Forest Unit

We have had so much fun with this forest unit so far.  We've done a ton of crafts and coloring.

DD's owl is left and LD's is right/below.

  All the kids have been doing the forest animal sorts and we talked once again about vertebrate and invertebrate animals. The kids sorted the vertebrates into amphibians, reptiles, birds and reptiles. (Below)

You'll find the forest animal sort cards here. I didn't include the category cards, but you can just write them on on an index card.

These suncatcher owls from oriental trading have been the biggest hit! I only have pictures of ED's owls, but all the kids and some of their friends have loved making these.

 

We started reading Little House in the Big Woods together.  Having just finished the Sign of the Beaver and the settlement of Tennessee and the Ohio Valley region we're now moving farther West in our studies. This week we payed particular attention to the animals mentioned in the book.
I taught the kids about using an index. I got a couple of huge mammal books from the library.  First I asked LD to find a picture of a panther and DD to find a picture of a mink (animals that were mentioned in Little House). I didn't give them any guidance and they thumbed aimlessly through their books. Then I told them that there is a terrific tool at the back of most non-fiction books called an index.  I showed them how all the words were in alphabetical order and then had them look up their animals.

I also did the long A vowel sound sorts in an owl theme (though I couldn't share this version b/c of the copyright). I remade it with birds and you can download that here. The long A sounds include a-e (silent e), ai, eigh, aigh, ea, a, ay and ey. You can of course just pick out the words you need if you haven't covered all of those spelling combinations.

Tomorrow I'll show you the best part of this unit!