David Shannon Author Study

While reading David Shannon books, we also learned about him as an author and illustrator. We watched a short interview with him from Scholastic and then created a Circle Map about facts learned. The students used the Circle Map to write a shared writing piece about him.

Thomas Edison and The Light Bulb

In Social Studies the students are learning about various inventors and their contributions to society. The first inventor they are learning about is Thomas Alva Edison. To learn about him, the students researched him on PebbleGo, watched a short video about him on Discovery Education, and created timelines of his life. Using the information that they learned, they created a Bubble Map together which they then used to write a shared research paper. I typed their words to save time since this was a last minute, extra lesson but they told me exactly what to say - I think they enjoyed telling the teacher what to do! I printed their paper out on our poster machine. The students also brainstormed various modern day technologies we would not have without the invention of the light bulb. The students illustrated and labeled nine things that use a light bulb.

 

Cherry Blossoms

The students researched facts about Cherry Blossoms during a mini-writing lesson. They then wrote the information they found on a Circle Map. As a class, they decided what order to put the facts in for their shared research paper. They then told me what they wanted their paper to say and I typed it for them. I printed it on poster paper to hang with their Cherry Blossom art. The students used a mixture of brown and black paint to paint a branch of a Cherry Blossom. They then used the bottom of a recycled coke bottle to paint the blossoms in pink. I found this fun art idea from Pinterest. You can follow my educational Pinterest boards here.

Garden Habitat Shared Research Writing

The students researched the garden habitat a while back. These are the final products for their shared writings over their research.

Frog Life Cycle Shared Writing

In science we learned about various life cycles. To assess the students' understanding of the stages of the frog life cycle, we wrote a Flow Map together on the Promethean Board. The students then worked together to write on chart paper the various stages in sentence form. After they completed the shared writing, each student wrote their own sentences on frog shaped paper. They then colored a frog cover page to display with their individual and shared writing.

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.