Animal Adaptation
Project (formerly Ecosystem Project) (Winter)
Students will create an animal
within its habitat as a diorama at home, then present it to the class with an
emphasis on structural and behavioral adaptations. You may see an old rubric here:
ecosystem.htm.
Alphabet Books (Early
Fall)
Students practice complete sentences while creating a thematic (animals,
food, sports, etc.) alphabet book. Books become rich in adjectives and alliteration
that kindergarteners at CPS are sure to enjoy with the colorful images students
create to support their words. Graeme Base's Animalia and other
alphabet books serve as models. See photos on our pictures
page.
Amusement Parks (Winter)
Students will design their
own amusement parks by forming ideas for an entrance and exit, several rides and
games, as well as restaurants and shows. Ideas cannot be possible, but must go
beyond current technology. Students will describe each of the above items in words,
then draw their parks on 3x3 butcher paper. Students will then write rough drafts
for their day at their amusement park.
Athenian Secret (Late spring)
Students work in small groups to solve the math and logic challenges of the
ancient Greeks, competing against other teams to earn drachmas. This is an Interact
Unit.
Be An Expert (Spring)
Students will research a topic of
their choice at the CES library, the public library, and on the Internet, using
note cards to record their findings. Then, students will write a near-MLA style
research paper. Finally, students will present the project to their class as well
as a third grade class of their choosing. See the rubric here:
beanexpert.htm. Be sure to read the Be An Expert Requirements and "How
to" pages here: beanexpertreq.html.
Fractured
Fairy Tales (Fall)
After reading many versions of classic and modern fairy
tales, students will write their own fairy tales combining old characters and
situations in new ways, then prepare picture books to share with kindergarteners
at CPS.
Garden Project (Spring)
All students grow several plants
from seeds as well as plants from cuttings to take home. We always enjoy an end
of the year salad from the garden.
Hands-on Equations (Late Spring)
Students will complete the second set of hands-on equations challenges, using
manipulatives to gain algebraic experience.
Homophone Stories-(Fall)
Using
as many homophone sets as possible, students will write stories using as many
homophone sets correctly as they can. See the rubric here: homophone.htm
Life
Cycles (Early Fall for Monarchs and Late Spring for Mealworms)
Students
will raise and release monarch butterflies from caterpillars (see pictures on
my photo page) as well as beetles from larve (mealworms) to enhance our study
of life cycles.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Winter)
Students
will write their own fantasy stories using The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
as a model. For prewriting, students will create characters, plots, and settings
on notecards, then create giant maps of their fantasy worlds on butcher paper.
Using these, students will write a minimum three page rough draft. We'll work
on editing together with a special emphasis on paragraphing as well as details
in setting and characterization.Students may work in the computer lab to type
final drafts. You may view an old rubric here lww.htm, but
keep in mind that I change rubrics almost every year.
Number the Stars
Unit (Spring)
During and after reading the novel, students will participate
in several in-class short reading and writing assignments designed to enhavnce
understanding of the novel, the WWII Jewish Holocaust and Denmark, and human rights.
Brief background is given for the European front in WWII, the geography of northern
Europe, and pictures from my trip to Denmark (the setting of the novel). Readings
include the poem The Hangman, the short story Harrison Bergeron, the children's
book Yellow Star, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Rights of
the Child, and the Bill of Rights. We will conclude the novel by writing a five
paragraph essay as a class on bravery.
Physics (Fall): physicsproject.htm
Students
will create a demonstration piece at home that shows three or more of our physics
concepts such as kinetic energy, potential energy, and gravity. Also see Mr. Coxon's
Physics Links Page: physics.htm.
Poetry Books
(Spring)
Students will compile a book of their favorite fifteen or more
poems. Books must include at least one example of each style taught in class including
nonsense, Cinquian, haiku, picture, alliteration, and more. See the rubric.
The novel in poems, Love that Dog, begins our unit. Examples of each style
are read in class. A Jacob's Ladder unit from William and Mary will be used to
increase understanding of poetry.
Math Pop-up Book (Late Spring)
Students
will demonstrate a fourth grade math concept to third graders using a pop-up book
of their creation. See a rubric here: popup.htm
Romeo
and Juliet (Late Spring)
Students will do reader's theater near the year's
end with a modified version of the Shakepearean tragedy. Don't worry--no kissing
required! For a great site with the Bard's complete works, go to http://the-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/
.
Shiloh Project (Fall)
Students will rewrite the ending of the
novel from Judd's perspective in an attempt to understand why Judd changes at
the end of the book. You may view a rubric here: shiloh.htm.
Student-Designed
Novel Response Projects (Following completion of small group books-Always In Progress)
Students design their own responses and assesments in response to a novel
they have read in small groups. Puppet shows, videos, games, PowerPoint or SMART
presentations, comic books, Web sites, and building projects are just a few examples.
See
or for examples
of on-line novel responses.
Toothpick bridge building (Late Spring)
Students will design and build bridges during the last few weeks of school in
mathematics to celebrate our completion of the Everyday Math. First we will study
basics of bridge design, next students will design and draw to scale their bridge,
then students will put their bridges together with wood glue on wax paper, and
finally, once all bridges are solid, we will destroy each one by adding weight
little by little. All bridges will be destroyed, but we'll see whose can withstand
the most weight. For a great site on bridge building, visit http://www.pacificsites.com/~jade/ToothpickBridgeLinks.html
.
Vermicomposting (Fall to Spring-Always In Progress)
Students
will save certain food scraps from the cafeteria to feed our worm bin. In the
Spring, we'll fertilize with the worm castings and release the worms in our garden
plots to help our vegetables, herbs, and flowers grow.