This week and next week, we are doing an integrated language arts and science unit on the sun. In first grade, students need to understand how the sun is the principle source of energy. We started by activating our prior knowledge and making a list of all the things we think we know about the sun. I use the phrase "think we know" intentionally because often students will state incorrect information. This happened with our chart this week. Some students were adamant that the sun moves throughout the day while others insistent that the sun did not move. Through our discussion about what we think we know already, we generated questions that we want to find the answers to. We then discussed our purpose for reading, the types of books that would be appropriate to read (non-fiction), the author's purpose for nonfiction, and the nonfiction text features we would use to help us find the answer to our questions. The students were very motivated to prove whether the sun moves or not. We talked about how that as we read and learn knew information and facts about the sun, that it will (hopefully) spark new questions that they want to answer. The students worked in pairs to choose a nonfiction book about the sun. They worked together to complete a graphic organizer with a minimum of three facts. We came back together as a class to answer some of our questions we had and generate new questions. On the next day, students added their new facts on their graphic organizer using a new nonfiction book. Next week, we will do an experiment to measure the temperate of water left in the sun for varying amount of time. Students will also write an informative paragraph about the sun. Let's hope all of this talk about the sun makes for some more warm, sunny days!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
May 2017
Categories |