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Learning Experience/Unit

Spring Ahead (Watching a Tulip throughout its Lifecycle) by St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES

Subject

English Language Arts (NYS P-12 Common Core)

Grade Levels

Elementary, 2nd Grade

Assessment

2014-01-06Kidspiration graphic organizer
student checklist
video presentation
iMovie Presentation Rubric
iMovie Script Project
iMovie Script Rubric
iMovie Presentation Rubric
Tulip Writing Checklist.pdf

Learning Context/ Introduction

This is part one of a two part learning experience that will begin after taking part in the fall portion of the Journey North Tulip Project. The Journey North Project is an experiment conducted by school children throughout the northern hemisphere. Students plant Red Emperor Tulip gardens and report when they bloom in the spring. All participants can see their results posted on a map when they submit information. For complete details on the project, visit: www.learner.org/jnorth/tulip/index.html.

During the fall Journey North portion of this project, students learn what tulips require to grow. In this portion of the unit, the students will show their understanding by writing an expository piece about tulips. They will create a video of their work using iMovie.

From December through May, students will report their observations on a class website blog.

Duration

This unit can be completed in a week, but having extra time to have students record their video is helpful.

The blog will continue until May.

Essential Question

How do the changing seasons affect the growth of tulips?

Procedure

Pre-Requisite: Complete Journey North Tulip Fall Planting.

Day 1: Approximate time = 40-minutes

As a culmination of fall planting and a launch for this video activity, have students brainstorm a list of everything they know or have learned about tulips as a group. In the computer lab, students will create a web of tulip facts using Kidspiration. Students need to be familiar with this program. After creating their web, they will print a copy.

Day 2: Approximate time = 45-minutes

Using printed tulip webs, the students will write paragraphs.

Before beginning, the students will see a rubric that will be used to grade his or her writing.
As a class, they will make a reminder list of what needs to be included in their writing for an exemplary sample script. This list will be recorded somewhere in the room.
An opening and closing sentence, four facts in the body of the writing, and different beginning words for most sentences will be required for an exemplary grade.

Day 3: The approximate time for this activity would be between 45 minutes and an hour.

Students will edit their writing and record a video.

Students will take 15 minutes to read their tulip writing and edit it. They will use the guidelines created on Day 2 and the Writing Checklist.
To understand how they will be assessed on this project, the class will make a movie as a whole group and grade a rubric together. Put a copy of the iMovie Presentation Rubric on the SMART Board and read through each category with the group. Allow time for children to ask questions about any of the grading instructions and terminology. Invite a child to make a practice recording using text provided from When Does Spring Reach Your Hometown?, one of the downloadable books from the Journey North site at www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/tulips/jr/Intro1.html. He/she will practice reading a paragraph in front of the class and then will record it using iMovie with the help of the teacher. The children should watch the movie on the SMART Board while it is being made. After they are done watching the movie a second time, fill out the rubric as a class using the SMART Board.
After this, there will be time to practice reading for fluency. While they are being recorded individually, the remaining children will be given time to write their first tulip life cycle blog entry. There will be trade books (plants) available for silent reading.

Ongoing throughout winter: Students will make observations about the garden and weather and watch for changes. They will record their findings on our class blog.

Reflections and Feedback

I think this unit is a very good wrap up to the fall Journey North Tulip Study. The students were able to write about what they had learned and the video recording gave them a new avenue to present material. It would benefit the students to have more experience using the iMovie program before they made their videos. The distinguished student had used it previously which gave her an advantage when creating this video. Another thing I would include in the fall portion of this learning unit would be a prediction of what would happen in the spring. That was addressed in our blog, but it would be nice to have that information with the other writing and video.