UNIT - WATER and LANDSCAPES

In this unit students learned about the different states of water. As part of our experiment, we grew sugar and salt crystals (see picture). Students learned about the three states of water, and that water evaporates with sunlight. Each group of students mixed their own salt and a sugar solutions. We let the solutions sit by the window until the water evaporated and only the crystals were left. Later, we showed students how water changes from a solid to a liquid using ice cubes. We went over both results as a class. Following the experiment, students learned that liquid water exists in the form of lakes, seas, and rivers and that we have different uses for it such as washing our hands, watering our plants, drinking, and washing the dishes.

Landscapes are part of our world, and in this unit students learned about the differences between rural and urban landscapes. We introduced this part of the unit with a video of "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse". The students really enjoyed the story and got to make their own country mouse paper puppet. They learned that urban landscapes have cars, streets, buildings, shops, highways, and bridges and that in contrast rural landscapes have farms, rivers, mountains, and forests. They distinguished various rural landscapes such as the forest, the jungle, the seaside, the savannah, the desert and the country by their principal characteristics (such as the desert is hot, the seaside has water) and which animals live in them.

Here are some neat links to online games and activities:

http://pbskids.org/rogers/buildANeighborhood.html This is a fun activity about elements of country and city landscapes. Students choose how many of each elements (such as streets, houses, trees etc) they put in their landscape.

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ey/science/animal_h/index.htm (This activity deals with animal habitats. Students either drag and drop animals in their proper habitats or choose which animals live in each habitat).

UNIT - My Body

In this unit students learned the various parts of their bodies and faces. We used the songs "if you´re happy and you know it..." and " head, shoulder, knees and toes". For their final project, students received a sheet of a blank body with each of their faces already printed on it. They then cut and pasted labels of the appropriate body parts on the sheet.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION - ANIMALS

This game had students imitate various animals that they learned in science class.
We used different colored jerseys or handkerchiefs.
The students used two jerseys and imitated fish, birds, and a lion. They used their handkerchief or jersey to imitate the movement of each animal. To finish the activity, students played a game of ¨tail tag¨. They imitated a lion and had to catch other students´ tails. At the end each student counted how many tails he/she had caught.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION - WARM UP

We decided to incorporate vocabulary that the students study in science in P.E. games. We begin the warm-up by sitting in a circle and then having the students follow a simple set of directions. This is either in the form of a song or a physical activity. Some of the songs we use are:

“if you´re happy and you know it”. This song adapts well to any set of vocabulary (we have used the parts of the body, the five senses, and animal parts unit)


“head, shoulders, knees and toes”. We review key parts of the body and also practice going fast and slow. At times we will pick a student who knows it well to start the song.

For physical activities we have students perform simple exercises such as walking, running, skipping, jogging, walking backwards, jumping, and doing jumping jacks.

UNIT - PLANTS

This unit builds on the living/non-living things unit and focuses on plants. Students learned about what plants need, how to grow them, how to differentiate their parts, and how they change with the seasons. They conducted their own experiment to determine whether or not plants can live without one of their basic needs (water, air, sunlight, soil).

Students reviewed the “A plant needs…” and “A plant/tree has got…” sentence structures. For the corner games vocabulary we made a “plants need” crossword puzzle and a “plants/trees have got…” dice (students roll the dice and draw and/or write part of the plant. The first student to complete his/her plant wins). We played both games as a class beforehand and made a set of simple written directions for reference.

For corner games sentences and whiteboard the students had loose words that they used to make sentences as well as whole sentences that they copied on their whiteboards.

UNIT - PLANT EXPERIMENT

Before starting the experiment, we reviewed what plants need to survive. We also introduced the vocabulary for what we need to grow a plant. We divided the class into four groups each of which received five ¨pots¨ (clear plastic cups). We removed one basic need from four of the plants (plant 1 had no water, plant 2 had no sunlight, plant 3 had no air, and plant 4 had no soil) and left the last plant with all of them. The students recorded their findings as the plants grew (or not) on the first, fourth, and seventh days. They were very excited about growing their own plants and although some of the plants grew without a basic need, they were able to see how a plant grows.

UNIT - MEALS

In this unit students learned about the different kinds of foods and when they eat them during the day. They learned to differentiate meals of the day and which foods are appropriate for each. They used the sentence structure " I have... (food) for... (meal)".

As part of the their final project, students wrote at least four sentences using the structure describing what foods they eat for which meal. In a picture of a blank plate previously printed on the paper, students drew the foods they described.