ALEX Learning Activity

After researching the wetlands ecosystem using the Pebble Go Online Encyclopedia. Using knowledge gained from the online encyclopedia source, students will create a trifold brochure. Following completion of the trifold brochure, students will reflect on their learning using an emoji reflection rubric. 

This learning activity was created as a result of the ALEX - Alabama Virtual Library (AVL) Resource Development Summit.

Students will evaluate their completed brochure to ensure they demonstrated an understanding of the variety of living things that exist in a wetland ecosystem.

Students will complete the emoji self-evaluation tool to assess their understanding of the wetlands ecosystem and evaluate their brochure.

1. The teacher will review the digital resource, Pebble Go Online Encyclopedia's article on wetlands: https://pgoplayer.pebblego.com/articles/2071?sqs=277H/YcQQ/eEfw1P7HyPmA==
2. The teacher will orally review information gathered using the online encyclopedia with the whole group.

3. The teacher will say, “Students reflect on what you learned about wetlands ecosystems. Turn and share what you learned with a partner.”

4. The teacher will present the rubric on the whiteboard.

5. The teacher will say, “Look at the rubric for your tri-fold. You are going to use this rubric to fill out a self-evaluation for this project.”

6. The teacher will say, "Let's review what each emoji means. A smiley face means that you believe you did your best on that part. A straight face means that you could have done better or you need to improve. A frowny face means that you did not do that section or you did not understand that section."
7. The teacher will say, "After you have chosen an emoji for each section, answer the two questions on the back, and then turn it in."
8. Students will complete the emoji rubric, answer the two questions, and turn it in.

Teacher expectations for trifold brochure:

• The research source was safe and teacher-approved.
• The information included in the trifold brochure should demonstrate student understanding of the following science topics:

  • what is a wetlands ecosystem?
  • where are wetlands ecosystems located?
  • what are the wetlands ecosystem's layers?
  • what plants grow in a wetlands ecosystem?
  • what animals live in a wetlands ecosystem?

•  Students gathered information and wrote at least two sentences using proper capitalization and punctuation for each brochure section.
• Students illustrated their brochure with at least one illustration per section.
• Students demonstrated ethical research procedures by citing their sources using the "Cite" function on Pebble Go.

Trifold brochure -  student trifold template

The teacher will use the student self-evaluations to determine if the students understood the project expectations.

Students will use the emoji self-evaluation tool to evaluate their work. Students will circle the emoji they feel best describes their work for each section of their trifold brochure: 

• cover
• definition of wetlands
• location of wetlands
• wetlands layers
• wetlands plants
• wetlands animals
• proper citation

Students will complete two open-ended questions regarding what they did best and what could they do better.

Link to emoji self-evaluation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VrC4Rr1RYndlHha4hR6_oYPBpuEV5ZL3/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109600260229352393432&rtpof=true&sd=true

Prior to passing out the emoji self-evaluation tool, the teacher may want to remind students that no one is best at all aspects of the project (research, reading, writing, illustrating) and that everyone is capable of doing better on at least one aspect of the project.

Using the student expectations rubric, the teacher will assess student learning. The teacher may want to additionally conference with the student regarding their self-evaluation. After conferencing, the student may choose to reconsider their completion of the project in order to completely accomplish the tasks.

Approximate Duration: 15 minutes

Materials and Resources:

• Internet-capable device to access the rubric
• Projector and whiteboard to display the rubric
• Copies of the emoji self-evaluation rubric
• Pencils

The teacher will need to make individual copies of the emoji self-evaluation for each student: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VrC4Rr1RYndlHha4hR6_oYPBpuEV5ZL3/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109600260229352393432&rtpof=true&sd=true

Background / Preparation:

The teacher will need the students' work from the learning activity Researching Wetlands Ecosystem Research (linked below).

The students will need to understand what each emoji represents and how to complete a self-evaluation.

Interventions: ELL students may need to have the emoji self-evaluation translated into their home language. Some students may need additional reading assistance for the emoji self-evaluation.

Acceleration: Students who finish early can write about their favorite part of the assignment and why it was their favorite part.

The activity could be used in the library or in the classroom. The self-evaluation could be modified for other projects as needed.

This task can be used in conjunction with Living Things in a Wetlands Ecosystem (before activity) and should be used with Researching the Wetlands Ecosystem (during activity).