Monday, May 12, 2014

Kindergartners Research and Share with Little Bird Tales

One of my favorite groups to work with are the kindergartners.  It's amazing how far they have come from the beginning of the school year!  For one of our last projects, their teachers, Mrs. Hansen and Mrs. Gross wanted them to do some research and work together with a partner.  We paired them up and had the students explore the online database, Pebble Go.  They had used Pebble Go in the past so they were familiar with it.  We told the students to write down three topics they, along with their partner, were interested in.  The next time we met, they had to choose one of those three they wanted to learn more about.  Each partner then got a note taking sheet.



The two students worked together to read, listen and take notes about what they thought was most important to share about what they learned.  We practiced all together writing facts into our own words and 
not just copying them.  That was tricky, but they did really well!  On the back of the sheet I added space to find more facts from Britannica School.  There were some groups that were ready to find more!


After finding at least three facts, the partners each logged into Little Bird Tales.  Little Bird Tales allows the user to create an online book by drawing pictures, typing text and then recording their voice.  Even though they did their research together, we thought it would be better for each student to make their own book.  Because they did their research together, the partners were able to help each other if they got stuck.  The students worked really hard to get all of their facts typed and pictures drawn.  I then showed them how to record their voice reading their facts.
Here are links to all of their stories.  They turned out great!  Enjoy!