As the World Turns

Since the last post the kids and I have done some fantastic activities. Last week we incorporated a little Reader's Theater in the form of a play about the solar system called Neighbors in Space. The class split into two groups and worked for the afternoon in theater troops. We came together and preformed for one another at the end of the day. It was a real treat for the extroverts in the group and it gave some of the kids a chance to shine as leaders. It was also fantastic practice to develop speaking and listening skills. It just goes to show that learning can take place using many avenues.

I have been working hard to vary my lessons to appeal to all learners in my classroom. It has been a lot of fun to develop lessons that appeal to all of the multiple intelligences. Just by engaging kids on different levels I find I have more of their focus for longer periods of time. They also seem to genuinely enjoy coming to science class.

Melanie's diagrams of her day/ night cycle experiment

This week week we had a great time exploring the movements of the earth around it's axis and the sun. We explored day and night cycles and the reasons for the four seasons. I found these fantastic sponge globes at the dollar store. (By the way if I haven't mentioned it before, I think the dollar store was the best thing invented for teachers since the chalkboard!) I stuck BBQ skewers through the sponge globes and had the kids create their own seasons and day night cycles using flashlights as the sun. The kids loved it. It took an otherwise complex topic in the science curriculum and made it more accessible to my students.

Thanks to Kiya for demonstrating the activity! He's a great guinea pig for my lessons.

Jimi-scruff gives it two paws up!

If you are interested in finding the learning materials for these activities you can find them here at www.sharemylesson.com