Custom Search Engines

Internet research in K-2 is no easy task. Although not intimidated by technology, early readers can experience a few roadblocks to navigating for age-appropriate resources. While there are many excellent search engines available for young children, they are not always free and the ones that are free provide only limited content. Google Custom Search Engines allow teachers to ensure their students find safe and useful resources. As our class begins our first internet research project on Oviparous Animals, we want to create a positive, empowering experience! Check our blogs soon to see how we used the search engines below to create our own Keynote presentations. 

 turtle,  butterfly,  lizard,   alligator,  ostrich,  peacock,  shark,   spider,  owl,   earthworm,  dinosaur,   frog,  octopus,  seahorse,  clownfish,  jellyfish

I'd love to hear about your success with search engines.

What Do Scientists Do?

Today we read, "What Is A Scientist?" by Barbara Lehn

We used our science notebooks to draw and write about the tools and ideas we explored, just like grown-up scientists do:

STEM Club

3D Shapes

Word Study: Sharing our Schema

We are getting super smart about schema! We found out that working together and sharing our schema (everything we already know) about letters and words can help us to become better readers and writers. First, our class worked together to make this amazing "dictionary page" for the letter S.

Next, we used our new "Word Study Notebooks"...

...to make our own dictionary pages, first with a partner, and then on our own. Check out the results of our collaborations.

Word Clouds

This week we found more ways to learn about letters, sounds and syllables using our names (thanks to the Kinderkids for sharing this on their blog). First, we made names wordle all of our names. Here are some of our favorites:

Then we made word clouds using just the first letters of our names:

Finally, we used a Venn-diagram to sort letters with curved lines, straight lines, or both:

Mo Willems' Inspired Writing

We had so much fun writing our own "Pigeon Stories". Please check out student blogs for more!