First graders discover a strange looking insect on the school playground during recess. Their teacher captures the bug in a jar and asks for three student volunteers to be the “bug detectives” for the class. She enlists the help of the school library media specialist (SLMS) to assist the trio. The students and the SLMS browse through the library’s resources with no luck. Ultimately, the SLMS helps the students email an entomologist at the local university, who identifies the insect as an assassin bug. This really excites the students and motivates them to search for more information. The SLMS not only helps the students gather details on the bug but she gets the technology resource teacher to help the students prepare a two-minute video on the bug for airing on the school’s closed circuit television system. The SLMS takes the lead in working with the three students as they draft their script, rehearse it, and critique their work before taping it. The teacher releases these students to work in the library while other students in the class are working on science-related activities.
Overview:
First grade students undertake a mini-investigation in which they identify a strange looking insect, collect information on the insect, and communicate their findings to the rest of their class and the entire school. The young investigators fashion their presentation around the essential questions: What should people know about this insect? Why would it be important for people to know these facts about it?
Final Product:
Students develop a two-minute video on their findings that is aired on closed circuit television.
Library Lesson:
Students work with the SLMS in a series of five sessions focusing on the creation of the video presentation. In these sessions the students collaboratively select the major facts they wish to share about the insect, divide the scripting work, draft the segments, rehearse the parts, and critique each other’s performance.