Earning+Extra+Credit

S tudents can earn extra credit in any subject by choosing to complete a project outside of class that is approved by the teacher, and then sharing the project and what they have learned with the class. They might want to learn about a famous person or event that impacted our world, design and carry out a unique science experiment to learn more about something, or simply answer a question about something they have observed in nature. The purpose of the Extra Credit Projects are to encourage students to continue learning outside the 4 walls of our classroom and to encourage students to pursue topics that interest them. I would love to see all of my students bringing in projects. Children are naturally inquisitive (curious). Parents, if your child asks you a question about something, you may want to suggest that it become an extra-credit project. Students, when you have lots of questions about something that interests you, this may be a good opportunity for EXTRA CREDIT!!!

Step 1 - Get your idea approved by the me. If you skip this step, you may not receive any credit for all of your hard work! I want to see you pursue your own interests and learning, but I need to approve your topic to ensure that it is appropriate for school and determine how it is aligned with the curriculum. I also want to be sure you are not looking up something that is too broad (too much information available) or too narrow (not enough information available). An example of a topic that is too broad would be "Sharks". However, if you had an interest in sharks, you might try to narrow the information down to "Sharks that Live Along the Coast of North Carolina", or "How Do Sharks Breathe underwater?" Your topic can be in the form of a question you are trying to answer or just a title/topic. If it is in the form of a question, it should not be a simple yes/no or other one-word type answer. That would be a topic that is too narrow.

Step 2 - After you decide on a topic and the teacher has approved it, use available resources (books, internet, school and Havelock library, interview others, visit local museum, etc) to learn more about your topic. Take lots of notes, but DO NOT COPY information word-for-word from books, the internet, or any other resource. No credit will be given to projects where you have simply copied the information from a book onto a paper to turn in. This is illegal (against the law). We will talk in class about how to avoid plagiarism and copyright infringement.

Write down the information about the resources that you used and include this as a separate page labeled RESOURCES with your project. This may be handwritten neatly, typed and printed, or included as the last slide of a presentation, etc. While I __do not__ require fourth graders to use a specific format for writing down your resources, here is what I want to know...


 * For a book, include the TITLE and the AUTHOR(s) first and last name. Example: __Space__ by Seymour Simon (Use appropriate capitalization) If you can locate the publishing date, this is nice for me to know as well. It is good to get into a habit of noticing when things are published w


 * For an internet webpage, include the complete **web address** of where the information was found (Hint: Copy and Paste) and the **title of the webpage and author if either of these can be located**. Please note that "GOOGLE", "BING", "ASK JEEVES", etc. are **//SEARCH ENGINES//**, and are __**not**__ the webpage where you are getting your information. If you are doing a search on a search engine, the clickable links that are listed take you to different webpages. I want to know the website where you find your information, not the search engine. Look for QUALITY, EDUCATIONAL websites and BEWARE of websites that are created by unknown people or companies or may be presenting "facts" to trick consumers for various reasons. This is something we will talk about in class, but parents should help monitor.
 * Click here for a list of about 20 safe sites for children to use for research. As always, only use the internet with parent permission.
 * Example: [] National Geographic Kids Creature Feature - Zebras (no author listed)
 * I should be able to find the resource that you used if I need to using the information that you provide. We want to be sure that we give credit to those researchers and authors who have created the resource.
 * If you use an image, or picture, from a resource, you should also write down where the image came from. Always give credit to the creators of what you use.

Step 3 - After you collect your notes and write down your resources, you can decide how you want to present the information to the class. You can create a diarama, design a poster, write a song, write a paper, make a video, make a commercial, make a PowerPoint, etc. Parents may help you make simple corrections or give instructions, but it should be YOUR work. It is okay if it is not perfect, but I expect you to do your best and not turn in something that is sloppy or full of capitalization/punctuation/spelling errors.

Step 4 - Present what you have created and the information you have learned to the class at a time that is designated by the teacher

You will be given extra credit points according to the table below. There is a maximum of 12 points to be earned for each project (more if technology is used to present information). If you have any questions, please ask me! Other guidelines are listed below the table. :-) Good luck! topic that is approved by the teacher. Many facts are presented and seem to be accurate. Information is organized in a logical way. There are many details and the student seems to be an "expert" on the topic he/she researched. || Student writes down or in some way appropriately documents where all information, photos, data, graphs, etc. were found. || S tudent work is neat and pleasing to look at. Student used capitalization and punctuation consistently throughout their work and spelling errors are few, if any. || Student showed creativity in how they chose to present what they learned to others. They spoke in a way that shows enthusiasm about their topic and could be clearly understood by the audience. There are visuals that help audience understand. || Many facts are presented however organization may be a bit of a problem. However, overall the information is accurate and the topic was approved by the teacher. || xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 * ~ === Points === ||~ === Quality of Information === ||~ === Resources === ||~ === Neatness === ||~ === Presentation === ||
 * ~ 3 || Student presents information on a
 * ~ 3 || Student presents information on a
 * ~ 2 || Evidence of research is noticable,

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx || Neat work with only a couple of noticeable errors. || Nice presentation overall, but would have been better with stronger visual aids or more enthusiasm. Student spoke clearly and was able to be understood. || was shown, there are inaccuracies, (things that are wrong) or it it is mostly just opinions about the topic. There is not much "meat" presented to the class. || Student makes some attempt to write down resources, but leaves out important information and/or does not provide all resources used. || Overall work is able to be read but may have areas that are not neat or may have many capitalization/punctuation and/or spelling errors. || Weak presentation - This presentation had definite areas of weakness in creativity, presentation, and/or lack of enthusiasm. || and there are no facts, only opinions. Work may have evidence of being copied from another source. || Student does not have any resources written down or copied information word-for-word. || Not legible, no capitalization or punctuation attempted. Many spelling errors. || Not presented, or audience is unable to understand what is being presented due to lack of visuals and/or not speaking clearly or loudly enough to be heard. ||
 * ~ 1 || Although some evidence of research
 * ~ 0 || Topic was not approved by the teacher

Extra points may also be added for the use of technology to present information (such as a Powerpoint, Prezi, or Glogster). Parents may have a big hand with assisting the student with the use of technology, but the student should be able to say how the presentation was created. In other words, parents can't do it for the student while the student is doing something else like sleeping or playing video games. :-)

The points earned will be put into the subject(s) most closely aligned to what was presented. (Science, Social Studies, Math, and/or Language Arts) The greatest impact from the extra credit will be seen in Science and Social Studies. You can earn extra credit in more than one subject if the topic is clearly crossing over into other subjects. If a paper is involved or a significant amount of writing, then extra credit will also be given in Language Arts.

Students may complete up to 2 extra credit projects per grading period. Students may work with a partner, but should include a paper indicating who is responsible for which part(s) of the project. No more than two students on one project without permission from the teacher.

Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com.