Tagging Lesson

Tagging is a great way for teachers and students alike to organize and search. In this lesson my first grade students used tagging to sift through to find websites that help them find answers to questions and information about the subject.

Lesson Overview:

Introduction: The teacher will show students pictures of various plants on the board and have them use what they know about plants to infer where the plants habitat may be. The teacher will explain to students that plants adapt to the environment they live in to survive.

Questions: The teacher will pose questions that students will need to know by the end of the lesson. She will write down some of the “What I think I knows” on the board to save for later. Questions: “How and why do plants adapt to their environment?”, “What resources and characteristics do plants need to survive in different environments?”, “How can you identify characteristics of a plant that help them survive in their own distinct environment?”, etc.

Video: After the teacher has talked to students a little more about habitats and plant environments, the teacher will show a video on Brainpop Jr. called plant adaptations. Teacher and students will discuss the video

Student Response: The students will then take out their Activexpressions to do a short formative assessment about plant environments. Students will choose the best environment for a plant after first knowing the specific needs of that plant.

Notes: Students will take research notes throughout the lesson to add to what they have learned on the KWL chart.

Research: Teacher will have previously gone over directions on how to research Delicious stacks by typing in key words/main words on the Delicious Stack the teacher created. Teacher will put students into research groups and will explain the guidelines for group research. The students will receive an outline to assist them in finding the necessary information needed to complete the lesson. Students will use classroom computers and laptops to get on Delicious Stacks for research. There will be about 4 students at each computer. The students will get on the plant stack on Delicious that the teacher created and they will search the best tags to answer certain questions. Students, especially at this young age are overwhelmed during research if there are websites scattered on a page or all over the web without tags. Another problem is making it too simple for students, by putting each set of websites in a certain folder or spot to locate each set of questions. Tagging allows teachers to make a Stack of websites for students to use for many different questions. It also allows students to have freedom to search for the best websites to answer questions or find more information by searching key words. When students know how to search by tags, they understand the overall question and can search for an answer by using tags to find the website.

Blog: After students have finished conducting research they will each use the classroom blog to blog about 3 different plant habitats and explain how they think that plants can survive there from what they have learned in their research.
Each individual student will blog and then leave one question they have about plant environments for a peer to answer. Students can add pictures and attatchments to support their thinking.