First, we visited the zoo and captured images and videos and talked to the zookeepers to learn more. Students were divided into teams based on which animal they were researching and then we came back to class and shared what we had learned.
As we started writing the book, students had the choice of how and what they wanted to contribute to the book. Each student decided if they wanted to illustrate, create, or write and submitted original work to our class editors. The student editors filtered through the work submitted and selected the items that were publishable to add to the book.After the majority of the work was added, we contacted several organizations to see if they could proofread and give us feedback on our work. We heard back from Dian Fossey Gorilla Foundation, The Cheetah Conservation Fund, VulPro, SANCCOB and even the World Wildlife Fund. SANCCOB took the time to FaceTime with us and introduced us to a South African penguin named Princess.
After we edited and corrected our mistakes, we sent the book to Ben and Marti and the Dallas Zoo who did a double check of grammar and facts and then gave us the go-ahead to publish.
The book was published to iTunes and now my 7th graders are published authors! This interdisciplinary project connected science, art, language arts, and math as different teachers jumped in to help us create this multi-touch book. We will be showcasing our work at Wildlife Weekend at at the Dallas Zoo on May 21-22.
Our final product? Through Their Eyes
Download it now and see what some amazing 7th graders are capable of when you set the bar high.
We created a video response board so if you download their book and want to give them feedback, click on our FlipGrid and let them know what you think!
