using numbers and data to support their findings OR a map of the affected areas. The teacher's can show them a map of the places in North America affected by the emerald ash borer as an example of the types of information they can use. While they are researching, they can print out data, charts and maps taken directly from resources, but they will need to synthesize the information on the topic in their own words, citing the resources they use.

__Week 3__ Monday and Tuesday the teacher will give the students time in class to work on compiling their information in their pamphlet. She will stress the importance ofsynthesizing all of the information they obtained into an informational pamphlet for others to learn about the environmental crisis. The librarian can help provide various pamphlets from different organizations as examples for the students to get ideas from. The teacher will also have her Japanese honeysuckle pamphlet for the students to look at. The teacher will tell the students that their packets must contain a description of the plant in question, a description of the environmental crisis, a chart/graph or map relating to the crisis, and their ideas and steps for action that people need to take to fix the crisis. They can also include pictures they printed out online or copies of pictures from books in the library. She can pass out the grading rubric for the project portion, so they can have it to remind them of everything they need to include. If they find out during this process that they need more information or more pictures, they can go down to the library and get the information they need to finish. The teacher will also remind them that they will be presenting these pamphlets and the information they learned to their parents this Friday night.

Here is the grading rubric:

Tuesday during class the teacher will do a model presentation on her Japanese honeysuckle pamphlet and pass out a copy of her pamphlet to each of the students. The homework for Tuesday, Wednesy and Thrusday will be to practice presenting their information. The students will turn in the final version of their pamphlet to the teacher on Wednesday, and she will make copies of the pamphlets for the students to pass them out to the parents on Friday night.

On Friday, the students will have time during class to rehearse their presentation. After school, the students will do their presentations of the information and ideas in their pamphlets to the parents.

The following Monday, the class will meet with the librarian and have a group conversation on influencing change in the world, whether in the environment like this project or in any other situation they may see. They will talk about being able to use this same process of careful research, drawing your own conclusions, and sharing the ideas you come up with for change with others, in all areas of their lives. She should remind them that the library is a great place to come when they want to know more about a topic, so they will be able to learn what needs to be done to make a change for the better.

The fifth grade project places more emphasis on the product than the first grade project, but it still puts a lot of weight on the process. Being able to talk with them while they are actually doing their research and refining their active work, the teacher will be able to give them credit for working hard toward gathering information for their pamphlet. The presentation is not assigned a letter or number grade; it is just a mandatory part of the project, either pass or fail. The overall grade for the lesson will be based on the grade received on the pamphlet, with an additional fifteen points available for the teacher to assign based on the process and presentation, resulting in the total grade being out of 35 points.

**Student Learning Materials:**
This is the grading rubric for the mini book the students make:
 * First Grade--**
 * This handout lays out what the children will do to complete their mini books and provides a template for them to fill in the trees' information: [[file:Grade 1 Tree Form.pdf]]

Fifth Grade--** This is the grading rubric for the pamphlet they create: **
 * This handout is to help the students understand how to do the citations for their project: [[file:How to Cite a Resource Handout 2.pdf]]

**Student Performance:**
First Grade-- For the first grade's lesson, the main goal was to make sure that they understand two major concepts relating to critical literacy. They should learn that they have to fact-check their information because information from the source they are using may not always be correct. They should also learn the importance of sharing information they gather with an audience outside of themselves, helping them understand the subject information and the findings (in this case how to improve behavior toward the environment). As they get older, they will learn that this sharing the findings is meant to cause change for the better in the world, right now the focus is just to get them to understand that it's important to share what they learn from research. Since both objectives are directly integrated into the project, assessment should be accomplished by looking at the process, final product and presentation. I can check whether or not they fulfilled the objectives with a checklist of my own to fill out for each student at the completion of the lesson, assessing whether or not they came to understand these concepts through the lesson.

Here is a copy of the rubric I can assess their understanding with:

Fifth Grade-- The primary focus of the lesson is being able to get the students to realize that by doing research of their own, they will be able to get the information that will help them draw conclusions and make improvements to the world. Breaking this down, the students will have to learn that they have to think critically about the sources they are using, looking at a wide variety of reliable resources and considering potential biases. The students will also have to be able to synthesize the information they learned, not just pull it right of out books like the first grade class was able to do, and be able to use that synthesized information to come up with a plausible proposal to fix the problem. Finally, they will learn that their voice and opinions matter, by sharing their final projects and conclusions with an adult audience, they will have the opportunity to see that they can think of solutions, too, and that the adults care what they have to say. I will be able to see how well they met these objectives by observing them work on their projects throughout the lesson, looking at their final product, and having a group discussion with them about what they learned from the experience. I will use a checklist to see whether or not they learned all of the objectives over the course of the lesson.

Here is a copy of the rubric I can assess their understanding with:

**Student Models:**

 * For both grades, I will be making example products for the students to model off of and reference while they are working on their own products.

First Grade-- This is an example tree information page that the kids could base their five pages off of and use as one of their trees:

Fifth Grade--** This is an example pamphlet for the fifth graders to look at when they are making their own. I did mine on Japanese honeysuckle as an invasive species. Here is my pamphlet:

**Feedback/Field Test:**
Following are three teacher/peer reviews of my lesson:

Shea,

I have had a chance to look over the lesson plan you sent me. I find it to be well organized and thought out. Your use of the library as a part of this unit is a wonderful idea to help expose the children to options the library has to offer besides checking out reading books. I also like your use of the teacher and librarian as a team approach. Providing the children with practice citations before they have to put them in a paper will definitely help put them at ease with this task. You have also included a visit from a DNR representative, the kids love to have outside speakers come to classes so this was good help increase their interest in the project. Your idea to have the parents come to a presentation will prove to be a good way to increase iinterest in their children's project as well as give them the opportunity to be more familiar with you and the teacher. I would caution you to have a plan, if you don't already, for the children who finish early or forget their papers. Overall it is a plan that incorporates many aspects of the school and its resources and appears to be one that the children will enjoy.

Sincerely, Vickie

Shea,

Would like to suggest some of the following: First Grade: Might need some parents to assist with the "field work" in the outdoor lab. Would we want the students to dry the leaves? Would be just need some newspapers and then we could press them in the classroom. Might help with future identification and avoid future leaf identification problems.

Fifth Grade: Might need some parents to also assist with this "field work". Do we need to be concerned with a duplication of issues? May want to schedule the presentation on an evening other than Friday. What do you think of a school assembly and evening presentation? We normally get a very good turnout for our evening events.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss my comments, please call. Thanks and good luck!

Linda

Shea,

It’s great that the lesson plan incorporates a variety of learning styles. I tend to be a hands on learner so I love that you chose ways to reach many kids. I also like that you have spread the lesson over more than a couple of days, this will help the kids have time to absorb the material. Really like the idea of getting the 1st graders to present their papers to the kindergarteners. It will make the 1st graders feel important and provide good role models to the kindergarteners. We'll need to see if we can get the PTO to help with the identification of more trees in the lab.

The 5th graders will spend a great deal of time researching. Will there be enough stations for research in the library or will we need use some time in the computer lab? I see that you are allowing outside research which could take some of the stress off the kids who want to put in more effort or for those who perform at a slower pace. I think you have a great idea that I hope will be carried over to other subjects. There is a real opportunity to get kids excited about the library as a part of all types of classes. You have motivated me to think more outside the box to keep things fresh.

Denise

**Lesson Comparison:**
The lesson and concepts for the first graders are much more basic for the simple fact that they haven't been exposed to inquiry for as long as the fifth graders have. The lesson for the younger students focuses on forming the foundation for the rest of their school years; it teaches lessons that educators can build on and go more in depth with as the students mature intellectually. Being so young, these students normally take the information they are given as true, trusting that no matter what the source is, the information is accurate. I wanted this lesson to introduce them to the fact that not all information sources are equal, and certainly not all are reliable, even when they come from a source at school--in this case the nameplates in the outdoor lab. By having them check the information on the plates against that in the books at the library, the kids learn that it is up to them to find out the truth. For now, the truth will be the books provided by the librarian, scaffolding the situation for them so that they aren't overwhelmed with information and feel lost. For both grades, the lessons focused on the information inquiry skill 2-draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations and create new knowledge. However, the first grade lesson sought to teach the students this lesson more by doing then explaining. The younger students are performing these inquiry skills without directly realizing they are doing it. They have to regard their leaf and the information from the outdoor lab and after looking at the library's information, make an informed decision as to whether or not the information is accurate. They draw conclusions from their research about the tree, whether the name matches the leaf, and they can use this type of analysis and comparison of library information to information of unknown-accuracy in new situations. This lesson will help them realize the value of the library and it's various resources.

While the first graders learned this standard by a type of osmosis, the fifth graders are confronted by it rather directly. They are told that their intention should be to find reliable information from a variety of resources and then use that information to create a solution. They realize up front that their task it to draw conclusions and make informed decisions. They are given more responsibility in accomplishing this because the librarian doesn't have a set of books she has pulled for them. They are expected to use the library and internet to find out information from all different kinds of sources. However, since they are still fifth graders, having the teacher and librarian sit down with each one individually and talk about their progress and problems is a good way to scaffold the experience for each student's capabilities and experiences. Since they are older, they will have had a wider variety of experiences and expertise than the first graders, who have more of a similar background in inquiry. In realizing what they are doing when they are checking their resources for reliability and bias, the students are able to actively know what they are learning, rather than just doing the activity to get a foundation. In synthesizing the information they find on their crisis, they are drawing conclusions about the information out there, and when they take that information into consideration to come up with a solution, they are creating new knowledge, knowledge that they can share with other people.

This same relationship between the difficulty and grades can be seen in the emphasis on the 2.1.3 inquiry standard-use strategies to draw conclusions from information and apply knowledge to curricular areas, real-world situations, and further investigations. This new knowledge that the fifth graders create when they come up with solutions to the crises hits this standard on the head. Their solutions apply their knowledge to a real situation, particularly the crisis they spend so much time researching. By talking with the librarian after the end of the project, the students can get help grasping the implications of their work. It applies beyond this singular crisis; they can use these research and solution-creating skills in all situations of their lives. When the first graders also came up with idea to help the trees, they were participating in a similar experience as the fifth graders, but the lesson kept the scope small since it was their first formal introduction to such an exercise. Their entries on helping nature help them see clearly the implications of their ideas because they relate directly to themselves and trees like they actually got to see, a very "real-world" application. Hopefully their talk with the librarian about sharing their ideas on helping will get them prepared for projects of wider spread real world applications, like the fifth graders experienced. These inquiry standards help the students of both ages become increasingly information literate, especially in the focus of critical literacy where it is so important to evaluate information and apply what they learn to the surrounding world, helping to improve it with the work they have done and the lessons they have learned.

When the students are younger and at an earlier stage of understanding, the instructional specialist has to take on a role where they guide the inquiry much more closely. Picking out materials, creating a worksheet they only need to fill in, and providing an example they can directly replicate in their project are all ways that the teacher can help the students succeed in this early stage. In this stage, the student information scientist relies heavily on the instructional specialist for guidance, and that is perfectly fine because they are learning skills that will carry over to the more advanced stages. As the student information scientist gets older and more experienced, they will take on more independence and have to rely on themselves rather than the instructional specialist to supply many of the answers that spring up during the inquiry. The instructional specialist is now playing more the a supporting rather than a guiding role. The student now has the opportunity to explore on her own, make her own mistakes and figure out on her own how to solve them, giving her room to grow and mature as a student and information scientist.

Leah Dresser's Wiki Addition Shea, I really enjoyed reading this project. Even though I am horrible at science, I thought this project looked really interesting and neat. I also have no experience with elementary age students so that was something to consider as well. I liked your tree form, the tree mini book idea, and the student examples. Thinking about trees and science got me thinking about the environment and recycling. I was going to try to find a lesson on Arbor Day and when I did, I found this really great idea at [] which is Teacher Vision. I thought this website had some awesome ideas that could be used in a Science or English class. The steps include: Students visiting the library and finding a poem on trees. Students copying the poem on paper. Illustrating the poem. Memorizing the poem Students then get together and share the results. This lesson could be used at the grade levels you indicated or possibly middle or high school. If we were to use this lesson for an 8th Grade Language Arts class, we would still complete the four steps above, but in addition, I would have students write a short story involving a tree. In that way, we would be addressing Standard 8.6 which is English Writing and Conventions including sentence structure, grammar, and punctuation. In addition, students could either illustrate the poem or story using ComicLife or make a poster of their work using Glogster or another poster making software. I just learned about Glogster on another wiki page and it seemed really neat. This lesson would use the inquiry skills of searching, listening, and viewing.