This unit actually started at the beginning of November, but since that’s such a short month for us I planned it to take up the rest of the calendar year. I began by having all the 4th graders in each class gather around my computer at the circulation desk. I showed them the basics of how to use Google Earth. We learned how to type in locations, how to zoom in, how to check off the 3D layer and other fun layers. We looked at our school and then at some famous monuments.
Tag: google earth
I am having so much fun with my 5th graders this week, I may let them play with Google Earth from now until June.
I’m doing reference units with my 4th and 5th graders. The 4th graders started back before the holidays with an introduction to atlases, almanacs, and encyclopedias. It took a while because of assemblies, weather, etc., but I basically gave them a week to play with each of those 3 reference sources. They worked in teams of 4 and just flipped through the World Almanac for Kids 2008 and whatever atlases we have (I really need to buy new atlases next year). They had to write down 10 cool things they learned from those 2 sources that they didn’t know before. Then when we got to encyclopedias, I had them compare and contrast our print World Book to World Book online. They had to write pros and cons for each source, and we talked about why it’s important to know what kind of resources have the best stuff when doing research. At the end of my unit for those 3, we had a reference scavenger hunt. They worked in teams and had to answer a series of questions by picking the right reference source and then finding the right answer. That was crazy fun, and they did a great job with it. I had stations set up all over the library, so they had to move around and think about which book would have the right answers (and they all learned where Chad is, which I thought was kind of fun).