Author:
Lara
Subject:
Elementary English Language Arts
Material Type:
Reading
Level:
Lower Elementary
Tags:
  • Lesson Plan
  • utah-mac-lesson
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution
    Language:
    English
    Media Formats:
    Text/HTML

    Education Standards

    Famous Person Research Project

    Famous Person Research Project

    Overview

    This is a 3rd grade research project.  The final product will be a 5-pargraph essay and a digital presentation.  

    Summary

    In this research project, 3rd grade students will be choosing a famous person they would like to research, write an essay about, and create a presentation on. 

    This will be a 5- 6 week project.  

    Background for Teachers

    To teach this lesson, the teacher will need to create a research model.  As 3rd graders are still young and probably not attune to how research is done, the teacher will need to plan how to model researching, so it's done appropriately.  

    The teacher will need to choose a note taking technique to teach and model.  

    The teacher will need to have an outline model so the students can take their research notes and put it in an outline format.  

    The teacher will need to be able to teach the technology that will be part of the final presentation project.  

    Student Prior Knowledge

    Prior to the lesson, students will need to have an awareness of the positive impact their famous person has had so they can choose an appropriate person.

    The students will need to be able to have reading stamina to spend a large amount of time reading about their famous person.  

    The students will need a basic understanding of their iPads, as this will be the device the project will be created on.  

    The students will need to be familiar with the 5-paragraph essay format.  

    Student Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

    Learning Intentions

    Students will be able to read, research, and take notes on 3 areas of a famous person

    • Early Life
    • Why the person is famous
    • Interesting Facts  

    The students will understand the writing process for a research essay

    • Read and research
    • Take notes
    • Put the notes into an outline
    • From the outline, write a rough draft
    • Edit and revise
    • Publish--final copy

    Success Criteria

    The students will write about their famous person in a 5-paragraph essay

    The students will use their knowledge and create a project using technology (iMovie, Podcast using Garage Band, etc.)

     

     

     

    Instructional Procedures

    1. Teachers will tap into prior knowedge of the students by asking questions such as: What is fame?  Who is a famous person?  What makes a person famous?  Is all fame good?  Students will answer these questions on their iPads using the WhiteBoard app.

    2. The teacher will present the objectives of this project and the timeline

    • choose a famous person
    • read and research
    • take notes
    • create an outline
    • rough draft
    • edit/revise
    • final copy
    • create a project using technology

    3. Time LIne

    • 2 weeks to read and research
    • 1 week to take notes
    • 1-2 weeks to write the rough draft, edit/revise, and type the final essay
    • 1 week to create the digital project

    4. For each section of work, the teacher will create mini lessons and/or model using gradual release

    5. Digital Project--students will be asked to showcase their reserch in a digital format.  An iMovie, podcast, google slide presenation, Keynote are examples.  Students may choose the app and format they would like to display their findings.  

    List of APPS

    Show Me (Whiteboard app)

    Keynote

    Word

     

     

    Strategies for Diverse Learners

    Modifications can be made such as:

    • choose resources that can be read to struggling readers
    • modify the length of the project (eg. 1-3 paragraphs instead of 5)
    • Allow extra time

    Extensions can be made such as:

    • faster paced timeline
    • allow for the opportunity to create multiple digital projects

    Assessment Plan

    • obervation
    • rubric for essay
    • rubric for digital project
    • Write on Demand assessment after the project is completely finished