Top Ten Project Reflection

The first example of exemplary in the Top Ten Project I feel was the Academic Rigor in which students developed new habits of mind.  I believe they accomplished this through the learning of what fact and opinion is and how it was used in the books they were reading.  They were questioned about what makes something a fact or opinion and then they were given several examples.  Not only did students look at others work but they reflected on their own research and how they used facts and opinion to rank their animals.

The second example would be under Applied Learning, where the students had to work communicate with each other, collect and organize data, and analyze their information.  I believe this was met through the students creating their own criteria that they would rank each animal, and they had to do research on each of these animals and validate their resources.  Students also had to have open and clear communication with one another so they could properly rank the animals in a way that it reflected the entire class findings.

The third example that make this PBL exemplary was the Assessment Practice where their final product was presented to a wide audience.  Since the final project was a wiki that is a social tool the students were able to get feedback from not only their school and community but from people all over the world.  The video mentioned how the students kept up to date on how many people were viewing and voting on their site.

Pilver, R. (n.d.). Wikis and 21st century literacy instruction. Retrieved from http://top10.sblc.wikispaces.net/file/view/wikisand21stcentury.pdf
Reading and Language Arts: 4th Grade

RLA.O.4.1.1 identify and practice appropriate vocabulary:

• multiple meaning words
• synonyms
• antonyms
• homonyms
• content area vocabulary
• context clues

RLA.O.4.1.6 examine meaning clues to aid comprehension of content across the curriculum (e.g., pictures, picture captions, titles, headings, text structure, topic)

RLA.O.4.1.8 interpret and extend the ideas in literary and informational texts to summarize, determine story elements, skim and scan, determine cause and effect, compare and contrast, visualize, paraphrase, infer, sequence, determine fact and opinion, draw conclusions, analyze characterize and provide main idea and support details.

RLA.O.4.1.9 determine the author’s purpose in literary and informational texts and use supporting material to justify author’s intent:

• to persuade
• to entertain
• to inform
• to determine a specific viewpoint

RLA.O.4.1.13 judge the reliability or logic of informational texts.

RLA.O.4.1.14 select and use a variety of sources to gather information (e.g., dictionaries, encyclopedias, newspapers, informational texts, electronic resources)

RLA.O.4.1.15  use graphic organizers and visualization techniques to interpret information (e.g., charts, graphs, diagrams, non-verbal symbols).

RLA.O.4.1.16 use reading skills and strategies to understand a variety of information resources to support literacy learning (e.g., written directions, captions, electronic resources, labels, information texts).

 RLA.O.4.1.17 increase the amount of independent reading to build background knowledge, expand vocabulary and comprehend literary and informational text.

 RLA.O.4.2.6  write to persuade using order of importance, classifying differences and similarities, classifying advantages and disadvantages.

RLA.O.4.2.12 use strategies to gather and record information for research topics:

• note taking
• summarizing
• paraphrasing
• describing in narrative form
• gathering information from direct quotes, maps, charts, graphs and tables

RLA.O.4.2.13 select and use a variety of sources to gather information (e.g., dictionaries, encyclopedias, newspapers, informational texts, electronic resources).

 Science: 4th Grade

SC.O.4.1.4demonstrate curiosity, initiative and creativity by developing questions that lead to investigations; designing simple experiments; and trusting observations of discoveries when trying new tasks and skills.

SC.O.4.1.5 recognize that developing solutions to problems requires persistence, flexibility, open-mindedness, and alertness for the unexpected.

SC.O.4.1.6 support statements with facts found through research from various sources, including technology.

SC.O.4.1.9construct a hypothesis when provided a problem.

SC.O.4.2.1 describe the different characteristics of plants and animals, which help them to survive in different niches and environments.

SC.O.4.2.8construct and explain models of habitats, food chains, and food webs.

Fourth grade science. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://wveis.k12.wv.us/Teach21/public/cso/popUp.cfm

Fourth grade reading and english language arts. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://wveis.k12.wv.us/Teach21/public/cso/popUp.cfm