W.I.T. Who Invented That?

The project will be comprised of a unit on inventors and their inventions that affect the everyday lives of students. During this unit, students will read nonfiction books and use the information to jumpstart research about an inventor. Using other reference materials and the Internet, students will complete a PowerPoint presentation about their inventor to be shared with other classmates. This unit will help students achieve Grade Level Expectations that are included in the Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies Comprehensive Curriculum for the state of Louisiana. By completing these expectations, the third-grade students will be preparing for the iLEAP test taken in the third grade as well as the LEAP test taken in the fourth grade.

Grade Level Expectations to be completed are as follows:

1. Demonstrate understanding by summarizing stories and information.
2. Connect ideas, events, and information identified in grade-appropriate texts to prior knowledge and life experiences in oral and written responses.
3. Read texts, chapter books, and informational materials silently at independent reading level.
4. Apply basic reasoning skills including connecting what is learned to real-life situations.
5. Give rehearsed oral presentations that include relevant facts and details from multiple sources.
6. Locate information from multiple sources using organizational features of a variety of resources including electronic information, online catalogs, the Dewey Decimal system, and printed text.
7. Use available electronic and print resources to draft, revise, and publish simple research reports and other projects.
8. Use simple bibliographic information to cite source.
9. Explain and give examples of how scientific discoveries have affected society.
10. Identify simple machines and the tasks they make possible.
11. Explain how technology has changed present-day family and community life.

Evaluation of the project will include a unit grade made up of grades given as each step of the unit is completed. The first assessment will be given using a computer-generated Accelerated Reader test for the nonfiction book read by the student. The next evaluation will be given using a rubric to grade a computer-generated time line completed by the student. Next, an assessment of a completed outline of information gathered through research will show the progress of the student. Final evaluation will be based upon the successful completion and presentation of the student’s PowerPoint. This method of breaking-down the assessment into small steps will serve to give students and the teacher feedback as the unit is completed.


This unit will take five weeks to complete. Each step will take approximately one week, with students working thirty minutes each day. The unit will be broken down into the following steps:
1. Students will read a nonfiction book about an inventor and take a computer-generated Accelerated Reader test.
2. Students will complete a time-line (using computer software) of the invention to be studied.
3. After a lesson on how to research information, the students will use reference materials including the Internet to find more information. The information will be arranged in outline form.
4. Students will use the outline to complete a PowerPoint of their information.
5. The student will present his or her information to the class using a computer-generated presentation system.

The parents and community will be invited to watch the presentations given by the students. An article detailing the project will be published in the Judson newsletter, and information about the project with pictures of the students presenting PowerPoints will be posted on Judson's website that is available to Judson's parents and potential students' parents. Information about the funding of the project will be posted through the newsletter and website as well as the local newspaper.