Now that state testing is over for fourth graders here in
Massachusetts (and thanks to all the storms this year it's going to be a
lonnnng June), I have felt the pressure of math and ELA lifted, and I've been
fitting in more science and social studies into our days. I also looked over my blog topics over this
past year and I was shocked to find I have not posted a SINGLE piece on
science! I actually DO teach science,
really! So I decided to start at the beginning share a topic that I
love to teach the kids: Animals! More specifically we begin by studying the
traits of, and classifying vertebrates.
Next, we talk about the stages of the life cycle for all
vertebrates. This eases kids into the
year because who doesn't love to draw their favorite baby animal?
.jpg)
My poster board is in sad shape unfortunately, but only
because it's been so useful over the years for both science and social studies
concepts. I'm not sure yet if I want to
create a new one on poster board (the kids complain that laminated posters are
hard to read because of the glare, and I don't blame them) or some sort of
shower board project from the hardware store.
We'll see!
But back to vertebrates.
Next we start our research, checking off which characteristics animals
have when it comes to the above traits.
I often alternate colors to help students track on the
board, and they've also let me know that the lines are helpful, so I started
doing this consistently this year as well.
One thing I love about fourth grade is some kids are starting to be able to verbalize what they need in order to be successful, and they advocate for themselves!
One thing I love about fourth grade is some kids are starting to be able to verbalize what they need in order to be successful, and they advocate for themselves!


I usually group students by their selected topics, and they do an oral presentation to the class about their findings.
I'm not usually a fan of oral presentations, but when it comes to animals students are usually so interested in the topic that they can overcome their shyness to share.
Finally, my favorite part of our unit is to create our own
animals! They need to decide if its a
mammal, fish, amphibian, bird or reptiles, and have the correct traits, but
otherwise they can be as creative as they like! Yet I can still assess which students can apply what they know about the characteristics of each of the animal classes.





UPMSP Intermediate Model Question Paper 2022 for the Academic year 2022 are now officially Declared in Intermediate Education Uttar Pradesh Board. Students Eagerly Looking for the UP Board Board 12th Suggestions UP Board Intermediate Question Paper 2022 can Download them now either from the our website or from the links Provided below. get the Complete Details about the Question Papers of the 10th class. UPMSP Intermediate Model Question Paper 2022 for the Academic year 2022 are now officially Declared in Intermediate Education Uttar Pradesh Board. Students Eagerly Looking for the UP Board Board 12th Suggestions 2022 can Download them now either from the our website or from the links Provided below. get the Complete Details about the Question Papers of the 10th class.
ReplyDelete