The Invertebrates come to an End

And, class two has just completed their study of the invertebrates. I am sad to say goodbye to animal classification as this was the most fun we've ever had doing it. Allowing the children to research and utilize their findings to be the creator of their own animal allowed them the freedom to be creative, the opportunity to learn and the lightheartedness of a self made game. Being the 'scientists' discovering these new species with riddle clues allowed them a rich fun learning experience. 

After announcing their discoveries to the class, students were called upon to decipher the animal secrets by unpacking the specific features of the more familiar invertebrates. I was very impressed with their findings. Students were able to share the features of their own researches animal group, the riddle animal and the findings of the other scientists and artists. They were even quick to use the text book and internet to find more classification ideas. Way to go 220!

It amazes me how fifth graders come to us without the clear cut skill set of finding and using information independently to learn from and leave with many of the skills required to do research. This time, I didn't have to give them any extra directions to use resources to add to our animal facts.