How cold is it where you are… we’re ARRRRRRCCTIC frozen!

Well, the year is well on it’s way and I’ve been a busy bee in the classroom. We’ve been working on Arctic Animals going on three weeks now. I really think this unit is one of my favorites to teach. There is SO much to learn and every single time, I learn something new.

Here’s what we’ve done so far.

Our introduction of the Arctic began with “What is the Arctic?” When I tell you, this was an interesting topic of discussion. This is a really rowdy group and I didn’t expect the excitement level to be the same as my kids from last year. I was shocked to tell you the truth. They asked so many interesting questions and really wanted to learn more.

Every day after talking about the Arctic, we’ve focused on an animal. So far, I think our favorite has to be the Beluga Whale. I even learned MORE about it this year than when I researched it.

They wanted to see a beluga whale ‘in action’, so I quickly pulled out my Smartboard connection and searched Youtube. They chatted about things they learned and I found this Youtube video. I played it without sound to myself at first and then I listened quietly. The whales were trying to SING. We had to hear this one together.

How cool is that video? My kids thought it was really funny. They are so weird looking animals, but cool.

Every few animals, they write down information that they’ve learned as well. The lemming was another favorite. The topic came up of what an ounce was. I told them that the lemming weighed as much as two eggs. You would have thought I said the most amazing thing-  EVER! They wouldn’t stop talking about lemmings. The next day, all I heard was lemmings.

I guess I should be proud that this group decided to finally get on board in January, but I’m just happy to have them engaged and learning.

Last year, we made walruses. This year, we’re going to make huge narwhals. *gulp* I hope they turn out cute. Here’s our walruses from last year.

Someone asked if I would add readers to the set for read to self time and I was able to add six of the animals over the weekend. If you already own this set, make sure to redownload it for the readers. I hope to have the rest of them added soon. That’s it! If you want to look closer at where the materials for this came from it’s from my All About the Arctic unit.