The last week before break we finished our Ohio Wild Animal study. Our class worked very hard to complete their clay animals, habitats, non-fiction books and group projects. The children were so proud of the work they had done and they were excited to share it with their families as well as other classes.
We discussed how to effectively present their materials to others in a way that shows what they have learned. We practiced sharing our work with others in order to improve our speaking skills as well as our listening skills while their classmates presented.
Below you will see pictures of the rabbit group adding details to their clay animal sculptures. They used non-fiction books as resources to help them use appropriate colors.
Here are a few examples of their non-fiction books that they wrote about characteristics of rabbits including headings on their pages. The one on the left says, "I learned about Ohio Wild Animals. I learned about rabbits." The right one says, "Habitat. Rabbits live in burrows."
They also chose to create a poster to display their learning about rabbits. They included pictures of the two types of rabbits they focused on (Eastern Cottontail & Snowshoe Hare). The snowshoe hare is white in the winter and brown in the summer so that was included as well. They listed and illustrated what rabbits eat (carrots, grass, weeds, leaves, and twigs), their habitat (tall grass, burrows, underground), the two types of rabbits & what they call their babies (bunnies).
The students chose to make a winter habitat since we have been learning about how these animals are preparing for winter. Knowing the weather changes and what happens in every season is one of our Kindergarten standards so this was a great way to learn about this. The children put snow on top with some twigs and the rabbits underground in their burrows. Some students made Snowshoe Hares and some made Eastern Cottontail rabbits.
There are many snakes that live in Ohio and we chose one venomous snake (Copperhead) and one non-venomous snake (Black Rat Snake) to focus on.
Since the Black Rat Snakes live in or around trees and the Copperhead Snakes live underground, the snake group wanted to make a habitat that could hold both types of snakes. Above ground they made a tree, painted the box green for the grass and covered it with snow and rocks, underground they painted the box brown for dirt.
In their non-fiction books they wrote about the characteristics of snakes with headings such as "Description. Snakes have long tongues. Snakes have long bodies." on the left. The right one says, "Habitat. Snakes live in trees and underground."
The snake group chose to make a movie to show what they have learned about snakes. They created signs/posters to hold up in their movie while they said the fact. They included pictures of the two types of snakes as well as facts about them such as venomous snakes have triangular heads and rattles, non-venomous snakes have oval shaped heads, copperhead snakes live underground, black rat snakes live in and around trees, baby snakes are called hatchlings, and many more!!
Of the deer group, a couple decided to make bucks (male deer), a couple made does (female deer) and a couple made fawns (baby deer). To make their winter habitat, they painted the box green for grass, torn paper tan/brown for dead grass, glued on branches, twigs and snow on top.
In their non-fiction books they wrote about deer with headings such as "Habitat. Deer live in the woods." on the left. The right one says, "I learned about Ohio wild animals. I learned about deer."
The deer group chose to make a big book to show what they learned. Each group member created a page and then we put them together to make our big book. They included pictures as well as facts about them such as deer eat flowers, leaves, grass and corn, deer live in the woods, baby deer are called fawns, boy deer are called bucks and have antlers, and more.
The fox group learned that there are two types of foxes that live in Ohio; the red fox and gray fox. Some group members decided to make the red fox and some made the gray fox. They had to look carefully at non-fiction books in order to get the correct coloring for each type of fox since they are very different. In order to make their winter habitat, they painted the box brown and made it the bottom of a tree trunk (like a fox's den). They added some branches, twigs, and rocks around the bottom of the tree trunk as well as some snow around and in the tree.
In their non-fiction books they wrote about foxes such as "I learned about Ohio wild animals. I learned about foxes" on the left. The right one says, "Foxes live in a den under trees"
They also chose to create a poster to display their learning about foxes. They included pictures of the two types of foxes they focused on (Red Foxes & Gray Foxes). They listed and illustrated what foxes eat (grass, squirrels, mice, rabbits, ground hogs), their habitat (foxes live in dens), the two types of foxes & what they call their babies (kits). They also listed that foxes hunt their food and that gray foxes can climb trees but red foxes can't.
We had a very busy week with many things going on! We had two friends in our class who sold enough fundraiser books to get to go to the money grab machine, Scarlett & Lexi. Lexi even got to go on a limo ride to McDonalds for lunch also!
We finished reading Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory so on Friday we watched the movie and the children really enjoyed it! We also enjoyed some popcorn and some treats brought in by our friends!
We also worked on making our ornament gifts for our families. I made dough using cinnamon & applesauce and the children got to choose out of a couple cookie cutters as to what shape they wanted. They could choose a heart, star, tree, or a bell. Then, we helped them to carve their initials as well as '13-'14 to represent the school year. In the pictures below, you can see me helping Destiny carve in her ornament as well as Emma's finished ornament.
Like I said the students are very proud of their work and we are proud of them as well. It was great to see all of their hard work come together and see them enjoying it and sharing it with others. The next post titled "Room 205's Ohio Wild Animals Open House & Presentations" will include pictures from our open house and from our presentations to the other classes.
I hope everyone is enjoying their break and had a great holiday!
Mrs. Brittany Garrabrant
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