So our adventure began. We started with our first probe, All About Me. We worked together using a matrix to organize our information about ourselves. We use small sticky notes to add our keywords. Once we collected all our information, we pulled all the sticky notes and laid them out in a paragraph. We used our red light (red pen) to add our periods on our sticky notes. After that we were able to write our paragraph. Then we repeated those steps for the rest of the categories of our matrix. Add a picture and a border... and voila! A masterpiece I was not expecting. Everyone of my students did such an amazing job!
Here is a picture of the steps we follow to complete a probe.
Here are some matrices. See the sticky notes? That is how we organize our information.
Once we finished our All About Me probes, we moved onto researching an animal. Again, the kids did such a fabulous job and are becoming such awesome readers and writers. We have now started our next probe in which they got to choose their own topic. We have everything from animals, sports, dancing, and even some famous actors and singers. Every free moment, the students are ASKING to work on their probes. Yep... that's right! They are wanting to research, read, and write. My teacher heart is overflowing with pride.
Here are some examples of what the students have created:
Giraffes by Avery
Lemurs by Taelyn
Flamingos by Abby
Here is the start of a probe on Taylor Swift. 