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Julie Ridley Professor Harmeyer LMT 535 April 1, 2013 Collaboration Project I decided to approach a second grade teacher at my school site about collaborating with me for my collaboration project. His class did animal reports last year and I knew that this was something he does with his second grade class annually. Last year, however, my involvement consisted of only helping students locate books in the library on their particular animal by spending one forty minute library session on the animal researched. I explained to the teacher that this year, I wanted to collaborate more fully with him and his students with the animal report, including participating in the planning. We met during our lunch break to discuss what kind of report we wanted students to create, how to begin, to decide which parts were going to take place in the library, use the classroom or computer lab, and who was going to teach or guide students through each part of the project. We decided that we wanted students to write their own non-fiction book about the animal of their choosing. By allowing students the opportunity to choose

their own animal, we were addressing Information Learning Standard number Four, The student who is an independent learner is information literate and pursues information related to personal interests. We decided together that the student-made book would consist of 7 pages: 1) cover, 2) name or type of animal, 3) description of animal, 4) diet, 5) habitat, 6) other interesting fact sheet, and 7) resource sheet. We decided to use the writers workshop writing rubric that his class was familiar with to assess each students work. I asked that we add information about the resources they used to create their book. We decided that we wanted students to use both a print and an electronic resource. This resource section of the book addresses Information Literacy Standard One, The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively. Because of this, we added, I used 1 print and 1 electronic resource. to the student rubric for this assignment. animal book project into four phases. PHASE ONE (CHOOSING A TOPIC) We picked five simple non-fiction animal books from the library to read aloud to students: Goats, Polar Bears, Ants, Lionfish, and Eagles. There was one for each day of the week. He read four of them during class time and I read one during our scheduled library time. During the read aloud, we We broke up the

made sure to highlight and list on a poster the things students noticed about non-fiction texts such as diagrams, maps, charts, pictures, captions, etc. We also made sure to point out the title of the book, author, publisher and copyright date to students to prepare them for their resource sheet to be included in the book. We also filled in a chart after every book with the same pieces of information that they would be asked to write on each of their final seven page books. On the fifth day, the class was asked to brainstorm a list together of animals they wanted to learn more about. The teacher posted the list in their classroom. Students were asked to think about what animal they wanted to write their own non-fiction book about over the weekend. PHASE TWO (LOCATING RESOURCES) In the library, I reminded students about the Dewey Decimal system and we talked about how most of our animal books could be found in the 500 section. I showed them where to look for these animal books in the library. I also reviewed how to search for books in the library using the electronic catalog. We reviewed vocabulary like call number, author, and title. Every student found at least one print resource with information on their animal to check out.

The next day, the teacher and I both went to the computer lab with the class. I introduced students to World Book Online, an online database that our school district subscribes to. I specifically showed them how to find information about their animals by going to Worldbook Kids and exploring the world of animals. Students printed out information, wrote notes, and printed out images of their animal. If a student could not find their particular animal on World Book Online, the teacher and I helped that student go to the National Geographic Kids website to find an image and information about their animal. At the end of the computer session, every student had information about their animal from one of the two electronic resources mentioned. We made sure to point out the name of the database and where to find the copyright date for the site. The classroom teacher went back to the computer lab on one of my non-working days to give students additional time to compile more information on their animal and to explore the world of animals on World Book Online. PHASE THREE (WRITING AND ASSESSING STUDENT WORK) Students spent their daily writers workshop time and scheduled library time writing their first drafts, illustrating, editing, and revising their books over the course of two weeks. They were given various writing utensils, art supplies, glue, etc. along with the seven final pages to hand write their final

drafts and make various illustrations. Students evaluated their own work based on their writers workshop rubric. PHASE FOUR (SHARING THEIR BOOKS) Once their books were complete, the second graders invited their fifth grade buddies to come into their classroom so that they could share their hard work and read aloud their animal books to their buddy. The second

grade teacher explained to me that the second and fifth graders were paired up at the beginning of the school year. They meet once or twice a month. Usually, the fifth grader reads the second grader a story or sometimes they play games. We both felt like one second grader standing in front of the classroom or library reading their book while the other nineteen second graders tried to stay quiet and focused would be challenging. This pairing provided a non-threatening environment for students to share and celebrate their work. Although, this was not one of my work days and I was not present, the second grade teacher assured me that it was a success. The books were then put on display in the hallway for parents, teachers, and students to read and enjoy.

Resources Used During Collaboration Project PRINT RESOURCES Bodden, Valerie. Polar Bears. Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 2010. Print. Green, Emily K. Goats. Minneapolis, MN: Bellwether Media, 2007. Print. Hodge, Deborah. Ants. Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press, 2004. Print. Hodge, Deborah. Eagles. Niagara Falls, NY: Kids Can Press, 2000. Print. Sexton, Colleen. Lionfish. Minneapolis, MN: Bellwether Media, 2009. Print.

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES National Geographic Kids. National Geographic. 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2013. <http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/>. World Book Kids. World Book. 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2013. <http://www.worldbookonline.com/kids/animalworld>.