In Our own Backyard



Explorations

Project Journal

2011

This is a Project Journal is designed to guide you through the process of developing a project. It is very important that you complete each page as we go along. Every Wednesday it will go home and should be returned on the following Thursday. This is an interactive journal that requires time and conversation with your child. Please take time to talk about each entry. Make sure your child understands what you have discussed. We will discuss each journal entry in class on Thursday.

This project journal is a step by step guide on how to create your child’s project at home. If you complete every entry, on time, then you are likely to have a quality project.

CHILDREN MUST COMPLETE TWO QUALITY PROJECTS PER SCHOOL YEAR IN ORDER TO RETURN TO KEY LEARNING COMMUNITY.

Projects and journal entries should be completed by the child in their own handwriting, with parent support if needed.

Projects and journal entries should be completed by the child in their own handwriting, with parent support if needed.

[pic]

Blue Group’s Projects

are due and will be presented

on May 9th and 10th .

Explorations

Entry #1

Wednesday: February 2, 2011

We are focusing on coming up with a definition for explorations. This is the first step in trying to understand the theme before we start to find topics that connect to the theme. This journal entry has two parts. Please read and follow the directions for each part and children should be ready to share and discuss the definitions in class.

Part 1: Definition

Below, write down your definition for explorations.

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

Part 2: Look it up

Find a dictionary (or use the internet)and look up the word “explorations” and write the definition you found.

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

Explorations

Entry #2

Wednesday: February 9, 2011

On the lines below make a list of things you would like to explore.

1. ______________________________

2. ______________________________

3. ______________________________

4. ______________________________

5. ______________________________

6. ______________________________

7. ______________________________

8. ______________________________

|Teacher Comments |Parent Comments/Questions |

| | |

| | |

| | |

Adult Signature_________________________Date________

Explorations

Entry #3

Wednesday: February 17, 2011

Explorations

Entry #4

Wednesday: March 2, 2011

Pick 3 of your favorite things to explore from Journal Entry #3 and brainstorm what you know about each topic. You can use short sentences and one word answers.

|Topic #1 |Topic #2 |Topic #3 |

| | | |

|__________________ |__________________ |__________________ |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

Explorations

Entry #5

Wednesday: March 9, 2011

By now you should have been thinking about what you want to explore.

Hopefully these ideas will develop into a project.

Through conversation and classroom discussions I have found some students have thought about their project topics. This is great. It means your child is ready to begin the steps for researching (if you haven’t done so already). Projects are done over a period of time. It is not something you create in a few days or over night. So please take time to really develop your project. Filling out the entries, discussing them, and returning them to school help you get ready. Project development, preparation, research, creating original work, etc. is all done at home.

Your assignment for this entry is to think of 3 topics you would like to explore for your project presentation. You can use the ideas from journal entry #4. Please list them on the lines below.

1._____________________________________________________

2._____________________________________________________

Do you have a favorite one you really want to research and present? If not, that’s okay. If you do please list it on the line below.

I would like to do my project on___________________________

Explorations

Entry #6

Wednesday: March 16, 2011

In last week’s entry you chose a topic of interest. Hopefully you have narrowed it down to ONE interest. By now you should know what your project is going to be on. Many of the students have chosen their own topic. Remember—projects are based on student interest (with a little help from parents of course).

In this entry you are going to do two things. You are going to describe the connection between your topic of choice and our theme Explorations. Then you will list guiding questions.

Part 1: My project is going to be on____________________________________________.

How does my project connect to the theme Explorations?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Part 2: On the lines below list 3-4 questions that you have about your topic. These questions are meant to guide your research and exploration. Remember—you are going to try to answer these questions in your project. My advice is to list questions you DO NOT know the answer to.

1.______________________________________________________________________

2.______________________________________________________________________

3.______________________________________________________________________

4.______________________________________________________________________

Projects for “Explorations” are due and will be presented on May 9th and 10th

Explorations

Entry #7

Wednesday: April 13, 2011

By now you have a good idea of what your project is going to be on. Remember you should really LOVE your project topic. Go over the previous entries and make sure you have chosen something that fits you. You should pick the topic with adult help.

My project is definitely going to be on

______________________________________________________.

I think this is a good topic for me because

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Explorations

Entry #8

Wednesday: April 27, 2011

Project Presentation Schedule

[pic]

We will tape our “Explorations” projects on Monday, 9th at 9:30 and Tuesday, May 10th at 1:10.

Each child is expected to create and present a quality project related to the theme of Explorations. We will tape the projects in the audiovisual room off the media center. If you want a recording of your child presenting their project send in a blank VHS video tape.

Since it is difficult to tell what time a student might present and how long each project will be you may want to plan to attend the entire session. This will also allow you to see various projects.

|May 9th |

|Avila, Ethan |

|Faust, Isaac |

|Galildo, Angel |

|Leflore, Kimya |

|Mosley, Tamya |

|Parks, Selena |

|Porter, Ja-Niya |

|Charity Thomas |

|Thomas, Brandon |

|Washington, Kameron |

|Williams, Reanna |

|May 10th |

|Burris, Cherrish |

|Gomez, Christopher |

|Jackson, Elijah |

|Martinez, Eric |

|Stewart, Izac |

|Voorhees, Alexander |

|Williams, Jerry |

|Carlisle, Aubreyona |

|Espinoza, Lizbeth |

Have you been working on your project? Circle YES OR NO

What have you been doing for your project? Or Why haven’t you been

working on your project?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Explorations

Entry #8

Wednesday: April 20, 2011

Ok so most of you know what you are going to do for a project.

So far you should have:

← defined environments

← brainstormed ideas for project topics

← chosen a topic

← connected topic to explorations

For this entry you are going to decide what your original work is going to be. Original work is something you create to show what you have learned while researching your project. It is NOT a copy of something or something that is made by someone else.

Remember your project can and should include more than just original work. If you decide to share something that is not original work that is acceptable. Everything adds to the quality of the project. Original work is only one component.

Original work: an original, distinctive piece (dance, play, song, etc…) created by someone.

My original work is going to be__________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Explorations

Entry #9

Wednesday: May 4, 2011

When you get ready to present your project, you should always say your name, the title of your project, and how the project connects to the theme.

Fill out the information below and practice the introduction.

We will go over this in class!

My name is:

____________________________________________________________________________

The name of my project is:

____________________________________________________________________________

My project connects to the theme Explorations because:

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

-----------------------

I want to explore these things

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download