October Science

I realize that I am far too behind on this post but this year has been one of those "keep your head above water" years.  Going from early bird/late bird to AM/PM has been a big adjustment and I feel so behind all the time!  Anyway, here is the fun we've been having in our room in the past month.

Pumpkins

Our school is all about Thinking Maps this year in an effort to begin the preparations for CCSS.  I decided that in addition to the daily maps that we use, I wanted to pick a topic and go deep with it using every map.  Since it was October, pumpkins were an easy choice.  After all 8 maps, writing, and a table of contents, our pumpkin books were born!

 

We used a sponge to paint the cover and give it a composition book feel.

 We completed the table of contents last, by cutting and gluing.

 

 Our circle map organized our prior knowledge.  The kids did this independently as a starter to the unit.  This friend knew that pumpkins could have faces, seeds, and lines; and could be yellow or orange.

Next, we worked in small groups to make the bubble map.  I cut open a pumpkin and gave them a chance to explore and talk abut what they noticed.

Later, we compared and contrasted a small orange pumpkin and a large white pumpkin.

Then we used some cut-outs to organize information about pumpkins.

We read a book about the life cycle of pumpkins and then drew the sequence.

We cut open another large pumpkin in half, from top to bottom to look inside.  We talked about the different parts.

We thought about what makes pumpkins grow (seeds, soil, water, sun) and what happens after it grows (it can be a jack-o-lantern, pie, or toasted seeds).

 

We took what we knew about pumpkins and related it to other things.  A pumpkin is the color orange as an apple is the color red, as a strawberry is the color red, and as grapes are the color purple.  The kids chose fruits and veggies to use.

 Finally, we wrote.  The students started with a picture, labeled it, and wrote one or two sentences.

We are currently in the process of a similar book for Thanksgiving...stay tuned!

Bats and Spiders

We started with bats after we finished up with the pumpkins.  Our short unit included watching videos from United Streaming, looking at pictures online, reading books, and group discussion.  We mapped out our thinking as we went along, and finished with some group writing.

 

We regularly use a circle map in place of a KWL.  The red is what we already knew and the blue is what we learned along the way.  We recorded our questions on another chart.  What I love about thinking maps is that not only does this capture what we know, it also has the frame of reference: how we know what we know.  When my kids offered answers and suggestions, I asked them where they got the information.  They said TV, computers, the zoo, books, and seeing things.  I love that "I just know" is no longer an acceptable answer!

Next, we wanted to classify the information we found to further organize it and make sense of it all.  We used a tree map to do so.

 The tree map is a great tool for writing because it transitions smoothly to simple sentence structures.  From this, my kiddos were able to easily compose sentences that would have otherwise been too difficult to write by themselves.

I wrote some of the key words on sentence strips and asked kids to come up, pick the words they needed, and write the detail to complete the sentence.  They wrote them as the tree map was posted on the SMARTboard.  One friend even came up with his own sentence, which he added.

After we explored bats for a few days, we moved on to spiders.  We made a new circle map and used it in the same way.

My favorite comment from this one was, "We step on them!"  Yes, many people do step on them- but more importantly, I was getting real-life examples of their background knowledge.  They were making connections to their lives and building their schema.
 

Now that we had information from several sources about both topics, we were ready to compare and contrast.  For this, we used a double bubble map.  We pair/shared things we remembered talking about.  When someone offered a piece of information, I asked them where it should go.  Understanding the placement of information here is key.  It shows me that they understand (or don't) that some information only pertains to one of the creatures while other information related to both.  We also added the verbs so that writing would be a breeze later.

We composed this paragraph over the next couple days.  I put key words on the bottom and called on kids to come up and drag them to the top to create sentences.  We read through it over and over, and I added pictures to help.  As a text, this is WAY above my students' reading levels and would normally not be considered a grade-level-appropriate text.  However, because we spent so much time with the information and composed it from what we found, the kids could absolutely read it when we finished. 

I love color coding so we also went back and colored the capitals green (because that is where the sentence starts to go!)  The next step would be revising to improve the flow and structure.  I'll wait a little longer before introducing that though :)

I have now done a few units in this fashion at both the beginning of the year and the end.  They are great for teaching informative writing.  My newest discovery though is that they also (miraculously) align quite closely to the structure of a performance task on the CCSS tests!  I am on a committee for my district and I'm also participating in Writing Project 2 at UCI, so I have been talking about the Common Core a lot!  I have looked at some of the sample performance tasks and they have a very similar format to these units.  First a video or article is given to the students and they can take notes.  Then there is a class discussion about the topic and student are encouraged to use a graphic organizer for the information.  Then students may be given one more genre on the topic.  Finally, they are asked to take that information and write about it.  I am thrilled that my kinders (the first guinea pigs to be tested in 3rd grade and all the way through) will already have experience doing this type of activity!

WW with reading connection

In the past two weeks we have turned WW up a notch.  My kiddos have been doing well with labeling and I wanted to go further to enhance their writing.  I saw a super cute anchor chart from Reading and writing project.com and decided to add some more elements.  I introduced a new story element every couple of days.  I recorded the elements on the anchor chart and focused on them in my own writing during my mini-lesson modeling.  Then I invited my kinders to practice incorporating those elements in their own writing. 

 

Our WW starts with a mini-lesson, 10 minutes of quiet writing time, and ten minutes of writing time they can use to work with others.  I also use those last ten to conference.  Lucky for me, I have my RtI support teacher in there with me, so we can both pull kids.  Unfortunately, those ten minutes of conferencing were only productive for the kids conferencing.  The other 28 at their seats were talking, playing, and definitely off task.  I had a few super stars who kept working, but most of them had reached their limit.  I needed a way to make that time productive for everyone (so that I could actually conference and not be a police officer!)  We had been using the anchor chart to guide our writing, and I wanted them to continue with that during the last ten minutes.  We practiced with some Author's Chair time:  I picked a few students each day who shared their pieces and we gave positive feedback.  To my pleasant surprise, my kids were saying things like, "I like the way you used characters" and "You did a good job showing us your setting."  I was THRILLED.  They were using the terms without me even prompting or asking them.  Once I saw that, I knew I could use this to my advantage.  Our last ten minutes soon transformed into buddy sharing time.  My kids paired up, found a comfy spot, shared their writing, and with the help of a mini-rubric, discussed what went well and what they could add.  It was AMAZING to walk around and hear their conversations.  They were talking about adding trees as details in the setting.  They were stretching out words to incorporate in their writing.  They were using everything I had hoped they would and they were productive the entire time.  Once I saw that, I didn't even want to pull them for conferencing!

 

Here is the rubric I made for them to keep track of what they should include.  They could check each thing as they went and when they met with a buddy.

 

Here is a sample from one of my little friends.  He is low academically, but LOVES writing time.  The smile on this kid's face when he gets to share is priceless.  His picture shows he has a long way to go, but I'm still thrilled with his progress.  He has characters, he has labeled them (with letters), his characters have feelings, he has a rainbow to show his setting is outside, he added eyelashes to his sister (details), and wrote letters on the bottom to include the "words" of his story.  He is incorporating all of the elements (showing he is understanding what is expected) at his level (showing it is meaningful for him).

 This friend is my resident illustrator.  His character is another boy at his table, and his setting is our classroom (we have bears on the windows and walls for the PM class).  He labeled his picture and used the label to write a sentence.  I met with him later at conferences and he added more details and words to his sentence.  He is ready to write words and is definitely using his time productively.

This is the work of another friend ready to write words.  He has included happy characters (spiders and a friend), in a setting outdoors (with a sun).  He has labeled parts of his picture and incorporated that label in a sentence.  I love his kinder spelling!

After seeing these results, I wanted to take the opportunity to reinforce the terms and elements when reading.  I wanted to use our anchor chart to show how most stories we read can also serve as a mentor text. 

 I created this chart to mirror our writing anchor chart and highlight these story elements when we read in class.  We used If You Give a Moose a Muffin as our first mentor text with the chart.  I read the book to the class and afterwards, we pair/shared answers for each element.  I wrote their answers on post-its and stuck them on in the appropriate places.  It worked perfectly!  I laminated the chart so we could also write on it with dry-erase markers.  We have used it a few times and it's been a great tool to reinforce the vocabulary and reading comprehension.

UCI Writing Project

Over the next four weeks I am lucky enough to be participating as a Fellow in the UCI Writing Project Summer Institute.  Other than being a mouthful, the project is an opportunity for teachers K-12 to come together, share ideas, share stories, develop as writers and readers, collaborate, present lessons, and become incredibly close in a short amount of time.  So far it is only day two and I already know many of the 20 Fellows well.  I have also picked up a ton of great ideas and strategies that I would love to share.  I will use this space to document my journey through the experience and share the wealth of expertise I am fortunate enough to witness and actively participate in with this amazing group of passionate professionals.

Click on the different topics on the sidebar to see all the gems I've picked up :)

Book Retriever

I just found a cool new app that I cannot wait to use in my classroom!  This app is exactly what I've been looking for.  The app is a simple way to not only organize and catalog your classroom library, but keep track of your books.  Last year was my first year with AR and my classroom library grew a TON.  My kids loved reading books in every spare moment in class, but also begged me to take them home to read again and share with their families.  How can I say no to that?  In the beginning, I tried desperately to keep track of every book coming in and out of the classroom, but it became overwhelming and too time consuming.  By the middle of the year, I just stopped keeping track and was lucky that I had great kids with great families and got back nearly every single book.  Next year I plan on being much more organized and I think this app will do the trick!  It is made for iPhones but works just fine on my iPad.  Once I created an account, all I had to do was scan the barcodes of my books to add them to my library.  Some are already in the system and the rest just needed a title and author.  I could also type in the AR level which was great.  Once I get a class list, I'll add each of my students and can check-in/out my books by simply scanning them!  It's like I have a real library!  I may even make library cards for my kiddos :)  99 cents well worth it!