Gloggin' thru the Milky Way

As I mentioned in a previous post, I started this year off with Interest Inventories. Last summer, I purchased Shelley Gray's Student Portfolio package and it was the bomb-diggedy. I 110% recommend it-yes it is THAT awesome. It includes Writing, Reading and Math surveys, Multiple Intelligence surveys and Reflections that can be done with the kids each month. I am so glad that I bought this...it's so incredibly useful and easy to use.

{click on picture to go to tpt}

Anywho, according to their surveys, the kids REALLY wanted to learn about animals and the solar system. 

We did a HUGE animal research project, complete with exhibition, that incorporated tonnes of cross-curricular learning. The kids loved it. 

In May, we started solar system projects. I read somewhere or someplace (many times, actually) that it is EXTREMELY important to tap into schema before introducing a new topic...something I have {being honest} skipped over occasionally. So, we started this study with a KWL chart about the planets. 

We watched Learn 360 Solar System info movies and read books/articles/poems about the SS. This took about a week. Finally, I buddied the kids up according to ability and gave them each a topic. I didn't have enough planets for the 12 pairs, so I also included the sun, moon, and Halley's Comet.

{click picture to get a copy}

I differentiated the sun, Earth, Halley's Comet and the moon.These are all 2 instead of 3 pages long and have slightly different questions than the others. It took me a day to make up the sheets but it was worth it! I also used free resources that I found on Pinterest and then photocopied to go along with each topic.

After researching their planets, kids conferenced with me. I helped them find pictures of their planets, and guided them to find the answers they couldn't find on their own. 

The last step was to create a glog. Okay-Glogster.edu changed a little. Instead of each student having their own login (I just couldn't afford the membership at the time), I created a login and gave each child a page. This just meant that they logged in as me and then found their names. Easy peasy lemon squeezey.

{click on the picture to go to this glog}

Our final step was to present the glogs on our class Smartboard. As each partnership presented, kids wrote down one-three interesting fact(s) in a flipbook that I created using Read-Write-Think. 

I would have loved to have done a craftivity with this project, but we ran out of time. 

And that's it...that's all. A really fun, engaging project that incorporated all sorts of curriculum and the kids loved.

ps  If you're interested in the rest of the planets/solar system sheets let me know and I'll send them to you!