Hi all! I found this treasure, On Mother's Lap by Ann Herbert Scott, among my Mother's Day books and decided to use it this week. You may ask why it's a treasure. Well, I think it has a great lesson, that a mother's love is all-encompassing and there is always room on her lap. This book is especially good for any little one in your classroom who has a new baby sister or brother. We forget sometimes, as adults, that it can be difficult for youngsters to share.
I also like this book because you can have your kids rock "back and forth, back and forth," as you say the words in the story. It's kind of funny, because I'm talking about different movements and motions in science right now. So I added a new graphic organizer page to my Motion and Matter set that includes a rocking chair. The kids really made the connection between science and reading. If you're interested in looking at this science pack, here's the TPT link. These graphic organizers are really wonderful to use as assessments for science.
Ok, so here are some freebies. I use these pictures to teach the lesson and to discuss different types of movement:
I also used scarves to have my children simulate "around and around", "back and forth", "side to side", and "up and down." Some of the songs that I used were "The Freeze" by Greg & Steve, "The Body Rock" by Greg & Steve, and "Spin and Stop" by Music Together.
Last, but not least, for comprehension I used this graphic organizer to see if the children could notice details by choosing which items Michael took with him on Mother's Lap:
For my Science Sunday post today, I'm going to be talking about trips to the zoo and the aquarium. First of all, I found this totally awesome book about a family going to the aquarium called My Visit To The Aquarium by Aliki. I never even knew this book existed - what a find! I knew Aliki had written a terrific book about the five senses, but you really have to check out this book. It's so super-cool because it's realistic and filled with facts and detailed pictures. I think the narration style of the book also allows children to feel like they're really going along with the characters on the field trip.
I wanted to provide a link for you to take a virtual trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore, in case you don't have an aquarium near you. The main page displays colorful photo samples of many varieties of animals at the aquarium, which you can click on for more pictures, information, and videos. From the main page you can also narrow it down to only show you animals that meet certain requirements such as features (beak, fur, scales, etc.), colors, or where in the world they live.
I just made a brand new product on TPT for $2.00 that includes aquarium, zoo, pet, and farm writing folders. It's a great way to integrate science with reading and writing, which I'm especially fond of. I don't want to forget about science, but I also want to give my students unique opportunities to write about things connected to the real world. I don't know about your kiddos, but mine love ANYTHING to do with animals!
"My Visit to the Zoo" by Aliki
A second book that Aliki has written is My Visit To The Zoo. I like it for the same reasons I liked the aquarium book, but I wanted to mention that the people in this zoo book are very multicultural. I think it's very good for our children to see themselves represented in books.
Here is a link to a virtual tour of the National Zoo. The web site offers really interesting facts about animals, shows you maps of the trails and exhibits at the zoo, and even has live webcams so you can see the animals moving around in real time!
I'd love to hear about other virtual tours that you do with your kids. Please leave a comment below. :)
Hello everyone! I'm doing my color theme right now at school, and I don't think any color theme is complete unless you bring in some science and talk about mixing. Most of you know about the book Mouse Paint - I've done a previous post about that book. But there's a book that I think is also super cute: White Rabbit's Color Book by Alan Baker. My kids also noticed right away that this book is very similar to Mouse Paint. In fact, I didn't even ask them the question. They just started blurting out "Wow! Mrs. Dudley, did you know that this book is just like that other book, Mouse Paint?" I just smiled and said "I wonder how that happened?" And then the kids giggled because they knew I planned it.
The night before I read the book to my class, I made this sheet where the kids have to color the final rabbit in each row to show what the rabbit looked like after dunking himself in paint each time.
I also have this new color series of books that I made and posted on TPT: Interactive Color Guided Reading Books. I've been using them in the class and they've really helped my students learn their color words as well as their sight words.
As I was thinking about this post, I remembered that I had made a color mixing guided reading book, once upon a time. So this morning, I searched and - sure enough - I found it.
It's so funny to me that I have so much stuff I actually have to start cataloging what I've already made so that I don't make it again! Do any of you have to do that?
Since we're all going crazy with Common Core right now, I thought I would also put in the language arts standard that I think relates best to this topic:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.3: With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
Does anyone know if cause and effect is anywhere in the kindergarten reading Common Core standards? It seems to me that that's actually what color mixing would be, but I couldn't find it. Maybe it's in the first grade standards?
Please let me know if any of these freebies are helpful.
One of my favorite units to teach in science is habitats. I think over the years I've gotten better and better at incorporating all of the subjects within my habitat unit. The books in the carousel above are perfect for any habitat unit, especially because of the new Common Core Standards. I love them because of the realistic, vivid illustrations and the simple, factual text on each page. My students were really engaged as we read these books to them, and they asked many intelligent questions that led to more in-depth study about sharks, scorpions, and poisonous frogs and snakes.
I really like starting my lesson off with the songs "Habitat" by Walkin' Jim Stoltz, "Habitat Scat" by Mar Harman, and "Habitat Homes" by Dr. Jean. I then read one of the habitat books from the carousel above. Next I use a giant graphic organizer, either on a chart with realistic pictures or on the floor with plastic animals. Here is a lesson plan that I think will thoroughly describe exactly what I do. We have to do full-out lesson plans at our school, and this lesson plan was especially tweaked for an ESOL class that I'm taking. I hope it's useful.
I wanted to do some writing mixed with science, and I found that my students kept asking me how to spell the names of animals found in the various habitats that we were doing. I decided to make sentence starters with word banks so that I could really concentrate on circulating around the room and finding out if my children understood what a habitat was. The papers worked beautifully. Here is a sample of one that you can use with your kids:
I put up a whole Animal Habitat Unit on TPT including a writing prompt for a multitude of habitats and some graphic organizers. If you buy this unit, here are some teaching tips to make things run really smoothly. The first day that I used one of these writing prompts, a few of my students decided to rewrite the initial prompt. I should have modeled for them on the Visualizer how to complete the prompt. I learned my lesson, however, and I did that every day after the first time. After the first writing prompt, I pulled some samples to show to the students. I sort of used them as anchor charts to help the students to know what a high score would look like and what I expected from them. My students caught on really quickly. They started critiquing each other's work. I heard comments such as "Oh, if you want a good grade on that you have to use more color," and "Maybe you could label your picture; Mrs. Dudley might like that."
Finally, here are a few Animal Habitat Books that you might want to take a look at.
Please let me know what you think, or if you have any questions.
I really enjoy writing posts about science and social studies, because it's so necessary for logical thinking and problem solving, which are big parts of the core curriculum. The book What's Alive by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld is beautiful for kindergarten. It's appealing and factual at the same time. It talks about similarities and differences between us (people) and plants and animals. It very clearly states what living things need to stay alive. I also like how the girl in the story has a wall display of living and non-living things at the end of the story, and how she talks about things that were once alive but not anymore (such as a plant that has wilted, or a bird that has fallen from a nest).
A fabulous song to use with this book is Dr. Jean's "Basic Needs". It's sung to the tune of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes", but it talks about different animals (including people) and what we need to stay alive. I don't know about you, but I love matching books to songs.
Here is a graphic organizer that I will use as an assessment for my students after I do some sorting of magazine pictures.
Please let me know what you think of this graphic organizer, and if you'd like me to make more for units dealing with needs and wants of living things. If you'd like to look at other graphic organizers in my TPT shop, check out my Animal Graphic Organizers or Motion and Matter Graphic Organizers.
I just remembered two other really great songs for a living things unit: "Growing" by Hap Palmer and "I am a Flower" by Jack Hartmann.
Since I talk so much about being a "five senses" teacher, I thought it fitting that I write a post specifically about books, songs, and projects related to the five senses and people who are differently abled.
There's a wonderful book, Lucy's Picture, about a little girl whose class is given an assignment to create a picture. Lucy decides to make a tactile collage for her grandfather, who is blind. You don't know that her grandfather is blind until the end of the book, and this is a story that is fun and keeps the attention of any pre-k or kindergarten class. I like how the teacher encourages Lucy to explore in her own way instead of stifling her creativity. I think that creating collages (using different types of materials) is an excellent way to teach new vocabulary, textures, colors and shapes. When my students finish their collages, I ask them to describe their pictures to me using a variety of adjectives. This is a great way to assess how your children's language has grown over time. I also keep the finished collages in their portfolios, with the children's own descriptions of their work attached. I have gotten into the habit of collecting scraps of material (denim, silk, corduroy, aluminum foil, sandpaper, and scrapbooking paper, to name a few) and cutting them into many different shapes over the summer, because one of our first units is about the five senses. And I LOVE having the students make these collages!
Textured Collage Shapes from Lakeshore
Lakeshore sells an assortment of Textured Collage Shapes that makes this a thousand times easier if you don't want to sit and cut out the fabrics. They're on sale right now!
Some fabulous songs for a five senses unit are:
Five Senses by Dr. Jean 5 Senses by Jack Hartmann Listen to the Sounds by Jack Hartmann Five Senses by Mar Harmon
I found that these songs are all very easy for the kids to sing after just listening to them one time.
The Listening Walk, from the carousel at the top of the post, is a marvelous book for focusing on hearing. I collected many sound effects (by searching for and downloading them in iTunes) to match the sounds in the book, so that I could enhance the story telling by playing the sounds in my classroom. One album that was especially helpful was "Greatest Sound Effects" by Audio Environments & Co. The kids truly enjoyed guessing what sounds were on the CD.
Students exploring scent bottles in science center
I also created scent bottles for my science center by adding store-bought extracts and cotton balls (to help prevent the liquids from leaking out) to clear bottles, gluing the pull-out caps on, and letting children try to match bottles to picture cards. My students loved playing with these in science center, and it was a safe way for them to explore their sense of smell.
Dog Bones Tactile Set from Learning Resources
I am always looking for new toys to put into my science center. Last Christmas, a friend bought me this oh-so-cute Dog Bone Tactile Set from Learning Resources that fits into an adorable dog house for easy storage. Again, this is a great way to have your students use their sense of touch while learning new vocabulary and comparing and contrasting textures.
Mystery Box from Lakeshore
This Mystery Box from Lakeshore is much larger than the dog house and can be used for years because it's wood and very sturdy. Inside mine I have placed tactile pillows, letters, numerals, and a wide variety of objects found around the house for the children to guess based on feeling the items. This center is always exciting for the kids, especially if you frequently change what's inside the box. You can also specialize the activity for phonemic awareness, for example, by filling the box with items that start with one particular letter.
If you're interested in some really fabulous Graphic Organizers about the five senses, I've made a nice set on TPT that's easy to use with your children.
Please feel free to ask me any questions about the books or projects in this post. I especially enjoy talking to people about this topic. ;-)
