Birders

The 1st and 2nd grade students have officially become "birders".

Two weeks ago, we went out into the field, binoculars in hand, to bird watch at the Columbus Audubon Center.

At the center, we learned about an IBA (Important Bird Area) and about the different categories of birds that can be found in Ohio (Spring/Summer Migrants, Winter Residents, Year-Round Residents). The students had the opportunity to go outside and bird watch in different areas around the center.

We even had the opportunity to watch Ornithologists up close as they were banding birds. This means that they catch birds in a net, band their ankles for identification and then will track the migration of these birds to see how far north and south they fly.

Reece was lucky to see her bird, the Cedar Waxwing, up close and personal before they let it go after banding it!

Last Friday we jointed the other 1st & 2nd grade classes on a trip to the Columbus Zoo. After hearing a presentation from a Columbus Zoo employee, we split up into groups to explore the zoo.
We all made sure to visit the aviary where the students had the opportunity to see their bird up close!

This week we have been working very hard on taking our bird research and putting it into the form of a field guide. The students each created their bird's page, along with an author's note, table of contents, index and glossary. The students are excited to share the finished product with their families and friends so they can spread their knowledge and enthusiasm about birds and bird watching.

Tomorrow morning is the opening of our Bird Museum. We are so excited to share our Ohio Bird Study with our families! We are looking forward to seeing you all there!

Birds!

Indigo Buntings, Bald Eagles, House Sparrows, Oh My! 

We are full-force into our bird research! The students have spent this week working very hard on using a variety of sources to gather information about their Ohio bird of choice. The students are investigating the following topics about their birds: description, habitat, diet, nesting & interesting facts. Today we finished up using field guides, non-fiction books and the internet to collect facts. The next step in this process will be taking the facts that we have gathered and writing paragraphs that will be used to create a class field guide.

The students are becoming quite the experts on Ohio birds. A visit from Mrs. Van was a great way to get the children excited about becoming "birders". Mrs. Van taught us several facts about birds that are native to Ohio. She even brought along different birds for us to see up close and personal!

Tomorrow, we will be out in the field gathering research as we practice our bird watching skills. Today we discussed what we will be doing tomorrow on our visit to the Audubon Center and even practiced using quiet voices and listening as we heard the call of all 21 birds that we are researching.

Not only are we using our research skills to learn about our birds, but we have been busy working on other things in our classroom. For the last 2 weeks, the students worked on creating their own "bird stories". We all worked through the writing process together, breaking it up into small parts so the task did not feel so overwhelming.

• First, we created story sketches and story maps that included the beginning, middle and end of the story. 
• Next, we used our story maps to write a more detailed beginning, middle and end. 
• Once the stories were completed, we revised the stories to make them stronger. 
• Then we edited for spelling, capital letters and punctuation. 
• The final step in this process will be publishing. The children decided on taking their stories and creating a class book that includes each of their finished pieces.

The students felt very proud of how their stories turned out. Many of them said that they didn't think they could "write a story that long"! I, also, was very proud of each and every one of them for the hard work that they put into their writing. It definitely shows in their stories!

For the last few weeks, we had 2 chrysalises inside of our classroom that were waiting to transform into Painted Lady Butterflies. Last Friday, we noticed that one of the chrysalises was now a beautiful butterfly. On Monday, we came to school to find that the other chrysalis had also transformed. Yesterday afternoon, we went out to the garden to set the 2 butterflies free. We discussed that it was important to let the butterflies go outside, since our classroom is not the right habitat for these butterflies. It was a great ending to the day to watch the 2 (plus Will's butterfly from home!) Painted Ladies fly freely into the sky!

I am looking forward to next week! We will be working on creating our field guides, choosing writing pieces for our portfolios and publishing the bird stories. We will end the week with our long-awaited field trip to the zoo!

Poetry Cafe

In honor of National Poetry Month, we transformed our classroom into a Poetry Cafe. Each child selected a poem and read it aloud for everyone. We had a wonderful turn out and the children loved sharing their poems on the stage in front of their families. Here is Poetry Cafe presented by our very own 1st and 2nd grade students:



This week each child will be selecting their Ohio bird and we will begin the research part of the study. The children will also begin creating a clay bird in art this week. The children are already loving reading about birds in the field guides so I can't wait to watch the children transform into experts on their Ohio birds.

Also this week, we will:

• Continue our weather observations
• Read in small groups 
• Continue to read Birdbrain Amos by Michael Delaney 
• Observe in the garden 
• Write our own personal bird stories 
• Have our Cooperation Celebration since we finally earned all of the stickers for our Indoor Recess Clean-Up!

Hard at Work

This has been a whirl-wind of a week in our 1st and 2nd grade class! The children have been hard at work and the evidence is covering our walls.

Tuesday night our classroom was a part of the Showcase of Learning. Our China research, literature, digital storybook, photographs and the Beast were all on display.

We also hung our Spring mural, Hello Spring, Goodbye Winter poems and field notes from our garden observations.

This week Matthew A. and Grayson served as our classroom meteorologists. Each day they brought us the morning weather report and also documented the temperature, cloud cover, precipitation and wind each afternoon. Over the next few weeks, we will continue to document the weather and begin to look at any patterns we might notice.

Wednesday morning we kicked off our study of Ohio birds. Our classroom was filled with lots of big people! Each child worked with an adult friend to generate a list of things we think we know about birds, questions we have about birds as well as a list of birds that we know. Thank you to all of the adults who made this a success! The children loved sharing what they do at school with their adult friends.

For the 4th week, we went out to observe the garden. Each child sketched their observation in their science notebook.

After making our observations, we came together to discuss the many changes that have taken place over the 4 weeks we have been observing. The children are such great observers. Some things we have noticed change in our garden:

• The daffodils are no longer blooming.
• The bunnies are gone. 
• There is no more hay on the ground. 
• The dogwood tree is blooming. 

We will continue to look at how the garden will change, especially since we will soon be planting vegetables in our garden. On Wednesday, we were even lucky enough to observe a bird in our garden! What a great way to kick off our study of Ohio birds.

Thursday was the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. In honor of Earth Day, each child created a canvas bag  to use instead of paper or plastic bags. Our class pledged to use canvas bags instead of paper or plastic as our way to protect the planet. Thursday afternoon, we joined all of the other informal classes in our habitat area. A Buckeye Tree was planted on Thursday afternoon. It was such a wonderful way to give back and celebrate Earth Day! 

Finally, we are beginning to prepare for Poetry Cafe that is scheduled for next Friday. The children have each selected a poem to read aloud. Next week we will continue to explore poetry and practice reading our poems aloud. So, get your black clothes and berets ready for next Friday afternoon to celebrate National Poetry Month in the style of a 1960's coffeehouse. 

Looking Ahead

Week 1 of my student teaching responsibilities began on Monday April 12. I have been looking forward to this opportunity for a very long time and I could not have asked for a better group of students and families to learn with. I have done a lot of planning for the next 6 weeks. It is my goal that I provide authentic and engaging learning experiences for the students. As a teacher, it is important for me to provide opportunities for children to learn through a variety of ways, encourage students to question and problem solve, as well as work as a member within our classroom community of learners.

During the 6 weeks of my student teaching, we will be studying poetry, weather and Ohio birds (among many other things!). I plan to integrate several content areas into each of these over-arching studies. The following chart shows what I will be teaching within each content area.

Although it is only Tuesday, we have had a very busy week! Reading different types of poetry, writing our own poems, and observing weather are just a few of the hi-lights from Monday and Tuesday. 

Spring Has Sprung

Spring is finally here! We are excited to be back at school after a wonderful week of Spring Break. We had an extremely busy week filled with lots of great conversations, writing, reading and exploring our school garden.

We started our week off by sharing our Spring Break Adventures. The children had so many wonderful stories to tell. Each child wrote about one of their favorite Spring Break memories. They did a really nice job of capturing one special memory to share. Each child focused this week on the process of adding details to their stories. Next week, the children will be copying their Spring Break stories in their best handwriting to bring home to share with their families.

Our class tried something new with Reading Workshop this week. We are beginning the process of exploring all of the books that our classroom library has to offer. We began this week by reading books that fall into the genre of "Animals". Each office read a different basket of Animal books during Reading Workshop this week. The children really enjoyed the chance to read new books that they normally wouldn't have picked up to read.

We also introduced "Book Recommendations" to students. Together, we had discussions about what it means to recommend a book. I created a sheet that the students used this week whenever they came across a book that they thought friends in the class would enjoy. Next week, we are going to be discussing various ways to display our recommendations for the whole class to see.

On Wednesday, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and with Science Notebooks in hand, we headed out to explore our school garden. The children looked for signs of Spring. Each child sketched a "snapshot" of what they observed in our garden.

We observed beginning buds on the Butterfly Bush, 

a yellow Daffodil, 

buds on the Dogwood Tree, 

and Tulips almost ready to bloom. 

It is amazing how observant and detailed the children were in their observations and sketches. Here they are at work:

This week, we read several versions of The Little Red Hen. The Little Red Hen is about a hen who wishes to use the wheat she planted to bake bread. However, when she asks her friends to help her with each step of turning the wheat into bread they are not willing to help. But, they are quick to want to help her eat the bread in the end! 

                                               

(Photo credit: Amazon)

We compared and contrasted the different versions discussing what things were the same and what things were different. We talked about what makes a story a "Little Red Hen" story. We also read Hattie and the Fox and compared it to The Little Red Hen. When asked "What is the message of this story?" the children were full of wonderful ideas. They said: 

• "Working together is good."
• "Working together can turn into something great."
• "If you aren't going to help, you can't be a part in the end."
• "Think before you say no or yes."
• "Team work makes a dream work." 

We are going to take the message we learned from The Little Red Hen and work as a team these next 10 weeks to finish the year off strong! 

The Beast

On Friday, the children shared their knowledge about China and the Chinese New Year with all of the informal classes at Chautauqua.

The children were so interested in the story of the dragon that started the Chinese New Year. We took our knowledge of the dragon story and put our own spin on it through several shared writing experiences.

Next, we worked together to create a dragon head that would lead half of our class in the dragon dance.

Finally, the children worked with Mrs. Gibson to come up with their own rhythms and chants to go along with our very own dragon dance.

Here is Mrs. Dunn & Miss Gibbons' 1st & 2nd graders' retelling of The Beast. Enjoy!