Today I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.
ONE: Dr. Seuss
This is the first year I have spent the whole week celebrating Dr. Seuss and I'm so glad I did! My kids were so excited and motivated to learn about Dr. Seuss. As part of our nonfiction unit we read a biography about Dr. Seuss. After reading and discussing his life I had my kiddos write facts they learned about his life on a hat they made.
After reading several Dr. Seuss books this week I had wanted my class to write about their favorite Dr. Seuss book using evidence to back up their opinions. However, our "oobleck" lesson this afternoon took a ton of time and our writing will have to wait until next week. We'll continue the Dr. Seuss celebration into next week!
TWO: Bartholomew and the Oobleck
I had never even heard of this book until my husband recommended I read the book this week. I'm so glad I did. It's a new favorite that's for sure. The book has a great message at the end and many "teachable" moments throughout the story. I'd love to do a week long book study next year. There's too much in the book to only use it for one day. A little background on the story... Bartholomew saves the kingdom he lives in from the "oobleck" that falls from the sky.
After reading and discussing the book we did a science lesson in which my Firsties were able to make their own "oobleck". We began by stating a hypothesis and then the kids got to write their own. Then I demonstrated how to make the "oobleck" and I had my kids draw what they observed. Then it was their turn. They did a great job working in buddies to help one another create their own "oobleck". We had so much fun with this! It was a great way to end the week dedicated to Dr. Seuss!
THREE: Penguins
After reading chapters one and two of Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites I was inspired to change the culminating activity for my penguin unit. Instead of using a worksheet to finish out the unit I put my kids into "families". Then they were asked to create their own posters to highlight all they learned about penguins.
Using the word families sparked a great conversation with my kids related to how they should work with their peers. As I walked around the room I was blown away by the content (penguin) talk as well as the cooperative learning talk that was taking place. The kids were working hard for one another and they truly wanted to work together to create the best possible poster.
As great as their posters turned out I think the conversations that happened as the kids shared their posters were even better. As the families presented their posters I was so proud of how much the kids learned as well as how much they could tell the other students about what they learned. It was a great moment for our class this week!
FOUR: Planting Seeds
Staff from a local nature preserve visited us this week to help us plant seeds that we will take care of over the next few months. In May we will visit the preserve and we will transplant the plants we've been taking care of. I'm using this as the jumping off point for a new unit on plants and I love that we'll have these plants as concrete examples of what we'll learn about.
While the seeds haven't sprouted yet, I love seeing the kids take care of the plants and become so excited when they see new sprouts.
FIVE: Interactive Notebooks
This is the second week we've been using interactive notebooks to go along with phonics, grammar, and vocabulary skills we work on each week. Can I tell you I'm in LOVE.
On the right hand side of the notebook we record our new learning. On the left side the kids apply their new learning to an activity. I like that the new learning is easily accessed if they need to refer back to it. This week we completed these activities whole-group but next week I think I'll use them in guided reading groups as well so I can differentiate the activities that each group completes.
Thanks so much for visiting! Have a great weekend!
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