Week 3 - The start of my owl unit!

The Start of my Owl Unit

It has been an eventful week for all of us in Room 8! I started my Owl Unit and it has been an incredible learning experience (honestly, more so for me than the kids.) Of course they are learning a thing or two (or three or four) about owls... but the amount of knowledge I have gained from teaching the past three weeks doesn't even come close in comparison.

I observed while my mentor teacher engaged the kids in a fun activity for practicing their high frequency spelling words. The kids loved it... they all sat in a circle (massage train style) and spelled these words out loud with their teacher while drawing each letter with their pointer finger on the upper back of the person in front of them. As they practiced these high frequency words after a long day, not only were they engaged, they were also relaxed. Brilliant.

For my first lesson, we read some informational picture books and then filled in a chart listing what owls are, can (do), have, and need. (I laminated the chart so I could write with dry-erase markers.) The red marker is what the kids came up with (prior knowledge) before we read the book Owls by Gail Gibbons. The green is what we filled in afterward.

After this lesson I started a pile of index cards with key vocabulary words related to the unit. The kids and I flip through the vocab words before each lesson and I use the popsicle stick questioning technique (picking names randomly using popsicle sticks) as both a review and form of assessment. These kids are like little sponges! What they can remember from the previous day's lesson is amazing.

The next day, we learned about the different parts of the Great Horned Owl. I created this chart (with velcro labels) and had the students work together to place the labels where they belong.

The most exciting lesson I taught this week (and I know the kids would agree) was about the different sounds owls make. First, we listened to actual audio clips of different owl calls. The kids then, in small groups, came up with a list of different onomatopoeias that represent the different sounds they heard. I took a few suggestions from each group to write on the board... there were a few hoots, a couple screech's, but my favorite was "whgthp", preceded by a high-pitched squacking noise to show pronunciation. Creativity at its finest. 

After we decided on our four favorite onomatopoeias, I brought up lyrics to a song we were going to learn. When the kids found out that it would be a new and improved version of their oh-so beloved song "What Does the Fox Say?", the crowd went wild... (seriously, what is it with that song? Obnoxious.) Prior to the lesson, after I decided to swallow my indifference, I had re-written some of the lyrics to present a more unit-appropriate (yet still undeniably annoying) tune, renamed "What Does the Owl Say?"  We used their onomatopoeias to fill in the rest of the lyrics and we all practiced singing our updated version together... stay tuned, videos to come! (We are going to perform it to the first and second graders, dance moves and all.)

I have to say though, my opinion was swayed after witnessing their enthusiasm. They're so funny, how can anyone hate a song when a bunch of eight-year-olds are jumping around, nearly scream-singing it? The tune is pretty catchy... and I was really glad they had so much fun during my lesson.