Kindergarten Projects

In kindergarten students have been learning that non-fiction books give use information. Students have been learning about the biomes of Minnesota in their classes. In library, we practiced reading for information. We learned that researchers can use the pictures to help get facts. Reading pictures is one of the ways that we read books.

Students were each given a Minnesota animal to become experts on. In library they found out: What does my animal look like, what does it eat, and where does it live.

In class students then wrote about their animals and drew a picture. In library with lots of parent helpers (Yeah for HELPERS!), students then used Little Bird Tales to create an online report of their learning. We then had our grown-ups help us record our voices.

Click your child's class to see and hear what we learned! 
Make sure to TURN UP YOUR VOLUME!

Albert
Kong
Mohamed
Showalter
Tyrer

Little Bird Tales

In kindergarten students have been learning that non-fiction books give use information. Students have been learning about the biomes of Minnesota in their classes. In library, we practiced reading for information. We learned that researchers can use the pictures to help get facts. Reading pictures is one of the ways that we read books.

Students were each given a Minnesota animal to become experts on. In library they found out: What does my animal look like, what does it eat, and where does it live.

In class students then wrote about their animals and drew a picture. In library with lots of parent helpers (Yeah for HELPERS!), students then used Little Bird Tales to create an online report of their learning. We then had our grown-ups help us record our voices.

Click your child's class to see and hear what we learned! Make sure to TURN UP YOUR VOLUME!

Mrs. Alberts Class
Mrs. Kong's Class
Mrs. Mohamed's Class
Mrs. Showalter's Class
Ms. Tyrer's Class

Kindergarten MN Animal Research

In kindergarten students have been learning that non-fiction books give use information. Students have been learning about the biomes of Minnesota in their classes. In library, we practiced reading for information. We learned that researchers can use the pictures to help get facts. Reading pictures is one of the ways that we read books.

Students were each given a Minnesota animal to become experts on. In library they found out: What does my animal look like, what does it eat, and where does it live.

In class students then wrote about their animals and drew a picture. In library, students then used Little Bird Tales to create an online report of their learning. In class, they recorded themselves reading their report.

Click your child's class to see and hear what we learned!

Mrs. Albert's Class
Mrs. Kong's Class
Mrs. Mohamed's Class
Mrs. Showalter's Class
Ms. Tyrer's Class

Students did a great job! (make sure to notice that each teacher has 2 pages.) Also-- you might need to turn up the volume.

**A BIG thank you to all the parent volunteers that helped with this project!

Kindergarten Research

Its Research Time!
Kindergartners at Brimhall have been working hard to learn about Minnesota animals for their

Minnesota Program. In library, we learned about the research process. We used our eBooks to practice taking notes together. I modeled to students how pictures (and words) can answer the questions we had about the animals we were going to research. Students decided they wanted to find out:

• What the animal looks like?
• What the animal eats?
• Where the animal lives?

The following weeks, we took notes using Pebble Go and books about the animals. A few of our 6th grade helpers came over their recess and helped the kindergartners by asking them questions and sounding out words. After the research was completed in the library students wrote reports in their classrooms. That week in library-- students practiced using the app Little Bird Tales to learn how to create images.

Then, all classes came back to the library to create images of their animal. They are ADORABLE! Another BIG thank you to the TAs and Parent Volunteers that helped make this process easier for the kindergarten teachers and myself. Make sure to check out our work below. Once the pictures were done, the kindergarten TAs recorded the voices of the kiddos reading their work. Again-- ADORABLE! It is amazing how quickly kids voices change-- what a great keepsake. (THANK YOU Kindergarten TAs!!)

Enjoy our work! I have posted it by classroom!

Albert
Mohamed
Showalter
Tyrer
Vang



*Photos by Mrs. Showalter

Kindergarten Research- Minnesota Animals

Minnesota Projects
Albert
Mohamed
Showalter
Tyrer
Vang

This past month Brimhall Kindergarteners learned about reading and writing non-fiction. In library, we first practiced reading informational texts and finding the answer to three questions about animals:

1. What does my animal look like?
2. What does my animal eat?
3. Where does my animal live?

Students used captions and photos to help find the answer to these questions about different animals.

The next week, students came to the library and learned about note taking.  We first listened to information about our animals using Pebble Go! (My very favorite resource for informational reading in the primary grades). Students then used books to read the pictures and take notes as I modeled to them each different topic.

Kindergarten teachers and teaching assistants and I were all on had to work with students as they learned and researched their Minnesota Animal.

In the classroom, teachers used the information the students gathered to write reports. This was a great effort on collaboration.

During library the next week, we used the iPads and the Little Bird Tales  app to draw our animals. We took photos of the students final reports using the iPad, and then recorded their voices reading their text. I just listened to my daughter's from last year, and had a little moment with how much she has grown in one year. There is something magical about hearing your child's voice reading their writing.

Lastly, after a few technical difficulties-- I uploaded all the projects to the web. Here are our projects. All of us are extremely proud of the work our kiddos did!

Albert
Mohamed
Showalter
Tyrer
Vang

We can't wait for parents to view them at the Minnesota Program later this week!

Kindergarten Research

Kindergarteners Rock at Research! Check out our completed projects. They are awesome!

Mohamed
Showalter
Tyrer AM
Tyrer PM
Vang

In Kindergarten students have been learning about Minnesota in their Social Studies Unit. I collaborated with our Kindergarten teachers to have students research an animal from Minnesota.

Recording Facts

First, I worked with each class to practice using pictures and words in a non-fiction book to find out "What does my animal look like?," "What does my animal eat?," and "Where does my animal live?" We practiced this skill with me modeling using an eBook, and then having the students practice with a hard copy text.

Taking Notes About Minnesota Animals

The next time I met with students, I modeled note taking skills using a book about a Minnesota animal. In two separate class periods students were able to record all that they had learned about their animals on their note taking sheet and draw a sketch of them.

Using the iPads to create images of our animals!

When classes came back to the library, we used the iPads to draw images of our animals to create a multimedia report that can be shared at their kindergarten program. While students were working, their teacher and I took photos of their written work (with the iPad) to create a page in their report with all the facts that they learned. I then used the iPad version of Little Bird Tales--and then teachers uploaded the tales to their class home pages after we recorded their voices reading their reports.

2nd Grade Research

My 2nd Graders are awesome at research. We have been been reading nonfiction, taking notes, and writing reports all year. Their teachers are so great at collaborating with me, and it shows in the skills these kiddos have. Teaching with these lovely ladies is easy and fun--and our students learn so much! As I look at these completed new projects I am astonished at the growth we see in one year.

Recently, all second grade classes researched a different country from around the world. I helped them get started on the research part--then teachers continued in their classrooms. Students then worked with their teachers to learn skills about writing a paragraph to report their information. I taught them how to create illustrations in Little Bird Tales (which is one of my favorite multi-media creation tools for the primary grades--Go create a free account and play if you haven't yet!) I then worked with teachers to combine student work into books that have an illustration, a topic sentence, and a recording of students reading the paragraphs they wrote. They turned out great.

Check out our class pages with links to our books (I will link up to the last classes as they complete their books):

2 ANDERSON

2 OLSON

2 KATH

2 THEBERGE

Little Bird Tales

Kindergarteners at my school have been learning about Holidays Around the World in Social Studies. They especially learned about many Festivals of Light. Students worked with their families to create a page in a book about a holiday they celebrated.

I took these beautiful images and scanned them into an eBook to share with families.

In Little Bird Tales I recorded students telling others about their families holiday.

Please See Our Class Books:

• Click to view my tale.
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