• work within a group to develop the correct answer
• describe how to diagram a sentence by first arranging classmates into a human diagram
• understand the concepts of modifiers
• understand the concepts of helping verbs
• diagram a sentence correctly at their seats

• Identify key concepts in a research question
• Create effective and efficient search queries by translating a natural language question into a search query (selecting initial keywords)

1. Review Parts of Speech with students: Noun, Verb Adjective
2. Write the following sentence on the board: My furry dog BooBoo barked when a big truck drove by our house
3. Together with students, identify the parts of speech in the sentence. Circle then nouns in blue (dog, BooBoo, truck, house), the verbs in red (barked, drove), and the adjectives in green (furry, big)
4. Distribute copies of the Parts-of-Speech Field Trip Student Printable (PDF) to students. Read the directions aloud and allow time for students to complete the worksheet.


Extension activities omitted

If you wanted to find online information about booking a field trip to a farm, what words would you need? Introduce the concept of Keyword Challenges to reinforce the idea of meaning: what is this sentence really talking about?

1. What is our question? (Have students suggest what they would enter into a search engine if they wanted to take a field trip to a farm)
2. On separate cards, write out each word of the search phrase or sentence (give each card to a different student)
3. What are the most important words? (these students step forward)
4. What words wouldn't you need? (these students sit down)

This creates an opportunity to talk about the importance of numbers and nouns, especially proper nouns, the lesser importance of adjectives--unless they identify an aspect that makes the noun unique, and the relative unimportance of verbs and adverbs for finding information (what they do is less important than what they are—why? There are often many things they can do or that can be done to them and many ways to express this).

Common parts of speech (articles, prepositions, etc.) are unimportant.

How many words are left? Can you think of other words that could be substituted which might improve the meaning?

Objective:Students will learn how to train a and create a training guide that anyone can use.

Our transformation adds these objectives:

1. Identify key concepts in a research question
2. Create effective and efficient search queries by translating a natural language question into a search query (selecting initial keywords)
3. Select digital collections effectively and efficiently based on their characteristics
4. Evaluate the quality of a search result to determine the reliability of its source (author)

1. Get books or magazines about animal training from the library.
2. Visit a veterinarian or a store owner. They may have free brochures that children can take home with them.
3. Call or go to a dog obedience school and interview a trainer if there is a school near where you live.
4. Help your students search the Internet for training information (one site is listed).
5. Help children organize the information they gathered from the different sources into sections or chapters for the training guide. Then have children write a draft of the guide information.
6. Have children exchange their drafts with one another to find out if their guides make sense and to proofread them. Then have them make a final copy, making any necessary changes. Suggest that they begin each chapter on a new page.
7. Encourage children to draw pictures to go with the information.
8. Put it all together. Guide children in inserting pictures in the appropriate places and fastening all the pages together.
9. Make copies of the books for children to take home and share with their families. If a child has a trainable , such as a dog, encourage them to try to teach the a simple command.

Prepare the Natural Language task: Turn the assignment into a query.

1. Keyword Challenges may be introduced to help students think about building effective search terms prior to searching.

2. QuickPick: Searching for Answers may be used to help students think about alternate words that may be associated with information that satisfies their search.

Decide where to look for the information: Have students think about where an expert animal trainer might post information. Consider searching for obedience schools rather than visiting one or writing emails to an expert rather than incurring the expense of an in-person visit.

Conduct searches, collecting information for the project. Is the information written by an author who may be considered an expert? How do you know?

Objective: Students will broaden their knowledge of non-food plant products that are in common use.

Our transformation adds these objectives:

• Create effective and efficient search queries by translating a natural language question into a search query (selecting initial keywords)

PFAF Database Search
This comprehensive website contains data on more than 7,000 plants. Included are Latin and common names, plant uses, and geographic areas of growth. The site also has an advanced search function.

1. Ask students to make a list of objects that they think might be made from a plant or a tree. When students have finished, hold a class discussion on the items on their list. Suggest that students continue to add items to their list during the discussion.
2. Ask students why it might be difficult to identify items made from plants (most items are not specifically labeled; many items are made to look like they're made from natural materials but are actually plastic or other man-made materials).
3. Provide students with research materials. Then hand out one or more copies of the Plant Uses Research Form and World: Countries map to each student. From the list provided, assign one or two plants to each student. Depending on the number of students in your class, you may have more than one student study the same plant. Or you may wish to divide the class into small groups and assign one or more plants to each group.
4. Explain to students that they will do research, focusing on five areas of information: scientific name, common name, location where the plant or tree is grown, one or more products that are made from this plant, and where the products are commonly used. Have students complete each section of the Plant Uses Research Form. Then have students mark on the world map the name of the country where the plant is grown.
5. Have students share what they have learned with the class.

Prior to the research activity (#4), as a group, brainstorm queries that may be effective for finding one or more of the five areas of information, e.g., the “location where the plant is usually grown” (natural language wording taken from the worksheet).

1. Keyword Challenges may be introduced to help students think about building effective search terms prior to searching.
2. QuickPick: Searching for Answers may provide additional clues about words to include in the search

Objective: Given the hypothetically evolved condition of the ocean, students will create a fish of the future, listing many, different, and unusual ways that their fish will adapt to survive.  The student will name the fish and create a labeled model of it.

• Create effective and efficient search queries by developing and applying vocabulary building strategies (read snippets to find better keywords)
• Use a search engine effectively

1. After discussing different habitats, life cycles, and parts of animals, eggs, and fish, this group activity involves all students and all levels of ability.
2. In advance, the teacher will have prepared a large picture of a fish and have the cards printed and laminated.
3. Hang the picture on the blackboard and have the students come and sit on the floor.
4. Ask for one student to pick a part and identify it. Next, have the student come to the picture and point to the part. Now have the student find the card with the correct word name and attach it to the large picture. (If the other students agree they smile, if they disagree, they frown. This helps to keep noise to a minimum.) Note: If the student is incorrect, guide them to the correct answer.
5. Ask another student to come forward and pick the card that tells how that part helps the fish.
6. Continue until all the parts and purposes have been identified. As the students return to their seats, the teacher will remove the names and purposes from the fish.
7. Pass out the worksheet and have them put their name and date on the top.
8. Allow the students time (about 10 minutes) to complete the worksheet and then check it with the group as the teacher puts the part names back on the large picture.
9. Have the students take the worksheet home.

Vulnerability to desertification in Africa is assessed using the ... For detailed land use assessments, quantitative land quality assessments can be made.
soils.usda.gov/use/worldsoils/papers/desertification-africa.html - 79k

By 1973, the drought that began in 1968 in the Sahel of West Africa and the land-use practices there had caused the deaths of more than 100,000 people and 12 ...
pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/desertification/ - 13k

Our transformation adds this objective:

1. Create effective and efficient search queries by revising their search queries based on search results/feedback (selecting alternate keywords)

1. Have students study a climate map of the desert regions of Africa: the Sahara and Kalahari. Then have them use a political map to determine which African nations are in those regions. Point out that the maps make it clear that desertification, the process by which land becomes desert, is not limited to one country. Encourage students to discuss how cooperation among the countries they've listed might help fight desertification.
2. Announce (and schedule) an upcoming Pan-African Conference on Desert Control and Reclamation. Divide the class into delegations, appointing two or more delegates to the conference from each of the nations in the desert region. Before the conference opens, each delegation is responsible for learning as much as it can about how the desert is affecting its nation.
3. Appoint a conference chairperson or fill the role yourself. When the delegations come together as a conference, divide the group into committees to study the List of Topics and Questions provided or a list of your own. Explain that each committee, which should have members from several nations, is to produce a report that suggests answers to the questions posed. The reports should include ideas on positive steps African countries can take in cooperation with one another.
4. Make the climax of the conference the presentation of the reports.

Integral to the lesson plan (#2), encourage the use of the Internet for research pertaining to "how the desert is affecting (the team's) nation."

Prior to going online, introduce the importance of reading snips carefully for valuable clues and relevant information.

Provide 2 - 3 snippets as an example of finding relevant information and better keywords for searching (such as the example shown above).

Questions:

1. Are these snippets relevant to our search? (yes)

2. What better keywords do we find here that may improve our search? (land resource stresses, land use assessments, soils, drought, Sahel of West Africa, usda and usgs)

2. Use a subject directory effectively.

1. Have students offer ideas on how they would go about starting a new business. Suggest that one step might be consulting people who have successfully set up new businesses.
2. Tell students they are going to work in teams to develop ideas for a new business and present it to a panel of business people. Develop, with student input, a list of local people who have started their own businesses. Appoint a committee of letter writers to develop a form letter inviting at least three such people to participate in the panel.
3. Have each team brainstorm ideas for a new business. To help them develop their ideas, they can use the Business Plan Form, which is based on the five W's and an H.
4. Have each team present its idea. Let the class vote to narrow down the final number to three. You might present these plans in advance to the panelists. Or choose a spokesperson from each group to make the presentation to the panel.
5. In preparing for the panel, have students draw up general questions about entrepreneurship. These might include asking panelists how they started their businesses, where they got the ideas, what difficulties they encountered, and what general advice they would offer new business people.
6. Have a recorder or recorders take notes on the ensuing discussion. Later, students can use these notes to summarize what they learned about setting up and developing a new business.

1. Find 3-4 options and have everyone share. Then select one business idea for the project.

Challenge students to find one of the selected sites using only the subject directory (illustrates an ineffective use of subject directory for targeted search). Option: assign half the group to a subject directory, the other half to a search engine. Who can find relevant information first?