After our mini-inquiry on Jane Goodall, Room 408 reflected about her in our Think Books while listening to the sound of the Gombe forests in Africa.
Here are our entries about what "stuck with us" about Jane Goodall:
Caleb had lots of questions, but also noticed that she went barefoot, slept on a mountain, and wrote lots of notes.
Charlie: She is famous. She is the only person who got to be the closest to chimpanzees.
Claire: She did so much research that she had so much paper.
Dru: Jane Goodall became very famous. She explored chimpanzees.
Enrique: The chimpanzees put sticks in the dirt. (as a tool to get termites)
Grady: She met monkeys. She helped to save the monkeys.
Josiah, page 1
Josiah page 2: I wonder about Jane.
Jozlyn: She took a picture.
Kasten: I'd like to go on adventures like Jane Goodall.
Alex: She went to Africa.
Bennett: Jane went to the forest and saw monkeys and fed the monkeys.
Braylee: (left) Jane Goodall sat in a chicken coop for four hours. I wonder if chimpanzees are still alive or if chimpanzees are extinct. Are chimpanzees still in danger? (right) Chimpanzees use tools.
Noah: She helped the chimpanzees.
Sawyer: Are chimpanzees still endangered? Chimpanzees use tools. She did so much research.
One of the songs we use for transition is I'm Amazing by Keb Mo.
We also read the book Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman.
We talked about the lyrics in the song and also about what makes Grace amazing in the book. Then we talked about how each of us are amazing in our own special ways.
Everyone wrote how they are amazing and we posted it on our learning clipboards.
Bennett is amazing. I like tee ball. I try my best.
Braylee is amazing. You can be excited of [about] dance.
Caleb is amazing. I trust in myself. I can write a story.
Charlie is amazing. I can help old people. I am loving.
Claire is amazing. Monkey bars are amazing.
Dru is amazing. Cartwheels are amazing.
Enrique is amazing because I like my friends.
Grady is amazing. I can do it!
Jericho is amazing. I believe in myself.
Josiah is amazing. I went on a train and it was a steam train. I don't quit. I persevere.
Jozlyn is amazing. I can be amazing by doing the monkey bars.
Kasten is amazing. I trust I can play flag football.
Kavion is amazing. I can help old people by loving old people.
Liam is amazing. I keep trying.
Noah is amazing. I can land a flip on a Slip 'n' Slide.
We have been learning about the life of the researcher, Jane Goodall.
We started learning about Jane by reading a book about when she was little.
We learned that when Jane was little she had a stuffed toy chimpanzee named Jubilee.
We also read the book The Watcher, which told us more about how Jane accomplished her dream to work and study with chimpanzees in Gombe, Africa.
Jane was not only a researcher, but also a writer. She kept piles and piles of research in her tent when she was working with the chimpanzees.
We learned that one of her favorite chimp companions was named David Greybeard.
However, after many years Jane realized that the chimpanzees she loved were in danger of becoming extinct. She realized that the best way to help the chimpanzees was to share their story with the world.
Jane Goodall is an excellent example of the 3 A's: Activism, Awareness, and Aid. When we do our inquiries this year, Room 408 will keep these 3 A's in mind.
This is an excerpt from the National Geographic video that we watched. Soon I'll post student Think Book entries in which they reflected about Jane Goodall.
At the end of each month Room 408 creates a Learning Mural. First, we brainstorm about all the learning we did. Here is what we came up with for September. By the time we were done, we were so amazed at how much learning we did in only 21 days of school!
Then, we fine-tune our collaboration skills while we reflect on our learning from the past month by creating representations of our learning.
Sometimes inquiry learning is messy!!!
Luckily, we also collaborate to clean up the classroom!
We are proud of the finished product: our posted September Learning Mural.
