May Choice Board and an update on the HEN HOUSE!

I am not sure how it can be May already, but here we are! April and May in the library have been really exciting as we follow the development of our chicks. I created a simple interactive classroom for students to access while we are studying the life cycle of a chick.  Today is DAY 13, and our chicks are growing their down feathers. Their projected hatch date is May 10th. If you click on the image, it will take you to the website, and you can view the interactive hen house. 

You can make a copy HERE if you would like to use it and make changes. 

I have also updated the choice board for May. Some of the activities are repeats from previous months, but I did include the Star Wars board from Shannon McClintock Miller with links that should work with our firewall. 

The May choice board can be viewed on the website when you click the image: 

Feel free to make a copy HERE, so you can make changes!

Part of the choice board includes the Gordon Library research HUB. I started this to highlight different research topics I have curated for students over the years. Click on the image below to view it. 

You can make a copy HERE and make changes. 

I hope there are some resources here that you can use with your students to close out the school year. Happy May! 

We are hatching chicks...CANDLING!

 

Our library classes are candling the eggs for the students to locate the embryo and the veins. We captured some pretty great pictures!

Day 7: 

The heart and stomach are developing. The chick's body starts to catch up to its head. 

Day 8: 

Feather traces appear. This is where the feathers will grow. 

Day 9:

The chick's body continues to grow and catch up with the head. 

Day 9 is a great day to candle. The document camera is connected to a google meet, which is projected on the board. This allows the entire class to see the egg candling. It is quite the set up! 

May 10th is the projected hatch date! 

Hannon's Hub has CHICKS! (and a recap of our other stations...)

Our CREATE stations are definitely the focal point of our library activities. For a recap of these stations, click on the image below, and it will navigate you to a chart with links to earlier blog posts that highlight and explain these activities and stations.  This is a good overview of everything we have done so far. 

In the meantime, we have some exciting action happening in the library.  Because it is the time of year where we teach LIFE CYCLES, my colleague and I have decided there is no better way to teach this than to incubate chick eggs and have the students watch them for 21 days. Each day we are able to watch the eggs, research how they are developing, and candle them for the students to see the progression. It creates quite the buzz!

Let's start at the beginning. We use the Nurture Right Incubator 360. The directions are simple, and it is easy to set up. Once we take it out of the box, we set the day, and make sure the egg turner light is on. The incubator needs to come up to the correct temperature and humidity. 

TEMPERATURE: 99.9 FAHRENHEIT

HUMIDITIY: 40-50%  

Next, we stop by the local farm to pick up the eggs. The first 14 days in the carton, the fertility rate stays at 95%.  After 14 days, it drops incrementally.  We always make sure that we have everything set up and ready to go within those first few days of picking up our eggs because we don't want to keep them in the carton for more than 14 days. 

Once we have the eggs, we take a crayon, and we label each egg letters A - L. One side has a capital letter and the other side we place a lowercase letter.  This allows us the opportunity to track the eggs in the incubator to make sure the egg turner is working and the eggs are revolving AND rotating in their snug incubator home. 

Now we are ready to roll! Place each egg in the incubator, place the lid firmly on top, and add water to the water reservoir on the side. Monitoring the humidity can be the most challenging because it can fluctuate. Throughout the day, I check the humidity and add water as needed. When I am home, I can check on the eggs because I set up the computer with a document camera and create a google meet that I can access from my cell phone in case the temperature or humidity drops. 

If you do this project, I highly recommend the Learning Resources plastic eggs you can open each day and show the students exactly what the chick looks like inside. The students LOVE these. Check them out HERE.

We are currently incubating 12 chick eggs for the students to observe.  This additional observation station is something I incorporate throughout the year to integrate science lessons.  When we are not watching chick eggs, I will on occasion set out microscopes with different slides for students to analyze. 

Check back later in the week to take a look at our candling the eggs. This is going to be a fun 21 days. 

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.