Time for Plants

Spring is one of my favorite times of the year for teaching Science. We have now finished our Insect Unit and our Plant Unit. Check out what we did for our study of plants:

This read aloud is the perfect introduction to a plant unit. We also used our favorite online resource pebblego.com to further our learning about plants, seed, and their life cycle.

Plant Flipbooks (Amy Lemons)

 We ended our plant unit by making our on Greenhouses with lima beans. (I found this template on Pinterest)

 Telling Time Flipbook:

Several of the academic vocabulary terms used in our Time Chapter for Math have been very challenging for my students. I created this flipbook to reinforce these terms as well as to informally assess their understanding of time concepts.

Math Spiral Time Activities:

A.M. /P.M. Sort (found as a freebie online)

Students had to read the analog clock & write the digital time. Then, they had to decide if event from the sentence would happen at A.M. or P.M.

A teacher friend of mine shared this awesome ways to help students with A.M. & P.M.

A.M.: At Morning or Aw Man.....time to wake up

 P.M.: Past Morning or Pizza Man....time for dinner (they LOVED this one)

 These amazing clocks (free online), I have used for several years now. The really help students understand the hour & minutes concepts. Also, I had seen the "Time Check" idea on several blogs so we decided to try it out too. Anything and everything we could do to reinforce this concept was needed!

Insect Reports

We have just finished up or insect unit. This year we have completed many non-fiction writing/reports about people,holidays, and animals. For this project, students were grouped with their reading small groups. This allowed students to work with other students on their same instructional level. Students completed this project almost 100% on their own! They used available resources such as ebooks, books, pebblego, and other internet resources. This project was completed over the course of 5 days (6-7 days would work better)....here is the break down

Day 1: Introduction
I alway use Day 1 of our units to introduce our topic. We spend the day reading books, researching, and learning about the topic. Most of the time this is completed in a whole group setting. Lots of discussion takes place on this day as well build our knowledge and interest about our topic.

Day 2: Group Research

Students formed leveled groups. Each group spent the day reading books, ebooks, QR codes, and visiting pebblego.com to learn about different types of insects. At the end of this day group decided on the particular insect they would be researching.

Day 3: Targeted Research

Groups specifically researched their chosen insect. Each group made a list of the things they wanted to know about their insect such as; habitat, prey, food, life cycle, etc. They created an outline in their journal.

Day 4: Rough Draft
Students used the information they gathered to begin the rough draft or their reports. Groups had 3-4 students in them which allowed each student to contribute at least 1 sentence to the writing.

Day 5: Drawing and Presentation (this really should be 2 separate days)
I provided each group with various pictures of their insect. They used them as a guide as they drew and labeled their insect.

Then, each group practiced presenting their drawing and reading their report.

Next, Each group presented their project as I used the ipad to record a video of each group.

Finally, I create a QR code for each group and attached it to their drawings.

They are hanging in the hall for students, parents, or teachers to scan and watch!

I am so proud of my students for working so hard on this project!

Spring into Learning

March was a full month included a full week off for Spring Break. The three "short weeks" we were at school we full of learning and fun. I have also included a little bit of our April activities...Enjoy!

Read Across America Week 

Guest Reader: Our School Officer

 My Favorite Dr. Seuss Book Writing

 Fishy Math Problems after reading 1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

 Book Character Day

Saint Patrick's Day

Spring Activities

Like I have said before we write about EVERYTHING! I feel that it is a way for students to show what they know or have learned about a topic. It also helps them with basic writing skills as well as handwriting. The picture allow them to show their creativity, which is also super important.

We also had a visit from "Lady Liberty". The student's at APS has raised $1,000 to donate to Liberty's Legacy to help them repair damages to their tour bus. This program has been excited and fun for our students as they learn the importance of being a SUPER CITIZEN!

Math Fun with Books

During our fraction chapter, we read quite a few books to help us learn and practice equal parts, equal shares, and fractions. Here are a few