Turkey Investigations

We've learned A LOT about turkeys.  To share the information students have learned they created a 2 page investigation.  They included a brace map, caption, bulleted list of facts they learned, and work they completed in computer lab.

Here are some examples!

We also made some tie dyed turkeys.  They'll be added to our "How to Cook a Turkey" writing later this week.

A Week in Review

We did take time to read about Veterans and talked about why we had Tuesday off.  Students drew and described a veteran.  A HUGE thank you for all you do!!

We spent the week looking at and reading legends.  We discussed how they are stories passed on from person to person.  Each legend we read had an important lesson.

Here are some of the legends we read.

After listening to Raven, students created their very own.

For writing, students wrote their opinion on which legend was their favorite.  On Friday, working in teams (based on which legend they picked), they created a mural showing their favorite illustration.  The murals look amazing hanging up in our community!!

Coyote Steals the Blanket

Monkey

Raven

Thanks to the Animals

How Chipmunk Got His Stripes

Turkeys...turkeys...turkeys!!  That has been our focus in Science. Students brainstormed and wrote, "How to Cook a Turkey."  This is ALWAYS a fun activity but I'm not sure if I would eat any of their turkeys!!  I had one student feel 25 seconds was long enough.  YIKES.  

After their writing, they colored in a coffee filter and dipped it in water to create a turkey.

I also introduced Investigations.  These are 2 page spreads that share information on a topic.  I like to show students a variety of ways to share information and this is a GREAT way to introduce nonfiction text features.  We focused on creating a border, a diagram, a caption, a brace map, and a bulleted list.  

Here are a few examples!!

For Daily 5 next week students will be able to write turkey facts on feathers.  I'm hoping this little guy fills up soon!!

Mrs. Lyons' Class and the Runaway Turkey Class Book

I've always LOVED writing!!  Writing and illustrating have always been a passion.  I still enjoy it today but I've found that teaching it is also very exciting.

I especially enjoy that moment when kids look forward to writing and no longer see it as "work."  They quickly learn that we write everyday for EVERY subject.

For the first trimester, we focused on opinion writing.  I added narrative writing in but it was very direct teaching.  They wrote pieces focused on mom, dad, friends, the seasons, etc.

Now, it's time for the more CREATIVE and IMAGINATIVE writing which can be difficult for some students.

I decided to introduce narrative writing differently this year.  After the read aloud, Run, Turkey, Run, I introduced the story planners the kiddos would be using.

You can download them here if interested (Narrative Story Planners)!

I modeled how the story had a beginning, middle events, and a closing.  We discussed that the events helped moved the story along.

Instead of having the kiddos jump right into writing their own story I told them we'd be making a class book about a runaway turkey.  They helped to brainstorm and voted on the characters, setting, and events. As we talked about our story I filled in the planners.  

We created our runaway turkey story and they had GREAT ideas! They orally told me the story and I wrote it.  Today they illustrated the pictures.  I absolutely love their illustrations, how they added dialogue, and labels.  

Take a peek and enjoy!!

I wanted to do an illustration too!

I believe it should be lying and I wrote laying...

Such clever kids!!  They came up with naming the turkey Tom (male turkey) and adding our assistant principal's last name.  So fitting...

I can't wait to see the stories they come up with.

Gobble...Gobble...Turkey Investigations

Students get so wrapped up in their science investigations.  We've spent the last week learning more about turkeys.  Kiddos have also been writing turkey facts on feathers to help build our class turkey!

The kids began making their two page spread.  For this investigation, I color copied some of the pictures from the books we've read. Students were able to use them in their work and weren't consumed with how their pictures came out.

I introduced two new text features-captions and definitions.  Kids practiced using them in their investigations.

Here are some examples.

Look closely!!  Robert photobombed the pic!

I'm so proud of their hard work!

Would You Cook a Turkey for ONLY 16 Minutes?

I ALWAYS love this writing activity.  We talked about how this was a form of informational writing. They wrote the steps on how they would cook a turkey!!

After the read aloud, they began writing.

This was done as an interactive writing piece.  A student would write the step on the chart paper while the rest of the class helped with the spelling and then wrote on their own copy.

We also made these cute coffee filter turkeys to add to our writing.

I'm not sure if I would want to eat turkey at their house.  The cooking time ranged from 15 minutes to  87 minutes.  I know I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my break off sick!!

Two Page Informational Spread

Now that's a post title!  We've been learning a lot about informational text and how these books are set up. Students have been learning about diagrams captions, maps, and other ways to display information.

We've been learning about turkeys this week.  GOBBLE, GOBBLE!  I thought this would be the perfect time to have kids display the information they learned in a two page spread.  Here's the book I use.

We talked about borders and how they could be effective in sharing information.  Working with a partner, they created a border.  They came up with great ideas.  Some drew turkey prints, while others drew eggs, or turkeys.  Once they created their borders we looked at the book again and how Jim Arnosky displayed the information in his book.

Let me just say having a color printer at school is A-MAZING!  I didn't want the kids stressed out over making the illustrations so I printed some of his illustrations in color and found some images online.

Students did have to include one diagram in their informational spread.  I had one student tell me turkeys were hard to draw.  Of course I agreed and he quickly came up with a solution.  The hand turkey...now who doesn't remember making those in school?

Each group picked four pictures and worked as a team on how they wanted to lay out the pictures.

The solution...the famous hand turkey!

I then met with each group to go over what information they planned on sharing.  Let me tell you, they learned A LOT about turkeys!!  I also helped them by making the lines on their spread to keep their writing organized and together.

I think for our first time doing this they came out really well!!

How to Cook a Turkey

If you're looking for a DELICIOUS recipe, look no further!!  That is if you trust a first grader.  They began this lesson by doing a Quick Write.  They had to list everything they would need in order to cook a turkey. Then they wrote.  Here's an example.

We've also been reading nonfiction books on turkeys and completed this chart.

Turkeys

Kids listened to All About Turkeys by Jim Arnosky.  They brainstormed a list of new facts they learned.  They wrote on sentence strips, which were used as the turkey's feathers.