Needs Assessment

The Inventors and Inventions Research Unit has been created to enhance the writing curriculum in a sixth grade class.  The unit incorporates many technological components for the students to explore as they compile pertinent information for the development of their assigned products.  This unit meets the district's curriculum expectations and objectives in numerous areas within the Reading Language Arts curriculum.  It also meets the Illinois State Standards in the area of English Language Arts.

The unit is designed to challenge all students as they engage in the Big Six, an information literacy approach to learning.  In addition, as society becomes more dependent on technology as a form of communication, students need to be aware and to understand the depth behind computers and their applications.  Students, as future independent individuals in society, must  meet societal demands to become effective communicators as technology progresses.  The unit also emphasizes multiculturalism as they explore the meaning of "American" through their research.

The Inventors and Inventions Research Unit provides the students with an environment for them to analyze and evaluate information.  Cognitive theorists believe that individuals around the age of eleven can begin to understand abstract concepts and relationships.  Sixth graders, at the beginning of Piaget's Formal Operation Stage, should be given opportunities to think in this manner to develop these skills.  (Ornstein & Hunkins, 1998)

This unit also promotes Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences such as linguistic, spatial, and interpersonal abilities.  Students will use written expression, read information and produce visually appealing products, and discuss and compare their results with various audiences.

The unit is structured as a problem for the students to solve and incorporates a Problem Based Learning approach.  The students will be given a problem, written as a letter, and asked to solve it using their individual skills and abilities.  The students will immerse themselves in the cognitive process through the Big Six and relate new information to already existing knowledge.
 

Goals

This unit will:

• provide a broad range of materials for the students to interpret, analyze, and evaluate.

• emphasize writing for a variety of purposes through the writing process (brainstorming, organizing, creating a rough draft and final copy, publishing)

• allow students to reflect on their research process

• develop communication skills

• provide an awareness of the various American cultures