SES: Big 6 and the Value of Reflection

The Big6 Problem Solving Process was created by Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz.

RaeAnne Locke, LMS at SES, recently reintroduced the Big6 to 4th graders before they began research for their biome unit. In order to help students identify with the steps of research, she decided to tweak the lesson to include a student reflection -- a quick write demonstrating how the steps directly impacted their daily work. In the quick write students were asked to think about the step they enjoyed the most and why, which one they felt they did the best and why, and which one they wanted to improve on and why.

She found this to be an easy, quick and valuable enhancement to the traditional Big6 check- off list because it helped give ownership to them as researchers and demonstrated how the Big6 impacted them personally. Once the biome unit is over, there will be another Big6 reflection to see what changes there will be based on more experience.

Some of the student reflections included:

• “I like synthesis best because it is like the whole job coming to life. It is fun to see your work on board. I think I should work harder on evaluation because I don’t spend enough time evaluating my work.”
  
  
• “My best step is Location and Access (step 3) because I like going to the resources, using the tools, and getting information. I would like to get better at step 4 because I need to work at putting things in my own words.”
  
  
• “I like step 3 the best because I like to read a sentence and figure out what it means. I like to read magazines and websites a lot. I want to do synthesis better because I get shy when I present.”

SES: Author, Elise Broach, Starts her Westport School Visits

Rae Anne Locke, LMS at SES, was the first of all the elementary LMSs to host author, Elise Broach. The 3 presentations planned for the day provided many opportunities for students to sharpen their creative and critical thinking skills. Of course the SES PTA and the PTAs of each school are instrumental in the planning and financial support of these visits!

Authors are great "primary sources" and although we can bring authors in through a variety of technologies now (Skype, webinars, TeachingBooks.net and others), there are special connections made between the book(s) and the reader when the author is present. The SES library media center on Tuesday, 2/10/09 was filled with children, teachers, parents and the author and it was "charged" with the excitement of a good presidential press conference or an interview with a popular movie star. Some of the "new literacies" components of this visit involved the authors use of the Smartboard to present, the sharing of digital images in BlackBoard and via e-mails, and the communication of the event through this blog.


Elise Broach has written many children's books, and you can find out more about her on her website. With a Ph.D. in history from Yale it is easy to understand her ability to merge historical facts with fiction in powerful mysteries.

The two books that she talked most about were Shakespeare's Secret and Masterpiece. Her presentation style maintained the attention of the two 4th grade classes and the adults present. Students answered and asked many detailed questions about both books, and for this blog entry, I'll focus on Elise Broach's presentation of Shakespeare's Secret.

In Shakespeare's Secret, Hero, a sixth grader, has moved and is just starting a new school. She has a name based on one of the characters in a Shakespeare play, but she is not interested at all in Shakespeare. However, when she finds out that there could be a very valuable diamond somewhere in her new house AND that it could lead to learning more about who the real Shakespeare was, Hero decides to try to solve the mystery.

Shakespeare's Secret was a Nutmeg book this year, and students throughout Westport and Connecticut recently completed voting for their favorite Nutmeg. The favorite Nutmeg book will be announced on Feb. 14th.

Elise Broach presented evidence that convinced many in the audience that William Shakespeare was not the author of "his" plays. Could it have been Queen Elizabeth I, Edward de Vere, Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon or a group of writers? Absolutely.

Over the next two months Elise Broach will bring her love of writing and incredible communication and detective skills to all the elementary schools in Westport.

(Rae Anne Locke, LMS; 5th grade team: Eric Lawrence, Peter von Euler, Nonie Price, Elise Broach, Diane Connolly, and Jason Bedient, student teacher.)

All images from Rae Anne Locke. Click on images for better view

SES: Research Grade on 5th Grade Report Cards

Last year all 5th graders started receiving grades on their report cards for Research and Technology. In many cases the library media specialists and technology teachers support the 5th grade teachers in preparing the students' grades. Rubrics (Research and Technology) and check lists of skills (Research and Technology) were created by all elementary library media specialists and technology teachers to support the grading process.

(Click on image of note taking rubric to improve view.)

RaeAnne Locke, LMS at SES, reported on her part in the grading process:
"As a result of collaborative work with the 5th grade team, I was able to see student progress as the quarter progressed and help evaluate for the ITL report card grade in research. After co-teaching an introductory lesson on types of questioning for research, I was able to follow-up with reinforcing lessons incorporating note taking and asking “think” and “fact” questions. A note taking rubric (see above) was established, and each 5th grader submitted their best example of note taking from their note taking sheets which included one "think" and "fact" question used for their ancient Egypt essay. The rubric grade was incorporated into each 5th grade teachers’ final grades for the report card."

The assessment of the level of attainment of research and technology skills by 5th grade students will help with the placement and teaching of new literacies in grades K-4 and 6-8.
(Our current K-12 ITL Benchmarks)

SES: Google Earth and Ancient Egypt

Ken Hine, tech teacher, worked with the SES 5th grade team on a project involving math, Google Earth, and ancient Egypt. Students began with a grid indicating intervals of 10 feet. They also were provided with digital images of Saugatuck School and the Sphinx. Students used Google Earth to find their school and descend to an altitude of approximately 500 feet. They then used the measurement ruler to record the dimensions of the school. The digital image was then placed on the grid and sized accordingly.


Google Earth was similarly used to visit the great structures of ancient Egypt, and particularly the Sphinx. Again measurements were taken, the image was appropriately sized, and superimposed over the school. To the student’s surprise, the Sphinx covered the image of the school and the students re-ordered the images.
Similar comparisons were done with the great pyramids in relation to the SES football field. These activities allowed the students an acceptably accurate perspective of the great monuments of this culture. The students gained an improved understanding of the commitment, time, resources, and tools used by the ancient Egyptians to build their great monuments. In the process they learned to use some of the sophisticated features of Google Earth.