The Nature Center Field Trip By Jaden

On Januaury 25th, 2013 we took a trip to the nature center!And we got to learn alot about eagles and we also got to see two of them, a bald eagle and a golden eagle, the golden eagle is brown all over with a more golden head and the bald eagle is brown every where but it's head is white and thats what makes it look bald.We also got to go to a lake where we got to see real wildlife.

Austin ,Kenson, Joey, and Hunter were playing a hunting game
 at the Nature Center. ~Jaden

The snake looked  real when I saw it scared me! ~Madison

Aquila is one of the few Golden Eagles left in the
 United States of America~Chesnee

This is the trip to the nature center, it was
really fun! ~Jaden

We were on the way to the Nature Center and Mrs.Allen took a picuture
 of Delenaey ,Jacob ,and me (Mariah)and some-what of McKenize~Mariah

  Austin is looking through the scope.~Isaac

Vertebrate Science Stations

Lately in science, we've been studying vertebrates and for the first time all year, we took the plunge with science stations last week. Since we've done math in stations pretty much all year with Math Workshop and we also do Daily 5 (where reading, writing, and word work all occur simultaneously throughout our class), we already had a lot of practice learning this way.

During each rotation in science, which lasted about 25-30 minutes, we had eight students working at each of the three stations. The three stations included a hands-on, investigation involving bird feathers; a "scavenger hunt" activity classifying different animals into the five vertebrate classes based on their specific characteristics; and reading the vertebrate section in our Life Science books and recording our learning in our own words, with accompanying illustrations.

As with doing anything for the first time, our science stations weren't entirely perfect; however, we felt it was pretty successful overall with being engaging, collaborative, interesting, and most of all educational!

Check out the pictures below, many of which were taken by Caitlyn, and feel free to ask us any questions or leave us a comment. Thanks for reading!

Station #1: Bird Feathers Investigation

In this station, we observed different bird feathers to help us explore how different types of feathers help birds survive. Here, we are placing droplets of water on different types of bird feathers.

As we investigated the different bird feathers, we used the chart above to record our observations.

Here, we're measuring bird feathers and observing
how different types of feathers react to wind.

Station #2: Classifying Vertebrates 

In this station, we used the Smartboard, computers, and books to find vertebrates and classify them into one of the five vertebrate classes based on their characteristics.  Online, we mainly used this website to classify animals.
As far as books, we used our Life Science textbook and about a half-dozen other books on animals we had in our classroom library.

As we identified vertebrates online and in books, we used this chart
to classify the animals based on the characteristics of their vertebrate class.

Station #3: Learning Highlights

In this station, we had the option of reading the vertebrate section of our Life Science book with a partner or independently. As we read, we recorded highlights of our learning (in our own words) and drew correlating pictures to help us visualize and remember what we learned.  

Starting the New Year on the "Right" Foot!

To start the year off on the "right" foot, we did a focus free-write on our plans for this new year: what we planned to keep doing, what we planned to stop doing, and/or what we planned to begin doing. Then we traced our right foot, chose our top three (or more) goals, and wrote them on our foot.  I (Mrs.Allen) saw the original idea HERE and revised it to work for us.

The sign and feet on the door were arranged by Jaden, Courtney, and Lexi, and the sign was created entirely by Lexi. 

This year,

• I plan to start the weather chamber, keep doing my phone collection, and make a building. ~Isaac
• I plan to stop biting my nails, try to get A+s on my work, stretch every day for cheerleading, read at least 60 books this year, come to school every day, bring a water bottle to school, and ride my horse every week. ~Chesnee
• I plan to watch the whole season of X-Factor, watch more videos of Beatrice Miller, and buy a golfish. :) ~Lexi
• I plan to sleep more, lie less, and lift more weights. ~Tanner
• I plan to learn how to survive in the wilderness, get better at video games, watch more basketball and football, and stop bugging my sis. ~Kenson
• I plan to stop biting my nails, stop twirling my hair, and focus on becoming a cheerleader. ~Mariah
• I plan to run a mile a day for a week and play Wii once this year. ~Coleman
• I plan to eat healthy, log on to Tenmarks at least 3x a week at home, exercise a lot, go to school every day if possible, long on to NoRedInk at least 2x a week at home, and not to stay up past 10:30.  ~Jaden
• I plan to get all As the rest of the year, keep my room clean, and not be so lazy. ~Bailey
• I plan to stop picking skin, watch new Disney channels, stop fighting with my brother, keep drinking, keep eating, keep reading, stay warm, play PS3, play sports, and play with friends. ~Chase
• I plan to stop biting my nails, try to make my bed every morning, and keep playing football. ~Logan
• I plan to blog or write every day, learn how to crochet, keep flossing my teeth every day. ~Mrs.Allen
• I plan to help classmates get quiet when it's quiet time, help classmates get back on track, make new friends, read more, and learn more. ~Delaney
• I plan to do better at basketball, to have more fun with Gunner, and to stop letting my cat outside. ~Jacob
• I plan to read one hour every day, get sticky notes to help me remember stuff, and stick to the Golden Rule! ~McKenzie
• I plan to have more sleepovers, more par-tays, lose weight, gain happiness, cal my friends more often, play more video games, and play more Minecraft. ~Anna
• I plan to make 10 or more Popsicle boxes and sell them, read more, be more active, run a 1/2 marathon, and go outside more. ~Madison
• I plan to stop biting my nails, go to Arkansas, hula hoop, and make new friends. ~Courtney