Shark Bytes

2007-02-05T08:34:00.000-08:00

My students had a blast working on Sharkbytes!
I used this project as an ACCELERATED project for three of my high-level grade 2 students.
In following the UDL model, I allowed the students the opportunity to approach the task in any way they wanted. They were very independent in their method. The students organized themselves and decided which resources and books to read after visiting the school library. They independently searched for a movie or video that was beneficial to them. And, with guidance, they determined which internet sites provided the best information to address the topic. The students were so focused that they even set up study dates on the weekend so that they could have longer learning blocks. This project was incredibly motivating to these three students! Their posters and powerpoints were the backdrops of their extraordinary ORAL PRESENTATION! Please read the student generated project introduction!

My friends and I accomplished this shark project with much effort and hard work. First, we met and discussed what we already knew about sharks. Then we decided for ourselves which particular shark we would research. We did separate projects about our own sharks using books, videos, and websites of our own choosing. We also used a lot of our own background knowledge. I researched the Great White Shark, Evan studied the Mako Shark, and Jessie worked on the Hammerhead Shark. We presented our initial findings about our particular sharks to our classmates. We used posters, notes and a powerpoint show to share our information. Next, we put together our ideas and made a second BIGGER presentation about the main question: What would the ocean be like without sharks? To answer this question, we read books, went on the Internet to learn about shark conservation, and then we came up with our own theories. Then we made another Powerpoint and a different poster and presented them to the class. Here are samples of our work and of course, the answer to the “Essential Question!”
http://kids-learn.org/sharkbytes/nash/nash.htm

2006-12-10T16:52:00.000-08:00

Shark Bytes
I am getting so excited about our project for Shark Bytes. I was able to find some really neat books about sharks at Barnes and Noble bookstore today. One of the books The Awesome Book of Sharks! by Clizia Gussoni has about every shark that is known to mankind in it. There is so much information for my kids. Some of my students are going to areas over winter break where they might learn about sharks, so they will keep their eyes open. I just had to tell everyone about my find.
Norma Goddard

2006-10-24T14:56:00.000-07:00

My Kindergarten class loved learning about sharks! I created a sharks flipchart on my interactive whiteboard for instruction. I used so much of Susan's and Jennifer's information and links about sharks within my flipchart by hyperlinking certain interactive pages and documenting facts from the sources. As a whole group, we listed everything we know about sharks on a shark web, and then we wrote our names on a "Are you afraid of sharks" chart. During independent time, the students were able to research sharks on the provided links. In small groups, we read shark stories and drew pictures of our favorite sharks (and later scanned)! We finished our shark study on the killing of sharks. The class learned the importance of sharks, contemplated the question of "What if all the sharks disappeared?" and discovered ways to deter the killing of these fascinating creatures.

As a class we exported our finished shark flipchart into a powerpoint and then saved each into jpegs. We then made a movie of the slide pictures and added shark music! We added the movie to our class website to show our parents. The class loved this project! I loved this project! The parents wrote me notes in their child's agenda stating how much they enjoyed learning about sharks and seeing their child's artwork.

2006-10-17T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Shark Byte Bloggers!
My class will be starting our sharks as soon as we finish our Autumn Unit. I am looking forward to this project, especially since I will be learning more about sharks along with my first graders.

Miss Huling's First Grade

2006-09-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

This is Dr. Eugenie Clark.
http://www.sharklady.com/
I had the opportunity to hear her speak at the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan sixteen years ago and I still remember what a wonderful experience it was.
I saw her a few weeks before I went on a dive trip to Cocos Island.
http://www.aggressor.com/subpage10.php
I was nervous about this trip since we were going to be diving with schools of hammerhead sharks. I knew that the movie Jaws gave sharks a bad reputation, but had a difficult time relaxing my mind. Dr. Clark assured me that I'd be fine and reminded me how fortunate I was to be able to spend a week diving in such a pristine place as Cocos Island. Dr. Clark was right!
There's an excellent chapter biography for your students that I highly recommend.
Shark Lady: True Adventures of Eugenie Clark (Paperback) by Ann Mcgovern, Ruth Chew (Illustrator)

Here's a question for discussion.
I'm thrilled that you joined Shark Bytes, but it's time for true confessions. Are you afraid of sharks? If so, how can you teach this topic objectively without letting your students know your true feelings?

Whale Shark

2006-07-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

whaleshark
Originally uploaded by SusanSilverman.

Your students will probably be interested in learning about the largest fish in the world.
Here's an idea. Invite your students to draw pictures of whale sharks. Students can choose to draw on paper or with a drawing program like Kid Pix. (UDL)
They can give their whale sharks unique fingerprints. Upload their pictures in Flickr and have them use Flickr's Add Note tool to label the parts of the shark. Add these pictures to our group pool.
The only people who can add pictures to the group pool are invited guests.
Suggestion: Have a class Flickr account for this project.
Second Idea: Students can draw different sharks, label them and ask questions for group members to answer.
Can you think of other ideas? Let's do some brainstorming.