Title:  A Lesson: Ecology/Reusing Project (writing skills) by Alyce Vande Lune for Grade 2 
Unit:  Peer reviewed by Dutchess County BOCES
Topic:  writing/ecology
Standard Level:  Elementary
Grade:  Grade 2
Start - End Date:  There is no start - end date specified
This LEO was created by: Linda Davis

Learning Context:
This learning experience fits into the second grade ELA curriculum which includes learning how to self-edit their own writing for capital letters, spelling and punctuation.

To be successful with this learning experience the students need to be able to write at a 2.0 grade level. Students need to have had a prior instruction and practice in using the five steps of the writing process. Students need to have had prior instruction and practice on basic writing conventions such as correct spelling, punctuation and capitalization. They need to have had prior instruction and practice in using a child's dictionary in order to correct spelling mistakes. They need to have had some instruction on using the digital camera. They also need to have had some beginning instruction in computer keyboarding skills.

Associated New York State Learning Standards:
Standard Area: English Language Arts
Standard: Language for Information and Understanding
Students will read, write, listen and speak for information and understanding.
  • Students observe basic writing conventions, such as correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, as well as sentence and paragraph structures appropriate to written forms.
    • Standard Area: Math, Science, and Technology
    Standard: Science
    Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.
  • Students identify ways in which humans have changed their environment and the effects of those changes.
    • Standard Area: English Language Arts (2005)
    Standard: Language for Literary Response and Expression
    Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response and expression.
  • Use specific evidence from stories to describe characters, their actions, and their motivations; relate sequences of events

    • Assessment Plan:
    Assessment of each child's work was done using a self-editing check list. The check list was used to evaluate how well each student edited their rough draft before giving it to me for final editing.

    Student Work:
    Examples of student work are included for your perusal. I included completed check lists to show my assessment of student work, as well as a blank copy of the check list. I included copies of the 5x8 cards the children completed using their edited rough draft. The "Treasures From Trash" book is also available for you to enjoy.

    Graphics: Student 1 Graphic Student 2 Graphic

    Procedure:
    Teacher Directions:

    During the month of April children in my second grade class were involved in a variety of learning experiences as we worked our way through a unit on ecology. They listened to books with an ecological theme, participated in experiments and went on a field trip to a recycling center. The culminating activity of this unit was to crate a "treasure" out of recyclables and then complete a variety of activities based on their creation. Following are the steps the children took to accomplish this task.

    1) The children were told early on in the unit that they needed to begin saving items such as plastic containers, cans, egg cartons, cardboard tubes, cereal boxes and anything else that they felt they could use to create something new out of. I also suggested they help each other out by bringing in recyclables to share.

    2) I sent a letter home to parents explaining the project. I included the date the finished project was due. I also told them that working on the assignment as a family was allowed and even encouraged.

    3) When the children brought their projects into class they were given the opportunity to show the class their creation and tell how they made it and what they made it out of.

    4) Next, each child had an opportunitiy to take a picture of a classmate holding their creation in front of the Earth Day bulletin board using a digital camera.

    5) The children were given the assignment of writing about their creation. They were told to explain what they made, what they made it out of and then to end their paragraph with an appropriate concluding sentence or two.

    6) When their paragraph was complete the children were required to self-edit their writing. I explained that I would grade/score how well they were able to edit their writing without any adult assistance. They were familar with the check list since I had used it before in class on other assignments.

    7) When they finished their self-editing they put their rough draft into their writing folder and gave it to me for any final corrections. I made the necessary corrections, completed the check list and gave the writing folders back. The children enjoyed seeing how many smiley faces they received on their check list.

    8) The children then wrote the corrected paragraphs onto 5x8 cards. They decorated the cards to make them colorful and attractive.

    9) Each completed card was placed next to the "treasure" it described in our "Treasured Trash Museum" which was set up in the hall by the school office. The projects were on display for two days.

    10) After the museum was dismantled the children used a computer to type what was written on their card under the digital camera picture of them holding their creations. I put these in a class book with the title "Treasures From Trash".

    11) The book was sent home with each student to share with their families.

    Time Required:

  • teacher planning time for this small part of the ecology unit: 20 minutes
  • students were given three weeks to complete their "treasure"
  • digital camera use: 20 minutes
  • writing and self-editing students' work: 40 minutes
  • teacher editing/check list: one hour
  • students' final draft written on 5x8 cards including decorating the card: 30 minutes
  • set up display in school lobby: 20 minutes
  • student computer work: 30 minutes
  • teacher computer work: 30 minutes
  • preparing the "Treasures From Trash" notebook: 15 minutes

    Student Directions:

    none listed

    • Resources/Materials Needed:
    Student:

    1) Recycleables

    2) Digital camera

    3) Writing and art supplies

    4) Writing folders

    5) 5x8 cards

    6) Computer and printer

    Teacher:

    1) Computer and printer

    2) Digital camera

    3) Self-editing check list

    4) Notebook and plastic sheet protectors

    5) Appropriate location set up with tables for displaying student projects

    6) Glue gun to repair student projects as needed
    Blank Checklist
    No URL resources

    Instructional/Environmental Modifications:
    1) I asked children to bring in recyclables to benefit the children who come from families where parents don't seem to get very involved in their children's school projects. As items were brought in children would share ideas about what each item would be used for.

    2) Children were asked to bring in their project as soon as it was completed instead of waiting until the due date. This was beneficial for the one student I have this year who has difficulty coming up with creative ideas. Seeing completed projects seemed to get the creative juices flowing in this student.

    Time Required:
    see teacher directions

    Reflection:
    This lesson was just a small part of an ecology unit. It was developed as the culminating activity of the unit and also a way to share information and Earth Day projects with the rest of the school and the second graders' families.

    I am also always looking for opportunities to have the children practice and improve their writing and self-editing skills. When children enter second grade they are usually very dependent on me to edit their work. However, as the year progresses, I try to develop more independence in them by encouraging them to take more responsibility for their own editing before they bring it to me.

    One thing I learned during this learning experience is that when the children were told that their editing skills were going to be scored on a check list, they spent more time doing their self-editing before bringing it to me. They seemed to make good use of their dictionaries and the grammar/punctuation charts in the writing center. Most second grade students are still motivated by receiving smiley faces and stickers for a job well done. I will introduce a simplified self-editing check list earlier next year.

    I feel that this learning experience prepares students for life outside of school for a couple of reasons. They learned that trash can be reused in many creative and practical ways. They learned that because each person generates about six pounds of garbage a day, it is important that people reduce, reuse and recycle. The children also improved their dictionary skills and each one made progress in using correct punctuation. It seemed to me that as my own children grew older they depended more and more on the computer spell check and grammar check to do their editing for them. While I see nothing wrong with using these resources, I do feel that it is important for educators to teach grammar and editing skills early on so that students don't need to be overly dependent on the assistance the computer can give them.

    A number of parent comment cards are in the front of the "Treasures From Trash" notebook. The children really enjoyed reading them.