Animals Everywhere

It seems like everyone is learning about animals this time of year - 4th grade has been studying animal groups to be able to create their own animal, 2nd grade has been researching animals, and a first grade class is working to partner research an animal and create a powerpoint as part of the common core informational writing standards. The first grade group came today to start their powerpoint with the graphic organizer we had already filled out. They are making one slide for each question on the organizer. They did such a fantastic job! They worked together, took turns typing, got way more done than I thought they would, and are excited about the project. Tomorrow, they will be back to finish typing and add colors, pictures, etc. Here are some pictures of them working on the research portion. We spent one day using books and one day using an online encyclopedia through NC Wise Owl.

And The Votes Are In!

President Barack Obama was re-elected last night. If you are interested in reading more about him, check out some of the books in our library about him, his job, and his family! We also have a lot of books about elections, government jobs, and other branches of government. Have fun reading!

Time to Harvest the Plant Projects!

We started a plant project in late September with third grade. Because there are so many classes (eight this year!) it has taken us a little longer to finish, but they presented at the end of October. Each class was divided into partners and assigned a plant. They were to use the Big 6 process to research the plant, create a powerpoint, and present it to the class. Last year, we did the same sort of project with odd plants, but with a change in online encyclopedia options, we had to change them up this year and went with more plants that help people somehow - either as an herb, a fast growing food for animals, fire deterrent, or some other use. I was happy with what most of them came up with for their first big research project in the Big 6. (I use Super 3 with K-2.) Here are some of their powerpoint slides. They were asked to choose a color that represented their plant and to include their citation for their information. All of their pictures were from clip art.

 

Mock Election 2012

Program

Our 4th grade team did a fantastic job last week of holding a mock election for the student body. Two weeks ago, each student came to the gym and "registered" to vote, then last week they came back, checked in, and voted for the next president using a picture ballot. Each class was assigned one or two states to represent. Then, in an all-school assembly, the electoral votes were tallied as each "state" announced their classroom victor. Here is a news story a local news channel did on the mock election. It was a great learning experience for the kids and they had a lot of fun doing it. The winner? Based on our electoral votes, it will be Mitt Romney, but we will see if they were correct tomorrow. No matter who you vote for - be sure you vote!

We're famous!

Our final map of the electoral votes.

Student Helpers

Sometimes you just have those aha moments that you wonder why you didn't think of them before. Yesterday, I was working with a third grade class. They were finishing up a powerpoint to present in our next session, and I had 3 sets of partners done while the rest still had a ways to go. I told the ones that were done they could be my helpers and circulate to answer and assist with the things they knew but to refer questions they didn't know the answer to back to me. It made things so much easier! Kids didn't have to wait for me to get to them when the students could answer simple questions like how to insert a picture and change the background because they already did it. I know it seems a simple enough thing I should have thought of long ago, but I will definitely be using this strategy again. It might even encourage students to focus and finish faster so they can be a helper.

What do you do when some students finish earlier than others?

Bee-Ware of a Fun Project

I did a Super 3 bee lesson with my Kindergarteners right before book fair last week, and it actually worked out playing into the pumpkin lesson I am doing now. (More on that one later!)


I wanted to introduce the Super 3 Research Process to them, and used bees as an example of an animal that gets ready for winter during the fall. (They make extra honey to store.) I like to use the Super 3 as a backbone for lots of lessons throughout the year so the kids get used to hearing it, how to follow the process, and can kind of know what to expect from a lot of lessons, though the topics and end products change.

We brainstormed questions we had about bees, where to find the information, and how we could show information. Then, we read a non fiction book about bees and made observations from some bee photographs. The kids drew a picture of a bee using the things we observed and tried to write something they had learned about bees if they could. They turned out well and some added some good details to the pictures like the honeycomb cells or bees on flowers getting nectar. Here are some of their pictures.

She wrote 'Queen bees lay eggs.'

Bees have 6 legs and 2 wings.

A bee getting nectar.

A bee in the hive

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Everywhere

I have been working with Kindergarten and First Graders on the pumpkin life cycle this week using the Super 3 process. We talked about where we could find more information about pumpkins and several were thoughtful enough to include pumpkin farmers along with the usual books, computer, smart phone, etc. We looked at photos of different stages of the pumpkin life cycle and watched a short clip of a pumpkin growing. I like to also read the book Pumpkin Jack, but it was already checked out this year when I looked for it.

We talked about the steps and how a cycle repeats. It also helped to explain why the pumpkins are green for a while by comparing them with tomatoes and bananas that are green before they are ripe. 

I had the Kindergarteners shorten the cycle to 4 steps of the life cycle and their end products looked something like these.

For the first graders, we talked a little more about what cycle means and that it repeats. We added the step of the green pumpkin into the life cycle also. Here are some of their products.