Weather and the sun

The weather has been changing and the children have been spending more time outside.  This is a good time to talk about the science behind the changes.  What is weather?  What do the children know about it?

As a group the children have discussed seasons, weather terms, and even some extreme weather conditions.  Each day the children look at the weather and compare temperature, clouds coverage, precipitation, and make weather predictions.

The next step is for them to think critically about the sun, its purpose, and plan to create a structure to block out the sun.

Making posters

Now that the children have gathered facts through research and chosen which facts were the most important, they planned out a way to showcase their information.

Below you will see some of their work.  With some guidance from the teachers about how to organize their facts, the children went to work making their posters.

The Little "blue" Penguin is only 13 inches tall!

Here it is!

Animal facts

After the children finished their books, they were inspired to keep going.  The books were limited in the facts they presented.  The children began thinking things like, "how loud is my animal?" or "what is a predator to my animal?"  I then brought out a sheet of paper for each child so they could write down anything new they thought was exciting or wanted to know.

Step 3:  Fill out fact sheets

The children conferenced with Ms. Amy weekly and came up with plans on what else they would like to know about their animal.  With Ms. Amy's help, they answered questions and picked out relevant information.

From there, the children highlighted facts that they wanted to display on a poster.  What did they want to teach their peers?  The Explorers?

The start of animal research

Through the school year, the children have become great scientists.  They have used tools, practiced experiments, investigated and solved problems, and done some research.  In order to prepare for an end of the year field trip, they were going to put their skills and understanding of research to use.  Individualized research has been something they have not done yet.  As a class we have focused on the same research questions and worked individually or as small groups to answer it.  Each child now will be picking a zoo animal of their choice and learning whatever they want to learn about it.

Step 1:  Choosing an animal from the Detroit Zoo

The plan is to go to the zoo at the end of the year.  In order to be prepared, each child can choose an animal and research it.  That way they can share their "expert" knowledge with the class before we go to the zoo.  Each child looked at the list of animals and choose one.

Step 2:  Start research


I started small by giving each child a book for them to fill in blanks.  This got them thinking about what else they would want to know.

 



















Step 3 coming soon!

David Shannon

He mac pep rweo.  I like how he mac anomz.

He makes people real.  I like how he makes animals.

Mo Willems

He rit ubowt pigin box.

He writes about pigeon books.

Dr. Seuss

He make up amos and cat and the hat. Oso he is my farit ofr.

He makes up animals and cat and the hat.  Also, he is my favorite author.