Thursday, 21 April 2016
Cereal Boxes
Next week we will begin another media literacy unit. We will review advertising devices used in media and delve into some more specific tactics used to target kids. The unit will culminate with designing our own cereal boxes. For this activity, I would like each child to bring in one, or more, empty cereal boxes for us to analyze and then recover with our own designs. The boxes can start coming in immediately. If possible, please try to have them in by Thursday, April 28th.
Wednesday, 6 April 2016
Non Fiction Animal Research Reports
You may have heard about an activity that we are working on in class right now about animals. After learning about a variety of features of non-fiction books such as an index, glossary, table of contents, text box and caption, students were ready to put their new-found knowledge to use!
After each choosing an animal that they would like to learn more about, students were provided with a non-fiction book on that animal. They have used these books to find information on the animal's appearance, habitat, predators, diet, life cycle/babies, and any other interesting facts. I have encouraged them wherever possible to use their own words rather than copying directly from the book. They have busily working through the steps of taking jot notes, writing a rough copy, revising and editing, and now some of them are ready to begin their good copies. While I was planning on having students simply illustrate their good copies, many students were inquiring about whether or not they could bring in printed pictures of their animal and the subtopics listed above. I understand that this does take some effort and involvement on your part, and that some families may not have access to a computer and/or printer. For those reasons, I have agreed that students can bring in printed photos (black and white is fine), but I do want to be clear that this is not a requirement. Any child that does not have printed pictures will simply illustrate their report as I originally planned. Further, students may choose to include a mixture of both pictures and self-drawn illustrations in their report.
The students have been learning a ton of really fascinating facts, and eventually we will share our learning with our peers as animal experts.
After each choosing an animal that they would like to learn more about, students were provided with a non-fiction book on that animal. They have used these books to find information on the animal's appearance, habitat, predators, diet, life cycle/babies, and any other interesting facts. I have encouraged them wherever possible to use their own words rather than copying directly from the book. They have busily working through the steps of taking jot notes, writing a rough copy, revising and editing, and now some of them are ready to begin their good copies. While I was planning on having students simply illustrate their good copies, many students were inquiring about whether or not they could bring in printed pictures of their animal and the subtopics listed above. I understand that this does take some effort and involvement on your part, and that some families may not have access to a computer and/or printer. For those reasons, I have agreed that students can bring in printed photos (black and white is fine), but I do want to be clear that this is not a requirement. Any child that does not have printed pictures will simply illustrate their report as I originally planned. Further, students may choose to include a mixture of both pictures and self-drawn illustrations in their report.
The students have been learning a ton of really fascinating facts, and eventually we will share our learning with our peers as animal experts.
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