The Big 6 Research Model - Denver Public Schools



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A unit in mythology and astronomy

by Jill Colburn Bernard

Subject: Social Studies and Science (Greek mythology and astronomy)

Grade Level: 5th

Unit Summary: This unit provides 5th grade O.W.L.S. students an introduction to Greek mythology and the correlation between mythological characters and stellar constellations. Students will conduct research in order to learn some of the stories surrounding various Greek gods, goddesses, and other miscellaneous characters. This research will ultimately lead the students in answering the essential question:

The ancient Greeks felt that the gods and goddesses that they believed in influenced their lives greatly. Because they believed so strongly in those beings, many of the constellations of stars are named after these gods or goddesses. These characters were placed in the heavens either as an honor or sometimes as punishment. Which mythological character do you feel is the most worthy of being a constellation—being placed in the heavens either as an honor or as a punishment—and why?

As a class, we will use Inspiration in order to create a concept web around the essential question. The students will then brainstorm a list of subsidiary questions that will need answering in order to ultimately answer the essential question. This web will be printed out as a guide for their research. To narrow the focus of their research a bit, I will provide the students with a list of 15-20 Greek mythological characters. Each student may choose 6-8 characters from that list to research. The students can conduct that research by using Internet websites as well as text sources. The websites will consist of some pre-selected sites and sites found during the students’ own searches. Information gathered during the research can be recorded on the Inspiration web. The final project will be a HyperStudio presentation. Each student will create a short stack of cards illustrating their answer to the essential question. All the cards will then be compiled into one “Reach for the Stars” presentation.

Standards: The following standards are addressed in this unit:

Social Studies Standards

History #1.1 Students know the general chronological order of events and people in history.

History #1.3 Students use chronology to examine and explain historical relationships.

History #2.1 Students know how to formulate questions and hypotheses regarding what happened in the past and to obtain and analyze historical data to answer questions and test hypotheses.

History #3.1 Students know how various societies were affected by contacts and exchanges among diverse peoples.

History #3.2 Students understand the history of social organization in various societies.

History #6.2 Students know how societies have been affected by religions and philosophies.

Geography #2.2 Students know how and why people define regions.

Geography #2.3 Students know how culture and experience influence people’s perceptions of places and regions.

Geography #4.2 Students know the nature and spatial distribution of cultural patterns.

Science Standards

#4 Students know and understand the processes and interactions of Earth’s systems and the structure and dynamics of Earth and other objects in space.

#4.4 Students know the structure of the solar system, composition and interactions of objects in the universe, and how space is explored.

Language Arts Standards

#1 Students will write for a variety of purposes and audiences.

#2 Students will use the correct forms of grammar usage, mechanics, punctuation, and spelling in their writing.

#3 Students will read and understand a variety of materials.

#4 Students will use reading and writing to enhance thinking and understanding.

#5 Students will read to locate, select and make use of information from a variety of print, media and technological sources.

Technology and Information Literacy

Ends #1 Students use technology to access, select, apply, organize, and effectively communicate relevant information.

Ends #2 Students use technology to research and evaluate data and derive conclusions.

Ends #3 Students use technology to collect and organize information to solve real world problems.

Ends #4 Students demonstrate an understanding of the nature and operation of technology by using it in an ethical and responsible manner.

Technology Integration: The use of technology has been integrated into this unit in the following ways:

• PowerPoint: presentation teaching effective search techniques will be shown to the students

• Inspiration: used to create essential question/subsidiary questions web as well as an outline template

• Shared Folder: used to give students access to links to pre-selected websites

• Internet: used by the students for conducting their own search during the research phase

• HyperStudio: used to create the final project

Essential/Subsidiary Questions: In order to answer the essential question, “Which mythological character do you feel is the most worthy of being a constellation—being placed in the heavens either as an honor or as a punishment—and why?”, a list of subsidiary questions will need to be addressed first. The students will generate these questions in the described lesson. I will lead the students in formulating questions that will help them answer the essential question as well as promote high level thinking. Examples of these subsidiary questions might include:

• What deeds did each character do? (Identifying, Describing)

• Did these deeds have an impact? (Analyzing, Inferring, Evaluating, Explaining Causality)

• What was the importance of the character’s deeds? (Analyzing, Synthesizing, Explaining)

• Was it a positive impact or a negative one? (Analyzing, Classifying, Explaining)

• Is a positive impact more important than a negative one? (Analyzing, Inferring, Comparing/Contrasting, Evaluating, Explaining)

• Should this character have become a constellation? Why? (Synthesizing, Evaluating, Applying the knowledge of research, Explaining)

• What does it take to be worthy? (Synthesizing, Inferring, Evaluating)

Lesson Summary:

Prior to this lesson, the students will have had lessons in using the shared folder, the “Big 6” research model, note-taking, copyright etiquette and citing of sources, and will have viewed and discussed the Effective Search Techniques PowerPoint presentation. Following this lesson, the students will be introduced to StarLab and given opportunities to practice their storytelling presentations (as described in the culminating activity).

Lesson procedure:

1) Students are asked to share their background knowledge of the constellations. This will allow the children to call upon their schema and should provide a foundation for the research that they will be conducting in this lesson. The essential question (listed under Unit Summary) will then be introduced and discussed to ensure its understanding.

2) Using the Infocus machine, display the Inspiration web with the essential question listed. As a group, brainstorm subsidiary questions that will help in answering the essential question. As students suggest these questions, add them to the web. When finished, the students should review their subsidiary questions and discuss their worth to determine if any should be eliminated. Delete any questions if needed. Save this Inspiration web into the shared folder to allow for student access.

3) Students will open the shared folder and save the newly created Inspiration web onto their “H”drive. Once they have opened the Inspiration document, they should convert the web graphic to an outline form. This outline can then be used as a note-taking template—either by printing out a hard copy or by using the template on the computer.

4) Students will then choose to research 6-8 Greek mythological characters and seek out answers to the questions on their outline. A list of these characters will be provided by the teacher.

5) At this point, students will begin to gather data and take notes on their outline templates. They may access web pages using the sites listed in the shared folder or ones found through their own search. A supply of books will also be available to the students to use in their research. As sources are used, students will need to record their bibliographical information. This data can later be entered into Citation Machine and printed out as a bibliography.

6) When the data gathering is completed, the students will need to review their notes, synthesize what they have gathered, and use their new knowledge to answer the essential question.

7) Students will then create a HyperStudio presentation consisting of 3-4 cards. The first one will be a title card with buttons to the other cards. This title card will also introduce the Greek character they have chosen. The remaining 2-3 cards will consist of a short summary of the character’s legend and the rationale for that character becoming a constellation. All the students’ stacks will be compiled to create a presentation on “worthy constellations.” A combined bibliography will be included in the final card of the presentation.

Culminating Activity:

This research project is a precursor to having StarLab in the school. I have always used StarLab as a way to teach students about Greek mythology by telling stories about the Greek god/goddesses while showing their constellations. Now, I would like the 5th grade students to be the “StarLab experts.” After doing the research and learning about the different mythological characters that make up the constellations, they should have the background to teach other students about the Greek myths. My students will use StarLab as a storytelling venue to share their knowledge with other classes.

The Big 6 Research Model

Michael Eisenberg and Robert Berkowitz’s “Big 6” research model provides an easy to use, yet comprehensive, step-by-step process that my 5th grade students can follow. The “Big 6 for Kids” website () is a great resource for teaching the 6 basic steps of the research process. This research model also has a primary component involving three steps. I can teach this model to my 1st and 2nd graders. Then I can easily build upon their learning to include the additional three steps in their intermediate years.

The “Big 6” research model consists of these steps:

➢ Task Definition: In this stage the students ask themselves, “What needs to be done?” The best way to answer that question is to define the essential question the students will ultimately answer after completing their research. In order to answer the essential question, “Which mythological character do you feel is the most worthy of being a constellation—being placed in the heaven either as an honor or as a punishment—and why?”, the students will need to list subsidiary questions that will help focus their research. I will lead the children in formulating those questions by using an Inspiration web. The essential question will be centered on the screen and the student generated subsidiary questions will be clustered around. This web can then be printed out as a reference during the research process. Students should also be presented a rubric so that they know in advance the requirements of the final project.

➢ Information Seeking Strategies: In this stage the students ask, “What resources can I use?” They will need to address the essential question and the subsidiary questions in order to generate a list of the potential sources they can use in order to answer those questions. These sources can include books, encyclopedias, web sites, etc. The students will also need to be encouraged to evaluate the sources in order to determine which ones will yield the best information. A mini-lesson will be beneficial to present the children with possible sources and their value.

➢ Location and Access: Simply stated, this stage answers the question, “Where can I find the resources?” Trips to the school or public library, as well as internet searches, will be necessary in order to gather the necessary materials. It will also be necessary for me to teach mini-lessons in order to ensure that children know how to use the resources. For example, the children will need to know how to reference a book or encyclopedia’s index. Effective web site search techniques will also need to be taught.

➢ Use of Information: This stage involves the actual gathering of information and evaluating its worth. To make this stage efficient, students will need to be reminded to seek out facts and information that will help them answer the questions outlined in their Inspiration web. A lesson on skimming and scanning will help to facilitate this. Also, it will be imperative to teach the students how to take appropriate notes and cite sources. Modeling good note-taking skills will help to alleviate the problem of “copying.”

➢ Synthesis: This stage “ties everything together.” Students will need to organize all their information as well as create a final project that presents what they have found. Once again, the steps in this stage will need to be taught. The children will need a lesson on organizing information and tying it all together. The final project will be a HyperStudio presentation, so the children will also need mini-lessons on the different components of this multi-media program. Their HyperStudio presentation will include a slide referencing that fair use guidelines were followed, a bibliography, and slides that address the essential question.

➢ Evaluation: In this last stage of the Big 6 model, students ask the question, “How will I know if I did my job well?” Providing the children with a rubric against which they can judge their final project should help to answer this question. During this stage, the students should also evaluate the research process itself to ascertain what they learned about that process and what skills and strategies they found useful and will use with future research projects. I intend to provide the students time for a group discussion on this topic.

Real Life Applications: This unit has several real-life applications. One example is the research process itself. Students can apply skills and strategies learned during the process to other situations. It is important to know helpful search techniques when using the Internet. It is also necessary to be able to evaluate the validity of information found during a search. Another example of a real-life application is the skills attained from the culminating activity. Allowing the students the opportunity to present in front of an audience will give them the practice and experience that they can then apply in future presentations. Finally, the students can recall this unit and remember the experience each time they gaze up at the stars.

Avoiding Plagiarism: This can most readily be accomplished by carefully structuring the research process. The most important element will be in establishing a good essential question and appropriate subsidiary questions. These questions will force the students to synthesize the information they have gathered. They will need to formulate their own decision. Consequently, there will not be as much of an opportunity to simply plagiarize someone else’s work. It won’t help the students to meet the final goal. Additionally, it will be important for me to monitor the students’ note taking and HyperStudio presentation to ensure that they properly cited their sources. Keeping a watchful eye on the research process and making the children aware of the importance of avoiding plagiarism should help to alleviate the potential for it happening.

Collaboration: The success of this project will depend on the collaborative efforts of many people. I intend to employ the help of the students’ classroom teachers, the media specialist, and hopefully the district technology specialist. The classroom teachers will need to be aware of the project since the children may need additional time in their classrooms to complete any assignments (as well as schedule time to have my students be their StarLab guide). I will need the assistance of the media specialist to schedule library time, help children in selecting appropriate resources, and assist with technology issues. I have also spoken to her about doing some team planning where we can evaluate/choose websites and team teaching some of the research steps since she also uses the Big 6 model with her library groups. Team teaching would also allow her to fulfill the collaboration requirements for her ET/IL competencies. I would like to have JoAnne Hibbard come to my school while the students are compiling their HyperStudio presentations in order to assist with questions and problems that may arise.

Management Plan:

Mostly, the management plan for this unit utilizes rules and procedures already established in both my classroom and the school’s computer lab. However, in order to facilitate maximum learning during this unit, the following rules are also in effect:

➢ The teacher will state clear objectives for the unit as well as each lesson so that the students have a focus and a sense of direction.

➢ Avoid plagiarism by doing the following:

1) when writing information (in notes or in HyperStudio) use your own words or phrases

2) properly cite all sources used

➢ Evaluate websites before using them.

➢ Take risks—stretch your thinking.

➢ Work to your potential.

➢ Ask lots of questions.

Assessment:

Two rubrics have been created to use in evaluating both the final HyperStudio project and the culminating activity. These rubrics are included as Appendix B and Appendix C.

OPAC Resources:

Currently, the OPAC resources are not available because the media center is in the process of moving to its new location. However, I have provided a list of resources from the Internet and books from the public library that I will be using during this unit. I will access the OPAC resources as soon as it becomes available.

Bibliography:

Web resources

Bell, Cathy. The Mythology of the Constellations. .

Eisenberg, Michael. "Introducing the Big 6." 1987. The Big 6. .

2001. Rubistar. High Plains Regional Technology in Education Consortium. .

Text resources

Amery, Heather. Usborne Greek Myths for Young Children. 1st ed. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1999.

Burleigh, Robert. Hercules. 1st ed. San Diego: Silver Whistle, 1999.

D'Aulaire, Ingri, and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire, Book of Greek Myths. 1st ed. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1962.

Fanelli, Sara. Mythological Monsters  of Ancient Greece. 1st ed. Cambridge: Candlewick Press, 2002.

Hutton, Warwick. Perseus. 1st ed. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1993.

McCaughrean, Geraldine. Greek Myths. 1st ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993.

Mitton, Jacqueline , and Christina Balit. Once Upon a Starry Night: a Book of Constellation Stories. 1st ed. Washington: National Geographic, 2003.

Rey, H.A. The Stars: A New Way to See Them. 7th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1980.

Riordan, James, and Christina Balit. The Twelve Labors of Hercules. 2nd ed. Brookfield: Millbrook Press, 1997.

Vinge, Joan D. The Random House Book of Greek Myths. 1st ed. New York : Random House, 1999.

Appendix A

Sample Inspiration Outline Template

Who is most worthy of being a constellation?

What deeds did this character do?

Did these deeds have an impact?

What was the importance of the deeds?

Was the impact positive or negative?

Should this character be a constellation? Why or why not?

| | |Appendix B | | |

| | | | | |

|HyperStudio/Powerpoint Appearance and Content : Reach for the Stars! |

| | | | | |

|  |  |  |  |  |

| | | | | |

|Teacher Name: Mrs. Colburn | | | |

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

|Student Name:     ________________________________________ | |

| | | | | |

|CATEGORY |4 Advanced |3 Proficient |2 Partially Proficient |1 Unsatisfactory |

|Buttons and Links Work |All buttons and links work |Most (99-90%) buttons and |Many (89-75%) of the buttons|Fewer than 75% of the |

|Correctly |correctly. |links work correctly |and links work correctly. |buttons work correctly. |

|Buttons - Navigation |Buttons are appropriately |Buttons are appropriately |Buttons are appropriately |Buttons are not adequately |

| |labeled and all similar |labeled. Most similar |labeled. Placement of |labeled and placement of |

| |buttons (e.g., Back, Home, |buttons (e.g., Back, Home, |buttons apears random from |buttons appears random from |

| |Next,etc.) appear in the |Next, etc.) appear in the |card to card. |card to card. |

| |same place on different |same place on different | | |

| |cards. |cards. | | |

|Background |Background does not detract |Background does not detract |Background does not detract |Background makes it |

| |from text or other graphics.|from text or other graphics.|from text or other graphics.|difficult to see text or |

| |Choice of background is |Choice of background is | |competes with other graphics|

| |consistent from card to card|consistent from card to | |on the page. |

| |and is appropriate for the |card. | | |

| |topic. | | | |

|Text - Font Choice & |Font formats (e.g., color, |Font formats have been |Font formating has been |Font formatting makes it |

|Formatting |bold, italic) have been |carefully planned to enhance|carefully planned to |very difficult to read the |

| |carefully planned to enhance|readability. |complement the content. It |material. |

| |readability and content. | |may be a little hard to | |

| | | |read. | |

|Content - Accuracy |All content throughout the |Most of the content is |The content is generally |Content is typically |

| |presentation is accurate. |accurate but there is one |accurate, but one piece of |confusing or contains more |

| |There are no factual errors.|piece of information that |information is clearly |than one factual error. |

| | |might be inaccurate. |flawed or inaccurate. | |

|Spelling and Grammar |Presentation has no |Presentation has 1-2 |Presentation has 1-2 |Presentation has more than 2|

| |misspellings or grammatical |misspellings, but no |grammatical errors but no |grammatical and/or spelling |

| |errors. |grammatical errors. |misspellings. |errors. |

|Use of Graphics |All graphics are attractive |A few graphics are not |All graphics are attractive |Several graphics are |

| |(size and colors) and |attractive but all support |but a few do not seem to |unattractive AND detract |

| |support the theme/content of|the theme/content of the |support the theme/content of|from the content of the |

| |the presentation. |presentation. |the presentation. |presentation. |

| | | | | |

| | |Appendix C | | |

| | | | | |

|Story Telling : StarLab Stories |

| | | | | |

|  |  |  |  |  |

| | | | | |

|Teacher Name: Mrs. Colburn | | | |

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

|Student Name:     ________________________________________ | |

| | | | | |

|CATEGORY |4 Advanced |3 Proficient |2 Partially Proficient |1 Unsatisfactory |

|Sequence |Retells story in correct |Retells story in sequence |Retells story with several |Retells story out of |

| |sequence leaving out no |with 2-3 omissions. |omissions, but maintains |sequence. |

| |important parts of story. | |sequence of those told. | |

|Vocabulary |Uses a varied vocabulary |Uses a varied vocabulary |Uses a varied vocabulary |The vocabulary was not |

| |appropriate for the |that is appropriate for the |that is occasionally a |varied OR was routinely |

| |audience, and also |audience. |little to simple or a little|inappropriate for the |

| |successfully tries to | |too hard for the audience. |intended audience. |

| |enlarge the audience's | | | |

| |vocabulary. | | | |

|Knows the Story |The storyteller knows the |The storyteller knows the |The storyteller knows some |The storyteller could not |

| |story well and has obviously|story pretty well and has |of the story, but did not |tell the story without using|

| |practiced telling the story |practiced telling the story |appear to have practiced. |notes. |

| |several times. There is no |once or twice. May need |May need notes 3-4 times, | |

| |need for notes and the |notes once or twice, but the|and the speaker appears | |

| |speaker speaks with |speaker is relatively |ill-at-ease. | |

| |confidence. |confident. | | |

|Voice |Always speaks loudly, slowly|Usually speaks loudly, |Usually speaks loudly and |Speaks too softly or |

| |and clearly. Is easily |slowly and clearly. Is |clearly. Speaks so fast |mumbles. The audience often |

| |understood by all audience |easily understood by all |sometimes that audience has |has trouble understanding. |

| |members all the time |audience members almost all |trouble understanding. | |

| | |the time. | | |

|Pacing |The story is told slowly |The storyteller usually |The storyteller tries to |The storyteller tells |

| |where the storyteller wants |paces the story well, but |pace the story, but the |everything at one pace. Does|

| |to create suspense and told |one or two parts seem to |story seems to drag or be |not change the pace to match|

| |quickly when there is a lot |drag or to be rushed. |rushed in several places. |the story. |

| |of action. | | | |

| | | | | |

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