The Moon in the Science Lab

    Mrs. Riggins showed us how the moon reflects the sun light by using a mirror and lamps.

     She also used a balloon and a globe to show how the moon orbits the earth.

   
She also demonstrated the moon phases using a balloon and a lamp.

    We also watched a video about the moon. Then we wrote/illustrated something we learned about the moon in our science journals.

Polar Bear Research and Nonfiction Book

    We began by sharing our schema (what we thought we knew) about polar bears with our partner and then adding it to our schema chart. We rolled a question die and then listened for the answers while reading. We finished by drawing the topic (polar bears) on one side of a sticky note and then drawing/writing one fact on the other side of the sticky note.

    We reviewed nonfiction text features like diagrams and table of contents.

     We completed a tree map by listening for things polar bears are, can do, and have. We filled in one branch of our tree map each day. I wrote on our class tree map as students wrote on their own. We stretched out the words and I filled in the word chunks.

    We illustrated and wrote two facts about polar bears for our book. Each day we wrote to inform about polar bears during our writing time.

 
  Here's a picture of our class diagram, schema chart, and tree map.

Two and Three Dimensional Shapes

    We read Captain Invincible and the Space Shapes. We discussed and identified the three dimensional shape on each page and the two dimensional face for the shape. Example: cylinder-circle. Then students went around the room and a chose a object they wanted. We returned to the carpet, shared our object, the the three dimensional shape and the two dimensional face. Then we sorted our shapes by the shape of their face. 

    We read The Shape of Things and the three dimensional shape and it's two dimensional shape as we read. Then students practiced making two dimensional shapes using play dough. Then I head a three dimensional shape card, we identified it and created it using play do.

    We read The Greedy Triangle. We discussed the three dimensional and two dimensional shapes seen in the book. Students shared a three dimensional shape they see at home, the object, and the two dimensional face. Then students used toothpicks and marshmallows to create three dimensional shapes. We shared our shapes. Then we counted and recorded the vertices (marshmallows) and sides (toothpicks).

Research on Walruses

   We started our walrus research by discussing our schema about walruses. I wrote down every "fact" that was shared and put under our schema. As we were reading, we would review our schema and move any incorrect information to the misconceptions section of our chart. We added information learned to the new learning section daily. We created a diagram of a walrus and discussed what the purpose of their parts are. We also created a walrus tree map with facts we learned.

   
Throughout the week, we worked on the tree map and facts part of our books. Then on Friday we finished the rest of the book and put it together. The fact we learned that almost every student wrote about was walruses look pink when their hot because their blood vessels expand until they are close to their skin surfaces. The students thought that was so cool! Here's a look at our All About Walruses books.

Groundhog Day

    We watched a Discovery Streaming video about the history of Groundhog Day. Then we created a puppet and used our puppet to share what we learned from the video about Groundhog Day with our partners. 

    We read Go To Sleep Groundhog! Then we reviewed the lesson they had with Mrs. Riggins in the science lab about shadows and what makes a shadow. Then we graphed our prediction for the groundhog and analyzed our data. 

    We read Punxsutawney Phyllis and then voted on a name for our class groundhog for Project Groundhog. Then we went outside to look for shadows so we would know if our class groundhog "Smiley" saw his shadow. When we first went outside it was cloudy and we couldn't see shadows. Right before we went back inside, the sun came out and we saw our shadows. Most of the student predictions were correct.

Celebrating the 100th Day

    We used a hundred chart and manipulatives to practice counting by ones to one hundred.

    We used our hundred chart to count out 100 froot loops to create a necklace.

     We also finger painted 10 dots on 10 strips of paper to create our 100th day hat.

    We wrote and illustrated what we would want 100 of and what we would not want 100 of.

Day and Night

    We read My Day: Morning, Noon, and Night. As we were reading, students showed me thumbs up for day or thumbs down for night for each activity in the story. Then students were given an index card and drew a day or night picture. Then we created a tree map with their drawings.

    We graphed which we liked better day or night and then analyzed our data. We also read Little Quack's Bedtime and discussed what we saw in the sky in the story's illustrations. Then we created a circle map of objects in the night sky using the students' illustrations. We added a frame of reference for our learning around our circle map.