Exploring the Solar System

For 3rd Grade

Today we are going to explore the solar system!

First, have your students look at this google site to learn about each planet in our solar system. (I only mentioned a little about each planet because of our activity – this is just a warm up/refresher of each planet to help students choose which planet they want for activity).

Next, have students read this book I made about the planet Jupiter.

The students are going to create their own book now! Students can choose any planet mentioned on the google site. The students should do 8-10 pages, including pictures and words. It should be written in 1st person as the planet, as seen in my Jupiter book.

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Acrostic Poetry

Student group: 2nd grade – writing

Goal: Students will use multiple pieces of technology to enhance their writing, specifically in acrostic poetry.

Instructions:

  1. As a warm up for the lesson, students will be instructed to go to the class Jamboard and add an adjective (or a few).
  2. After warm-up, students will write their own acrostic poems (on paper) with a topic of their choice (can be a place, animal, person, etc. as long as it has been run by the teacher first to ensure it is school appropriate)
  3. When students are done, they will be added to a collaborative book on Book Creator, where they will look for the page with their name on it. Students will copy their acrostic poems down on their designated page and can decorate/add pictures as they would like (This book will be shared with parents/guardians if they would like to read their students work).

Technology:

The student-made Jamboard will help students to warm up their writing ideas and acts as a piece of assistance for students to refer to when they are feeling stuck and need help thinking of ideas. This Jamboard will be available to parents if their child would like to continue to write poetry (or any piece of writing) at home. The Book Creator classroom book acts as a place for the entire classroom to put their poetry and can make students feel proud of their writing as it feels very official to have writing in an actual book. The book also allows parents to read their students poetry at home, understand what their child does in class, and be a part of the classroom community.

Jamboard: https://jamboard.google.com/d/1Xi4PumosPv1WhLxDKkbV6QDeLxFkw56n4y8bI8d8FkE/edit?usp=sharing

Book Creator:

Foods from Around the World!

Goal: Provide a lesson to students to learn more about the geography of the world and how different concepts, like cultural food, connects to their daily lives.

Tool: Students will be using Google Jamboard as a place to form ideas and showcase their research done on cultural foods that come from ancestral countries. After working on Google Jamboard to brainstorm some ideas, students can then use books and online resources to do research of their country of choice and the food they choose to present to the class. The presentation/assessment type will be shown through a Book Creator book.

Grade: Fifth Grade

Subject: Social Studies

Instructions:

  1. FOR TEACHERS: It is important to follow the family tree unit with this unit of foods from around the world.
  2. Students will first be asked to begin the lesson with five-minute independent writing where they can talk a little bit about what they discovered about their family history.
  3. Students will then be asked to brainstorm, using Google Jamboard, cultural foods based on one of their home countries.
  4. Following the Jamboard, students will then use Book Creator to share facts about cutlural foods from their countries of hertiage.

Google Jamboard:

Book Creator:

Sources:

Photo by Fernañdo Prado on Unsplash

Sun Safety

Photo by JaPhoto by Andrey Grinkevich on Unsplash

Target Student Group: kindergarten, health

Instructional Goals: Students will learn how powerful the sun is / With this, they will learn why it is important to protect themselves when they are out in the sun / Students will also be able to provide at least 2-3 examples of ways to protect themselves when they are out in the sun

Instructions for students:

  1. Teacher would introduce the lesson by facilitating a discussion based on the question: “What do you think about when you hear me say sun safety?”
  2. Once the class has discussed this, students will be instructed to read and engage with a book on sun safety (see below)
  3. Then, teacher will hand out a coloring sheet (see below) and have students color in the body parts on the boy and the girl that need sunscreen while they are at the beach. After this, they can color in the rest of the picture
  4. Finally, teacher will have them do an exit ticket on Google Forms as a post-assessment (see below)
Instructions Step 3

How the technology supports instructional goal: The book I created supports instruction because it teaches content in an engaging way (with voice recordings and a video). The Google Form tests for student understanding.

Adventure Books

“Okay second graders, today we are going to make our very own adventure books! I want you to pull on your thinking caps and think about your most exciting adventure EVER. Then we’re going to get our iPads out and make our very own books that tell the class about your adventure. “

Have students browse the example book first and then have them get started on their very own in the book creator app.

Link: https://read.bookcreator.com/wUkCMpsZ7lYCSwA3UumbKW3jH5y2/LSFPravRSXiSSmEMdCQjOg

All About the Weather!!!

Photo by Neda Astani on Unsplash

Targeted student group: Kindergarten

Guide for other teachers to use:

  1. This will be the first of three lessons on the topic of weather
  2. Have students open up their IPads/chrome books to view the book creator book that Ms. Honnaka created, they will be able to use the read aloud feature if they are not able to read the words in the book
  3. After students read and view the book creator about the weather, the teacher will have a whole class discussion with his/her students to hear about their main takeaway and what they learned from the book creator.
  4. Activity: Have students draw and write about what type of day they prefer and what type of activity they would do!

Instructional Goal: From this first lesson on weather, my main goal is for students to understand that there are different types of weather (ex. sunny, rainy, snowy). Along with knowing that there are activities to do in all types of weather. Sometimes when it is a rainy day, we don’t know what to do because we can’t go outside, but this lesson will help students to put on their thinking caps and think of a variety of activities to do in any type of weather!

How Book Creator supported my instructional goal: I decided to use book creator because there are so many options it has to offer. Students love technology and there are so many great resources out there for them to explore. By creating a book I thought that it would be a great interactive tool for them to use because it gives them an example of how they could create their own book in the future after seeing the one I created. Along with being able to have access on the book creator to watch a youtube read-aloud. The last point I wanted to make was that I was able to add pictures and especially for kindergarteners it can help them to visualize what is being talked about which helps them learn more!

The 7 Wonders of the World

“Okay 2nd graders! Today we are going to put on our best explorer hats and dive into a new map! We’ve been exploring lots of different maps this week and today we are going to look at the 7 wonders of the world.”

“Can anyone raise their hand and tell me what the 7 wonders of the world are?” Wait for student responses.

“Okay class, the 7 wonders of the world are 7 incredible places around the world. We are going to get our iPads out and explore all 7 of them! Ready… Set… Go!” Once students have their iPads out and are sitting quietly, instruct them to open the MyMaps link on their SeeSaw page. Once students have opened the link, give them some time to explore.

“Okay class, so on this map, there are 7 different spots for you to look at! Each spot has some pictures and a really fun video to teach you allll about that wonder of the world. I need you to pay close attention to what you’re learning, because once you’re done exploring, you are going to work with your table group to make your own map teaching us about one of the 7 wonders.”

“Give me a thumbs up if you understand what we’re doing today!”

The teacher will walk around offering guidance as needed or pushing students to think deeper. The MyMaps will give students the chance to learn about each wonder of the world before they choose their favorite, and then to work with a partner to use the details from the video to create a more detailed map of one of the wonders of the world. They can add images, additional videos, and words to the map to teach their classmates even more facts and details about the place they chose.

7 Wonders of the World Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=10ImFzu5SvhseptaK0EKLlTguGp6qNzae&usp=sharing

All About Shapes Pre/Post Assessment

Target Group: First Grade

Instructions For Students: Students will be given the shape attributes Google Form Assessment at the beginning of a unit regarding shapes and their attributes (number of sides, angles, open/closed, etc.) Students will take the pre assessment on their iPads or laptops. This assessment will be given so the teacher can gauge any prior knowledge that the students may have regarding the content and adjust the unit accordingly. Similarly, the students will take the same Google Forms assessment at the end of the unit, to serve as a post assessment. The teacher will be able to compare the pre and post assessment data to determine how the students improved over the course of the unit and determine if the learning targets were met. At the end of the shapes unit, the students will not only complete the Google Forms, but they will also work on a Google Drawing in order to apply their knowledge of shapes in order to construct a flower that has specific shapes as each part of the flower (i.e., rectangle stem, rhombus petals, etc.) This additional part of the post assessment for the unit will allow students to not only demonstrate their knowledge on shapes and their attributes but also apply this knowledge in order to construct a picture. The students will only complete the Google Drawings for the post assessment, not the pre assessment. Students will have creative freedom with their Google Drawing because they will be able to chose the colors of their flower, the rotation of the triangle petals, etc.

Instructional Goals: The goal of the pre assessment is to determine how much prior knowledge the students have regarding shapes and their attributes. The goal of the post assessment is to determine whether or not the learning goals of the unit were met and if students can apply their knowledge regarding shapes to construct a model with specific shapes.

Explanation for Using Google Forms/Google Drawings: Google forms allows students to receive immediate feedback and gives students immediate answers to address common misconceptions. Google Forms also gives the teacher immediate results which allows the teacher to compare results from the pre and post assessment easily. Google Forms can also allow the teacher to create different types of questions such as multiple chose, selecting all the applicable answers, rating scales, short answers, and more, which are great features for giving assessments. Google Drawings allows students to have creative freedom to either draw or use provided shapes to create their own flower. Sometimes, drawing shapes by hand might be difficult for the students; therefore, by allowing students the option to use the shapes given by Google drawings, the teacher will be able to tell exactly whether or not the students are aware of which shapes to use for which part of the flower. Google Drawings also allows students to chose their own colors and sizes of shapes which would be interactive for the students because they can make the flower their own, while still presenting the needed material. Students will be able to reach a higher level in Bloom’s taxonomy with this drawings element of the post assessment because they will be creating and applying their knowledge, rather than just demonstrating their retained knowledge from remembering and understanding in the form of a pencil/paper test on Google Forms.

Below is the Pre/Post Assessment regarding shapes and their attributes.

Below is the Google Drawings with the instructions and answer key. In order to incorporate this into the classroom, the students would be given the Google Drawings with the instructions and a blank form.

Kindergarten Rules & Expectations

Image by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash

Target Student Group: Kindergarten students

Instructions for students: Students will read this book at the start of the year. This will help students get a glimpse of what to expect in the classroom as well as establish rules and expectations before the school year starts. This ebook also gives me an opportunity to greet my students. The main purpose of this book is for students and parents to meet me and get a sneak peek into a typical day of kindergarten.

Instructional Goal: Provide students with classroom rules and expectations for the new school year.

Explanation of how Book Creator supports Instructional Goal: Book creator is an interactive way for students to explore the different rules, hand signals, zones of regulation, and schedule that will be seen in the classroom. I created this ebook as a tool for students and parents to access before the school year or during the school year to remember the important rules in their learning environment.

Adventures of the Galactic Scavengers!

Authors: Kate Marshall and Lannie Hisashima

The target age group for this activity is 4th graders and the subject is science. This lesson is more like a homework assignment that is given after a class session that introduces the solar system but does not focus on each planet individually. And so, the goal of this assignment is to allow students to learn about each planet using a closer lens. Instead of using class time to do this, Google Sites has allowed us to create a homework assignment that students can complete at their own pace of exploration. They will explore our Google Site while filling out a scavenger hunt worksheet (we would supply them with this document in a Google Classroom post). The worksheet would ask questions such as, “Where can you find the largest volcano in the solar system?” or “Where can you find the most suitable environment for life to thrive in our solar system?” To wrap up the activity, we also added a Google Form survey to see how students like the activity and whether it is something that should be done again in the future.

Featured Image: Photo by Guillermo Ferla on Unsplash

Water Cycle

By Jack Taylor & Jenna Rappaport

Grade: 3

Introduction to a unit on the water cycle.

Goal: for students to understand condensation, precipitation, and evaporation. This site helps students by providing defintions, examples, and visuals.

Featured Image: Clipart