Animals Galore

Over the last couple of weeks we have been focusing a lot on animals.. and who doesn't love animals?!?!

While working on animals we also focused on informative writing. Throughout our unit we did several mini projects and one large grade-level project.

Before we could begin any of our research or projects we had to talk about different ways to classify animals. This was the anchor chart our class created:

 The next day I introduced a handful of endangered animals. We talked about what it meant to be endangered. We did a brief overview of several endangered animals. Each student created this foldable that included a few facts for each animal:

A few days later each student was able to choose 1 of the endangered animals to do a research project on. Students worked in groups to collect facts from a variety of sources on their endangered animal. They then used their facts to create a book about their animal. The pages in their book included:
1. Title page
2. Fact pages
3. Habitat page
4. About the author page

Here are some students doing their research:

The last element in each student book was a story. After everyone had learned many facts about their animal, they then turned their animal into a fictional story. Their story had to include a beginning, middle, and ending, as well as a problem and solution. These stories were typed by the students.. and man were they proud! :)

The last part of this project was that each student in first grade was able to create a diorama of their animal. They had to display its correct habitat. Each first grade class was able to tour the Barnwell Zoo.

In writing we have a been focusing on informative writing. Each student chose a different animal to do research on. We then worked through the writing process (graphic organizer, rough draft, peer/teacher editing, illustration, and final draft) to write an informative piece about an animal. After each student finished they made a Chatterpix of their animal. Check them out here:

http://padlet.com/nolan3/2xdiga3ubph

Here are two examples:

While studying animals we also learned about the life cycle of a Frog. We also learned facts about frogs and toads and compared both of them. For a finished product each student created a watercolor frog. They then used their frog to create a Chatterpix. Check out our finished products:

http://padlet.com/nolan3/d6eg4psb06ke

Here are two examples:

We have had a great last couple of weeks learning about animals! Thanks for reading our blog!