Safety Brochures

Since we have spent the last month reading about natural disasters I thought we should focus on safety preparation. I really wanted students to feel empowered and in control of their own safety. I got safety articles from FEMA and The Red Cross. Students researched all week, including looking at the school-wide emergency kit! Each student had to make a safety brochure as a form of expository text. Inside flaps had facts about their natural disaster, what to do before, during, and after to stay safe, and lastly real numbers to call if in a natural disaster. The students learned a lot about ways to stay safe at school, home, and in the community! I am really impressed of the work they put into their brochures!

Some of the students brochures

Facts about Tsunami

This student wrote about what to do before, during, and after a hurricane to stay safe

Some#s we included are 911, Red Cross, Text Shelter + Zip to FEMA. Did you also know your family should have a contact in another state that you all call in a disaster because it is easy to call to another state.

Natural Disaster Poems

In writing this week I had students write a formula poem on a natural disaster of their choosing. We have been doing a Force of Nature unit all month and I liked how this particular formula poem lended itself to nature's fury.

The Formula:

Line 1: Participle, Participle, Participle 

Line 2: Noun

Line 3: Adverb (how)

Line 4: Verb

Line 5: Adverb (where or when)

The poem I modeled for the students:

Swirling, Churning, Frightening

Tornado

Violently

Touched

Down in Kansas

Some students' finished poems:

Local Landform Models

Now that I finally got my camera and laptop together in one place and WORKING I can finally post some of what we have worked on in the last week. First and foremost I want to post my newest student blogger, J.Z. She has been my biggest support of the classroom blog and I was excited she decided to write about the Local Landform homework I assigned. Students were to make a 3D model of any landform in Oregon or Washington State (since we live on the border). With the model students needed to write an index card with the name of the landform, where it was located, what type of landform, and two facts about it. When the landforms finally came in I was BLOWN away! It was my proud teacher moment of the year!!! Let's see what J.Z. has to say about the assignment:

We've been learning about forces of nature and our homework was to make a model of a landform. Our teacher had told us the legend of Crater lake and I really enjoyed this study!!! I love doing projects like this. I think it helps me understand more not by being told but actually making me write something to explain what I've learned.

J.Z.'s Crater Lake model

Multnomah Falls in Oregon

Mt. Hood

The Sea Lion Caves in Oregon

Mt. Hood

Columbia River Gorge

The Mima Mounds in Washington

Mt. St. Helens

Crater Lake

The Ape Caves in Washington

I so with I could include every students pictures. They were all so truly amazing and they put so much time and effort in to it! I hope the families had fun doing this activity together and learning about their local landforms!

Hokusai Inspired Art

PTA asked for some art for an upcoming fundraiser. My creative, mentor teacher had the brilliant idea to tie the art project into our natural disaster unit. After teaching the students about the Ring of Fire she introduced them to the works of Hokusai (1760-1849) and his paintings of Mt. Fuji. One of Hokusai's most famous painting is The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, acted as our inspiration.

The students had six steps to draw a series of lines that acted as waves. We discussed how the way Hokusai drew the waves as hands out to reach you creates the sense of movement. After our waves were sketched we outlined our drawing in black crayon. We then used a white crayon to color the snow on Mt. Fuji and the tops of the waves. The crayons act as a resist to watercolors.

Students were given three watercolors (blue, brown, and yellow) to finish their art. She talked about value and how to create different shades of blue. Not only did we discuss the likelihood that this giant wave depicts a tsunami, but the duality of nature being both beautiful and dangerous. The students did an amazing job with their paintings. I am beyond impressed with the final products.

Stunning!

Forces of Nature

For February we began a new reading unit for the month. My host teacher found a GLAD unit based on Forces of Nature. We thought that learning about natural disasters and reading adventure fiction stories is a nice companion to the learning we have been doing in our landforms unit.

Students have broken into four literature groups (we had five choices, but no one chose to read the Tornado fiction book). The groups are reading a fiction book that portrays children in a heroic light and a non-fiction text as a companion. We read the non-fiction text first to build our background knowledge so we have some great schema in place as we read the realistic fiction the rest of the month.

Here is what the literature groups are reading:

After students read the non-fiction text they made a 3-part "mural" where they drew a picture of a scene before the disaster they learned about, during, and after. Then they wrote and performed a news cast skit for the class.

Here are some of the murals:

Tsunami Before

During Tsunami

After Tsunami

During an Earthquake

During a Hurricane

 

Other Supplement Learning:

• Cognitive Content Dictionary: Preparation, Safety, Precipitation, Humanitarian Aide, Impact, Evacuation, Tectonic Plates, ...
• Poems and Songs about Natural Disasters
• Maps 
• Learning about Mt. St. Helens (local landform & disaster)
• Earthquake & Fire Drills
• Water Cycle
• Safety Preparation
• Creating Mental Images
• Character Traits that will help them be heroic 
• Making Inference, Predictions, and Observations
• Rebuilding Community