Grade Level: 2nd

Content Area: English Language Arts

Standard: 

1. (1) Participate in conversations and discussions with groups and peers utilizing agreed-upon rules.

2. (2) Present information orally using complete sentences, appropriate volume, and clear pronunciation.

3. (6) Use visual aids and technology in oral presentations to present key ideas and details about a text or conversation, and add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

4. (7) Demonstrate standard English usage when speaking.

5. (10) Apply knowledge of phoneme-grapheme correspondences, multisyllabic word construction, and syllable division principles to decode and encode (spell) words accurately in isolation and in context.

6. (11) Apply previously-taught phoneme-grapheme correspondences to multisyllabic words with accuracy and automaticity, in and out of context.

7. (15) Utilize new academic, content-specific, grade-level vocabulary, making connections to previously learned words and relating new words to background knowledge.

8. (19) Identify new vocabulary and the use of word meanings in text to establish real-life connections.

9. (20) Use grade-level academic and domain-specific vocabulary to gain meaning from text.

10.  (21) Use grade-level academic and domain-specific vocabulary in writing.

11. (22) Use content knowledge built during read-alouds and independent reading of informational and literary texts by participating in content-specific discussions with peers and/or through writing.

12. (25) Identify and use various text features to locate ideas, facts, or supporting details in both written and digital formats.

13. (28) Establish a purpose before reading literary and informational texts to enhance comprehension.

14. (30) Read and comprehend literary and informational texts.

15. (38) Apply knowledge of grade-appropriate phoneme-grapheme correspondences, multisyllabic word construction, syllable division principles, and spelling rules (or generalizations) to encode words accurately.

16. (43) Write complete sentences demonstrating knowledge of punctuation conventions.

17. (44) With prompting and support, compose and develop a well-organized paragraph with a topic sentence, details to support, and a concluding sentence.

18. (45) Demonstrate understanding of standard English language conventions when writing.

19. (46) Gather and use research to answer questions to complete a research product.

Objective: 

1. Students will present information orally, using complete sentences, appropriate volume, and clear pronunciation.

2. Students will participate in conversations and discussions with groups and peers utilizing agreed-upon rules.

3. Students will use visual aids and technology in oral presentations to present key ideas and details about a text or conversation, and add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

4. Students will use content knowledge built during read-alouds and independent reading of informational and literary texts by participating in content-specific discussions with peers and/or through writing.

5. Students will identify and use various text features to locate ideas, facts, or supporting details in both written and digital formats.

6. Students will gather and use research to answer questions to complete a research product.

7. Students will create topics of interest for a research project.

8. Students will create questions to gather information for a research project.

9. Students will find information from a variety of sources.

Directions: Students will form a question, relating to our unit, to research and present information. Students will be engaged in inquiry groups, which is a formative assessment of the categories: speaking, writing, listening, & reading. 

Guidelines: Students will use their chromebooks to research information related to their topic. Students can use Google Slides or poster boards to present information. 

Our unit theme is: “My Community at Work”. Students were able to identify and share what concepts they already know about the theme, in any way, and place that concept on our Inquiry/Concept board. Students also asked any initial questions related to the theme as well. These questions will be the start of our inquiry process: asking questions to purposely read to find the answers to the concepts throughout the whole unit.

In lesson 1 of the unit, students developed “good” research questions related to the unit concept. This causes for students to ask open ended questions, which leads to student-led discussion. This leads to specific research questions that make for great inquiry research topics.

In lesson 2 of the unit, students create a conjecture from their previous thought unit question, as they read more books about the unit. Conjectures are created through thinking and sharing thoughts that might be a logical explanation for their previously thought question. It would cause for more research to get a sound answer, backed by research, rather than only students’ prior knowledge.

In lesson 3, students are continuing to form their conjectures and form inquiry groups with others who share similar conjectures. In the groups, students are identifying what information is needed to research in order to find facts about their research topic and conjecture. Students are also planning how they will research their topic. For our inquiry, students are researching: “Why do communities create statues in public places?” The conjecture that each group chose is, “They create statues to honor people from the past.” Students planned their research on their own, took notes on their own, & discussed their information, all in collaborative inquiry groups.

In lesson 4, students were given time to reflect on their research, and revise their conjectures, if their research leads them to. In groups, students continue to research.

In lesson 5, students continue working towards presenting their research, as a group, and plan their final presentation of their choice and creativity. Lesson 6 is the final lesson of the unit, and the collaborative groups will present their research to the class. Students created a sense of community in the classroom by working together and each student in a group had a part. Students researched a statue in our community, synthesized their research to determine what was necessary information, and organized a presentation of their research. Just like a community, each student had a helpful role in completing this research project, in their own unique ways.