Elisabet O. Orville
By the end of this unit students will have done a lot of writing. Some assignments were based on their own perceptions and sense organs, others were more speculative (what if—),and finally some were based on the results of various experiments.
The final writing assignment in this unit is a short research report on the senses of various animals using at least two sources. Since all teachers have their own methods of assigning such research reports I won’t go into step-by-step details.
I have listed several books in the
Student Bibliography
which are available at the main branch of the New Haven Public Library (the librarians there are very helpful). Most of the books are on a 6th to 8th grade reading level but could be supplemented for more advanced readers by books from the
Teacher Bibliography
.
Some general guidelines:
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1. Do much of the writing in class and have students share their works-in-progress out loud with each other.
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2. Have them rewrite at least twice before you grade their papers.
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3. To avoid a wholesale copying from books, ask them to compare the senses and life styles of various animals (instead of just writing about one).
