Lapbooking Lessons

I have such a love for lapbooks.  I have been using this tool in my classroom for several years now.  With  TCAP testing coming up next week, my students have been using their lapbooks for preparation.  These are such a great tool for learning and studying!  They are also wonderful for promoting creativity and creative writing!  LOVE*LOVE*LOVE this idea!

Here are the latest lapbooks that we've created.

*PLANTS*

*OUR GOVERNMENT*

The great thing about Lapbooks is that you can use them for any subject!

I'd love to hear the lapbooks that you use!

Classroom Blessings,

Whooo's That?

Every year, I have a class theme.  Since this is our first year in our brand new GREEN school, I decided to go with something along those lines...so I came up with owls..you remember, "Give a Hoot! Don't Pollute!" ??  And with owls really making a come-back, there's a TON of cute owl stuff out there!

So, our classroom is centered around owls this year.  Our interactive binder is O.W.L.S {Organized With Learning Success}, we have an OWL of the week, etc. etc.  I have always wanted to do owl pellets in my classroom, but never got up the nerve.  So, with our theme for the year, I decided that this was the year that I was going to do it!  

Do you know much about owl pellets?  Most people think it is owl poop...NOPE!  It's not!  

~HERE'S A QUICK SCIENCE LESSON~

Owl pellets are so informative for several reasons. Firstly owls have weak bills and often prey that isn’t too large is swallowed whole which leaves the skeleton of the prey, including the skull, intact. Unlike most other birds, owls have no crop, and the food passes straight into the foregut (they do not posses a true stomach). The acid in the owl’s gut is rather weak with a pH of 2.2 - 2.5 which is the same as vinegar. This means that owls can only digest the soft tissues. The bones, fur and feathers remain virtually intact. The opening from the foregut into the rest of the digestive tract is small and prevents any undigested material from passing through. Instead, it remains behind where it is compacted into an oval pellet and is then actively regurgitated back up through the oesophagus. Pellets, therefore, contain bones including intact skulls, fur, feathers, the chitinous exoskeletons of insects and even the chaetae (bristles) from earthworms and so discovering what owls have been eating is quite straightforward.

So, I ordered our owl pellets, and they arrived promptly.  One student's mom is a nurse, so she furnished gloves for us, and one student brought toothpicks.  We were good to go...I think...lol

Yeah, we were!

Each student received a copy of the bone chart.  We discussed the different animals bones that we might find.  So, came the day to start the dissecting.  OMG!  Everyone had a blast!

I do have to say, I thought I might gag once I touched them {with gloves, of course} but I didn't!  

We all got so swept up in the activity at hand, that we no longer thought of it being "owl regurgitation". lol

I'm glad that I finally did this activity!  I will do this again!

Chatterbox Blessings,

Classroom Graffiti

Classroom Graffiti is such a fun activity for content areas.  Use it to find out what prior knowledge students have on a unit before you teach it, and then compare it to what they know at the end of the unit.  Or use it as a review before a test on content area.

My reading intervention group is studying weather.  So, to begin this unit, I labeled seven pieces of chart paper with a topic on weather.  I divide the chart into two subtitles... BEFORE and AFTER.  The before will be done before the unit is taught, and the after...well, you guessed it...it will be filled out after I have taught the unit.  

Next, I placed the charts around the classroom.  Students worked in pairs to record information that they already knew/or thought they know about each topic.  {Yes, I have a small number in this class because it is interventions.}  I gave them a few minutes at each chart to record their ideas/thoughts/answers.  

When I rang a bell, they moved clockwise around the room to the next chart.  {Each group had a different color marker that they used on every chart.}  

When they arrived at the next chart, they had to read previous groups' answers.  They could not write anything that had already been written.  So, it gets a little more challenging as they go.  

Tomorrow, we will look over each chart to see what student knew or thought they knew.  This will help me to know what they really do understand, as well as, misconceptions or incorrect ideas they have about a topic{s}. 

As you can tell, some of the answers are incorrect.  At the end of the unit, we will be able to go back and  correct that by adding to the "AFTER" side of the chart and crossing out anything that was previously recorded incorrectly.  

Have you used Classroom Graffiti before?  Do you call it by a different name?  I'd love to hear your ideas on using this fun activity!

Chatterbox Blessings,

Peek Into My Planbook and FREEBIE

This week during our Rocks and Minerals unit students learned through many hands on activities.  We started off the week with a KWL chart.  Students had many"W's" they wanted to learn, and by the end of the week, we have covered everyone's question.

One day, students enjoyed comparing rocks by different properties.  Rocks are always fascinating to my students each year, and this year was no different.

I also shared my pics of when I went mining in North Carolina when I was in college.  They loved seeing me in old "work" clothes with my pick, bucket, etc.

Our last day, we had the best time making our own rocks.  I got so excited with it myself...I didn't get any pictures.  :(  Why do I do that???

Anyway this is what we did.  I brought in chips of "rocks" in three different colors.

dark brown colored "rocks"

white "rocks"

and yellowish brown colored "rocks.

Yeah...they were chocolate, white chocolate, and butterscotch chips.

With putting the chips in ziploc bags, and dipping them in a bowl of hot water, we saw how the rocks melt.  Then by putting them in cold water, the rocks hardened.  When placing a layer of soft rocks of each "flavor" on top of each other, sedimentary rocks could be formed.  We saw how the rocks can crumble into smaller pieces.  They LOVED this!  Plus they got to EAT their rocks. 

SO MUCH FUN!

And here's a FREEIE for you!

So, now go over and take a peek into other teacher's planbooks for the week!

Visit HERE!

Chatterbox Blessings,

Stellaluna

I adore the story, Stellaluna.  It is so touching and tugs at the heart strings.  So I created this sweet unit chockful of activities for Stellaluna.  

You can find it here.

Thanks for taking a peek.

Chatterbox Blessings,

Life Cycles and FREEBIE ALERT!

I've added a new set to my shop on Life Cycles.

Included are 5 life cycles posters/signs, vocabulary cards, label and draw life cycle diagrams, labeled life cycle cards ready for students to add their own picture.  There are very cute graphics used in this set too!

***FREEBIE ALERT***

And I added a "Character Organizer" freebie for ya!

You can find them everything here.

ENJOY!

Chatterbox Blessings,