The Foot Bone is Connected to the Ankle Bone...
If an alien had just landed from outer space what would it want to know about the human body? Third grade students brainstormed some questions to guide their research about human body parts. In addition to learning science content about the human body, students practiced information literacy skills by taking notes using key words and phrases (rather than complete sentences); learned to organize their information using color coding; and cited their sources. A big thank you goes out to the many parents who volunteered their time to come in and lend a helping hand to students who needed assistance. Students used their research to write a report and create an accompanying project at home. Mrs. Grady's class created a podcast the "ABCs of the Human Body" featured in Bill Carozza's HMS Podcast #42.
Stormy Weather...
Three of the four second grades came in to research various types of weather including snow, lightning, wind, sunshine, fog, and rain. (The other second grade will come in after vacation). They read brief nonfiction books to build background knowledge about their topic, and then went back and took notes on the important information. They used special note taking sheets in the shape of their type of weather (snowflakes for snow, raindrops for rain, etc.). They then used their note taking sheets to make a weather mobile. This project was intended as a quick and fun beginning research project to give students practice in taking notes and writing a simple citation with author and title information.
Story time ...
The first grade students have been in to hear some Spring time stories (Kite Day by Will Hillenbrand, Stuck by Olive Jeffers, and Flip Flap Fly (by Phyllis Root). During another visit, they were asked to compare and contrast two stories about hens Emma's Eggs by Margriet Ruurs and The Easter Egg Farm by Mary Jane Auch. In honor of National Library Week, we read Our Library by Eve Bunting, and heard about a true story called The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba.
Meet the Author: Mo Willems
Kindergarten students learned a song about what authors and illustrators do, and then heard about books by author and illustrator Mo Willems. They watched this brief video in which Mo Willems talks about his books for kids who don't know how to read yet:
Students might enjoy this website featuring the characters from Mo Willems books and some fun games to play: Meet Mo Friends!
