Make a ping pong ball float with EASY Bernoulli principle experiment demonstrating how airplanes fly. FUN physics science experiment!
Engaging Age of Exploration Unit with 10 lesson plans for 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade. Every lesson, worksheet, and activity is planned.
Learn about electricity for kids with a simple working light bulb experiment where you make an incandescent light bulb like Thomas Edison!
This school year, I’ll be creating and posting 170 brand new Esti-Mysteries. I’ll be posting a new one nearly every day for the rest of the school year – just like last year. The …
In this resource you will find the main uses, affirmative, negative, and interrogative forms, and examples of the past simple, present simple, and future simple. It also includes an exercise sheet for affirmative and negative sentences as well as yes / no questions with short answers. It's a quick grammar guide for both teachers and students. Get the full resource here: English Tenses
The children use gum erasers and watercolor markers to make relief prints with surprising results. For ages 9 to 13. Plan 2 to 3 sessions. KEY IDEAS Learning about relief prints Experiencing the power of repetition in design Experimenting with different colors and printing patterns LANGUAGE relief print, repetition, pattern YOU WILL NEED Rice paper or other absorbent printing paper cut into 7- by 9-inch pieces—one for each child 1-inch square gum erasers—one for each child plus a few extra Guide sheets—print one for each child Black fine-line permanent markers (Faber-Castel markers are odorless.) A variety of linoleum carving tools—liners, v-gouges, u-gouges, and large gouges Exacto knife Broad-tipped watercolor markers Scrap paper for testing prints Magazines for printing pads—one for each child Toothbrush Paper towels 1-inch deep Styrofoam trays from the grocery store to make holders for the markers (optional) THE PROJECT First Session Preparation The watercolor markers will be used repeatedly. Capping and recapping them becomes tedious. To make the process easier, and keep the markers from drying out, construct holders using the Styrofoam trays. In the bottom of each tray, cut several holes slightly smaller than the diameter of the marker lids. Turn the trays upside down and push in the lids with their open-sides facing up. Leave the lids in the holders while using the markers. When not in use, the markers can rest in their lids without snapping them tight. (See picture below.) Set out the Styrofoam holders, watercolor markers, permanent markers, and gum erasers. Set out the linoleum carving tools, toothbrush, magazine pads, and scrap paper. Have an exacto knife available, but set aside. How to Begin Explain to the children that they will be carving designs into erasers and using watercolor markers to make relief prints. When printed, the areas that are cut away will remain the color of the paper, while the uncut or raised areas will print the colors that have been applied to them. The repetition, or repeating, of relief prints can create surprising new patterns. Demonstrate to the children the proper use of the cutting tools. Hold the side of the eraser that is closest to you and always cut away from your hand. With the tool almost horizontal to the eraser, push slowly into the surface, cutting away only a thin layer. The liner and v-gouge make fine lines; the u-gouge makes wider lines. The large gouge is used to cut away large sections. Avoid making deep cuts into the eraser which is not necessary and will make carving more difficult. On a piece of scrap paper, plan a few simple designs. Choose one to draw onto the eraser with black marker. Cut out the lines or the spaces between the lines with the carving tools. Remove any bits of eraser caught in the cut-away areas gently with a toothbrush. Demonstrate the printing process by placing a piece of rice paper on a magazine pad. Explain that the softness of the magazine pad will make clearer, crisper prints. Choose two to four colors of markers to fill in the different sections of the design on the eraser, using the lighter colors first. Work steadily so that the print can be made before the watercolor dries. Press the carved side of the eraser down firmly on the paper, hold for a second, and lift in a straight-up motion. Check to see that the lines printed clearly. If not, make repairs by trimming where necessary, applying more color, and printing again. Emphasize that the watercolor must be reapplied before each impression is made. Experiment with different colors by wiping off the eraser with a damp sponge and drying it well. Apply new colors and test again. Demonstrate some ways the children might make their prints, such as in a circular pattern or alternating the prints in opposite directions. Have the children plan their designs, draw them on their erasers, and carve them with the linoleum tools. Remind them to always cut away from their hands and only cut a thin layer from the erasers. After experimenting with various combinations of colors and printing patterns, have the children write the ones they've chosen to use for their project on their scrap paper. Store the erasers along with the papers until the next session. Second/Third Session Preparation Make copies of the guide sheet, planning one for each child. Set out the erasers and plans from the previous session. Set out the Styrofoam holders, watercolor markers, magazine pads, rice paper, guide sheets, and black markers. How to Begin Explain to the children that, in this session, they will be repeating their relief prints to create surprising patterns. Lay a guide sheet on a magazine pad. Center the rice paper over the guide sheet and carefully tape the edges to hold the paper in place. With black marker, draw an arrow on the back of the eraser pointing to one of the eraser’s corners. Each print should be made within one of the squares on the guide sheet. The direction of the arrow should remain consistent throughout the printing process. For example, when printing in a circular pattern, the arrow should rotate, always pointing to a circle on the guide sheet each time a print is made. Have the children make their prints in their planned patterns. Be sure the children understand that the watercolor needs to be reapplied before each impression is made. Note: If a third session is planned, store the rice paper taped to the guide sheets and wipe the erasers with a damp sponge. NOTES Be sure the surfaces of the erasers are square, so the prints will line up properly. Sharing a variety of linoleum tools will work well. Each child does not need to have a full set. The children can practice and get a feel for the cutting tools by carving a few lines into the bottom of their erasers. It's good to have a few extra erasers. However, if a child makes a mistake while carving the design into the eraser, it is not always necessary to start over. When the print is repeated, it will still make an interesting pattern. Occasionally an exacto knife will be needed to remove a section of the eraser. This should be done under the guidance of an adult. When applying color to the eraser, put on the lighter colors first to keep them from picking up the darker colors. If the markers become discolored, wipe them with a paper towel. Use magazines instead of newspapers to pad the printing surfaces. Newspapers tend to leave marks on the rice paper. Although random designs on the erasers form interesting patterns, some of the children will appreciate the extra challenge of lining up their print. For example, when printing in the same direction each time, a line starting in the middle of the left-hand side and ending in the middle of the right-hand side will result in a continuous line. When printing in a circular pattern, a line in the middle of the right-hand side and ending in the middle of the bottom side will result in a continuous line that will eventually form a shape. All the prints shown in this lesson were made in a circular pattern. If time permits, it's fun to see the effects of using different colors and different printing patterns. LET'S TALK ABOUT OUR WORK What happens to the patterns as the prints are repeated? Why do some patterns have more white space than others? What the children might say... This eraser is so little I can’t fit much drawing on it. Why are chunks of my eraser popping off as I try to cut a line? How can I cut out a shape instead of a line? My yellow marker is coming out green? The tray for my markers keeps slipping away. Uh oh! I printed my eraser in the wrong direction. My project is so neat. It doesn’t even look like the design on my eraser. What you might say... Simple drawings will become more complex as you repeat your prints. Cutting too deeply into the eraser can cause chunks to break off. Remember to keep your tools horizontal as you carve a thin layer from your eraser. The large u-gouge tool works best for cutting shapes from your eraser. To keep the markers from becoming discolored, use the lighter colors first. If they still become discolored, you can wipe them with a paper towel. You can tape the Styrofoam tray to the work surface to keep it from sliding around. Remember to keep the direction of your arrow consistent as you print. If one of your prints is facing the wrong direction, it will become less noticeable when your paper is filled. It’s fun to see the effects that are created by using different colors or printing in different patterns. Click to view this lesson in a printer-friendly format.
Searching for book suggestions for fifth graders? Need a reading list for a 5th grader? Click here for 25 AWESOME book recommendations!
The children use white glue and aluminum foil to create prints with positive and negative lines. For ages 9 to 13. Plan 3 sessions. KEY IDEAS Creating unique effects through relief printing Working with positive and negative lines Understanding and using printing terms Making more than one print from a single printing plate LANGUAGE relief printing, positive lines, negative lines, printing plate, brayer YOU WILL NEED Liquid glue in small squeeze bottles (one per child) Cardboard with a glossy surface (approximately 6 x 8 inches) Printing paper Scrap paper Pencils with blunt points Water-based printing inks Soft rubber brayers Sheets of glass or Plexiglas for ink trays Oven-strength aluminum foil Masking tape Small bowls of glue with brushes Newspaper Toothpicks (optional) THE PROJECT First Session Preparation Adjust the caps on the glue bottles to get a thin flow of glue. Set out bottles of glue, cardboard, and pencils. Cover work area with newspaper. How to Begin The children will experience two different approaches in preparing printing plates, which are used to transfer images to paper. In this session, positive, or raised, lines will be made with white glue. Explain that when printing ink is rolled over the printing plate the protruding glue lines will get ink on them, so when the print is made the lines will be the color of the ink. In the next session, the children will be covering the printing plates with aluminum foil and pressing lines into the foil. This will create negative lines that will not get ink on them and will be the color of the paper when a print is made. Both of these processes are referred to as relief printing. Demonstrate how to draw on the printing plate with the white glue. Start by making a guideline with pencil, filling the cardboard with a drawing of a single animal or object. Explain that the thickness of the glue line will make small details disappear, so they will be added in the next session when working with the aluminum foil. Apply the glue by trailing along the lines, gently squeezing the container with the nozzle against the cardboard. Moving the bottle too quickly along the lines will cause the glue to skip and moving too slowly will cause the glue to puddle. After the children practice making glue lines on pieces of scrap paper, have them draw an animal or object on the cardboard with pencil, and then follow the lines with the white glue. Remind them to keep the cardboard flat so the wet glue lines will not run. Note: The glue needs to dry overnight before using the plates for printing. Second Session Preparation Cut aluminum foil into pieces slightly larger that the cardboard. Cover work area with newspapers. Set out printing plates, foil, masking tape, and pencils. Set out small dishes of glue with brushes. How to Begin In this session, the children will be gluing aluminum foil to their printing plates and drawing details and backgrounds into the foil while the glue is still wet. Demonstrate how to apply the aluminum foil. Brush the glue over the entire surface of the printing plate, smoothing any lumps or puddles. With the shiny side facing up, stretch the aluminum foil over the wet glue, pressing it down firmly, starting from the center and working out to the edges of the printing plate. It’s important to press over the entire surface so that all areas of the foil will adhere to the printing plate. Fold and tape the extra foil to the back of the printing plate. Using a blunt-pointed pencil, carefully indent the foil on both sides of the glue lines, working slowly so the foil doesn’t tear. Then add details and backgrounds by drawing into the foil. Encourage the children to fill the printing plates with lots of patterns and textures, such as leaves on trees, veins in leaves, and blades of grass. Have the children glue the foil onto the printing plates and complete their drawings while the glue is still wet. Third Session Preparation Prepare one or more printing stations. Each station should be covered with newspaper and include a magazine, an ink tray, a brayer, printing ink, and printing paper. Set aside a clean area for rubbing and pulling the prints. Plan space to dry the prints as they are pulled. Set out the prepared printing plates. How to Begin In this session, the children will be applying printing ink to their printing plates to make relief prints. Demonstrate the printing process by first placing the printing plate on a magazine. Explain that after the ink is applied, the page can be turned to give the next child a clean working surface. Squeeze about an inch of ink onto the ink tray. Use the brayer, or roller, to spread the ink in several directions. Be sure the children understand that the intention is to have the ink evenly distributed on the brayer rather than the ink tray. Using strong pressure, roll the inked brayer firmly over the printing plate several times. Refill the brayer by rolling it across the ink tray again. Then roll the brayer over the printing plate in another direction. Repeat this several times, pressing firmly, until enough ink has been transferred from the ink tray and is evenly distributed on the printing plate. To pull a print, place the printing plate on a clean surface with the inked side up. Lay a piece of paper on top of the plate. While holding the paper in place with one hand, use the other hand to rub firmly with the soft part of the finger tips. Be sure to rub the entire surface. Tell the children that an important characteristic of a quality print is its sharp, crisp edges. They should rub around all the edges very carefully. Holding one side of the print with one hand, lift up the other side to see if enough ink has been transferred to the paper. If not, let the paper drop and continue rubbing. When finished, gently pull the paper from the printing plate. Have the children spend the rest of the session making as many prints as time allows. NOTES Whenever demonstrating a process, use a subject different from the one that the children will be using. This will allow the children to think freely and not be inhibited by your ideas and interpretations. It is difficult to apply the glue lines evenly, but the resulting variations in thickness add interest to the final print. If necessary, puddles can be spread by pulling a toothpick through them. The shiny side of the aluminum foil is non-stick, so it is important to glue the dull side of the foil to the printing plate. If you glue the shiny side down, the print will not work because the non-stick foil will pull away from the printing plate when the ink is rolled across it. A proper amount of ink on the ink tray will sound tacky when rolling the brayer across it. If the sound is smooth or slimy, there is too much ink which will clog the fine lines in the aluminum foil. Therefore, it is best to have an adult refill the ink on the ink trays. Because of the raised glue line, extra pressure is needed when rolling the ink on the printing plate and care must be taken to rub the complete surface before pulling the print. If time permits, show the children how a finished print is numbered. The number of the impression is placed over the total number of prints made. For example, the first print pulled out of five prints would be 1/5; the second print pulled would be 2/5 and so on. This is written in pencil on the right hand side under the print. The artist’s name appears on the left hand side under the print, also in pencil. LET’S TALK ABOUT OUR WORK Is the ink distributed evenly on each print? Are the edges of the prints sharp and crisp? Discuss the positive and negative lines in the prints. What the children might say... I can’t get my glue bottle to work. There are blobs of glue all over. I pushed too hard with my pencil and the aluminum foil ripped. How much background do I need to draw? I like the sound that the brayer makes when rolling it in the ink. My print came out smeared. What you might say... When applying the glue remember to adjust how hard you squeeze. Although some puddles will not hurt your print, you can drag a toothpick through them to spread the glue. Be sure your pencil has a very blunt point so it won’t rip the foil. A few small tears won’t hurt as long as you have glued the foil very securely to the printing plate. Your print will be more successful if you fill your printing plate with details and textures. That tacky sound tells us that the proper amount of ink is on the ink tray. If the sound becomes slimy, we will need to remove some of the ink. When you make your print, be sure to use one hand to hold the paper in place while you rub with the other hand. Click here to view this lesson in a printer-friendly format.
Just print these 5th Grade Math Worksheets to get extra math practice at school, at home, or for summer learning - NO PREP, fun way to review!
TONS of science lessons, projects, and activities for kids of all ages organized by experiments, type of science, and holidays too!
I started by reading The Crayon Box that Talked , by Shane DeRolf. This is a great book for any age group. It is a rhyming story ab...
Cooperative Learning is a great strategy to use in every classroom. It doesn’t matter the age or ability of the students, cooperative learning can be…
This easy digestives system experiment explore how HUGE our large and small intestines are with an EPIC human body project for kids.
These 25 fun activities and games engage multiple senses to help kids develop a growth mindset and key life skills.
What are the coordinates of the triangle? This math worksheet lets your child practice reading and working with coordinate pairs to find and plot data points.
These book recommendations come from a 5th grade boy and are perfect for 5th graders. Make sure to check them out!
Are you looking for fun and engaging maths puzzles with answers for ages 12 and up? This collection of brain-bending maths puzzles with answers and hints is a great way to challenge yourself and develop your problem-solving skills.
These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back
If you're looking for some inspiration, check out these fun and educational STEM Games for kids of all ages! #stem #steam #stemeducation #gamification
Summer reading list for 5th graders; recommended books for 10-11 year olds, including a variety of genres, interests and topics.
Lots of FUN Moon Crafts, moon craft projects, and activities for kids of all ages to learn or Celebrate National Moon Day July 20th
“Mapping the World with Art” printable pages The following downloads are provided for those of you who purchased a hard copy of this curriculum. These are color copies that you can pri…
Before moving to the older grades I was petrified of teaching electricity and circuits because I didn't know! Brushing up on the material is now one of my favorite things to teach with so many ways to showcase their knowledge. Incorporate some of these projects in your teaching - really - the kids love it! We take about 3 weeks to complete our unit on Electricity! At the beginning of the unit we talk about Circuit Day and what options we have available to present. Students work in pairs to design something that will showcase a circuit and a full explanation script for people visiting their station! We invite other classes to come see our work and learn as well! Below are some of the options we had. I'll link if you want to check them out. Many were purchased over the course of a the year (by myself to take to another school if I wanted) or donated by the company. This is such a cool item! Here is the kit that we have but many parts can be replaced at a lower cost once you have the hang of it! We love incorporating them into other projects as you can see below! The pair working on this literally taught themselves in no time and were so proud to build one on their own not out of the book (it has blank pages to do so) Definitely worth the investment! The stickers LEDs did come off relatively easy so we can reuse them at least a couple other times. So ready for circuit day on Thursday!!!!! These sticker circuits are just one station- they thought they needed a buzzer too. My 5th graders are explaining how circuits work as students come around #scienceteacher #STEM #science #iteach456 #iteach4th #iteachtoo A video posted by Amber Nicole (@sssteaching) on Sep 15, 2015 at 2:04pm PDT Makey makey is an awesome tool for the classroom. It comes with alligator clips and a controller like device that you can plug in the computer. You can choose their variety of games or control anything on the computer with ANYTHING that conducts electricity! We had so much fun. We made water guitars, banana pianos, played a jumping game by high-fiving but really the possibilities are endless. Their sites has a great link up of ideas if you need a springing off point! #makeymakey Banana Piano!! My first creation! If you do not have a #makeymakey go get one if you teach #science #circuits #electricity #coding #STEM #somanypossibilities #iteach456 #iteachtoo #scienceteacher #engineering A video posted by Amber Nicole (@sssteaching) on Aug 7, 2015 at 2:06pm PDT This has got to be a favorite just because of the sheer amount of effort involved. This could literally be applied to any content! Just using aluminum tape, regular tape, LED, alligator clips and watch battery you have your own light up matching game, or operation, or whatever!! Here is the list of detailed instructions! My kids were able to make another on their own pretty easily as well. I have my 5th graders make review games for 4th grade! Such a great way to tie content together! This puzzle lights up when a complete circuit is made. It comes with templates that are labeled with levels so it can work for a variety to ages or as a game. This was definitely a fun option! Here is the link to something extremely similar. Squishy Circuits are very cool and easy to work! We can apply many concepts such as series and parallel circuits to this and be able to see very easily the results! You could use your own playdough, LEDs, batteries but the kit is inexpensive for the amount of light and other items like a buzzer that come with it. These lights work better than the smaller LEDS that I get from Radioshack if I end up buying anyway. you can build so many things with this and such an easy illustration! These were another labor of love but great for just raw materials - instructions here. Just using battery, paper clips, and lights/buzzer you can make your own circuit with an on/off switch. These are pretty cool to display and show others using creativity! Oh Scribble bot- great machine to show off powering circuits! Just attach a vibrating motor to a battery and put on side of a cup with markers and VOILA! A robot that scribbles on his own. I had a tough time keeping the battery and wires attached - something to improve on for next year. The Everything Machine from the App store ($) simulates circuitry with many options to build. Like a camera that takes a picture when motion is detected or a light that turns on when a color is present or sound....really endless possibilities. I love how it simulates! I used our a part of our yearly app budget to purchase this just on a classroom ipad to have! An important discussion we had was how static electricity differs from electricity that powers homes so I had some students working some of my Static Electricity Stations and explaining what the changes were. Snap Circuits were such a hit in my classroom! We truly love how many options and pieces it has to build so many cool projects! I had so many kids requesting to come in at recess to build! The projects progressively get harder but I had some students that would build on their own since they later knew how the parts worked. Here is a link to their awesome products. I plan to purchase some more for next school year just because of how durable and popular these kits are! Here is the invitation we placed around school and used in our video. This was our culmination to our chapter on Electricity! We are a rural school and we love our country music. They love this song so I rewrote it to fit the needs of our class. We filmed it to help promote our circuit where we invited other classes in school to see what we worked on. You can listen to audio of the song - here.
Scratch coding cards are a simple and straightforward way to introduce programming to elementary-aged kids. Start programming with Scratch today!
5th grade learned how construction lines help build a form. Construction lines are like beams that help support a building. The form we chose to draw was a shoe, straight off out feet! We turned our construction lines into contour lines. Contour lines are basically an outline of lines, shapes, and shadows in a form. Fifth grade worked so intensely on their drawings that they ran out of time to complete their watercolors. However, the product they did achieve was fabulous!
Make learning the elements of the periodic table fun with this free printable science battleship game for Chemistry!
Make a ping pong ball float with EASY Bernoulli principle experiment demonstrating how airplanes fly. FUN physics science experiment!
Engaging Age of Exploration Unit with 10 lesson plans for 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade. Every lesson, worksheet, and activity is planned.
This passages are aligned to RI.4.1 & RI.5.1 are perfect for teaching and developing 4th & 5th-grade inferences in nonfiction skills
Project-based learning has been in full swing for my 4th graders for the past month or so. I'm so excited to share the process and the results with you. My principal {requires} at least one project based unit each year. In our first "project" earlier this year, students negotiated and presented a $20,000 budget to the principal {for our government/economics unit}. If you are not familiar with project-based learning, the Buck Institute is a great place to start poking around. We were also strongly encouraged to figure out ways to incorporate the arts into our project because we are working to be recognized as a STEAM school. I decided to focus my PBL unit on Ecosystems/Organisms through an Ecosystems Mobile Museum Project--Project based learning? Check! Art...Oh yeah baby! {If you didn't catch my last post about my Ecosystems Research unit, you may want to go back and read that first.} I dare say this project was more fun and meaningful AND allowed me to incorporate lots of Language Arts and technology goals into a science-based unit. I'm going to share what we did {and if you are a PROJECT BASED whiz, please forgive me for coming late to the game AND I will admit that I do feel this is more INTEGRATED, INTERDISCIPLINARY than PBL, but it's a great start for this year}. One note to keep in mind as you read, I collaborated with the 5th grade teacher for this unit, so anything I did focused on Organisms and Ecosystems of NC, she applied to world biomes to meet the 5th grade standards. To launch our project, we planned a field trip to a local Natural Sciences museum. Before our visit to the museum, students received a "letter" from the museum challenging them to create a mobile museum to help the museum educate more children about ecosystems and organisms of North Carolina. The letter started with "You have been hired by the Museum of Natural Sciences to help create a mobile museum exhibit. A mobile museum exhibit is one that can be moved around from place to place. We believe that mobile museums are important for helping us educate more students beyond the walls of the museum." Driving Question: Project-based learning is supposed to start with a driving question. Our driving question was "How can we create a museum that educates children and adults of all ages about our state ecosystems and wildlife?" In 4th grade, Students chose an organism local to NC’s coastal plain or the mountain region (also included temperate deciduous forest animals). 5th grade students focused on organisms from specific biomes. All students used the research pages provided to learn about their organism in-depth. The journal pages provided a focus for students’ research and the 5th grade teacher and I each chose the sheets that matched our standards. After researching their organism, students wrote research papers AND turned those papers into Google slide shows (or other presentations) to be shown as interactive learning stations during the mobile museum. I also had plans for us to pull sentences and paragraphs from students’ articles to create informational posters for our mobile museum displays, but we didn't get the time to include this in our exhibit. {Can you say "SNOW DAYS"?} After students completed their slideshows, I had them pair up with another student who studied a similar organism and they completed the venn diagram from my Ecosystems research booklet materials. I thought this was a great way for students to experience one another's projects, but then I also realized it was a great way for them to get feedback and a motivator for revision. So, after doing the comparison activity, I copied the niche, behavioral adaptations, and physical adaptations sheets and paired students again. This time, students had to try to fill in the niche and adaptations sheets using only the information their partner provided in the slideshow. (I call this "backwards mapping" as students were kind of trying to work backwards from the slideshow to the research template.) This activity created a lot of motivation to revise their projects and to include missing information. (Constructive feedback for 21 kids given by other classmates? PERFECTO!) Simultaneously with our in-class research, students created a 3-D model of their organism with either clay or by felting in art class. After getting a good grip on our research and slide shows, I divided students into groups based on their specific ecosystem (Mountains/Forest in Mountains, by the Riverside, in a Forest by the coast, etc) and they worked together to design ecosystem murals to serve as backdrops for our Mobile Museum Exhibits. {Mural design and painting happened mostly in my classroom! I was so scared to take on "real" art happening in my classroom, but now I'm so glad I did it!} I cut butcher paper fit to the size of tri-fold boards. Groups figured out how one backdrop would flow into the next so that we had a “mountains to sea” display. When the mobile museum was ready, we opened in the cafeteria and invited parents and all classes to attend. In case you can't tell by the pictures below, it was AH~mazing! As grade levels came to visit, my students grabbed one student and led them around the museum. (I made a little checklist/scavenger hunt of all the organisms in our museum so that they would have a little something to engage them at the museum.) I spent the morning watching my students share their slideshows and what they had learned with students in other grades. It was so cool to see a culmination of all their hard work! I do have some wishes for what I wish we had time to add to these projects: * I wanted a key of the organisms (instead of using the labels you see) where students create a simple illustration of the environment and use numbers and a key to identify each organism. (This is how it's done at our local museum's exhibits) * I wanted foreground environmental stuff (you see those bare tables? I would have loved for students to have had time to add sticks, leaves, grass, moss, etc. to the displays) * the DECOMPOSERS in the ecosystem are missing! (Whoops!!! Something else that needed to be added to the foreground) * Using information from students' slideshows and research to add displays and info boxes to the exhibit (like at a real museum--you have info to read as you move through the exhibits) * And lastly, I truly had the goal of having students create one hands-on learning tool in partners. This would have helped us better meet our "Driving Question" and would have required more critical thinking as students become teachers. The 5th graders were able to pull this off. Here's two examples from their projects: You might ask how much time this took. We began our projects in January and wrapped up at the beginning of March. We also had nearly two weeks of snow days in there. I would estimate that we spent 2 weeks on research, 2 weeks on typing drafts, one week on slideshow creation and mural creation (same week), and that the art teacher used 5 or so art classes to help students get their 3D organisms completed. Keep in mind all of the standards I included with this one project--research and reading informational texts, writing informational texts, creating slideshows/utilizing technology, art, communicating and collaborating (to design a cohesive mural together), all of my ecosystems science goals, and a better understanding of the regions of North Carolina (social studies). I call this a WIN WIN! and my students are excited to do it again in 5th grade for their biomes unit! I'll be reflecting on my {first} project-based learning unit using this Project Design Rubric and a PBL Essential Elements Checklist, but for now, I'm going to bask in the glowing light of joy from having my students complete 3D organism models that look amazing, a collaborative mural backdrop that flows from one environment to the next, a final research booklet, research paper, and a google slide show. I can hardly measure the time put into this project, but I dare say it was less than or equal to what it would have taken to teach research, nonfiction writing, slideshow design, and ecosystems separately. And this project surely created memories of 4th grade!
Analyzing character traits is a key fiction reading skill that is needed for successful comprehension. In most cases, authors do not just come out and tell readers the traits that a character possesses. By teaching
Our last day of 5th grade Handwork next week the kids will wear their socks, drink Hot coco and play monopoly My 10th grade is doing great in their Fine Arts class. So happy with their progress in Acrylic art Media
Get this free printable Mini Unit on Latitude and Longitude for kids ages 8-10. Inspired by our recent field trip to the equatorial line in Ecuador!
