Off to the Zoo

My students are looking forward to our trip to the zoo on Saturday.  I am not able to go on a school day, so students and their families will meet me at the zoo on Saturday.  Tickets for 1 adult and 2 children in each family were funded through DonorsChoose.org.  I am also giving each student in my class a drawstring backpack with a scavenger hunt, zoo-themed stationary items and snacks thanks to a second DonorsChoose.org project.

In preparation for our trip, each student chose an animal they wanted to learn more about.  Students then met with me in small groups.  We talked about what students wanted to learn.  They formulated questions, which I wrote out for them.  We used a variety of easy-reader books which I helped them read to find their answers.  My favorites were National Geographic Kids, Pebble Plus and Weekly Reader books series.  We also used a free 2-week trial of www.pebblego.com, which students LOVED!  Below are some examples of their questions and answers.

 

 

After finding the answers to their questions, students used KidPix software to type a sentence for each question and draw a picture.  

"A flamingo baby's mom feeds it by chewing up food and spitting it in their mouth, but when it's a grown up, it can eat by itself." (This is one of my highest students...the grass and sky are wallpapers, but he drew everything else with the mouse!)

Students were SO excited to print these!  Even more exciting then typing and printing is that they get to be the teacher and teach the class about the animal they chose.  We will learn about the animals at the zoo we are visiting tomorrow.  Animals that are not present at the zoo we are visiting will be presented Monday.  They did an awesome job!