Kids Learn to Express Themselves Through Writing
During the last weeks of school, our primary grade students learned about various types of soil and mud when planting flowers, studying the uses of mud, and learning how to use computers for research in 10-page reports.
What the Students Researched
- Learning how to write an introduction to the report
- Writing about descriptions and uses for clay soil, loamy soil, and sandy soil
- Planting a flower and writing about the type of soil used for planting
- Listing the steps completed to make mud and plant a flower
- Learning how to calculate how much water is needed for making mud in different quantities
- Completing a soil and mud research checklist for added research in books and on the computer
- Writing a book report on mud and soil uses
- Writing a computer report on mud and soil uses
- Completing a reflection questionnaire of what was learned
- Creating a glossary of new vocabulary words used in the report
Mary Ann Burke, Ed.D., Digital Education Expert, is a substitute distance learning teacher for Oak Grove School District in San Jose, California and the author of STUDENT-ENGAGED ASSESSMENT: Strategies to Empower All Learners (Rowman & Littlefield: 2020). Dr. Burke creates digital language arts and substitute teaching K – 12 activities for teachers and parents. She is the Cofounder of the Genparenting.com blog. Burke is the former Director II of Categorical & Special Projects for the Santa Clara County Office of Education that supports 31 school districts serving 272,321 students in Santa Clara County. She is also a previous Director – State & Federal Compliance for Oakland Unified School District, the former Director – Grantwriter for the Compton Unified School District, and was the initial VISTA Director for the Community Partnership Coalition in southern California. Much of her work focuses on creating innovative digital trainings and partnership programs for teachers and families to support students’ learning. These programs were featured as a best practice at a National Title I Conference, California’s Title I Conferences, AERA Conferences, an ASCD Conference, the NASSP Conference, and statewide educator conferences.
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