Classmate Critiques Marty Sierra-Perry

Critique One: Margie Adkins

Unit Component	Reaction	Suggestion
Objective: Teach Research Skills to 5th graders using the internet and other technology.	This is well within student interest and ability. You will meet standards in Language Arts, Social Studies, and possibly other areas. Great idea!	Have students create a scavenger hunt about the unit theme. You can do a KWL and it would help set a purpose for searching.
Skills:  Searching Locating Information Note taking Synthesizing information to create a product	I have a class of 29 with 13 inclusion students. I am working with them on these skills. I have found that I must take each skill and break it down and present it several times and in different ways. I like your centers idea.	I think you have them working in teams. This will free you to work with small groups while others are completing other tasks.  Why not have each station focus upon one of your skill areas.
Proposal:  I think your plan to spread the reseach skills over the course of the year demonstrates your commitment to have your young scholars acquire the target skills and knowledge.	The range of activities that you have proposed will appeal to students functioning at different levels.æ Helping students develop inquiry statements will move them towards independence. I've been amazed by the motivation my learners demonstrate when they are looking for information they are really interested in knowing.	Have students keep dialectical journals. I've found that they help students think about the sources by creating questions about what they have read.æ It also helps them stay focused while engaged in a long range assignment.  See http://home.webpan.com/horbacz/dialecti1.htmæ

Margie, I think that this proposal is important for your students, and I think you have selected appropriate technologies to use and assessments that are interesting and useful to your students.
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Critique Two: Tammy Barclow

Unit Component	Reaction	Suggestion
Planning:  "...there is a lot involved in making a worthwhile Quest."	How wise you are! I recently read an article in MultiMedia Schools about WebQuests by Tom March who has worked with Bernie Dodge to develop staff development courses for teachers on constructing WebQuests. Critical to having a true WebQuest is transformation.That is that the student under goes a change in the way that he/she looks at the ill-structured essential question.	According to March, one way that he attempted to address this was by developing roles for the students that were real roles that people fill, e.g. photographer, cataloger, scribe, would be some roles that real rock hounds would fill.
"...point out the Illinois Standards."	What you propose to do certainly addresses the Tools for Learning statements that precede each section.	Create a link to ISBE.
Evaluation	How will you assess students' learning of content and process?	I know rubrics can be developed, but sometimes I think they "force" choice inquiry.I am grappling with this aspect myself.

Tammy, I hope that you will keep us posted as your young rock hounds make their discoveries.

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