Gelli Plate Animal Collages

Animal and Plant Habitats

We used PebbleGo to look at different habitats and ecosystems. As a class we made a Tree Map of facts learned for each habitat including what it looks like as well as what animals and plants could live there. The students then used the Tree Map to draw picture representations of each habitat along with at least one animal and one plant that could live there.

Safari Sunset Art

As a part of our lessons on various habitats and ecosystems, we talked about the desert and what animals must have to survive in the desert. We also talked about grasslands and the need for larger animals to have a wide space to roam. To extend our learning, I taught the students how to paint a sky to look like a setting sunset. We worked on mixing white into colors to make them lighter and then worked on blending the colors to fade into each other. After the paintings were dry, I helped the students trace various animals that would be found in this habitat as well as trees on black paper. They added these silhouettes to the paintings. They turned out fantastic!

An Awesome Dog

Through one of our Empowering Writers lessons, the students wrote about awesome dogs. They could write about their own dog or another dog. They described what their dog looked like, what it could wear, and what it would say if it could talk. We then had a mini art lesson on how to draw animals using simple shapes such as circles and ovals. They then added details of their choosing to match their writing.

Dallas Heritage Village Field Trip

Last Thursday we visited Dallas Heritage Village. The students were able to see how people lived in the past. They viewed an old school, hotel, house, bank, and a blacksmith. They visited gardens and observed animals such as chickens, sheep, and donkeys. It was rewarding to see how excited they were about history! Thank you to PTA for making this trip financially possible and to the parents who took a day from work to help us chaperone.

Chicken Life Cycle

In science the students have been learning about and comparing various animal life cycles. One of the animals they have learned about is the chicken. Using an egg template, the students drew the life cycle of a chicken. For those who finished early, they colored the large chicken drawing to display with their life cycle models.

Frog Life Cycle

We have been observing the changes in tadpoles over the last several weeks in our science lab. Unfortunately they were not doing well in their environment so they had to be released into the neighboring pond before we got to see them develop into adult frogs. But, at least they did get to see the beginning stages. As a part of our lessons on life cycles, the students learned that frogs lay eggs, the eggs become tadpoles, the tadpoles become emergent frogs, and the emergent frogs become adult frogs. They created these life cycle models to demonstrate their understanding.

Ocean Animal Facts

The students chose one fact about the ocean animal that they researched and made a computer slide about it using Pixie 2. The students had to add an ocean background, use the search feature to find clipart of their animal, add a speech bubble, and type in the fact in first person. They then had to resize the animal clipart and speech bubble to match. We played the slides as a movie during Open House and hung each slide as a print out on a bulletin board.

 

Beluga Whale Research

We used various book and internet sources to research facts about the Beluga Whale. The facts were added to a Thinking Map. The students then used the Thinking Map to write a class research paper about their findings. They used Interactive Writing so that every student had a chance to contribute. They helped each other with the wording, spelling, and punctuation of the research paper.

Ocean Animal Research

In small groups, the students visited to the library to research a specific ocean animal with our Instructional Media Specialist, Mrs. Christy. The took notes over their research and then used their notes in class to help them write a research paper. They put their final drafts inside a piece of blue paper folded in a stage fold. They also made a scuba diver face to look like themselves to go with scuba diver bodies that our PTA volunteers made for us. The scuba divers held the students' writing.

Animal Habitats

In science we have been learning how animals are dependent on their environment and the specials characteristics they have to make them suitable for that habitat. We looked at pictures and discussed the tundra, ocean, desert, grasslands, and rainforest. We then charted what physical features each habitat had. We followed that up by listing animals that live in each environment and what features they had to help them survive there. The students then chose four of the habitats to write about. They also drew one animal that could be found in each.

Area Animals

The students created various animals on one inch grid paper using color tiles. They the colored their animal on another sheet of grid paper. They then paired up with another student to compare the area of their animal with the area of their partner's animal. They then recorded which animal covered the most space and which animal covered the least area.