Before reading, the teacher will present the Voicethread titled, Rocks and Fossils, introducing students to important vocabulary and background information for this unit. Newton, Padak, and Rasinski stress the importance of providing students with enough background knowledge before reading about a topic (2008).
While reading the textbook and trade books, and visiting the web resources, students will fill out research forms with information about their assigned rock. This information will be used as a type of graphic organizer that will aid students in creating written reports about their rocks. It acts as a scaffold that will allow students to arrange the information they read and then write an organized report. (Vacca & Vacca. 2005).
Rocks & Minerals (DK Eyewitness Books) by DK Publishing
Looking at Rocks (My First Field Guides) by Jennifer Dussling and Tim Haggerty
Let's Go Rock Collecting (Let'S-Read-And-Find... Science. Stage 2) by Roma Gans and Holly Keller
Basher Rocks & Minerals: A Gem of a Read by Simon Basher
If You Find a Rock by Peggy Christian and Barbara Hirsch Lember
Geology Rocks!: 50 Hands-On Activities to Explore the Earth (Kaleidoscope Kids) by Cindy Blobaum and Michael Kline
Fossil (Eyewitness) by Paul Taylor
The Best Book of Fossils, Rocks, and Minerals by Chris Perrault
Rocks and Minerals (High Interest Books) by Ruth Chasek
My Best Book of Fossils, Rocks and Minerals (My Best Book of...) by Chris Pellant
Experiments With Rocks and Minerals (True Books: Science Experiments) by Salvatore Tocci
After Reading Activities
Once students have gathered all of their information, they will write a report using their research from as a scaffold. After the reports are completed, the students will create a VoiceThread using their reports as a script. Students will need to look for pictures of their rocks to use as slides for their VoiceThread. Students will share their VoiceThreads with the class at the conclusion of the project. The teacher may wish to invite other classes, school personnel, and family members to view and comment on the VoiceThread.
Newton, E., Padak, N. D., Rasinski, T. V. (2008). Evidence-based instruction in reading: A professional development guide to vocabulary. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Vacca, R. T., Vacca, J. A. L. (2005). Content area reading: Literacy and learning across the curriculum (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
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