February 2, 2013

We are finally done with our plant and animal unit in science, but our reading and writing activities are still centered on this theme. We are overdosing on nonfiction reading and writing. In our guided reading groups we are focusing on identifying important information, monitoring our responses towards that information, and asking questions. The notes that we are taking will eventually help us write our own Reports in a Can. We have done this project for several years, and the kids love it! We can't wait to share them with you next week. Here are some of our notes on spiders.

We debated whether to redo our charts so they look perfect, or let you see what they are like when they are done in the moment. This is in the moment!

Our last shared reading from our science unit was done from our science text. The topic was food chains and food webs. The purpose of this reading was for students to learn the meanings of the words consumer, producer, food chain, and food web. As we were reading, we would stop at various points to let students discuss the questions on their discussion cards. Here is one of the discussion cards that we used.

After our discussion, students went back and wrote in their science journals about what they learned. We were happy to see some of the students not only wrote about what they learned, but also included nonfiction text features, such as highlighting vocabulary words and diagrams with captions. Below are some of our students' writings. 

As an introduction to research, the students had to look in books, and on websites to find information about plants and animals that lived in certain habitats. The habitats we used were the woodland, prairie, desert, and wetlands. Then, in groups, they created a mural depicting the plants and animals in that habitat. They needed to include all of the things the plants and animals needed to survive in their habitat, as well as one food chain. 

Later in the week it was time for them to begin their own research project on an animal of their choice. So we used our Writer's Workshop time to do some prewriting research, using our computer labs, and iPads and computers in the classroom. Next week, we'll begin writing our reports.

It was a busy week for us! As usual, we still struggled fitting everything in, and some things did fall by the wayside. Hopefully we will find time for them next week.  But, we did introduce our favorite folktale trickster, Anansi, to our students. They think he is hilarious. We will share our Anansi activities with you next week. 

Hope you had a great week like we did. If you feel like it, share your thoughts and ideas. We would love to hear from you!

Kim and Anne