Whoooo Loves Owls?

Whooo loves owls?  My class does!  This week was a super short week for our students (not us).  Short, as in, the kids had two days of school.  This meant that our regular curriculum was put on hold and I took full advantage of the opportunity to do some fun thematic activities centered around owls.

We did lots of learning over our two short days.  Here's a peek at our "week."  **Warning, you are about to be photo bombed.**

To get the week started off right, I sported this theme appropriate sweater that I found at Old Navy one day.  It's so cute (and so different for me)!!


I read Owl Moon to the students.  They were really into this book, like really into it; whenever I glanced up from the book to sneak a peek at their faces they were all fixated on the book, no one was fidgeting or staring at the wall.  I think it was the poetic nature of the book. 


After reading the story, we sequenced the story events and identified the setting of the story.



These activities are both from Little Red's Schoolhouse on TpT. 

Next, I led the students through a directed drawing of an owl.  I found a really great set of free directions {here}.  I cut out each of the students' drawings and placed them on two branches that I made out of butcher paper.  I am in love with this display and it may stay up for a while.




In writing, we worked together to gather information about owls.  We focused on gathering "big idea" facts (where owls live, what kind of animal they are, etc).  The students then used this anchor chart to write a paragraph about owls.




We read Owls Overhead, a Reading A-Z book.  We read the book together, talked about some of the text features present in the book (there were a few), and also discussed the text.  Then, the students were paired up and they had a discussion about the book using some discussion cards that went with the book.


The following day, we used the A-Z book to gather more facts about owls.  This time, I encouraged the students to recall any kind of fact and I recorded their suggestions on this chart.


The students used the two anchor charts to complete this can/have/are organizer by Loreen Leedy.  It was a preview freebie on TpT (you can purchase the entire file, or you can access this page as a freebie via the preview file).



We also revisited Owl Moon and the students identified some "facts" from the story and then wrote some opinions about the story.  Again, this activity came from Little Red.


My teaching buddy and I really, really, really wanted to order owl pellets (we wanted to get one each so we could use it for demonstration purposes), but we just didn't think about it soon enough.  But, we decided that we may just get one down the road and share it with the kids anyway.  I think they will love it!!


We had lots of fun breaking out of our routine and the theme was perfect for our short week.  Next week, we're back into our regular routine.  How do you plan for short weeks?
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3 comments:

  1. I love how you turned a short week into an opportunity to teach such a fun subject! I have always wanted to use owl pellets. What a cool experiment! I hope you get to do it with your kiddos. Happy short teaching week to you.
    -Jaime
    Bright Concepts 4 Teachers

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  2. I love all of your owl stuff that your class did. I am particularly fond of the owl drawings and super cute sweater! How fun!
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

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  3. LOVE the sweater & love all of the fun activities you did for owls! Thanks for sharing all of the pics :)

    Molly
    Lucky to Be in First

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