Highlights of Oceanography Unit

See previous posts for more pictures and information. Here are notes from lessons I hadn't mentioned yet:

• Learned about whales, sharks, seals, penguins, rays and skates
• Watched "The Magic School Bus Takes a Dive" - discussed coral reefs and animal partnerships, made a web graphic organizer as a class
• Made ocean dioramas - I wish I had pictures of those. All of them were fantastic. I was really impressed by the detail the kids put into them. Some even incorporated principles/facts we had discussed into the placement of their animals - like having the predators actually chasing the prey!
• Mini unit on seashells

My grandma has always been an avid seashell collector. She has literally buckets of them stored at her house in Orem, and she knows a ton about the different classifications. So when I told her I wanted to finish up Oceanography with a couple of seashell lessons, she gave me a large sampling of shells to bring to class. We discussed the difference between monopods (1 shell) and bipods (2 shells), how shells are the exoskeletons of invertebrates, and how they are classified. The kids were so excited. They really enjoyed touching and observing the shells, and it was satisfying for me to see them start classifying and comparing without too much prompting from me. Several students in the class ended up doing "reports" on shells to earn stickers. And our final activity for the unit was the shell and sand art projects which the kids brought home yesterday. :)

Highlights from 13 Colonies Unit (Dec-Feb)

• The Puritans - we spent a few lessons discussing what things they valued, what their schools were like, what they wore, how some of their beliefs/habits might be different from ours today.
• Map of the 13 English colonies - we colored them in by region as we discussed them. Some colonies we discussed collectively, others individually.
• Middle colonies - had a fun lesson learning the story of how New Netherland and New Sweden (with their colorful leaders) were peacefully overtaken by the English to become the colonies of New Jersey and New York
• William Penn - discussed his Quaker beliefs, his role in settling Pennsylvania (a colony open to everyone). Made "friendship chains" with ideas on how we can show friendship, just as William Penn did to those around him.
• Benjamin Franklin - had a really fun day learning about him! We read an awesome picture book biography, discussed and decorated some of his famous sayings, played a memory card game with his inventions, and talked about why he was able to become so smart and successful (not because of money - he read a lot, worked hard, etc.)
• New England towns vs. Plantations - we made 2D models of a typical New England town, complete with buildings housing different professions (e.g. hooper, cobbler, miller, etc.) We had learned about some of these professions in a book called "If You Lived in the Colonial Period" - I think the kids enjoyed this. In another lesson we also briefly contrasted this to life on a plantation and talked a little bit about slavery.
• Blackbeard the Pirate - when discussing the colony of North Carolina we had a "pirate day" where we learned about the career of one of the most feared pirates of all time. The kids especially enjoyed hearing how he would tie ribbons in his beard to look like snakes, and set fuses attached to his hat on fire to make his face glow and look scary - all students got to recreate the effect with a flashlight. We also listened to a recording of a pirate song while eating hardtack. About half the class liked it, half did not. I think we all agreed it was better with jam. :)
• Daniel Boone and the frontier - had one lesson learning about Daniel Boone and the idea of people going out to settle the unknown frontier. Used a fun picture book from the library, located and touched the Appalachian Mountains on the map and globe, modeled the mountains on flat maps with a very gooey oatmeal mixture...I hadn't tried it before, so I sure hope it didn't cause any messes at home!
• Kids in the Colonial Era - my substitute taught a lesson about the clothing, chores, and activities of kids in the colonial era
• French and Indian War

One day I told the story of George Washington fighting in this war. In a particular battle, two horses were shot from beneath him and he came away with four bullet holes in his coat - but he was not injured. Also mentioned Sir William Warraghiyagey Johnson, who was both an Englishman and a member of an Indian tribe during the French and Indian war

Highlights from Early Settlements Unit (Oct-Nov)

• Jamestown

Discussed the problems these settlers had when they first arrived and made graphic organizers to illustrate. Had a great lesson on John Smith in which we discussed why he was a good person to lead these settlers. Made the Jamestown fort models (see previous post with pictures :).

• Discussed (in general terms) how the Virginia Company (a stock company) worked - did an activity with fake money and a box labeled "Virginia Company"
• The First Thanksgiving - we had a great lesson just before Thanksgiving reading books, watching some informational film clips, and writing down new things that we learned about the Pilgrims at Plymouth

Performance of Jan Brett's "The Mitten"

I was so happy to have so many parents and siblings in attendance when we performed "The Mitten". We had a really fun time brainstorming and constructing props and costumes, working on acting using "body language", rehearsing...many students really had a chance to shine with these new experiences. It was so fun to see them come out of their shells and really get into the whole process.

I felt like this turned out to be a great thing for the entire class. They really owned it by the end!

Grandmother and Nicki - played by Kathryn Mulligan and Edward Lambert

The Mole - played by Greta Jolley

The Snow Hare - played by Miriam Rawlins

The Hedgehog - played by Emma Parish

The Owl - played by Libby Parish

The Badger - played by Charles Lambert

The Fox - played by Micah Rawlins

The Bear - played by Cael Bunker

The Mouse - played by Jase Jolley

Thanks to Alicia Rawlins for sharing this video with us!

Class Christmas Party

This post is about three months overdue - I apologize! Here are some pictures from our class Christmas party:

Everybody with their recently constructed Christmas crafts!

On the whiteboard it says "From your angels - we love you". We had just read a book about snow angels in class, and when I stepped out for a moment to get something, the kids quickly wrote the message on the board and were all standing by it when I returned. It was such a sweet moment! I almost cried!

The three oldest girls gathered and recorded some great information on different types of sharks. I was very impressed!