This page was inspired by three of my fifth graders:
olive, sophie, and madison.
i hope it inspires many more dts students to push their thinking while they're stuck at home!
Here is the story of this endeavor (scroll down to get to the good stuff if you're not interested in my story. I won't be offended, because I will never know).
On one of the first days of the COVID-19 "break," Sophie mentioned in a discussion board post that she woke up to hear "about 5,000" different birds singing outside her treehouse. This made me a little jealous, as I don't have a treehouse to camp in, and it also inspired me to create a page where kids can identify their backyard wildlife. I also thought it might be cool to put out a call for kids to share other concepts they'd be interested in exploring.
Madison responded to that call by saying kids might like the opportunity to explore their questions and ideas in a flipgrid. I realized that a BIG part of what kids are missing from school (and, honestly, I am, too) is interaction with others. We are all missing all the opportunities throughout the day to just bounce ideas off each other, ask questions, and hear each others' voices.
Then, yesterday, Olive brought up some amazing ideas to explore in our fifth grade discussion board, raising an entirely new topic: world mythologies and the ways in which they overlap. I reached out to Olive and her family to discuss the idea further, and she felt that a flipgrid would be a good format for that, too, soooooooo our idea is born! Keep reading to see how this will work...
On one of the first days of the COVID-19 "break," Sophie mentioned in a discussion board post that she woke up to hear "about 5,000" different birds singing outside her treehouse. This made me a little jealous, as I don't have a treehouse to camp in, and it also inspired me to create a page where kids can identify their backyard wildlife. I also thought it might be cool to put out a call for kids to share other concepts they'd be interested in exploring.
Madison responded to that call by saying kids might like the opportunity to explore their questions and ideas in a flipgrid. I realized that a BIG part of what kids are missing from school (and, honestly, I am, too) is interaction with others. We are all missing all the opportunities throughout the day to just bounce ideas off each other, ask questions, and hear each others' voices.
Then, yesterday, Olive brought up some amazing ideas to explore in our fifth grade discussion board, raising an entirely new topic: world mythologies and the ways in which they overlap. I reached out to Olive and her family to discuss the idea further, and she felt that a flipgrid would be a good format for that, too, soooooooo our idea is born! Keep reading to see how this will work...
how this works:
1. Kids share ideas with Mrs. Taylor - you can email your ideas, discuss them in a discussion board, send them by "snail mail" (seriously, I'm loving mail these days - message me for my address).
2. Mrs. Taylor finds resources to help kids learn more about the topic, and then creates a section on this page with those resources.
3. Mrs. Taylor links a new flipgrid to the information section where kids of all ages can gather to discuss their ideas. I may occasionally rope in an expert in that field to share knowledge if I can... this aspect is pending.
4. We discuss, we share ideas, we learn at our own pace in ways that are fun!
5. Kids share more ideas, the process repeats!
2. Mrs. Taylor finds resources to help kids learn more about the topic, and then creates a section on this page with those resources.
3. Mrs. Taylor links a new flipgrid to the information section where kids of all ages can gather to discuss their ideas. I may occasionally rope in an expert in that field to share knowledge if I can... this aspect is pending.
4. We discuss, we share ideas, we learn at our own pace in ways that are fun!
5. Kids share more ideas, the process repeats!
the backyard wildlife project:
identify those cool bugs, pretty spring flowers, morning bird songs and more!
Inspired by Sophie in Fifth Grade!
Wondering what those plants are in your backyard? Enjoy hearing birds in the morning... and notice that you hear different songs as the day goes on? Check out these resources, then come on over to the Backyard Wildlife flipgrid to discuss your discoveries, naturalists! You can also submit your backyard wildlife/ signs of spring photos for the gallery (see below).
Join the Flipgrid: https://flipgrid.com/taylorwildlife
Mrs. Taylor's Backyard Wildlife Page
Mrs. Taylor's Signs of Spring Page
"Be an Animal Detective: How to Find Clues and Identify Wildlife"
North Carolina Wildlife Species Index
North Carolina Wildlife Federation
Video: How to Attract Wildlife to your Garden
Photo Gallery: Local Wildlife. Signs of Spring Found By Mrs. Taylor, Hattie Noland in Ms. Siczek's 2nd Grade Class, and Kinsey Taylor in Mrs. Rights' FIrst Grade Class. MORE TO COME - Send me what you see near your house!
Wondering what those plants are in your backyard? Enjoy hearing birds in the morning... and notice that you hear different songs as the day goes on? Check out these resources, then come on over to the Backyard Wildlife flipgrid to discuss your discoveries, naturalists! You can also submit your backyard wildlife/ signs of spring photos for the gallery (see below).
Join the Flipgrid: https://flipgrid.com/taylorwildlife
Mrs. Taylor's Backyard Wildlife Page
Mrs. Taylor's Signs of Spring Page
"Be an Animal Detective: How to Find Clues and Identify Wildlife"
North Carolina Wildlife Species Index
North Carolina Wildlife Federation
Video: How to Attract Wildlife to your Garden
Photo Gallery: Local Wildlife. Signs of Spring Found By Mrs. Taylor, Hattie Noland in Ms. Siczek's 2nd Grade Class, and Kinsey Taylor in Mrs. Rights' FIrst Grade Class. MORE TO COME - Send me what you see near your house!
investigating world cultures, religions, and holidays... and how local cycles in nature affect them
Inspired by Olive in Fifth Grade!
Fifth graders have been tracking the Monarch Butterfly migration and learning about the connections between the cultural beliefs of people who live near the monarchs' overwintering zones and the yearly cycles of the monarchs. I find this fascinating myself, and was excited that students were interested in building on this idea for a bigger conversation.
One of the Distance Learning prompts for fifth grade was about this topic (see it pasted below if you are interested), and Olive posted this response:
"I think a lot of cultures have holidays or traditions like this and this is tied to something I would like to talk about: how mythology from different cultures are the same ( i see some connections between Greek and Hindu mythological figures)."
This is a topic I find absolutely fascinating myself! Interested? Check out some of the links below, maybe do a little research of your own, and then head over to the "Cultures and Mythologies" flipgrid to talk about your ideas with other students! Flipgrid code in case you want to enter it on a device: https://flipgrid.com/0de2a21f
Resources:
World Religions and Spiritual Traditions for Kids (United Religions Initiative)
World Religions for Kids (Kid World Citizen)
Greek Mythology for Kids (Ducksters)
Roman Myths and Legends for Kids (Mr. Donn)
Fables and Folktales from Around the World (Culture Trip)
The original Discussion Board post that sparked this idea:
"Check out the following slideshow, then discuss the discussion prompt questions in the discussion board.
Your questions are listed below and also in the discussion board.
https://journeynorth.org/tm/monarch/sl/5/index.html
Question 1:
How do you think these words are related to the timing of the monarch's departure from Mexico in the Spring and return in the Fall?
Choose at least three words to talk about in your discussion board post.
water
milkweed
temperature
day length (photoperiod)
mating
habitat
changes
lipid levels
equinox
Question Two:
After viewing the slideshow and the video clip, what do you notice about connections between the monarch migration, the changes of seasons, and cultural traditions/ holidays? You can talk about Dia de los Muertos and also about any examples from other cultures that you can think of.
Monarchs and Dia de los Muertos
Check out this clip on Monarchs and Dia de los Muertos in Mexico. What do you notice? Can you think of any other examples of how cycles in nature overlap with cultural traditions and celebrations in other countries?
Video link: https://youtu.be/sMs-lCaTKoE
Fifth graders have been tracking the Monarch Butterfly migration and learning about the connections between the cultural beliefs of people who live near the monarchs' overwintering zones and the yearly cycles of the monarchs. I find this fascinating myself, and was excited that students were interested in building on this idea for a bigger conversation.
One of the Distance Learning prompts for fifth grade was about this topic (see it pasted below if you are interested), and Olive posted this response:
"I think a lot of cultures have holidays or traditions like this and this is tied to something I would like to talk about: how mythology from different cultures are the same ( i see some connections between Greek and Hindu mythological figures)."
This is a topic I find absolutely fascinating myself! Interested? Check out some of the links below, maybe do a little research of your own, and then head over to the "Cultures and Mythologies" flipgrid to talk about your ideas with other students! Flipgrid code in case you want to enter it on a device: https://flipgrid.com/0de2a21f
Resources:
World Religions and Spiritual Traditions for Kids (United Religions Initiative)
World Religions for Kids (Kid World Citizen)
Greek Mythology for Kids (Ducksters)
Roman Myths and Legends for Kids (Mr. Donn)
Fables and Folktales from Around the World (Culture Trip)
The original Discussion Board post that sparked this idea:
"Check out the following slideshow, then discuss the discussion prompt questions in the discussion board.
Your questions are listed below and also in the discussion board.
https://journeynorth.org/tm/monarch/sl/5/index.html
Question 1:
How do you think these words are related to the timing of the monarch's departure from Mexico in the Spring and return in the Fall?
Choose at least three words to talk about in your discussion board post.
water
milkweed
temperature
day length (photoperiod)
mating
habitat
changes
lipid levels
equinox
Question Two:
After viewing the slideshow and the video clip, what do you notice about connections between the monarch migration, the changes of seasons, and cultural traditions/ holidays? You can talk about Dia de los Muertos and also about any examples from other cultures that you can think of.
Monarchs and Dia de los Muertos
Check out this clip on Monarchs and Dia de los Muertos in Mexico. What do you notice? Can you think of any other examples of how cycles in nature overlap with cultural traditions and celebrations in other countries?
Video link: https://youtu.be/sMs-lCaTKoE