Spaced out: Combining Science and Language Arts

As much as I love to teach other subjects, science is one of my favorite things to teach. No other subject seems to ignite children's sense of inquiry quite like science. This term, the focus has been on Stars and planets. Originally I had a great unit designed around space stations for the kids to rotate through. Unfortunately, once I began my practicum, I realized that the kids just weren't ready to work quite as independently as I had hoped. It's OK though, I have been working through the unit station by station with the entire class. We've been having a blast and I have been getting opportunities to try new things and take risks in my teaching.

In an attempt to do a truly cross-curricular unit,I have also been focusing on familiarizing the kids with  non-fiction literature and writing. I think learning to read non-fiction text properly is essential.I wonder if the reason some people don't truly appreciate this kind of literature is because they don't really know how to read it.  I've been working on reading non-fiction information through note taking excercises. Initially I introduced the elements of non-fiction by creating an information page about the sun which contained examples of all the basic elements I wanted to introduce to the kids. I also had the kids practice note taking skills using visual organizers.

We have also explored asteroids and comets using the non-fiction approach. This time I approached the
material as a comparison activity for the children to read. The kids read information pages about asteroids and comets both structured using the same format then compared them using a chart similar to a venn diagram. It was great!

If you are interested in finding the learning materials I have described above you can find them posted here at sharemy lesson.com

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