I'm so excited to get back into a thematic unit. With the Core all around, it's tough to get into learning across the curriculum. This month we are ENCOURAGED to tie our writing and reading to a topic in either science or social studies. Our study of life cycles and animal classification seems the perfect time to bring it all together.
We started out the unit talking about how scientists are always classifying things into groups. During our rocks and minerals unit, we spent time sorting and classifying rocks. We sorted into living and non-living. Right away the kiddos figured out a way to sort the books I brought into the classroom. They put the books into 5 bins; mammals, fish, birds, amphibians and reptiles.
As we get more into the unit kids will gravitate to an animal, group of animals or study of a food chain. I'll have books, articles, video clips, online resources and other items available so they can get into a total in-depth study. Kids will be taught to take simple notes, delve into ideas and write about their thoughts and learning. They'll be able to draw to create labeled diagrams and use number statistics to figure out size, age or other interesting facts.
In the classroom we'll look at bones, skulls and teeth. They will start to think how the teeth may be designed differently for carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. Skulls and other bones can be magnified, drawn, measured, put together and identified.
A day centered around common learning, gives plenty of opportunities to explore and learn with all the senses and intelligences. I'll keep you posted on our progress!!
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