My art lesson is held in a rooftop studio where my teacher’s husband raises chickens and pigeons in pens nearby. Sprite loves to go with me and help “Pigeon King” care for the birds. He confided in her one day that of all the young students my art teacher has taught over the years, Sprite is the only child who has ever taken a real interest in the birds and has not been afraid to enter the pigeon coop. (That made me sad for the children who are missing out, but glad for Sprite’s love of nature.)
Part of my learning goals for Sprite this year (5th grade) is that she grow in independent studies. So I took a natural interest — the pigeons — and gave her a research assignment. (Hat tip to Cindy and her project based learning; I also found Camp Creek Blog very helpful in moving my mental gears.)
She chose to create a lapbook to demonstrate what she learned from her own observations of the pigeons and from her interviews of the “Pigeon King.”
I was amazed at her thoughtfulness and attention to detail in the project. Giving a child a topic that fascinates her is truly valuable!
At the beginning of the project, I did sit down with her and give her some tips for how to outline the project. She caught on quickly and shooed me away so she could plan. I wish I had photos of her prewriting, but she loves to cross things out as she completes them. So as she moved from prewriting to the minibooks, she made a mess of the planning pages.
She listed topics to cover in her research, wrote down what she already knew, listed things to ask the “Pigeon King,” and made notes of photos to take. She took the photographs, selected ones to print (on sticky backed paper), and designed the pigeon coop layout. ALL by herself! Interspersed among the facts in her minibooks, she drew humorous cartoons. She asked me to help her figure the dimensions of the minibooks and to cut the paper, but that was my sole contribution.
To say that I’m pleased with her project is an understatement. I can’t wait to show the “Pigeon King” on Friday. All the photos are at Pigeon Lapbook at Flickr.
I can’t help but think that the years of making lapbooks together has helped this very visual child to see the outlining and organizational process needed for a research project. Now she’s making lapbooks all on her own.
For more pigeon resources, visit Happy Hearts at Home blog.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
What fun! Thanks for sharing.
Martha
.-= Martha´s last blog ..Need Me Some Recharging =-.
A delight-directed lapbook which Sprite can trully be proud of! She has learnt so many skills in order to produce such a wonderful, rich project! Well done both of you!
.-= Nadene´s last blog ..Lego hole-punched pictures for Narrations =-.
Sprite, Way to go!
.-= Mama Bear´s last blog ..SHARING A BEDROOM RANT =-.
She did such a good job.
Blessings
diane
Hi Jimmie
I have a small concern that I hope you can give me some insight on, seeing you’re more of a vet and cm home schooler than I am.
I have some notebooking/worksheets on scribd. A follower keeps messaging me telling me that if I’m going to upload things then I should be providing answers. This is how I responded.
—-Not sure how to address this concern of yours. These are note booking pages and are made to correspond with The Story of the World vol. 1 book. I have included some questions on the forms to help guide my child. Children should just recall from the reading. If you are using SOTW to study history then may I suggest you also purchase the activity book if you would like specific answers.——
I really didn’t expect somebody to demand answers from me. Especially when I purposefully didn’t include them.
Many times I’ve used some of your material and I’ve never once thought, Jimmie should be putting some answers in with these minibooks.
What do you think about this? Is this a common problem when uploading free things on the net? This almost discourages me from uploading anything else. Am I alone on this?
.-= Mama Bear´s last blog .. =-.
Oh sorry.
Thanks in advance for even taking the time to read and respond to this one.
.-= Mama Bear´s last blog .. =-.
@Mama Bear — I think the request for answers is ridiculous. You’re sharing things from your homeschool. It’s a take it or leave it proposition. There is no room for complaining. Just ignore the person. And by all means, don’t let it discourage you.
There are no “answers” for a notebooking page. That’s the beauty of it. It’s open ended. And that also means that even if I don’t use SOTW, I could still use your notebooking pages because of the topics being so broad.
I think your answer was good, though. If it were me (and no, no one has ever given me such a request), I probably wouldn’t have even responded.
This is fantastic! Way to go Sprite! I am so weak on writing myself it’s difficult for me to transfer the little I do know on to my daughter so your writing posts help me alot. I will check out the Write Shop for tips too. Thanks for blogging! I love all your posts
Great job, Sprite,and what a great idea for a lapbook! We love pigeons. One actually paid us an overnight visit last year. It definitely belonged to someone as it had a band on its leg. After a night of rest outside our barn, it flew away, hopefully to rejoin the rest of its flock. My daughter, Anna Rose, took some pictures and wrote a story about the experience for her school notebook.
.-= Emily Darling´s last blog ..Unknown Waters =-.
That book is awesome. When I saw it, I thought it was a real, professional book you had bought. She has a future in children’s publishing.
You know, maybe one reason kids’ are reluctant…..is because of the bird flu???? I know when I was pregnant I absolutely did not want to get anywhere near wild birds. (I am not saying that your art teacher’s husbands birds have the bird flu, I am just saying that might be the fear.)
@J’s mom — I’m sure that a fear of sickness is a factor. “City folks” seem very fearful of getting dirty and of animals in general. But this man is vigilant about his birds’ health, so the fear is largely unfounded. (Now, the chickens and ducks at the wet market are another story.)
Agh, my punctuation needs editting! Lol
oh wow, this is wonderful! I don’t do lapbooks, but I am immediately searching my brain for a topic my 2 – 9 yr old boys and 7 year old girl could do to make something like this! Delight led learning at it’s best, just wow! Thank you for sharing this.
@Jenny — Thanks so much! When it’s delight led, it’s so easy on my part!