Lesson Units and Plans

Grade Level: 5 - 8

Print version

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

Lesson 2: Student Letters from the Field

Time:

Two 50-minute class periods (and homework)

Materials:

• Student brainstorming notes from earlier assignment on creating their own blog.

• Computer or access to computer.

• Access to information on how to create a blog, www.blogger.com/start, or an imaginary blog.

Learning Goals:

• Students will begin to understand the power of blogging in exchanging information with others in cyberspace.

• Students will begin to understand the importance and applications of research in the field in regard to animal protection and advocacy.

• Students will begin to understand what might motivate a person to write about their experiences in order to support a cause.

Standards:

NCTE Standard #5

Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

• MCREL Language Arts Standard 1

Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process (persuasive writing).

• MCREL World History Standard 2

Understands the historical perspective. Level III, Benchmark 6. Knows different types of primary and secondary sources and the motives, interests, and bias expressed in them (e.g., eyewitness accounts, letters, diaries, artifacts, photos; magazine articles, newspaper accounts, hearsay).

Activities:

Students will pretend they are a researcher in the field, studying and writing letters regarding the animal protection issue of their choice. They will create their own Contributor page, telling something about themselves, then create a blog site modeling from the NEPS Letters From the Field entries.

Students can do this individually or with a partner who might like to create a blog with the same issue. Students can share their blog site with the class via a smart board at the end of the lesson, or invite other classmates, and perhaps the wider audience of the school population to take a look at the blog they created.

Procedures:

1. Students should have computer access to the NEPS Letters From the Field/ Contributors page. They should feel free to model their language and writing style as if they were an actual contributor in the field.

2. Students should formulate their approach to the blog based on an interest for an animal protection issue, and what they might be observing about the plight of the animal they are pretending to be studying in the field. Students can obtain animal information at NEPS or other resource sites and write the stories from an imagined first hand account, but based accordingly on the research they've done on the animal protection issue.

3. Work on blog.

Key Concepts and Vocabulary:

Primary and secondary sources. Research 'In the Field'. Letters and notes transformed into cohesive blog entries.

Assessment Suggestions for rubric:

Use Language Arts Assess writing samples through the 6-trait writing process rubric: www.nwrel.org/assessment/department.php?d=1

Resources/Examples:

• New England Primate Sanctuary website:

  Animals in the News

  Monkeys

  Frequently Asked Questions

  Letters From the Field

  Videos

Project Actions:

Additional ideas include the creation of their own blog site based on continued research and personal understanding of an animal protection issue.

For questions or comments about Lesson Units and Plans, e-mail us at humane_ed@neprimatesanctuary.org.