Dear Teachers,

This web site has several purposes. The first is to inform children about bats and the issues surrounding them. They certainly are one of the most misunderstood animals on the planet. There are almost 1000 species of bats with a huge variety of living conditions, diet and habits. Fascinating creatures that are ending up on the endangered species list.

The second purpose is to try and teach a research method for younger grade levels. This sight is targeting K-3 classrooms but can be used by any level of student up through adults. There are several processes that middle school and high school students are learning. Unfortunately there has been very little assistance in this area for the K-3 student. They too need to learn a process that gives them the building blocks of research that will benefit them throughout their school years and life.

There are many resources on the Internet to assist your students with their reports and information gathering. Remember the key is for their research to focus on an Essential Question. Have them find a question that interests them.

There is a page for Report Resources for your students. It should be a good place to start as opposed to them digging through Google searches. If they use a search engine, consider using a kid-friendly one such as:

Yahooligans: http://www.yahooligans.com

Kids Click: http://www.kidsclick.com

Also consider any online databases that your school subscribes to. These include Groliers Online, EBSCO, etc.

Feel free to contact me.

Doug Prouty - dprouty@cccoe.k12.ca.us