Pebble Go Polar Animal Research Report

Bring on the research reports! I used to be TERRIFIED of our research report standards. Not because I don't love teaching students all about how to research something, as they truly enjoy merging being scientists and authors. But as a Kinderkiddo teacher it has always been difficult to find a way to provide the same high quality materials to all of my students, including my non-readers and new to country EL students who need significant vocabulary support. Well I am afraid no more because of my most recent find, and now favorite website for science and social studies, PebbleGo. Click here to learn about how I discovered it and how we used it for researching Needs vs. Wants in my Kindergarten classroom. I'm such a fan of this website that I wanted to use it again as the database for our polar animal research reports that I do every January. This is an introduction to nonfiction research reports, a way for us to start to understand what researching a specific topic means. Plus we get to work on our speaking and listening standards as well. In the Spring my students will complete a full length, in depth research report about various farm animals. But for now what better way to get started in the research project process than learning about something relevant here in cold Minnesota-polar animals!

PebbleGo has an entire section of polar mammals in their animal database. In years past I have limited my guided reading groups to learning about 1 animal per group, making it easier for me to focus their learning and keep everything organized. Tough, because as I mentioned before, finding appropriate on level nonfiction animal books with enough meat in them to write a project about is agonizing. And it limited my students ability to choose what they wanted to report on. By utilizing PebbleGo this year it will allow the students to each choose which animal they want to research....LOVING the choice factor here!!! In fact, they will get to investigate all of the polar animals on PebbleGo for a few days before choosing their favorite. Talk about maximizing learning and expanding our knowledge base! Remember that PebbleGo has audio built in for each subject, so the words are read aloud to the students while being highlighted. The students can click on vocabulary words in the text to hear a brief kid friendly definition. Many subjects have a short video clip, providing further understanding for visual learners. Perfect informational text for all of my Kinderkiddos, no matter what reading level they are at!

Here is my plan for the next few weeks to conduct our polar animal research reports:
1-Students will spend their independent time for the first week on the Chromebooks in my classroom (15 min a day) investigating all of the polar mammals on PebbleGo. I have the page linked to our SymbalooEDU page, making it easy for students to locate the correct site and maximize their learning time at the computer. Read more about how I use SymbalooEDU in my classroom here.
2-On Thursday of week 1 I will introduce the report sheet in guided reading groups and tell students that they need to think about what animal they want to complete their report for.
3-On Monday of week 2 I will ask each student which animal they will be reporting on. In our guided reading groups we will review the report sheet and discuss how good researchers gather information and listen for key words. I will then give each student their first copy of the report sheet to take notes on for the week as their rough draft. Because we are beginning writers I except mostly pictures with some sound spelling for labels and descriptions. FREEBIE! PEBBLEGO POLAR MAMMAL RESEARCH REPORT!
4-Students will fill out their report independently during Chromebook time throughout week 2.
5-On Friday of week 2 students will complete their final draft copy of their report, focusing on editing and adding details during our guided reading groups and whole group literacy times.

6-During week 3 I plan on having students create a presentation for the class using either Yakit Kids or Chatterkid. Haven't decided yet on which one,  but I will let you know when I do! Students will then get the chance to share their presentation with the entire class!

By utilizing an amazing online resource, adding a simple writing prompt and finishing with a fun creative app my students are taking their nonfiction learning into their own rockin' researcher hands! Check back to see how it goes and the final projects!