Our first step was to PLAN by beginning a KWL chart (What I Know, What I Want to Know, and What I Learned). We started by filling in what we already knew about our Presidents and then brainstormed research questions for what else we wanted to know.  We also discussed what resources we could use to find information and what our final product would look like. We liked the idea of creating a web site from our research so that all our families and friends could see our work.

Next, it was time to DO our research and answer those research questions. We used three types of resources to find our answers: beginning encyclopedias, beginning biography books, and various web sites accessed through the Library's Research and Study Page (look at our detailed bibliography). Students took notes to answer their research questions by writing down important words (not full sentences) in the "What I Learned" column of their KWL charts. After all our questions were answered, it was time to transform our notes into sentences and paragraphs. Each group (and in some cases, each student) developed a beautifully written "mini-biography" paragraph about their President. We typed up our paragraphs, colored pictures of our Presidents, and then Ms. Crane made these web pages.

Our final step was to REVIEW. In this step, we all looked at our final product and talked about the process. We had to decide if we did a good job or not, and we all agreed: we did a great job!!!! We hope you enjoy learning about these Presidents too.

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Page created March 2003 by Amanda Crane