HELLO, 2-208!

Welcome to our new blog! (CLICK on the red word blog to find out what it means.) Today we're going to start a new unit on farm animals. We're going to learn so much about cows, pigs, sheep and other barnyard animals. I'm so excited, let's get started!

Oh, wait! Before we start, I have to give you an exciting news bulletin! A flying saucer has landed on a farm in Queens! A creature has come from another planet and he wants to talk to us. Let's listen to what he has to say.

CLICK on the play button in the bottom left-hand corner.

Well, class, we have our work cut out for us. Do you think we can teach Zork about farm animals? First, we'll have to find out why some animals are farm animals and some are not. Then, we'll take a close look at 5 farm animals--cows, pigs, sheep, goats, and chickens--and describe them. Finally, all the information we gather we'll present in a slideshow on this blog for all the world--and even somebody from out of this world--to see!

DAY 1: Why do some animals live on farms and others don't?

Our visitor from Mars, Zork, asked a very good question. Why do some animals live on farms, but others do not?

Let's see if we can get some information. We're going to visit two boys named Imran and Nabil. They do a little research and come up with 4 characteristics that make an animal a good choice to have on a farm. (Remember, you can click on the red words to find out what they mean.)

Click here to watch and listen to this video.

Farm Animals by Imran and Nabil

FOLLOW-UP 1: After you've finished watching the video, you should be able to list the 4 things that make some animals suitable to raise on farms. One thing is that the animals should be friendly to people. What are the other 3 things? Click on the "toggle" button in the upper right-hand corner (it looks like this):
The graphic organizer will open up in another window. Print it out and fill it in. (You'll see that one circle is already filled in with "friendly to people." Fill in the other 3 circles.)
4 Things That Make Animals Suitable for a Farm



FOLLOW-UP 2: Do you think that lions and tigers would make good farm animals? Why or why not? Click on the word comments below. A box will pop up and you can write your answer in it. (You will also see a comment I posted there!)

DAY 2: Did you know that cows have four stomachs?

Today we’re going to do research like Imran and Nabil, but instead of going out to a farm we’re going to go to the Internet.

The class is divided into five groups and each group will investigate one animal:

• cows
• pigs
• chickens
• sheep
• goats

Try to find the answers to the following 4 questions:

1. What are the female, male, and baby animals called?


2. What do these animals look like? (Be specific! What color are they? What size are they? How many legs do they have? Does the animal have fur or feathers? Wings? A beak or a nose?)


3. What do they eat?


4. What useful resources do these animals provide us?

Look for the answers at the Barnyard Palace. This is what the opening page will look like, except without the red arrows. (Click on the picture and it will get bigger.)

I drew the red arrows to show you where to click to learn about different animals. For example, if your group is studying cows, there are three places you should click: Milking Parlor, Dairy Cows, and Beef Cows.

So let's go! Click here on the words Barnyard Palace

Here are other websites to look at. For all kinds of farm animals, click here and click here.

For more about dairy cows, click here.

Let's watch a fun video about pigs and sheep with Nathan and Kyle. Click on the play button (it looks like this in the lower left hand corner of the screen. (Actually, you can click anywhere in the screen and the video will play!)

And click here to see some very strange goats!

Brittany and her friends would like to show you around the chicken coop in this video. (Click anywhere on the black screen and the video will play.)

FOLLOW-UP: After you've surfed the web, put all the information you learned in a graphic organizer. Fill out the sections labeled "Animal Facts," "Animal Babies," and "Animal Interactions." Don't bother to fill in the section on "Animal Habitats," since we already know where all our animals live--on farms! DON'T FORGET to print out your graphic organizer when you are finished. Click here for your graphic organizer.

DAY 3: Word Work and GAMES!

We've read quite a bit about our animals on lots of websites and seen a few videos. Now, let's have some fun with what we've learned!

1) Let's print out a fact sheet for each of our animals with pictures to color.

Click on this chicken to get a fact sheet about chickens with a picture to color.

Click on this pig to get a fact sheet about pigs with a picture to color.

Click on this sheep to get a fact sheet about sheep with a picture to color.

Click on this cow to get a fact sheet about cows with a picture to color.

Click on this goat to get a fact sheet about goats with a picture to color.

2) Now let's make some flashcards to help us learn how to spell words we've seen in our reading.

First, click on the "toggle button" in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. It looks like this:

The flashcards will open in another window. Next, print out the pages. Then, cut out the words-with-pictures and the meanings. Last, find the meanings that go with the pictures and paste them on the back.

farm animal flashcards

3) Let's play some online games.

See if you can put these 10 animal jigsaw puzzles together! Click here.

Click here to paint some farm animals online!

Play "Concentration" with farm animals when you click here.

4) I know you guys love word searches! Well here are 3 word search puzzles. Click on the "toggle button." (Do you remember where the "toggle button" is?) After the pages open up, print out the puzzles and have some fun!


Animal Word Search


5) ***BONUS PUZZLE***Have you studied your flashcard words? Do you know the definitions? See if you can do the following word-search puzzle. There is no list of words! Instead, there is a list of meanings (definitions) of the words with blanks for you to fill in the right word. Look at your 20 flashcards and find the words that match the meanings. After you've filled in the blanks, find the 20 words in the puzzle.

If you can do this puzzle, you are a Puzzle Wizard (and you'll get 2 stickers)!
Clue Word Search Without Words




FOLLOW-UP: Print out the following pages. (Remember, you have to click on the toggle button first to open up the pages in another window.) Cut the pictures out and paste them next to the correct words. Write each word five times.

Cut and paste the pictures. Write each word 5 times.

DAY 4: Class 2-208 presents "From the Barnyard to Mars"

Well, class, it's time to do our final project. Gather together your farm animal graphic organizers, your flashcards, your Enchanted Learning print-outs. Think back to everything you saw and heard on the Internet (you can go back and take another look at some websites if you like.) With all that information, fill in our Class Presentation Slide Show.

Each group will fill in the slides for its own animal. I've filled in one page about pigs to show you what to do (look at page 4).


From the Barnyard to Mars

After all the groups have finished their part of the slides, we will have a complete slide show on our blog for all the school, the world, and Zork to see!

LESSON PLAN for Prof. Gura

To view lesson plan, click on this URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/18061120/Tech-Unit-PlanTAHANsummer-2009