The personal project season has begun in the Herons. The fifth graders are well underway (topics chosen, questions pondered, resources gathered) and the fourth graders have just begun. Each fourth grader met with his or her fifth grade mentor on Friday to solidify their topic and start developing questions. The fourth grade project (which is completed almost entirely at school) follows the exact same process the fifth graders use for their honors project. The scope is much smaller (a 5-7 minute presentation instead of a 20-30 minute one) but each step is the same. By practicing the process at school with the help of a mentor and teachers, the fourth graders get ready to do the larger honors project much more independently and almost entirely at home.
We begin with questions of wonder, identifying rich questions with stars and dashes and simple questions with a dot (to represent that their answers can be found in a single sentence.) Then we gather resources, talk about citation, and evaluate what makes a good source. Next we take notes, using color coded notecards that lend themselves to easy organization. We organize the notes and write a 4-6 paragraph report, supporting it with rich visual information. Finally, we summarize our work into an oral presentation that includes an opportunity for the audience to "learn by doing." Whew. Luckily, we have until the end of April.
Here are some of the mini-mentors in action (excuse the cheesy music — I couldn't resist making it feel a little like the "let's get to work" montage of an after school movie):
The Rookery 
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