College Week Activity - College Research and Posters

Wow.  It has been a really long time since my last post, but as most people know, it is testing season.  Most of my time recently has been spent preparing, giving, and then recuperating from the test.  We recently celebrated college week here at my school, so I had the sixth graders work on a project in partners to learn a little more about the colleges they were interested in.
First, they had to work together to do research on the college they had chosen.  We are lucky enough here to have a few IPADs that we can pass around and share, but this could totally be done in a computer lab.  I gave each set of partners this worksheet to guide them.

Then, they make posters using the information they have gathered.  Here are a few of the posters my sixth graders made this year.

When all of the posters are complete, I put them on the walls around the room.  Then I give them this worksheet.  They use it while they walk around the room and get information from the posters that the other students have made.

Click this link if you would like to download both worksheets for free!

Creating a Field Guide in the Classroom

As our final project for the Redwood Forest, the students make their own field guides.  When they are done, I laminate them and they can take the field guides to camp.  It is a great activity that incorporates note taking, research, non-linguistic representation, and a little creativity.  Here is the process if you want to make a field guide with your students...

field guide notes in interactive notebook

The first thing my students do is spend time taking notes on the species of the forest.  They used a combination of resources that included pamphlets, other field guides, and the internet.  They put these notes in their interactive notebooks so they can also use them on their test.

When they are finished, we check them over for mistakes, and then they are ready to start the final product!


First, they copy their notes into pre-made boxes.  This is so they don't run out of room on their final piece of card stock and if they make a mistake, they can just get a new box, instead of starting their project all over.

boxes for field guide notes

Then, they get pictures of all the species that are included in their field guide.  I spend A LOT of time on Google images to find black and white pictures or line drawings of all of these plants, trees, and animals.  They are required to color the plants and animals the correct colors.

field guide pictures

Once they have done their boxes and pictures, they are ready to cut and glue.  I give them a piece of white card stock.  It tends to hold up a lot better than just plain white construction paper.  When they are all done, I like to laminate them just in case it rains at camp :)  Here are some examples of the finished products...

front cover of field guide

inside of field guide

This can be done for any biome or ecosystem project.  It could even just include species that you find around your school or in your neighborhood.  They love making them and love taking them out in the field even more!

Westing Game Character Chart

If you are reading The Westing Game or any other book with a large number of characters to keep track of, a large, wall-sized character chart may be just right for your students.

One of my favorite books to teach (obviously) is The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.  You may have seen my other posts on the wanted posters or the way I use interactive notebooks to teach the book.  Because there are 16 characters, the kids always have trouble getting started and keeping them straight.  Then, as we progress through the book we are always trying to figure out who is the most mysterious character or who would have had a reason to kill Sam Westing.  We keep 4 x 4 charts in our interactive notebooks four times throughout the book where we keep track of what we learned about each character in those particular set of chapters.  We also keep a large interactive character chart in the classroom.  Each time we do a character chart, I also have students get into groups of three and I randomly assign them a character to report on.  They write all that they know on the sticky note that I give them in bullet points. Then, they stick them up on the wall for everyone to see.

Westing Game Character Chart

It becomes a giant reference wall. Each set of chapters has its own color of sticky note. It is especially popular when the students are making their Wanted Posters and are trying to gather as much information for their posters as they can.  It is also helpful when they are studying for their quizzes and final test.

If you are interested in getting the whole book unit check it out here.

Determining the Age of a Tree Using Circumference

I love this science activity.  It is great for two reasons.  1.  The kids have been doing geometry in math and are already studying circumference and diameter of circles.  2.  They really begin to understand that studying trees is a science and that Math has a practical purpose in life.  So I am sharing this for anyone who needs a great Common Core Math lesson on Circumference, Diameter, and its relationship to Pi or for anyone who just wants to show their kids the science of determining the age of a tree without harming one.

Supplies

You will need a few things to start:

1.  calculators (or not, if you want them to practice mutiplying and dividing huge amounts of decimals)

2.  long pieces of string or yarn

3.  rulers or yardsticks

4.  growth factor charts for different species of trees.  The best one I have found was here at the Missouri Dept. of Conservation.

My "fake" trees

5.  Fake trees (mine consist of wrapping cylindrical shaped objects with brown paper) and/or real trees.

6.  An engaging video that shows them what this is like in the field.  I use this one with Steve Stillett measuring Redwood trees.

7.  Blank worksheet that includes the directions, formulas, and a chart to record their data

Calculating the Age of a Tree Worksheet

The students have "fake" tree options in the classroom and a few real tree options outside.  I have them work in partners because using the string and laying it onto rulers or yardsticks sometimes requires four hands. Plus, the conversations about the math often create a few lightbulb moments for some kids.  Essentially, the formula is as follows:

Diameter x growth rate = tree age

They need to measure the circumference, divide that by 3.14 to get the diameter, then multiply by the growth rate on the chart based on what type of tree it is.

I find that students who did not really understand circumference and diameter beyond the formula, have a much better understanding of their relationship once this is done. They also really enjoy what they are doing.  Especially when I let them go outside and try it on real trees.  When they are done, they get glued into their interactive notebooks.

Let me know if you have any questions about the lesson, but if you spend any time on either of these subjects it is well worth the time and effort.

Science Notebooks - Learning About Conservationists

Every few days, we start science by learning about an important conservationist/naturalist.  As she is the mother of the environmental movement, we started with Rachel Carson.  We will of course move on to John Muir, Julia Hill, et al.  I gave the kids a quote to analyze and a little bio to read and take notes on.  It only takes about 15 minutes and it is a good way to also expose them to jobs and opportunities in the Environmental Science field.

This is a simple organizer that I can change for each different conservationist.  It is really nothing more than a bunch of text boxes.  If anyone would like the blank versions, just let me know!  And if you have any suggestions for other conservationists or naturalists that I should be covering, I would love your input.

Note Taking Flip Tabs- Chinese Achievements

Our Social Studies book organizes each civilization pretty much the same.  For every civilization there is a section about their achievements.  Sometimes the same old graphic organizer doesn't have the space they need, and outlining takes up a lot of room.  The students and I came up with these simple rectangles.  They get cut out, folded and after their notes are taken, glued down.  And all within one page of their notebooks.  On the outside, they draw a picture (of course), then on the inside, they write down bullet points.

These were our notes for Ancient Chinese Achievements.  To save time and my sanity, I just create a table in Microsoft Word with two columns.  The kids cut them out as they go.  Just one more way to keep the same old topic a little more interesting!
 

The Tuck Everlasting Book Unit is HERE!

Hello Everyone,

I have just added my Tuck Everlasting book unit to my TeachersPayTeachers Site!

I have posted a lot of fun stuff here to go along with reading Tuck Everlasting in the classroom.  I start my book units with a good foundation of comprehension questions, vocabulary, and quizzes and tests, but the things I do to make the reading easier, more enriching, or more interactive are the activities that I post here on my site.  Although I have read this book with over 230 students in my time at 6th grade, I have never taught it the same way twice.  I do keep the basics the same, and that way I can always modify my ideas or experiment with new things each time.  I would suggest starting with a book unit, that way you can get to the fun stuff too!

Ancient Greece - Interactive Notebooks

Ancient Greece is definitely a favorite with the kids.  They especially love the time we spend on Mythology.  Here are a few highlights from our notebooks for Greece...
     Map - we always start with Geography so the first thing we do together is map out the location.

Map of Ancient Greece

     Greek Mythology and Literature - we start out with the basics using this organizer.

Greek Mythology and Literature Graphic Organizer

     Greek Gods and Goddesses - our textbook is a little sparse when it comes to this, so I use the cards from Winged Sandals and my own Notebook presentation.

Greek Gods and Goddesses

You can get the cards on the Winged Sandals Website.  For the characters that the site does not have cards for, I have the kids draw their own.  Click here if you would like the Notebook slideshow. It usually takes two days to cut out the cards, and take all of the notes in our notebooks.  We also do our computer lab activity with Winged Sandals.  Please see my post here if you would like to read more about that.

     Sparta vs. Athens - sorting facts.

Sparta vs. Athens

I went through the chapter in our textbook and randomly listed facts.  The kids need to go through the chapter and determine which facts are about Athens and which facts are for Sparta.  Then, they create a t-chart, cut out the facts, and sort them on the correct side.  This particular student wrote an 'A' or a 'S' on each fact first, then cut them out to paste into their chart.

Please stay tuned for more Ancient Greece posts...

Writing Short Answers - Comprehension Requirements

I realize that students need a constant reminder about the expectations for short answer questions.  At my school, we have all adopted the RAD format (Restate, Answer, Details), but my kids often need specific directions about what that means.  I am also pretty stingy about them not using pronouns in their answers and  I want them to be specific when adding details to support their answer.  I like them to actually drag those details from the text and use page numbers for their citations.  I made this quick slide recently as a reminder.  I throw it up on the screen when I assign their comprehension for the week.

Sometimes I tell them that each requirement will be a point and that each answer will be worth 5 points.  That takes a ton of grading time, so I only do this when they start to take shortcuts and need refreshing.  It is also a good idea for them to have a copy of this to tape into their Reading Response Notebooks.

Westing Game Book Unit

I have already read The Westing Game with one of my reading groups and I am about to start it again with another group.  My students do all of their novel study and reading response work in a composition book.  When the book is done, they have a complete study guide including comprehension, vocabulary, and any graphic organizers.  Each week we work on several chapters and there is a quiz every Friday on those chapters.  When they finish the book, they use all of their accumulated work to study for a final test.  Here is how I attack this complicated book with so many characters to keep track of...

     Character Charts-  We do one of these 4 times throughout the book.  Any new, interesting, or suspicious info goes on these.

Westing Game Character Chart - ch. 24-end

We also have a large character chart on the wall.  It is made out of 16 pieces of black 9x12 construction paper and each character gets their own piece.  We use sticky notes to add information about each character as we go on this interactive wall organizer.

     Comprehension Questions- these are done weekly for each set of chapters.

Westing Game comprehension ch. 19-23

They glue the questions on the top of the page and then answer underneath.  They must restate the question in the answer as well as provide details and/or evidence from the book.

     Vocabulary- this is also done each week in one of these advance organizers.

Westing Game Vocabulary ch. 14-18

Take a look at my post on vocabulary to see exactly what I expect the kids to do.

     Suspicious Characters Chart- students choose 3 characters that seem suspicious to them towards the middle of the book.  This gets them thinking about our big project.

The one big project that I do for this book is a wanted poster.  You can see those in my Westing Game Wanted Posters post.  Prior to that we start with this organizer first.

If you would like to download the whole book unit, I do have it available if you click my link here.

Ancient India - Interactive Notebooks

As I continue grading Social Studies notebooks, I will also continue to share pictures of what we have accomplished this year.  Here are some of the highlights from someone's chapter on Ancient India.
        A map of India...

Map of India

      Notes on Indian Society...

Ancient Indian Society and Caste System

     Notes and graphic organizer on Hinduism...

Hinduism Develops in India

     Pictures and notes for Indian Achievements...

Ancient Indian Achievements in Science

The graphic organizers make things much easier on the kids and myself.  They allow them to be more independent and organizes all of their ideas so that they can find the information for the test.

Ancient Egypt Interactive Notebook

 So, it is finally Winter Break.  In Social Studies we have successfully finished Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and Greece.  I am grading notebooks over the break and thought I would share some of the highlights.  

Egyptian Society Triangle

Egyptian Work and Daily Life

Gods of Egypt

We also spent some time in the computer lab using The British Museum website.  This is a great slideshow about how mummies are made.  I created this organizer to go along with it.

British Museum - How Mummies are Made

The British Museum also has its Young Explorers pages.  We use those to learn about Ancient Egyptian Artifacts and fill in the graphic organizer for our three favorite artifacts.

Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Organizer

Greek Mythology Organizer - Winged Sandals

We have time in the computer lab once a week and I occasionally put together some fun learning activities for our Ancient Civilizations notebooks.  This one is for the website www.wingedsandals.com.  Before the kids can explore the sight (AKA playing games), they must watch two of the "storytime" stories and fill out this graphic organizer.  It is a great site for learning about Ancient Greek Mythology and the kids really enjoy exploring the sight.  Here is a completed one from one of my student's notebooks...

Winged Sandals Organizer

 Once they complete the organizer, they tape it into their Social Studies notebooks and add it to their table of contents!  Please click here for the blank organizer for free :)