It´s spring!
Discovering spring is always one of my favourite classroom activities with my students. It doesn´t matter the age.
With my five year olds, we´ve found a tree nearbye that has no leaves yet. We´ll observe it, talk about it, touch it, give it a big hug and then draw it in our scrapbooks. Every day we´ll take a look at the tree. If there are any changes we will draw those changes on our scrapbook page. (If you are unfamiliar with the work I do with scrapbooks visit my blog: http://scrapbooking4elt.blogspot.com.es/ By the end of March or April, we´ve seen and drawn how the leaves begin to appear and grow. We´ve seen how more and more different birds perch on the branches. But most importantly, we have begun to learn how to document growth and the world of science that is all around us.
With my first and second graders, we´ve made a touchable, feely nest out of scraps of paper and cotton batton. We paste the nest on our scrapbook page. The nest has an opening and in that opening we make a mother (Momma ) bird and four little blue eggs. We talk about birds, about springtime and the hatching of baby birds from eggs. We go online and explore what is written about birds and spring. We make a list of new words for us to talk about spring. We show this to our parents.
With my grade three and grade four students, we´ve collected and brought tadpoles to class. We take good care of them making sure they have enough water and plant vegetation for food and cover in our recipient. For two to four weeks (depending on how fast they are developing) we observe how they grow, how their tails get shorter and how their tiny little legs and feet begin to appear and then their arms. We document these changes in our scrapbooks and we make a list of all the new words we are learning in English. At the end of these observation weeks I return the tadpoles to a fresh, cold stream in the mountains where they can complete their metamorphosis into frogs. As a class, together we write the story of what we saw.
With my fifth and sixth graders, we´ve written and illustrated poems about spring. We do this in our scrapbooks or make a beautiful poem poster. We read them aloud and our work to the class and then we take them home to read to our family and friends. After that we display them on our Personal Best bulletin board. Sometimes we write an acrostic poem. Here is one I´ve written:
SPRING,
S is for the sun that shines longer each day.
P is for all the plants that are growing with all this great sunlight in every place and every way.
R is for robin, my favourite spring bird, cheerfully appearing as the snow begins to melt.
I is for insects. My how they appear, buzzing and making themselves felt.
N is for nests. I just love to look for and discover one! and
G is for simply GREAT! Because spring is so much fun!
Hope you have been inspired by these ideas to create your own "Celebrate Spring!" activities.
Happy teaching spring!
theresa
Discovering spring is always one of my favourite classroom activities with my students. It doesn´t matter the age.
With my five year olds, we´ve found a tree nearbye that has no leaves yet. We´ll observe it, talk about it, touch it, give it a big hug and then draw it in our scrapbooks. Every day we´ll take a look at the tree. If there are any changes we will draw those changes on our scrapbook page. (If you are unfamiliar with the work I do with scrapbooks visit my blog: http://scrapbooking4elt.blogspot.com.es/ By the end of March or April, we´ve seen and drawn how the leaves begin to appear and grow. We´ve seen how more and more different birds perch on the branches. But most importantly, we have begun to learn how to document growth and the world of science that is all around us.
With my first and second graders, we´ve made a touchable, feely nest out of scraps of paper and cotton batton. We paste the nest on our scrapbook page. The nest has an opening and in that opening we make a mother (Momma ) bird and four little blue eggs. We talk about birds, about springtime and the hatching of baby birds from eggs. We go online and explore what is written about birds and spring. We make a list of new words for us to talk about spring. We show this to our parents.
With my grade three and grade four students, we´ve collected and brought tadpoles to class. We take good care of them making sure they have enough water and plant vegetation for food and cover in our recipient. For two to four weeks (depending on how fast they are developing) we observe how they grow, how their tails get shorter and how their tiny little legs and feet begin to appear and then their arms. We document these changes in our scrapbooks and we make a list of all the new words we are learning in English. At the end of these observation weeks I return the tadpoles to a fresh, cold stream in the mountains where they can complete their metamorphosis into frogs. As a class, together we write the story of what we saw.
With my fifth and sixth graders, we´ve written and illustrated poems about spring. We do this in our scrapbooks or make a beautiful poem poster. We read them aloud and our work to the class and then we take them home to read to our family and friends. After that we display them on our Personal Best bulletin board. Sometimes we write an acrostic poem. Here is one I´ve written:
SPRING,
S is for the sun that shines longer each day.
P is for all the plants that are growing with all this great sunlight in every place and every way.
R is for robin, my favourite spring bird, cheerfully appearing as the snow begins to melt.
I is for insects. My how they appear, buzzing and making themselves felt.
N is for nests. I just love to look for and discover one! and
G is for simply GREAT! Because spring is so much fun!
Hope you have been inspired by these ideas to create your own "Celebrate Spring!" activities.
Happy teaching spring!
theresa
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