April Apps

 

 Below is a list of apps our class was introduced to in April and some we will be using in May.  Please let me know if you have any questions about these apps.

 

April Apps by Natalie LaRose

Our Week in Review

Fruits and Vegetables of the Rainbow

For aculminating activity for our Plants unit of study we created a Fruits andVegetable rainbow.  To begin we needed toresearch the colors of the rainbow: purple, blue (dark and light), green,yellow, orange, and red.  Afteridentifying the colors of the rainbow we researched fruits and vegetables thatwere of these various colors.  We usedipads and books to help with our research. Here is what we came up with:

Purple

Plums,eggplant, elderberry, onions, grapes, cabbage, berries, radish, purple carrots,turnips

Blue(dark and light)

Blueberries,grapes, blackberries, raisins, black currant, prunes, figs

Green

Kiwi,lettuce, grapes, broccoli, limes, pears, green beans, green apples, spinach,mint, peas, sprouts, green grapes, avocados, leaks, peppers, cabbage,cucumbers, celery, brussel sprouts, zucchini, swiss chard, pears, artichoke,honey dew

Yellow

Bananas,corn, lemons, squash, pineapple, yellow apples, yellow peppers, mangos, peaches,onions.

Orange

Oranges, carrots, pumpkins, orangepeppers, squash, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, peaches

Red

Figs,apples, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, watermelon, cherries, radishes,grape fruit, blood oranges, pomegranate, red potatoes, red grapes, red peppers

After all ofour hard work was complete we got to painting. We had a great time painting the various fruits and vegetables we cameup with.

 

Our Fruitsand Vegetables of the Rainbow can be found on the wall outsideour classroom.

 

What's the "BIG IDEA?" - Biographies

Today in our Biography Unit students began to think about the purpose of biographies – what’s the “BIG IDEA” in each biography. Good readers can determine the “BIG IDEA” in a book. Thinking about the “BIG IDEA” helps readers understand the book and be able to build a conversation about the book. In Biographies, the “BIG IDEA” is usually what we learn from an important person. It may be something they did to make the world a better place (a significant contribution), it may be something they did that changed the way people think about behaving, it may be something they did that changed the way people think and behave, it may be something they did that gives beauty and pleasure to others.

Today we reviewed each of the biographies we have read aloud so far in our unit. We reflected on each person and together we came up with their “BIG IDEA”. Below is a list of the important people we have learned about and their “BIG IDEA”.

Louis Braille (inventor) – Gave blind people a fast way to learn to read so they could learn more by reading.

Rosa Parks (leader) – One person and one small act can make a big difference!'

Lance Armstrong (athlete) – Inspired many that you can overcome difficulties and succeed. (We also discussed illegal drugs)

Roberto Clemente (athlete) – Showed us the importance of helping others.

Below is a picture of our “BIG IDEA” anchor chart.

 

Below are the books that we have read to date:

Our Week In Review 4.8 - 4.12

Turning Point Pictures

Below are diagrams from our Turning Point mini-lessons from Reading Workshop last week.

Celery in Food Colored Water - Science Experiment

This week in science students put on their Science Notebooking Cap and participated in a very engaging lesson.  Yesterday, students wrote predictions about what they thought would happen when they put water in a cup, added food coloring, and then placed a celery stock in it.  After completing their hypothesis, students conducted the experiment.  This morning students observed what happened to the celery over night.  Many students were surprised and excited to see that the celery and the celery leaves changed color to match the colored water.  Students learned that the celery and leaf color changed due to the xylem.  The xylem acted like a straw; it sucked up the colored water and delivered it to the celery leaves.  Students connected the celery experiment to plants.  When we water the soil of a plant, the water is sucked up through the xylem and delivered to different parts of a plant.  Photographs from our experiment are below.  

 

                   

Biographies: Chronological Order & Turning Point

Yesterday during Reading Workshop we read Rosa Parks.  Students paid close attention to all of the dates during the read aloud.  Students then added those dates to our Rosa Parks time line (pictured below).  Students have been learning that biographies are written in chronological order – biographies start at the beginning of the person’s life and end with the person’s death.

Today we learned about the turning point in a person’s life.  The turning point might be an obstacle the person is determined to overcome, a special talent that suddenly gets noticed, or seeking a solution to a problem.   A turning point causes a person to change or leads to a new discovery.  Students learned that a turning point in Rosa’s life occurred on Dec. 1, 1955 when she did not give up her seat on a bus and was arrested.  As a result of Rosa not giving up her set the “Bus Boycott” began.  Rosa is an important person because she sparked the civil rights movement.  Below is the turning point diagram we completed for Rosa’s life.

Scholastic Book Orders

On Monday students were sent home with Scholastic Book Order forms. Ordering is quick and easy. You can order on-line by clicking on the widget on our classroom website (pictured below). Our classroom code is: LGMBG. You can also return the order forms to school. Orders need to be in by Friday, April 19.

Our Week in Review 4.5

Biographies: Names of People and Places

Yesterday, during our biography lesson, we continued to learn about the category famous people fall into.  We sorted many biographies into different categories.  The categories we came up with are:

-         First at Something

-         Leader

-         Scientist/Inventor

-         Artist

-         Musician/ Actor or Actress

-         Athlete

The biographies that we learned about have been added to our “Biographies are About…” anchor chart (pictured below).

Today we learned about a special text feature in biographies: Names of People and Places.  Students learned that we can expect to find the names of people and places in biographies, capital letters are a big clue.  Students went on a names scavenger hunt in biography books.  Below are photographs from our scavenger hunt.  We took a photograph (using the iPad) of a page in a biography, and we then uploaded the photograph to the app, “Explain Everything”.  From there we were able to highlight the names of people and places.  Names of people were underlined in red and names of places were underlined in blue.  We also discussed how students know whether a word beginning with a capital letter is a person’s name or a place.  Some of our clue words to help us know it is a place are (born in, lived in, moved to, grew up in).

 

 (click on a picture to enlarge it)

 

 

 

 

 

What Causes a Person to Have a Biography?

Today we began our Biography Unit.  Our first mini-lesson focused on, What is a Biography, and What causes a person to have a biography?  Students quickly knew that a biography is a story about someone’s life.  I was very impressed that students knew an autobiography is created when someone writes about themselves.

We discussed, and looked through, biographies to help us answer the question, What makes a person have a biography? Some reasons why students think people have a biography written about them are:

Leader- Martin Luther King and Ruby Bridges (both stood up for what they believe in).

Special talent: Marian Jones (was a beautiful singer)

Were 1^st at something/Scientist:  Jane Goodall (chimpanzees)

Athlete: LeBron James (basketball), Lou Gehrig (baseball)

Tomorrow we will continue to learn about the “category” famous people fall into and we will sort biographies into categories.