Kindergarten: Playing in the Pond, a CREATE Station

As we work our way through our CREATE stations, the ART station has definitely become a favorite for students. Our first graders enjoyed learning about the frog life cycle. Our kindergartners colored the dragonfly and watched it fly around and come to life. 

For this coloring ART station, we started off by reading the picture, Over and Under the Pond by Kate Messner and discussing the pond ecosystem. Kate Messner's books are excellent books to pair with science lessons. Her other books include: Over and Under the Snow, Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt, and Over and Under the Rainforest. 

After reading the story, we dicuss living vs. nonliving. 

What is living in the pond? 

What do the living plants and animals need? 

What is nonliving in the pond? How can you tell it is nonliving? 

Time permitting, we even take it a step further and have students solidify their knowledge with a word sort where they have to put living and nonliving items under the correct category. 

For those teachers with a subscription to the Pebble Go, feel free to check out this link to their article: Living vs. Nonliving. This is a great article that will read to the students. 

After we read the book and discuss living vs. nonliving, it is time to color the Quivervision sheet. Quivervision is a great app, and very user friendly! Be sure to check out the Quivervision Education Dashboard if you would like to research subscriptions for your classes.  Here is a quick video tutorial on how to get started using augmented reality in your classroom or library: QUIVERVISION TUTORIAL. There is also a slide deck to help you out! 

Once the students color their sheet, they will open the app on their device. The Quiver mobile app requires a backward-facing camera and iOS 11 or later. If using an Android device, it requires minimum Android 7.0 "Nougal" (API Level 24). 

Students use the device to scan the QR code for the coloring page. Once it loads, they can click the butterfly to launch and scan the coloring sheet. Wait until the image turns red and then blue. Give it a few more minutes and voila! It will come to life for students to explore and learn. This is an incredibly immersive learning experience. 

Feel free to access the lesson plan with the standards, signs, and I CAN statements: Quivervision Dragonfly Lesson Plan. I also have this sign below that I use as a visual for my art station; it covers K-2. Feel free to click on it and make a copy. 

First Grade FICTION vs. NONFICTION: Frog Life Cycles in the ART STATION

                                        

Spring time means studying life cycles, and in first grade, we look at the life cycle of the frog as well as different animal habitats.  This is a lesson we have done many times, and we will be completing it this year in April. 

A great way to begin this lesson is by reading, A Frog Thing by Eric Drachman. There is a great video you can access for this book (click on the image below and it will take you to the video).  

This year we will also be reading the nonfiction selection, Frogs which is part of our extremely popular Animal Kingdom series published by Abdo. 

These books rarely stay on the library shelves, and I highly recommend them! You can check out this book and others like it on the ABDO website. 

After reading the book, we discuss the differences between nonfiction and fiction. What makes A Frog Thing a fiction picture book? How do we know? What examples can we provide? 

What makes Frogs a nonfiction picture book? What are some facts we learned? What are some text features we noticed that aren't in a fiction book? 

Finally, what is the main difference between a fiction book and a nonfiction book? Student are always able to make the connection that our nonfiction books provide facts and information.

Next step in the process: students select an Animal Kingdom book of their choice to use in the library and read about their animal. Task ONE...figure out which of these animal habitats their animal lives in: 

Ocean

Desert

Wetlands

Grassland

Woodland

Polar

Rain Forest 

After that, they record ONE fact about their animal and then put this fact in their own words. If you would like a copy of this lesson with the lesson plan standards, I CAN statements, procedures, and worksheets, you can access them here: Animal Habitat FREEBIE.

 

Next up? We access our PebbleGo database. We segue into animal habitats since this correlates with the first grade VA SOL: 

SCI 1.5: The student will investigate and understand that animals, including humans, have basic life needs that allow them to survive. Key ideas include:

• animals need air, food, water, shelter, and space (habitat);
• animals have different physical characteristics that perform specific functions; and
• animals can be classified based on a variety of characteristics.

FINAL STEP....turning our picture into augmented reality and watching the frog evolve from an egg, to a tadpole, froglet, and frog! I have this library station outlined HERE. This freebie includes the library lesson plan (that also be used as a sign at the library table). 

Want more information on the Quivervision dashboard? There is a great presentation that you can access to get you started: Getting Started Kit.

CREATE Stations...A is for ART - A Second Grade Library Station

 

It is no secret....second graders love dinosaurs. We had the best time listening to Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne. We were able to listen to the author read the first chapter aloud on the Brightly Storytime website, and it was a great way to get the story underway. 

Similar to my earlier CREATE station posts, the novel is accompanied with a short research project activity where students have the opportunity to access print encyclopedias or a database. If we are using print encyclopedia, this research activity is best completed in small groups, and it is part of my Explore station.  The small group can each choose a different dinosaur and have their own encyclopedia volume.  

If we are all accessing the database, then we can work in a whole group setting with students on their chromebooks. When we use databases in second grade, we access Pebblego. It is the perfect database for this age group, and they all seem to really like it. 

Feel free to access my EXPLORE STATION HERE. This is a freebie that will allow you to print and/or edit the materials and lessons to suit your needs and make changes, so it works for your resources. 

Now for the next part....the really fun activity....the students get to pick a dinosaur coloring sheet. 

Quivervision is very engaging and gives a WOW factor for the students. Here is a link to my station that has directions, standards, and Quivervision sheets: Quivervision Art Station.

Be sure to check out the Quivervision Education Dashboard if you would like to research subscriptions for your classes.  

I also have this sign below that I use as a visual for my art station; it covers K-2. Feel free to click on it and make a copy. 

CREATE stations: A is for ART....a THIRD GRADE STATION

Third graders are studying aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and their diversity. These Quivervision coloring sheets have so many options. When the animal turns 3D, students can see in vivid detail the animal as well as the ecosystem surrounding the animal. 

The art station has become one of our very favorites. If you are interested in the free station signs, standards, and "I Can" statements, you can view and download the signs HERE. 

To get started on this unit, students can research an aquatic animal during their EXPLORE library station. I have an activity for students to research aquatic animals using a Britannica resource pack (you will need to have a subscription to access) or a print encyclopedia. I like both activities for different reasons. The print encyclopedia allows students to find information, identify parts of an encyclopedia and nonfiction text features. Check out the freebie here: EXPLORE STATION. 

Once the research is completed, students can really enjoy the art station and how these animals come to life. If you are interested in this station and the new Quivervision Educational Dashboard, you can access it using this link: QUIVERVISION. 

Looking to start up a Quivervision library station? Here is a great tutorial on how you can get started: watch the video. This is a great slideshow to get you started that you can access here. 

Look at this shark picture! This is definitely a fan favorite among the third grade learners.  When they turn their picture into AR, they see the coral reef habitat as well as the food chain! Our students were awed by the details, and they definitely take their time coloring their sheet. 

Here is the sign that covers the art station for grades 3-5. We use this one at the table for our art stations.

Return to CREATE Stations: A is FOR ART - Fourth Grade Station

The Olympics were fun and our One Book One School launch has been exciting, but now we are back to our regularly scheduled CREATE stations. Our art station primarily focuses on the Quivervision app and turns our artwork into augmented reality 3D images.

Our fourth graders are learning about the solar system and the planets. If you recall, they spent their time in the robot station coding their Ozobot to revolve around the moon. That lesson can be found HERE. 

To continue to learn about outer space in the library and supplement the students' learning, we have our Space Comparison Quivervision art coloring page. 

Getting started....researching and front loading:   

The perfect introduction to this lesson is a Britannica resource pack that focuses on the solar system and planets.  If your school or county subscribes to the Britannica database, then take a look at the resource pack I curated HERE. This is a great place for students to get a basic overview by reading and listening to articles. 

I also have students access PRINT encyclopedias with different articles that cover the various planets. I love having students identify nonfiction text features while they are researching at the same time. It covers so many standards of learning while covering important content. I have an activity that I am sharing here that has our library learners answering questions while accessing these library resources.

Check out this FREE resource from my TPT shop:

Library learners can also complete this quick research activity while in their fourth grade EXPLORE station (more on that coming up in a couple of weeks). Either way, having students read about the planets in conjunction with the Quivervision coloring app is the perfect combination! 

Next step...COMPLETING THE ART STATION: 

Whether the research is used as an introduction to front load your learners or part of another station, the visual effects of the Quivervision app really brings understanding to this topic. When students first arrive at this station, they have a selection of coloring sheets, markers and colored pencils. I try to have at least two coloring sheets for them to complete. One quick tip: do NOT have them color the background of the worksheet; have them focus on the space rocket or the moon. Sometimes when the background is colored in, the app can't read the image and the AR won't work! 

After students color in the worksheet(s), I give them the iPad mini and click on  the Quivervision app. Once it has loaded, they enter our classroom code, find their name and their avatar. Then they use the app's camera mode to scan the QR code to launch their color sheet. Once it is launched, the app continues to in camera mode to scan the entire page. Focus the iPad over the coloring page. Wait for the page to turn red and then blue. After it turns blue, wait for it ...VOILA...you have an AR picture. 

 Interested in this station? Below are the station signs I created that can be used at the students' tables or part of your lesson plan template; hope these help because they include the standards, directions and I can statements. Click on the sign below to access this free resource from my TPT store. 

If you would like a simpler sign that is in a chart form, this one below covers all three art stations at this table. Click on it to make a copy. 

This is not the first Quivervision lesson we have completed. Check out my earlier post about our 5th grade plant cell lesson HERE. These cell worksheets turned out amazing and the kids really grasped the different parts of the cells through coloring, labelling, and discussing it together in their library station. 

A is for ART: A 5th Grade Quivervision Art Station

Quivervision...it is the best thing to happen to our ART station in the library! I love connecting students' stations in the library to the content in the classroom. I have been using Quivervision for the past 5 years, but this year I noticed they were making changes to their format, so I applied to become a Quivervision Ambassador. This has been a really fun and different experience. I have access to the educational dashboard, coloring sheets, and I am beta testing the app...something I have never done before. I am loving it and so glad I put myself out there and applied!

How do we use this platform? In fifth grade, we study plant and animal cells, so I use this plant cell coloring sheet  and this animal plant cell coloring sheet for our 5th graders. 

What other  materials do we need for this station?  

print encyclopedia with cell diagram (a chance to incorporate reference materials!) 

markers 

colored pencils

coloring sheet (see links above)

iPads 

How does it work? Well, our learners use markers and/or colored pencils to color in the worksheet. Once they are done, they open the Quiver app, press the butterfly icon and then have the app scan their picture until it is turned into augmented reality. Learners will then need time to explore because there will be interactive buttons and teaching tools incorporated for extended learning. 

For the entire lesson plan (and more detailed step by step directions), check it out here on the Quivervision website: Lesson Plan on QUIVERVISION Website.

Here are the library signs that I have for the 5th grade art station: LIBRARY SIGNS.

This is the sign I have posted at my ART table, so the teachers can see how the station relates to their classroom lessons and standards: 

If you would like a copy of the chart to edit, you can make a copy HERE.

Hope you can find a way to incorporate this into your classroom...it really is super fun.