Dear Parents,
Our Language Arts class is embarking on a new adventure - the We-Search project. The title derives from the fact that we will do our project cooperatively, although each student will be responsible for his/her own final project. The grade earned by the student will be based only on his or her individual effort, but we will help one another as we develop ideas, search for information, and design our final products.

It will probably be necessary for your child to make at least one trip to the public library. You might also assist your son or daughter in locating alternative sources of information, such as newspapers, interviews, letters requesting information, and sample employment applications. If you know of anyone who would be willing to come in and speak to the class about a particular career, or if you would care to do that yourself, please let Mrs. Spanko know and we'll arrange a schedule.

Our objectives for the We-Search project are listed below.

Students will:
Ąbecome familiar with resources available in our media center as well as Palomino Public Library
Ąuse the Internet to access and present information
Ąparaphrase information from a variety of sources
Ąsummarize important ideas
Ąmake bibliography cards
Ąlearn to create a formal bibliography
Ądevelop guiding questions to structure their search
Ąorganize ideas, using a traditional outline or cluster
Ąidentify important information from a variety of sources
Ąkeep a journal documenting the research process (the story of the search)
Ąexplore strategies for gathering information (interviews, letter-writing, media, on-line searches) Ąwork cooperatively through peer conferencing and cooperative searching
Ągain information about a career of interest
Ądesign and produce a final product which describes their chosen career
Ąpresent information to other students

Our overall topic is Careers. Your child has chosen to explore the careerof____________________________

IMPORTANT DATES (These are tentative - we'll need to be flexible)

ĄWEDNESDAY, 2/5
Topic selection due;
1 pack 3x5 cards, 1 pack 5x7 note cards due;
Guiding Questions due
Parent signature due (back of this page)
ĄTHURSDAY, 2/6
Topic Attack due
ĄDAILY
Journal entry (see choices on back of this page)

ĄMONDAY, 2/10
First bibliography card and first note card must be checked in
ĄTUESDAY, 2/18
Note cards (20 minimum) and bibliography cards (7 minimum) due
(Bibliography minimum-1 encyclopedia, 2 periodicals, 4 other sources)
ĄWEDNESDAY, 2/19
Outline or cluster due
ĄMONDAY, 3/3
Rough draft of final project due
ĄTHURSDAY, 3/13
FINAL COPY OF PROJECT DUE
RESEARCH FOLDER DUE
JOURNAL ENTRIES DUE

JOURNAL ENTRIES

Directions: You will need to keep a journal which tells the story of your search. In your research folder, you will need to have several sheets of notebook paper which will serve as your journal for the project. You can have several entries on a page and are encouraged to use both sides of the paper. Please date each entry. You should have an entry for each day you spend working on the project. If you run out of time during the language arts period, you will need to spend time at home writing in your journal. These entries will be turned in with your final project and will count as part of your final grade.

Using complete sentences, respond to at least 2 prompts for each journal entry. Try to answer a variety of questions during the project.

1. A fascinating fact I've found about ___(your topic)
2. The problems I'm struggling with now....
3. The successes I'm enjoying now...
4. The ideas I'm considering now...
5. The resources I consulted today...
6. I've changed my mind about...
7. I helped my partner today when I .....
8. My partner helped me today when .....
9. This is a good project because...
10. You could improve this project if you would....

Your signature below indicates that you are aware of this project and that you approve the topic chosen by your child.

Parent Signature ______________________________________
Student Name _________________________________

Comments, Questions