Showing posts with label Ocean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ocean. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Whale Research

Ms. Willemin, our student teacher, taught the students a Social Studies lesson on the different types of whales and their habitats. She taught them about the similarities and differences between toothed and baleen whales as well as their migration patterns. The students then created a whale booklet to sort examples of toothed and baleen whales.

Ocean Addition and Subtraction

To review addition and subtraction word problems, the students worked in groups to solve two problems using fish clipart. As they worked, we practiced strategies such as counting up or down, using pictures or manipulatives, or identifying related fact family number sentences.





Dory Story

During our ocean unit, we read Dory Story by Jerry Pallota. Before reading, we took a "picture walk" to ask questions about what we saw and to make predictions. As the students asked questions, I charted them on the board. Then, as we read, we charted the answers to those questions. If we did not find an answer in the text, we left it blank to reinterate using text evidence to support answers.

 
The next day we read the story again but this time the focus was on sequencing the ocean food chain from the book. As I read the students verbally retold the order of the food chain. They then wrote the food chain on a Flow Map and illustrated their favorite scene from the book.


 
 

Ocean Animal Research

In reading we have been learning about author's purpose, informational texts, and using text evidence. As a part of these lessons, the students worked in small groups with our Instructional Media Specialist, Ms. Hollingsworth, to research various ocean animals. The students took notes about the appearance of the animal, where they live, what they eat, and other interesting facts. They then used those notes to write a research paper. Their research papers were displayed with scuba divers in the hallway for Open House.





Thursday, April 5, 2012

SeaLife Aquarium Field Trip

At the conclusion of our ocean study, we were fortunate to be able to visit the SeaLife Aquarium in Grapevine. Thank you to our PTA for funding this fun trip for the students and to all of the parents who went on the trip with us. The students were able to see the live animals that we had researched.









Ocean Research Movie

During a computer lesson, the students used their ocean research notes to create a computer slide in Pixie 2 about their ocean animal. They first added an ocean background, then they imported clipart of their ocean animal. Next they added a text box of their choosing and wrote at least one fact about their animal. They wrote their facts in first person and then recorded themselves reading their facts. All of the slides were then put together as a movie using the Pixie 2 software. The video was uploaded to our class podcasting site hosted by PodBean. You can view the video there or below:



Ocean Research and Scuba Divers

As I blogged about before, our fantastic Instructional Media Specialist worked with all of the first grade students in small groups to research various ocean animals. After conducitng the research, the students wrote research papers based on their findings. They had to include a "hook" at the beginning and then write how their animal looks, where they live, what they eat, and any special adaptations they have. They then labeled a diagram of their animal using PebbleGo as a resource. The students put their final draft of their research paper and the diagram in a stage-fold foldable which they decorated to look like an ocean. A previous librarian had come up with an idea a while back to have scuba divers hold their final research projects. The students created faces to go on the scuba diver bodies and then we added their research and coral reef art to the display.





Ocean Animal Graphing

To review graphing, the students took a survey of ten friends to see what their favorite ocean animal. We discussed that when making a graph, first you need to ask a question. Then you need to have some choices. Those choices need to be placed on a table where you can tally the results. The tally marks can then be transferred into a graph. Following these steps, the students tallied their friends votes, then graphed the results. They then compared their results to the other students at their table.

Fish Word Problems

We have been learning how to solve a variety of addition and subtraction problems. One of our lessons was to solve fish word problems. When solving word problems, one of our strategies is to draw pictures. First we read the word problems together as a class and the students decided which numbers they wanted to insert into the blanks in the word problems. Because the students could choose their own numbers, each problem was unique. The students then drew the pictures to match the numbers in their word problems. For addition, they were able to use the strategy of counting all of the pictures to identify the number sentence and answer with label. For the subtraction problem, they had to use the strategy of crossing out the pictures, or fish, that were subtracted and then count what was left to identify the number sentence nad answer with label. The students then worked in small groups to solve one another's word problems.

Dory Story: An Ocean Food Chain

To teach the students the concept of a food chain, we read Dory Story by Jerry Pallotta. In this book, we follow the adventures of a little boy who is "lost" in the ocean in his little red boat. Only to find out that there is a surprise in the end...I wish you could have seen the kids' faces when they got to the end of the story! As we follow the little boy on his ocean adventure, we learn about the different ocean animals and what they eat. As we read, we charted what each animal ate on a Flow Map. We then discussed what would happen if a piece of that food chain wa missing. The students were able to discuss on the animals are dependent upon one another for survival. The students then wrote their own Flow Map based on the class Flow Map and illustrated their favorite part of the story.





Kelp Forests

As a part of our research on the ocean habitat, we learned about the kelp plant. We learned the parts of the kelp and compared them to what we know about the parts of land plants. The students then labeled and colored a diagram of the kelp plant. The students added a picture of at least one animal that uses the kelp forest for food, shelter, or protection.




Ocean Zones Foldable

Using PebbleGo and BrainPopJr., we researched the different zones found in the ocean along with examples of animals that live in those zones. We discussed how certain animals had to adapt to their environment because of the cold water or lack of light. To help the students remember the different ocean zones and the animals that live there, they created a four-tier foldable. One the top flap they colored the water a lighter color, indicating it is the closest to the sun, and then each following flap was gradually darker. They glued the name of the zone along with a brief description of the zone, which we read together as a class. They then chose animals that can be found in each zone to glue down. Fellow teachers, if you would like a copy of the printouts that go on the foldable, feel free to email me. I would be happy to share!





Pattern Block Fish

To review patterns and shapes, we read Pattern Fish by Trudy Harris and then the students created their own pattern fish. Fellow teachers, I received this particular pattern fish template from a former teammate but you can find similar patterns at PreKinders. The students had to find two different ways to fill in the pattern fish with foam pattern blocks and then they had to choose their favorite one to create with paper pattern blocks. The students then counted and graphed how many of each type of pattern block they used. The students compared the various different ways the fish could be filled using pattern blocks.




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