Widening our circle: End of Fall trimester

During the last month of the Fall trimester, both groups (3-4 and 5-6) worked really hard on writing and illustrating a science book. I emailed parents a pdf version of the books. Please let me know if you haven't received it, and would like to see the book(s). I am really proud of their work.
In addition to creating science books, both classes engaged in their first independent research projects, especially fifth and sixth graders. In the next few paragraphs, I will summarize the processes that the kids went through during both projects.

The third and fourth grade group decided to write a book about Yosemite's micro biomes. As you might recall from previous posts, this group was studying ecology this trimester, and they were excited about our trip to Yosemite, so they decided to write a fun and informative book about the micro biomes that we find in Yosemite. As a class, we decided that the book would have fun, fictional stories happening at each micro biome and informational pages with main characteristics of each place. We started this project by talking about writing in science - even though I did want the kids to use their imagination in their stories, I also wanted them to include accurate information. So you might notice that some of the characters, or details of the story include some of the flora and fauna found in Yosemite.
After agreeing on a general outline for the book, we had to assign jobs in order to get everything done before winter break. Students had to hand write drafts of their stories and then type them. They also had to make the illustrations and do some research to make sure that the facts section was accurate and complete. This process takes a long time with third and fourth graders since they need assistance - especially with editing and typing their sections - but it was fun and educational.
For the mini independent research project, the kids learned about symbiotic relationships. I brought a short video and some articles for them to get the background knowledge they needed for this project, and then I had each student choose one symbiotic relationship they were interested in learning a little more about. Their options were: mutualism, parasitism or commensalism. Students had to read and summarize to the class what they learned.
During the very last week of school, the kids made a short video summarizing what they learned this trimester. Each student was responsible for summarizing one thing - either what ecology is, or a subtopic of ecology that they studied this trimester. You can see the video below.

Fifth and sixth graders wrote a book summarizing everything they learned this trimester. Students did everything for this book - researching additional information, summarizing what they learned, writing and illustrating sections. As a class, we decided that the book would have three parts: 1) Earth's structure, including a summary of plate tectonics and what happens in each boundary, 2) California's geological formation, and 3) Yosemite. We then divided the class into production groups.
Each group was responsible for one section of the book, and they had to turn in a a group plan for approval. In this plan, students had to tell me who was responsible for writing and illustration each subsection of the book. Once the plan was clear to everyone, the kids did an outstanding job in getting things done independently. I was impressed with how focus this group was when producing the book. I was there to guide them, and help with whatever they needed, but the kids really took responsibility for this project. It was such a joy to see their commitment - many kids wanted to spend their recess working on the book. : )

For the independent research project, 5th and 6th graders were asked to choose a science topic of their interest, and come up with one or two questions about that topic. Once the kids had at least one good question, I helped them find sources. All students had articles to read, some had documentaries and books as well. Students were asked to take notes on what they were learning on a google doc (using an assignment that I created on google classroom). That way I could read things as they were writing, and give feedback. Towards the very end of the trimester we decided to make a short video summarizing what each student learned during their independent research project. This project will be "published"/released in two separate videos. Only one of the videos is ready, but I will share the second ASAP.