Flock of Researchers

Grade level: third/ fourth

Basic Outline


  1. Write five sentences in a word processor to tell what the student knows about birds.
  2. Use a penguin glyph in a PowerPoint file
  3. Find a penguin photo on Pics4Learning - include citation in presentation
  4. KWL - What defines a bird? Post results on the classroom page on the wiki.
  5. Is a penguin a bird?
  6. What has a duck bill and lays eggs? Research
  7. Is a duck-billed platypus (labeled as Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic) a bird? What makes you think it is? What makes you think it isn't? Another platypus photo labeled as Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic. Enchanted Learning Duck-billed Platypus printout page.
  8. What is your state and national bird?
  9. How is a penguin the same and different from the state or national bird? Create in Kidspiration, Kid Pix, or draw and be scanned for presentation.
  10. Draw or paint  state bird - for presentation
  11. Find a state or national bird on Pics4Learning - include citation for presentation
  12. Create presentation
    1. Page 1 - Title: Birds Subtitle: by First Name Grade 3/4 Date
    2. Page 2 - Copy and paste five sentences about birds from Word to notes section of PowerPoint. Add sentences to describe what what used in the glyph. Delete extra parts.
    3. Page 3 - Tell which things you said about birds that make sense for a penguin. Which things did you list that penguins do not have or do? Which details are you not sure about. Tell whether you think a penguin is a bird or not.
    4. Page 4 - Include a photo or drawing of a duck-billed platypus. Tell why a platypus seems like a bird, what type of animal it is, and details you can share about the platypus.
    5. Page 5 - The ______ is our state bird (photo)
    6. Page 6 - It is like a penguin because... (painted image)
    7. Page 7 - It is different from our state bird because (Venn diagram)
    8. Page 8 - My favorite bird is ______ because _____ (image drawn, painted, photo with citation)
  13. Upload presentations to Slideboom with notes or another sharing site where students can show images and either type of record their presentation notes for response from others such as Voicethread to individual student page.
  14. View partner's presentation. Comment on
    1. What details did your partner add that were the same as yours?
    2. What details did your partner add that were different from yours?
    3. How close did they come to drawing or painting the penguin and the state/ national bird?
    4. Did the partner have a citation for each photo?
    5. Ask your partner a question about the birds in their project.
    6. Answer your partner's question about the birds in your project.

Partner Collaboration




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