After having a super fun week with my kiddos studying corn I decided to put everything we did down on paper and give it away for free! It all started with a pesky common core objective involving measurement but turned out to be so much more!
My teacher freind Bev Fleming and I decided that our Autumn theme would be best served by studying fall veggies, which eventually lead us to corn. We decided to create a cornstalk that would "grow" all week long. I made a base out of wood and used an old lightbulb holder to place pvc pipe in. I bought 4 couplers to attach the pvc pipe together as it grew. Here is a picture of our cornstalk on day 3. It grew from 1 foot all the way to 9 feet, with 5 ears of corn on it.
(this is my little boy, Collin)
I used butcher paper and green paint to decorate the pvc pipe in sections so it could be easily assembled each day. I attached the paper with hot glue. For the ears of corn I glued 2 pieces cut into corn shape leaving a hole large enough to stuff it with pillow fluff. I then attached 2 green husk leaves. I attached the ears of corn to the stalk with clear packing tape.
I created a workbook for our kiddos to use each day when we measured ourselves next to the cornstalk. On each page is a sentence that the children filled in the height (standard measurement) and # of ears on the stalk (counting.) There is also a box of describing words for them to discuss and circle (vocabulary building). My favorite part of the page though is where the children draw themselves in relation to the stalk on each given day (non-standard measurment). It was so interesting to see who truly understood the concept of size and who didn't.
We also took some time to taste several foods made from corn and then graphed our favorites. I also created a worksheet for us to cut and label the different parts of an ear of corn. All of the activities and printables we used are available for free on TpT. Use the link below to download your copy! Enjoy! Christine
Corn Themed Mini-Unit
Read the room is an excellent center activity! I use read the room almost daily in my classroom for literacy, vocabulary, letter recognition, spelling patterns and much more! I have created a bundle of read the room activities that are differentiated in order to meet the needs of all of your students no matter what level they are on. I am a firm believer in making my classroom an environment where all children are successful and feel confident in their learning. Differentiation is just one way to help those children who may be behind or even ahead to grow and flourish in the classroom. The goal is the same: learning, irregardless of where we start we want children to learn at a pace that does not frustrate and overwhelm. My Differentiated Read the Room Files contain 3 sets of picture cards. One set has the entire word printed with the picture, the 2nd set only has the target vowel written under the picture and the 3rd set only ...
That cornstalk is precious!! What a cute idea! Thanks so much for linking up to share. :)
ReplyDeleteAmanda
Teaching Maddeness
PS - I'm your newest follower! :)