The thoughts of my students

Every morning I write a journal prompt on the board for my students to respond to in their own spiral bound journal. This is their morning work. At the end of every week I read what they write. There have been some interesting responses along with wonderful writings and drawings. I thought I'd share with you some of the best ones (even though all of them are great!)

Just beautiful

I love this student's drawing of Burger King

This student wants to be an 'animal planet guy' because he likes animals.

I love how the student drew herself smelling the flower

I loved the butterflies

This student's favorite animal is a zebra

I love that when this student grows up he wants to be an 'army guy'

This student's favorite season is summer because she gets to go to the beach and swim in the pool

This student is sitting at a table (see the legs on the four corners?) playing "apples to apples" with her family

This student is playing catch with his dog, a Shelty (?)

This student's favorite song is "Call Me Maybe" - sadly one of my favorite songs too

Of course I had to add this one! This student's favorite dog is a "chuiui" (chihuahua)

And the best one of them all....

Apparently this student's favorite song is "I Like Big Butts" by Sir Mix-A-Lot... sadly... this is on my list too (blushes)

Habitats

I know I haven't blogged in awhile. Life has gotten a bit busy. 

We are 6 weeks into the new school year. I've been so busy getting to know my students, as well as the new curriculum (I taught 3rd grade last year) and a new program for the paperwork side of things - Skyward. Maybe I'll have the hang of it by the end of the school year, just like I finally got the hang of FileMaker Pro last year which is now obsolete.

Anyway... today was the first day I actually was able to do an art project with my students. We finished up our first unit of Science on Habitats. My school uses National Geographic's science series which includes real life pictures. The students enjoyed learning about animals and their habitats as well as learning about how plants need animals and animals need plants. Today, as a way to finish up the unit I had my students create their own Animal or Plant Habitat Mural. I gave students a rubric in which to follow. It consisted of choosing an animal we have discussed in this unit or an animal they know about, then thinking about what their habitat looks like and consists of. (Students were able to look into their science books and look at 3 different books that came with the science series on prairie, ocean, and forest habitats.) The rubric also consisted of drawing, as accurately as they can, the habitat of their animal. They were allowed to write descriptions or label parts of their picture as well.

The students were super excited and got to work quickly. I amazed at the artists I have in my classroom! I will share pictures of their beautiful artwork as soon as it's finished. But here is a sneak peak:

Sorry it took me awhile to get the rest of the pictures up, but here are some others: