Rock On!

So, we are currently working on our Rock On! unit of inquiry. The students are really excited about this unit, and I am, too! I think the changing of the Earth is incredible and the processes are astounding... volcanoes, earthquakes, weathering and erosion... wow!

Yesterday, our first day back at school - after our 4th and 5th days off this year due to extreme cold - we chose our research topics for our summative assessment. I paired the students using my popsicle sticks, and together they chose their topics. They got to choose from earthquakes, volcanoes, igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, metamorphic rocks, gemstones, minerals, fossils, plate tectonics, precious metals, and crystals.

The summative assessment ties in with our writing unit, so the students will be working in pairs to research their topic and create a poster with everything they've learned. We have a lot of samples in the room, we've done some experiments, and we are really looking forward to seeing these posters develop over the next few weeks!

Here is a picture of the beginning of the process, and a really great Borax crystal a student brought in!

Where It All Goes Down Wednesday... Kinda

Today is 'Where It All Goes Down Wednesday' at Blog Hoppin. Well, I don't have pictures of my finished room. I will post those at a later date. What I do have are pictures of things I've Pinned and my own projects. They will help set the tone for Where It All Goes Down!

Check for Understanding: Pinned Image from 4th Grade Frolics


Check for Understanding: My Project
I made mine in MS Excel and I love how they turned out! I printed them out onto colored cardstock, then laminated them. I am going to put one in each book container and then I'll have the students use another one as their bookmark in their 'Just for Fun' book.



Book Luggage Tag: Pinned Image from Beg, Borrow, Steal and 4th Grade Frolics has some too!


Book Luggage Tag: My Project
Again, I took the idea and made it my own. I knew Archiver's had a die cut of a tag. I took some paper I had laying around and punched a bunch out! Then I had the laminated so I could - hopefully - reuse them next year. Now, I haven't finished them completely yet. I am going to put a number on the back along with a label on the front with the corresponding name. I think it will look delightful!


That's all for now!