I am so thankful that I ended up changing the order of my unit so that I am doing my Energy Research Project at the very end of the school year. In the past, I did this about a month prior to school ending, and I would have only 1-2 weeks at the end of the year in which I would have to squeeze all of the lessons on electricity and magnetism. This year, I decided to try something different and take my time with circuits and magnets first, saving the group research project for last. In doing so, I have found that my students are not as rushed in doing their research, they are putting more effort into their presentations, and are generally doing a much better job presenting the information in the process.
I posed the challenge to my students to research information on an alternative energy source that could potentially be used to replace oil. From there, they have to try and teach this information to their classmates through an engaging, and educational presentation. Some students give PowerPoint presentations, others do skits, some create videos. My accelerated classes are then going further, creating, assigning and then grading homework assignments for their classmates based on the information they want their "students" to learn. The assignments are creative themselves, some being crossword puzzles with vocabulary terms relating to their energy source. Others are word searches, some fill-in-the-blanks, short answer or essay questions, but all are meaningful in one way or another. The comments I have heard from my students are funny in a way... I have not heard anyone complain about doing the work, but some of my students are sad or disappointed for their friends who get low grades on their assignments. When I ask why they didn't get a good grade, they respond, "Well, they didn't finish the assignment," "They didn't do it, and I spent so much time making it!" or simply just, "They turned it in late." I have to stop myself from laughing, but I get to tell them, "Welcome to the world of being a teacher!" What a great lesson for students to learn; we as teachers do not want our students to fail or be unsuccessful. We want them to do well, which involves fully completing the assignments given to them. Perhaps I'll try and incorporate this activity earlier on in the year so that all of my students can see what it's like to be the teacher...
This seems like a great way to keep kids engaged through the last of the school year. My grades were due on Friday, and all the kids know that, so they are asking, "What are we going to do the rest of the year?" We still have 4 more days of school left. We decided we are creating immigration reports, and the students are researching and will report on their heritage. They are loving it and having a great time creating their report for their classmates. Have a good end of the year!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I loved teaching electricity and magnetism in fourth grade; I can't imagine how much fun it is teaching to older students!
It's always a good feeling when your students care about each other. I always tell my class that we are a family and when they do things to show they care about each other it melts my heart!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome that the students had insights into what we see. The alternative fuel idea sounds interesting. What were some of the results?
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