Continents/Ocean Song (and Video!)

Disclaimer: embarrassing story to follow...

Back in December (yes, 7ish months ago), we were in the middle of our geography unit. I searched YouTube for a catchy song to help my students remember the names of the continents and oceans, but I found nothing that A) had all of the info I needed or B) was of good quality. So my teammie and I wrote our own song! The continents verse is actually something I picked up while student teaching 9 years ago, and we wrote the oceans verse. We sang our hearts out and it was glorious!

Then we decided that if we couldn't find anything we liked on YouTube, how many other teachers were feeling the same way? We talked to the tech department and got the permissions we needed to make our own YouTube video! We were READY, and the kids were SO excited! They were going to be FAMOUS!!!

We were scheduled to film the video the day before Winter Break, and the plan was that I would edit it and put it together over Winter Break. Then nature happened. We didn't have school that last day before Winter Break due to an ice storm. We rescheduled for a day when we got back, except... you guessed it, our pal Polar Vortex wasn't going to allow it. Third time was a charm though, because we did end up filming in mid-January.

Then my life happened. And then I forgot about it. The video camera I checked out from my school's library sat at my house for MONTHS. I know. SO embarrassing! Then the last week of school I got a print out of what I still needed to return to the library, and the video camera was on the list! I about died! So on the eve of the last day of school (while I'm juggling report cards and other EOY duties), I stayed up way past my bedtime to put the video together:

Click on the image above to see the video on YouTube

The video is unlisted, so I suggest you either bookmark it or pin this post so you can come back to it when you need it.

Better late than never, right? It was a fun way for us to end the school year remembering one of the topics we learned about in Social Studies.

What did you make this week? Link up with 4th Grade Frolics to share with us!

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What's the Scoop? Current Events *FREEBIE*

When we updated our Social Studies curriculum a few years ago, a new requirement was to incorporate current events into the classroom year-round. I wasn't sure how I was going to do this, as current events really don't fit with the rest of my units. I was feeling a little hungry that day, so I created "What's the Scoop?"!

"What's the Scoop?" is an EASY way to incorporate current events and public speaking in your classroom! Every week, a student is the Class Reporter. This is actually one of my classroom jobs. The student receives three ice cream scoops on Monday to work on at home. S/he watches the news or reads news on the Internet or newspaper to find three headlines from the week to write in his/her own words. On Friday, the student brings the scoops back (hopefully cut out!) and shares them with the class. Here's what the bulletin board looks like:

So what do you have to do to set this up? Not much! I cut a triangle out of brown construction paper and then drew criss-cross lines on it with a brown marker, then laminated it. This cone is actually four years old and still looks GREAT! No fading!! Then just make three copies of the ice cream scoop. I do one white (vanilla), one pink (strawberry), and one yellow (chocolate? LOL!). I attach the direction sheet to the top of the scoops so the parents know what to do. Then, just send it home Monday and wait for it to come back on Friday! You'll need 5-10 minutes for the reporter to share, but you don't really have to do anything; maybe just clarify or give more info if necessary. I'm telling you, SO EASY!!! You can pick up a FREE copy at my TpT store by clicking on the picture below.

Have a great night!!

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Community Project Part 2 {includes planning sheet}

Earlier this week, the bunnies turned in their Community Projects they've been working on for three. Weeks. Read all about it HERE! I had a request for the planning sheet I used for this project. You can pick that up HERE! I also included the parent letter that explains what the project is all about.

Here are a few more of my favorites. I snapped some photos of projects that were simpler... I seem to be drawn to the ones that were clearly completed by the student with little to no help from the parents. To me, those are the best ones! :)

Love how this kiddo parked the car in the parking lot!

This kiddo put wooden animals and barns on his! The corn is a nice touch too :)

The bridge is super creative!

This student was SO proud of her community! It's called Candy Town and the streets and buildings are named after kinds of candy. There are even Swedish fish in the pond! Oh, and the main street is shaped like a candy cane!

Love all the little details! The speed limit sign, cross walk, trees and swings in the park... So sweet!

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Community Projects

The first social studies unit of the school year is complete! We learned all about Communities: what is a community, citizens, rules and laws, types of communities, and focused in on our own community today and in the past. The bunnies work on a big at-home project throughout this unit where they build their own community. I supply a large piece of green tagboard and various colors of construction paper, although many of them choose to add other items to it. They can choose to make an urban, suburban, or rural community. Every year, I'm so amazed by how well they turn out, and this year was no exception! I expect that parents help a little (or in some cases, a lot...), so I don't really grade them. More like, "Did you do it, or not?" There's also a planning sheet that the students complete that tells what makes the community rural, suburban, or urban. You can find the planning sheet HERE.

The projects were due today. We did a gallery walk where the kiddos could check each other's out close-up. Then I had them get into groups based on the type of community, and the bunnies had to compare their communities to each other and figure out what made them similar. Here are a few of my favorites:

This student added what looked to be fish tank plants. There is also a bench and a family of ducks by the pond!

What a lovely little suburb.... until T-Rex stopped by! Hahaha!!!

 This is a first! The entire community is made out of Legos! How creative!

This one was actually done by a student in another class, but I just HAD to share it. This kiddo hooked up Christmas lights and a little battery pack because he wanted his community to be at night! Look closely and you can see the street lights and how the buildings are lit up!

Didn't these turn out AWESOME?! Next up: Community Needs!

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