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Grade Level: 5 - 8 |
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Print version |
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Unit 1:
Letters from the Field:
A Unit in which students
research New England Primate Sanctuary's
Letters From the Field as the model towards
the goal of creating their own Letters from
the Field |
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Lesson 1: Reading and Sharing New England
Primate Sanctuary's Letters From the Field |
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Time:
Two 50-minute class
periods |
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Materials:
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Class computers for research and reading
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Student writing materials
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New England Primate Sanctuary
Letters From the Field
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Learning Goals:
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Students will understand
how researchers use Letters From the
Field to create blogs, by reading animal
protection blogs located on the New England
Primate Sanctuary website.
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Students will practice
information extrapolation skills.
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Students will research and group
presentation skills.
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Standards:
NCTE Standard #7
Students conduct research on issues and
interests by generating ideas and questions, and
by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and
synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g.
print and non-print texts, artifacts (video),
people) to communicate their discoveries in ways
that suit their purpose and audience.
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Activities:
Reading: New England Primate Sanctuary (NEPS)
Letters From the Field is a blog
written by contributors studying or working with
animals in their natural habitats. It is a
compilation of their stories and/ or
experiences.
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Procedures:
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Students choose one of four NEPS research
contributors to Letters From the Field
(Kaitlyn-William-Danica-Diana) from New
England Primate Sanctuary's website. Once
they familiarize themselves with the
contributor's history and background, the
student can read each blog entry that
particular contributor wrote, from the
field, regarding an animal protection issue.
Students should be able to answer questions
such as: Who is the contributor? Where are
they writing letters from? What is a blog?
What is the information the contributor is
trying to convey? Why are they writing these
blogs? What is field research and why do
people do it? Do you think the information
they write about is valuable? To whom? If
you were going to write a blog about an
animal issue you are concerned about in the
world, what issue would you choose?
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Ask students to bring information they've
acquired about the NEPS contributor they
chose back to a group of 3-4 student to
discuss and exchange
information about: the contributor, the
contributor's animal protection issue.
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Ideally, each student in the group of 3-4
will have read the Letters from the
Field of a different NEPS
researcher/ contributor.
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Key Concepts and Vocabulary:
Understand how and why there is a need for
research in the field and the power of
researchers writing letters which become a blog
site. Discuss the concept of information
exchange in cyberspace. Explore the ideal of
using cyberspace for global communication and
exchange of valuable information. |
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Assessment Suggestions for rubric:
Level of group and individual participation and
engagement.
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Resources/Examples:
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Action Project:
Have students begin brainstorming for Lesson #2
some of the ideas they have for creating their
own Letters from the Field. |
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Copyright ©
New England Primate Sanctuary, Inc. 2010
You may freely
use, copy and share this Lesson Plan for
educational purposes.
For questions or
comments about Lesson Units and Plans, e-mail us
at
humane_ed@neprimatesanctuary.org.
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