Plant Study

To access prior knowledge, Ms. Willemin asked the students to share what they knew about plants. The information was put on a class Circle Map using the Promethean Board. The students then went on a nature walk around the school to examine various plants. Each student collected at least one leaf. In class the students created a leaf rubbing to show the different features of their leaves.

OMNI Field Trip

In March we visited The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History to view the film The Living Sea at their OMNI Theater. The film summarized and showcased many of the ocean animals we researched in Reading, the bodies of water and landforms we studied in Social Studies, and the pull of the moon we studied in Science.

Beluga Whale Research

After learning about the two types of whales, baleen and toothed, the students focused more specifically on researching Beluga Whales. Ms. Willemin, our student teacher, facilitated the students in researching what Belugas look like, what they eat, where they live, and other interesting facts. As they learned new facts, they recorded it to a Circle Map. They then used the Circle Map to write a shared writing research paper. In shared writing, every child gets an opportunity to write and the students help one another with spelling and sentence structure.

Ocean Zones Foldable

Ms. Willemin, our student teacher, taught the students about the various ocean zones. To help the students further understand the different depths of the ocean, they created a four tiered foldable to show the different ocean zones. They colored each part a darker shade of blue to show that the farther away from the sun, the darker it gets. They then read about the different zones and the animals that live in each zone.

Kelp Forest

The students learned about the Kelp Forest during our ocean unit. They learned about the parts of the ocean plant and made comparisons to the parts of land plants. They also learned about how animals and humans depend upon the Kelp plant. The students created Tree Maps and diagrams to show their learning.

Ocean in a Bottle

In Science the students created "Oceans in a Bottle" to model how the ocean gets darker the deeper it gets. The students first poured in sand, followed by oil, and then water. Last they added blue food coloring. After making their bottles, they completed an "Ocean in a Bottle Lab Report." Fellow teachers, you can download the lab report from my TpT store.

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.

 

 

Living and Non-Living

In science the students have been learning how to differentiate between living and non-living objects. They have brainstormed various objects, illustrated them, and sorted them according to their categories. They have also created a Circle Map to identify the needs of living organisms. They then worked in small groups to cut out various pictures from magazines. In their small groups, they sorted the pictures into living and non-living categories. They then created collages in larger groups of living and non-living.

Constellations

As a part of our study of day and night, the students learned about constellations. They then created their own constellation on black paper out of silver star stickers. They then had to count how many stars were in their constellation. They then had to write at least two sentences to explain the shape of their constellation and how many stars formed the shape.

Day and Night

In science the students learned about the cycle of day and night. To show what they know, they drew a picture with labels of sunrise, day, sunset, and night. They then put the pictures in order in a cycle on a piece of construction paper.

KidBlog: Space Art

Today in the computer lab the students began using their KidBlog.They were very excited. In reading we have been learning how to research using informational texts. Since they have been researching space in reading and learning about day and night in science, the drew a picture using Pixie 2 software of a few key facts about space. In their pictures they had to include the sun as the center with eight planets orbitting around. They also had to include stars as a part of the Milky Way Galaxy. The technology skills that we worked on were "click, hold, and drag" as well as how to resize and fill shape objects. Afte they created their pictures, they exported them (with my assistance). I then taught them how to login to their blog and upload their pictures. They were so excited and thought it was "magic!"

Describing the Wind

To help the students understand the difference between windy, breezy, and calm, we went outside to experiment. The students first observed the flags to see what direction they were blowing. During this time, we reviewed directional words from Social Studies. We discussed that the direction the flag is moving lets us know the direction the wind is blowing. As we observed we talked about if the flags were moving slow, fast, or not at all. They they experimented with plastic bags and streamers. They discovered that it was a very windy day that day.

Ordering Temperatures

The students felt of there different unseen objects to see which one was the hottest and which one was the coldest. One object was an ice pack, one was hand warmers, and the other was a crumpled paper towel. They recorded their findings and then discussed with a partner which was hottest, coldest, etc. Then as a class, we recorded objects in our homes that are hot, objects that are cold, and objects that are room temperature. They then drew three objects in order from hottest to coldest.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose

In science we have been learning how to reduce, reuse, recycle, and repurpose. In our class we have a basket full of paper scraps that the students can use during Daily 5 for writing practice. On this day, the students worked to tear some of the colored construction paper up in small pieces to create picture frames. As they worked, we discussed where paper come froms, what would happen if we continually wasted it, and how we could reduce, reuse, recycle, and repurpose the paper.

Nature Center Field Trip

Friday we had a field trip to the district's Nature Center. The students participated in four outdoor learning lessons. We visited the pond to identify living and non-living objects. Next we visited the gardens to view various plants and record their names alphabetically. We then went on a nature walk to record what we could hear, see, feel, and smell. Last, we measured the circumference of a tree and learned about various types of trees.