Tooty Ta!

This week the 3rd-5th graders were taking their EOG tests.  We were in testing mode on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  The kids did a great job being quiet when we had to be in the hallway and they were very patient when we didn't get to have our usual "little recess".  Another teacher introduced me to Dr. Jean's "Tooty Ta" song and dance.  On Wednesday we were really in need of an energizer before writing time, so I pulled up the dance on the computer.  Check out this hilarious video!  We had so much fun doing the "Tooty Ta"!  

Beetles!

Most of our mealworms have completed their life cycle!  Here is a picture of a mealworm next to one of the beetles.  It has been so neat watching them go through their life cycle.  

Once we discovered we had some beetles, we just had to check them out using the zoom feature on our document camera! The first thing we did was check to be sure they were insects!  We counted their body parts, legs, and antenna.  And they passed!  

Ocean Fun!

We have had so much fun with our Ocean unit this week!  We began by reading one of my favorites, "The Rainbow Fish".  After reading, we brainstormed things that we learned from Rainbow Fish.  We learned a lot about sharing and being kind.  

During writing, we wrote about a time that we shared something.  Then we made some finger painted rainbow fish.  They turned out great!  

Tuesday was Seashell Day, so we read "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Shell".  We love the little old lady!  After our reading we did this sequencing activity.  Then we retold the story using our props.  

On Wednesday, our learning was focused around "The Pout-Pout Fish".  I love this book!  Most of these activities are from Deanna Jump's Pout-Pout Fish unit.  

After reading the book, we talked about how characters can change in a story.  At first, Mr. Fish was pouty.  Then he got a kiss from shimmer.  At the end of the story Mr. Fish was happy.  We completed this reading response sheet to show how Mr. Fish changed.  

During writing we made text to self connections and wrote about things that make us pout and smile.  We did directed drawings of Mr. Fish when he was pouty and happy.  We didn't have art this week because of EOG testing, so we broke out the watercolors!  They turned out great!  

Here is a Pout-Pout Fish song and video that I found through another blog.  It is really cute!  But be warned...it will get stuck in your head!  :) 

On Thursday, we learned all about seahorses.  We read Eric Carle's, "Mister Seahorse" and talked about the beginning, middle, and end.  We learned that the daddy seahorse protects the eggs until they are ready to hatch.  We made seahorses using Eric Carle's tissue paper method.  

Next week we will continue our study of the ocean and ocean life.  We will be focusing on sharks, whales, dolphins, sea turtles, divers, and submarines.  

Insects!

For the past two weeks we have been studying insects.  During our shared reading time we did an Eric Carle author study.  He has so many great books about insects!  We read his biography on his website and learned that he spends part of his time in the hills of North Carolina.  How cool is that!  We watched a video that showed how he makes his collages and we got to listen to him read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar".  

After reading "The Grouchy Ladybug", we made text to self connections.  We listed things that made us feel grouchy.  Then we took pictures of our grouchy faces and made ourselves into grouchy ladybugs!  

In math we have been working on collecting and displaying data.  This week everyone came up with their own question and made their own graph.  First we brainstormed survey question ideas.  Once everyone had picked one, we had to choose our answer choices.  

Next, we did our surveys.  We used tally marks to help us collect our data.   

Then we used a bar graph to display our data.  Next week we will go to the computer lab and use graph club to show our data.  :)  

On Friday, we concluded our study of Insects by making our own!  We used various goodies to create our insects.  You could use anything you wanted, but it had to have all the parts of an insect (three body parts, six legs, two antenna, etc.)  After we made our insects, a friend had to check for all its parts before we could eat them.  Thanks to Deanna Jump and her insects unit for this wonderful idea!  Here are some pictures of our creations.  

Next week we will be learning about the ocean and sea animals.  We will continue this until the end of the year.  I can't believe we only have twelve more days!  

Mealworms Update

We have had our mealworms for about a week now.  They have been getting bigger and shedding their skin.  And we now have some pupas!  

Here is a picture of them shedding their skin.  

And here is one of our pupas!  It won't be long before we have some beetles!  :)  

Muffins with Mom!

On Friday morning we had Muffins with Mom in honor of Mother's Day.  We had a great turnout!  The kids worked really hard all week on their gifts and were so excited to share them!  Here are some pictures.  Enjoy!  

Mealworms Day 1

Our mealworms for our life cycle unit came in today.  I was going to wait and get them set up tomorrow but the kids begged me and I couldn't resist!  They were so excited!  

We got around 200 larvae.  They will live in a tub of oatmeal and will munch on sliced potatoes and apples.  We will be observing them for the next couple of weeks and will get to see them change into beetles.  Wow!  

Here are some pictures from our mealworm adventures today! 

First we got their new home set up and looked at them closely using our new document camera.  

Then we took turns picking them up.  They tickled!

I will keep you all updated on our mealworms transformation!