Pineview Elementary School

This year, for our special grant project, ESOL students K--5 studied about the endangered manatee, Florida's state marine mammal. Students based their research on 6 questions:

1. How does a manatee act? 2. What does a manatee look like? 3. How does a manatee have babies? 4. Where does a manatee live? 5. What does a manatee eat? 6. Why are manatees endangered?

Students used the following resources:

Manatees by Patricia A Fink Martin

J Rooker by Jan Haley

Manatee: A First Big Book by Donna Corey

Manati: Un Libro Inicial by Donna Corey

Manatees: Florida's Gentle Giants--A Coloring and Activity Book by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC)

Manatee Messages: Elementary School (video) by Save the Manatee Club

Manatee Adventures (video) by Audubon

Jamie Hayes, guest speaker from the Florida FWCC

and the following websites:

Afterwards, students compiled their research into a book, All About the Manatees or a display board with illustrations. Kindergarteners also made paper windsocks and diaramas. The culminating activity for this project was displaying the students' research projects at the annual HuManatee Festival at the San Marcos State Historic Site in St Marks. This festival was held on Saturday, May 15, 2004. Many students participated in this event along with their families: Mohamed, Steven, Najeia, Xiaoming, Rui, Gopika, George (former ESOL student), Jesus, Jonathan, Rosa Maria, Rosa Isela, Patrick, Nikola, Serafima, Maria, Josselyn, Oscar, Javier L, Javier R, Danny and Rafael. That's a 58% participation rate!

This project was funded by the ING Education's Unsung Heroes grant award.