RCPS Lesson Planner TEACHER:Reiner, Carolyn

SUBJECT:Research and Design

UNIT 3: Conduct a Literature Review

Lessons are subject to change.

Unit begins 3/17/16

Day / Objectives / Procedures / Materials/Resources / Standards of Learning
1 / Students will read a short story in order to connect to a central theme in the book. / Warm Up: Watch the movie preview and determine the central theme in the movie. Explain why you thought that.
Be sure to redefine theme for the students.
Activity: Read a children’s book. Use the graphic organizer to determine the central theme of the story. Write a letter based on what a character has learned throughout the book (from their POV). Put the letter in a bottle. Decorate the bottle to reflect the theme/characters/setting/etc. Exchange bottles between students. Students will determine if the theme has been accurately determined and look for three points presented that connect to the theme.
Journal Entry #18: Take the central theme from the book you read and create a question from it that would require research. The theme should center on something objective and real. For example, if you read “Crabs on the Moon” an appropriate question would be, “Can crabs live on the moon?”
Exit Ticket: Explain the importance of finding a central theme. / Librarian/Media Specialist
Children’s books from the elementary school
Determining Theme WS
Bottle Activity Website
2 – 3 / Students will analyze primary sources in order to create notecards that source, cite, and describe the importance of the articles to their research. / Warm Up: Citation Scavenger Hunt
Activity: Find 5 articles relating to the question you created from your children’s book story.
Lecture/Discussion: how to cite sources on a notecard
Activity: Cite one of the articles for your children’s book on a notecard.
Activity: Cite a science article on a notecard.
Exit Slip: Why do we cite our sources on notecards? Why is this method of citing sources valuable? / Computers
Citation Scavenger Hunt
Notecards
Notecard PowerPoint
4 – 6 / Students will analyze information found on note cards in order to write a literature review that supports their question. / Day 1
Warm Up: What is a literature review?
Activity: Go to the Research Course Website (link in materials column). Research “What is a Literature Review?” by clicking on the link and taking notes.
Activity: Go to the “Examples” section and analyze one of the four literature reviews. Answer the following question:
  • You have to write literature reviews for your sources. How will your reviews mimic the examples you analyzed? What will be the same about them?
Lecture/PowerPoint: What is a literature review?
Whiteboard Discussion: What important information does a literature review contain? / Computers
Research Course Website