February begins with the last day of January 31 for our next lesson. We begin this month searching PebbleGo in Cobb Virtual Library. Younger students are searching animals - learning how to use the site and gathering facts. Older grades are filling out a matching list of animal and facts using this site. In an effort to make students realize they should be using critical thinking skills, the questions are very hard to match with the description. Answers are not clearly listed and students are required to make a conclusion out of desciptions. For instance in searching aardvarks the answer is: Has spoon-shaped claws and a 12 inch tongue. But facts state: this animal has a foot long tongue. Can a student make a connection from 12 inches to 1 foot? By 5th grade - certaintly.
The second part of February we are beginning our study of the Reference section. All grades are learning what kinds of books are in reference and how to use them. PebbleGo was an electronic encyclopedia on animals, now we look at the paper encyclopedia on animals. A text to self connection.
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All students are sent home with the Cobb Virtual Library user name and passwords for home use. Please post it near their study area or computers. The county charges Bullard Elementary for all of these sites - please use them for research.