Northside School third-graders in Michelle Laughrey’s class could barely contain their excitement as they worked on their penguin projects using Google Slides with a little help from a class of friendly fifth-graders.
This project allowed students to dive into a science project while honing their reading and research skills. Mrs. Laughrey’s students collected research from books and articles, learning how to take notes from informational texts.
“The class was excited to get right onto the web but before we did any online searching, Mrs. Dubois, our school librarian, helped me show my class safe databases to use to research their specific penguin,” Mrs. Laughrey said.
Students used graphic organizers to help guide their research. They researched their specific penguin’s habitat, what it looks like, what it eats, its enemies, and any additional “cool” facts that they’d like to teach others about their penguin.
Once students collected their notes, they were then ready to organize the information onto Google Slides to present in their own creative way. In came the help of their fifth-grade friends from Amanda Zumbo’s class. The older students used their knowledge and technology expertise to help the younger students create their slides.
“We loved this project. As soon as I presented this idea to my class, they were super excited,” said Miss Zumbo. “All of the kids were very engaged. It was fun to see the fifth-graders take the leadership role and act as mentors for the third-graders. It was also great to see the fifth-graders get some new tricks from the younger students.”
Miss Zumbo added, “Typically, we play math games together so it was a great experience to watch the kids interact in a different way. The third-graders were proud of their work and the fifth-graders loved being able to help out. We can’t wait to see the final products and watch their presentations.”
Mrs. Laughrey said her students will present their information by working on facing the audience, making eye contact and projecting their voice so he/she can teach others about their penguin. And their fifth-grade buddies will be right there to support them.
