Good idea or not? 5th grade research paper of sorts

[J'etudie]

Next year my oldest will be in 5th grade and we're cycling back to the ancients. Thinking about the importance of water to early civilizations, I had the idea of asking ds to work on a research paper, taking notes on the importance of the Nile in Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates in the Fertile Crescent, etc. and then putting a paper together near the end of the year and maybe looking for similarities/differences among societies or even moving in to how we use water today (most of the water where we live is piped in from far, far away). I thought he could do his notes and bibliographic info in an Inspiration document that he comes back to with each new civilization we study.

 

Any merit in this idea? Suggestions to make it more reasonable/useful/profitable?

[8filltheheart]

Next year my oldest will be in 5th grade and we're cycling back to the ancients. Thinking about the importance of water to early civilizations, I had the idea of asking ds to work on a research paper, taking notes on the importance of the Nile in Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates in the Fertile Crescent, etc. and then putting a paper together near the end of the year and maybe looking for similarities/differences among societies or even moving in to how we use water today (most of the water where we live is piped in from far, far away). I thought he could do his notes and bibliographic info in an Inspiration document that he comes back to with each new civilization we study.

 

Any merit in this idea? Suggestions to make it more reasonable/useful/profitable?

 

It is definitely not a project that I would undertake with any of my 5th graders. Even my strong writers have not possessed strong enough writing skills to do what you are proposing.

 

What I would suggest instead, and have done with my kids in the past, is to create a "book" where they write chapters (read simple reports) on the various topics as encountered during the yr. At the end of the yr, a TOC, title page, etc can be generated and all "chapters" with supporting drawings, etc incorporated.

[J'etudie]

It is definitely not a project that I would undertake with any of my 5th graders. Even my strong writers have not possessed strong enough writing skills to do what you are proposing.

 

What I would suggest instead, and have done with my kids in the past, is to create a "book" where they write chapters (read simple reports) on the various topics as encountered during the yr. At the end of the yr, a TOC, title page, etc can be generated and all "chapters" with supporting drawings, etc incorporated.

 

I value your experienced opinion. A "book" is probably a better idea. Thank you!

[missmoe]

It is definitely not a project that I would undertake with any of my 5th graders. Even my strong writers have not possessed strong enough writing skills to do what you are proposing.

 

What I would suggest instead, and have done with my kids in the past, is to create a "book" where they write chapters (read simple reports) on the various topics as encountered during the yr. At the end of the yr, a TOC, title page, etc can be generated and all "chapters" with supporting drawings, etc incorporated.

 

:iagree:

 

I think what you have in mind sounds more like a college type project. I understand how fascinating it is for you to see the link of water throughout civilizations (I'm excited by things like that also ;) ), but I don't think a 5th grader is going to be excited enough to research it throughout the entire year.

 

When we studied ancient civilizations, I had the kids decorate a page showing the things a culture had to have to be considered a civilization (water, religion, language, government, social stratification, ect). We used that page as a title page in the beginning of their history notebooks. Then as each civilization came up in our study, we looked back at that page and discussed how that civilizaion met each qualification.

[J'etudie]

:iagree:

 

I think what you have in mind sounds more like a college type project. I understand how fascinating it is for you to see the link of water throughout civilizations (I'm excited by things like that also ;) ), but I don't think a 5th grader is going to be excited enough to research it throughout the entire year.

 

I probably made it sound more extensive than I intended. I figured it would probably turn out to have one paragraph each for 3-4 civilizations and because he's a 5th grader they would all sound pretty similar. :D It was more the idea of following a thread through through the year and also what the skeleton, more or less, of a report with different sources would look like.

 

When we studied ancient civilizations, I had the kids decorate a page showing the things a culture had to have to be considered a civilization (water, religion, language, government, social stratification, ect). We used that page as a title page in the beginning of their history notebooks. Then as each civilization came up in our study, we looked back at that page and discussed how that civilizaion met each qualification.

 

I like this idea a lot. It sounds like a great way to organize discussions. Thanks for sharing!

[Jen in PA]

What I would suggest instead, and have done with my kids in the past, is to create a "book" where they write chapters (read simple reports) on the various topics as encountered during the yr. At the end of the yr, a TOC, title page, etc can be generated and all "chapters" with supporting drawings, etc incorporated.

 

After seeing 8FillTheHeart suggest this in another thread we gave this a try last year and ended up with such impressive results that we have done it again this year in several subjects. It is great practice for doing research, and I think it has really helped my DD figure out how to arrange her work, how to choose what she wants to convey, etc. She also loves having a final product that reflects all the work she put in!