Take out the trash!

During the last month, we have had a lot of research happening at the different grade levels here at Bridgeview which is fantastic.  

When second grade students started a research project on habitats, we told them to "Take out the Trash." One of the first skills a student needs to learn is how to take notes without plagiarizing. That's where the Trash and Treasure strategy comes in. When reading a piece of text about their habitat, the students must decide which are "treasure" words (key details) that they need to right down and which words to leave "in the trash". Then with the treasure words, we create our own sentences about our topic.

We were able to reinforce that in third grade when students started doing research on famous Americans who have made an impact on history. As students focused on Ruby Bridges, Rosa Parks, Cesar Chevez, Judy Huemann, and Martin Luther King, Jr., they recorded the key details about these people and how they impacted their community. 

And we were able to reinforce it again with Mrs. Hamann's 4th graders when they were trying to find evidence to support an opinion. Sure, we can make our own argument. But how much more effective is that argument when you back it up with factual information? The article to the left is a student example of highlighting the key details and then writing them in your own words. The students did a great job finding evidence to support their opinion.



These are skills that need to be practiced continually as the research questions and topics get more sophisticated. Bridgeview students are getting a great foundation!