Beluga Whale Research: Final Product

When I originally posted about our Beluga Whale Research, I failed to take a picture of their final product. Below is their final draft:

Coral Reef Art

During March our grade level taught integrated lessons about the ocean habitat. One day during indoor recess, we read Over in the Ocean: In the Coral Reef by Marianne Berkes. The students then worked together to create coral reef artwork. I had previously cut out various coral reef shapes out of bulletin board paper. The students then tore pieces of construction paper and created colorful collages on the shapes. We added their coral reef art to our class ocean display.

Beluga Whale Research

Did you know Beluga Whales are often called the "canaries of the sea?" As a part of our oceans unit, each first grade class chose a different whale to research. Our class chose the Beluga Whale. We used a variety of sources to find interesting facts about the whale but our favorite was PebbleGo because the online source includes actual videos and sound clips of the Beluga Whale. The students used interactive writing to chart their research findings on a Circle Map using our Promethean Board. They then used their finished Circle Map to help them write a shared research paper. Before writing, we discussed that good writing should include a "hook" to get the reader interested followed by the important facts including what the whale looks like, where it lives, what it eats, special adaptations it may have, and any other interesting facts that want to share. Each student took a turn writing a phrase or sentence while the other students provided spelling and grammar support.

Oceans in a Bottle

As a part of our thematic unit on oceans, the students created their own ocean in a bottle during science lab. They first added sand to the bottom of the bottle. They then added water to the bottle followed by vegetable oil. Before adding the oil, they made predictions about if the two liquids would mix together or stay seperate. Once they added the oil and discovered that they did not mix, they added blue food coloring. They then shook the bottles up to disperse the food coloring. Once they settled again, we discussed how the darker part of the ocean is at the bottom (the water in our model) and the lighter part (the oil) is at the top. We then talked about how the oil is actually heavier than the water but because they do not mix, it stays on the top. They then turned the bottles to the side and made waves with them. Following the lab, they completed a lab report to take note of their findings.

Ocean Research

Over the last several weeks the students have been working hard on researching and writing about various ocean animals. They visited the library to learn how to use a variety of sources to research. Mrs. Thornton, our Instructional Media Specialist, taught the students how to use online sources and text sources to find interesting facts and details about their specific animals. One of the sources they used was PebbleGo. Parents, if you need the username and/or password to login to this site at home, please let me know. The students wrote their notes down and later used their notes to write a paper in class. (I will write a post next week sometime with the final drafts of their research papers.)

Literacy Stations: Creation Station

Each day during Guided Reading, the students have a variety of word work activities that they must complete. Those activities include creating foldables to retell their leveled readers, doing word wall puzzles with sentences, word finds, etc. After completing those mini-lessons based on our whole group word work lessons, they may choose a literacy station. Our main rule for literacy stations is that no matter what station you choose, you must doing some sort of reading and writing. One of the students' favorite stations is Creation Station. In this station there are a variety of art books along with paint, scissors, glue, chalk, etc. There are often thematic props in this station as well to help the students brainstorm story ideas that they can illustrate. Below is an example of a student writing a story about the ocean using various ocean animal toys. He used the toys to act out the story and then wrote about it. He later illustrated it. I love how he started the story with "Once upon a time..."

Ocean Research Video

I'm a little late in posting this but I hope you enjoy! After doing research over an ocean animal in the library, the students created their own movie using Pixie 2. They typed at least one fact they learned about their animal and then recorded themselves reading it. Enjoy!

Beluga Whales: Shared Writing

As a part of our Social Studies lessons, the students researched the Beluga Whale. Each first grade class researched a different type of whale. By doing this, each class becomes an "expert" on one type of whale and can share with the other classes what they learned. We began our Beluga Whale research by reading several non-fiction books about them. As I read the paragraphs to the students, we would stop to think about the main idea of the paragraph. We then wrote the main idea of each paragraph on a Circle Map. The students then used the information we collected on the Circle Map to do a shared writing research paper. In shared writing, sometimes called Interactive Writing, the students work together to come up with the sentences and then take turns writing them down on the chart paper. Each student has the opportunity to write and receives assistance from their classmates on what words come next and how to spell the words correctly. The students modeled their shared writing after their individual research papers by writing what the Beluga looks like, eats, and where it lives. They also wrote in other facts that they found interesting.

Parts of a Plant: Kelp Forest

As a part of our ocean unit, the students studied ocean plants. The main plant that we focused on was the Kelp Plant. The students created Tree Maps to determine the parts of the plant, how animals and people use Kelp, and what can be made from the plant. They then created a diagram of the parts of the plant and discussed each specific part's job.

Pattern Block Fish

The students had to come up with two different plans, or ways, to fill in a fish picture using pattern blocks. They had to use critical thinking to come up with all the different ways it can be completed. After making their plans, the students chose one plan to glue down using paper pattern blocks. They then counted how many of each shape they used and wrote the total number of pattern blocks used. It is neat to see all of the different ways that the students came up with to complete the pattern block fish!

Ocean Addition and Subtraction

The students used fish clipart to model and solve addition and subtraction word problems. Each student had a different problem to solve and shared their number sentences with their table groups.

Oceans in a Bottle

As a part of our study of the ocean, the students created their own "ocean in a bottle." The purpose of the science experiment is to teach the children that oil and water do not mix. It is also a great representation of the zones of the ocean. The students first poured sand into the bottom of their bottle. They then poured in a cup of vegetable oil. After pouring in the oil, they filled the bottle with water. They immediately noticed that the oil rose to the top and would not mix with the water. After adding a few drops of blue food coloring, the students sealed their bottles and turned it to the side to make waves. We discussed how the weight of the oils pushes down on the water. Because the food coloring does not mix well with the oil, it stays a lighter shade and the water stays darker. This led us into a discussion of why it is darker in the deeper parts of the ocean and lighter closer to the surface. They used great inferencing skills to determine that the surface is lighter because it is closer to the sun.

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Ocean Animal Research

The students went to the library in small groups to research with our librarian, Mrs. Jepsen. Each group had a different ocean animal to research. After researching and taking notes, the students turned their notes into sentences using sentence stems which they then used to write a research paper. The students made ocean report covers for their research papers. They also created a scuba diver face to go with their scuba diver which holds and displays their great writing.

Dory Story: An Ocean Food Chain

As an integrated language arts and science lesson, we read Dory Story by Jerry Pallota. Dory Story is about the adventure of a little boy who gets lost at sea in his dory. On his adventure, he learns all about the ocean's food chain. After reading, the students retold the adventures of the little boy by writing the food chain from the story on a Flow Map. They then illustrated their favorite part of the story. If you get a chance, ask your students how the story ended....they were quite surprised!

Baby Beluga: Pride Rally Share

A few weeks ago the students had the opportunity to share at Pride Rally what they have been learning. After researching the Beluga Whale as a class, each student wrote one learned fact on a Beluga Whale shaped piece of notebook paper. The whales were then assembled into a Bubble Map. At Pride Rally the students read their facts. At the conclusion of their share time, students sang "Baby Beluga." Below are a few pictures from Pride Rally.

Open House: Ocean Adventures

This is a little late coming, but thank you to all of the families who came to Open House. We had a great time. Over this last six weeks the students explored the Ocean Habitat in cross-curricular lessons. The students began by researching about a specific ocean animal in the library with Ms. Tricoli. They then used their research notes to write, edit, and revise research papers. Using their research papers, the students created slides on the computer about their animals. After creating their slides, the students typed and recorded themselves reading one fact about their ocean animal. The slides were compiled into an ocean video. (The video will be posted at a later time after modifications are made.) The students also read numerous books about the ocean, created math word problems with fish, and reviewed the parts of a plant with a study of Kelp. Students were able to experiment with the ocean habitat by making an "ocean in a bottle." Below is a quick video of the students' hard work.

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