How I Made Research Interesting!


As the school year or semester winds down, students seem to become "antsy".  They need something that is self-directed so there's no time for them to "zone out" or cause a disruption.  This is when I like to have students work on project based learning.

This year, my 6th grade students are going to work on a research project with a twist - they will research a trip for their Pine Cone Pets!

Research doesn't have to be boring - it can be creative too!


You might know about a famous book character known as Flat Stanley that many an elementary student made a version of and sent off to a faraway relative to see what adventures Stanley could have.  Pine Cone Pets is based on the same idea although we won't actually mail off our pets!  Instead, students will research all the ins and outs of where their pet will visit and combine their information into a PowerPoint complete with budget and bibliography!

You might think this is a zany idea, but zany is exactly what middle school students love about this project!  They loved naming, dressing and making personalities for their pets.

My Procedure:

1.  At least a week ahead of time I surveyed my students and asked them to name one place that they had never visited, but would like to visit in the future.  I also gathered pine cones and glued on googly eyes.
2.  I gathered many travel guides to these places at my local library like Fodor’s Guides, Frommer’s Guides and more.  (we are not 1:1 and getting the computer carts was limited due to testing.)
3.  On Monday, I refreshed their memories of Flat Stanley with a small read-aloud of just the part about when Stanley went on a trip to introduce the Pine Cone Pets.  I explained that groups of students will plan a trip for their new pets.  Then after the students read the project requirements to themselves, I provided an explanation of how they would be graded with the rubric and my fair grading systemNext, students formed groups of no more than 3.  The groups chose a destination out of a “hat” (based on my previous survey).  Then I allowed them to just explore the books and name their pets.
4.  On Tuesday, we went over the due dates which are the steps of the research process These steps are great for chunking for your students with an IEP or 504 plan!  Then I taught a mini-lesson on note-taking and citing sources in a bibliography.  Afterward, students had time to research & take notes.


Note-Taking Mini-Lesson on Biteable.



5.  On Wednesday, students continued to research and take notes.
6.  On Thursday and Friday, we used the computer to begin to assemble the digital products.  
7.  The following week we had another day or so with the computers to put it all together and then it was time to practice presentations.
8.  Finally, students presented.  I graded the entire group using the rubric.

9.  Students reflected and determined points awarded to each group member.

Pine Cone Pets - Research with a Twist!

 The students loved this because they could unleash their creativity not just with their pets, but also with their trip plans.  They really enjoyed investigating new places that now they could talk to their parents about visiting.  Best of all, they were very engaged and learning at the same time!  

If you'd like the complete lesson all ready to go with all the project directions, rubric, due dates, links to other resources and more, then you might want to take a look at this:

Click here on the image to learn more!

 Thanks for stopping by!