The Frog Beyond the Fairy Tale Character: Searching Informational Texts

This unit is written in three 30-minute lessons.Students will examine their prior knowledge about frogs, make predictions, and verify their predictions through research on the Internet. Students initially record their predictions about frogs on a worksheet with true and false columns. They then use the website The Somewhat Amusing World of Frogs to learn more about frogs and check their predictions. To verify their predictions, students click on the internal page links to reach a subheading. The subheading signals to the reader that this section of informational text contains evidence to support or contradict the statement. It would be pertinent to add an oral report to the end of the unit to address what students learned about research and how to accomplish it using the world around them. Students use the topic of frogs to identify how to address research on a designated topic.  The lessons are designed to help students make a prediction about what they know about frogs, then use text to locate facts that support their understanding.  They are learning to prove or disprove their own understanding of frogs.  These lessons are easily modified to fit other familiar topics to students.  It would also benefit students to include an oral report about the information they thought they knew to the facts that they uncover about frogs, or any other topic chosen.  It offers students practice completing research on topics they already know something about, and deepen their understanding of the importance of research to clarify misconceptions through questioning and source selection.