The first grade students in my classroom worked in collaboration with students in Mrs. Heban's and Mrs. Weber's classrooms here at Greentown.   Our Whale Tales Project centered on a "Tic-Tac-Toe" board.   We choose to make this "board" to reach different multiple intelligences in our students.   For example, a student who feels successful in the area of art can choose squares on their board that reflect this interest.   Students had to go through the center of the board either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally to achieve tic-tac-toe.   This was done so those students must do research to complete reports on whales.   Each square showed the room where the activity was offered.   Students were able to move independently through each of our classrooms during this time.   The students worked about one hour a day, two to three days a week on this project.

The children had a fantastic time working on this unit.   It was a great way to teach a unit and differentiate in the process.   The children particularly enjoyed working at their own pace, choosing their activities, and working with other peers/teachers.

Make sure to check out the activities done in both Mrs. Heban's and Mrs. Weber's classrooms.   Below you will find photos of the Tic-Tac-Toe boards and the activities done in my classroom.

Tic-Tac-Toe Boards

Board # 1

Board # 2

• We worked two weeks on this unit.   The students were given one new board each week.   They had to decide at the beginning of the week the three activities they were choosing to do.   When activities were complete, students put them into an "ocean folder".   The students' classroom teacher checked folders at the end of each week.   When students successfully got tic-tac-toe they were able to choose any other square on the board

Activity: Origami Whale

• This activity involved folding construction paper to make a whale.   Students who excel in hands-on learning and artistic creativity would love this.   Simple to follow directions can be found at: www.enchantedlearning.com

Activity: Whale Report

• At the beginning of the unit, students chose one whale to "research" over the two weeks.   Students read fiction and non-fiction books to complete their reports.   The Internet was another source used.

Activity: Whale Painting

• Students painted ocean scenes on construction paper.   Their paintings included all characteristics of ocean life such as whales, other sea creatures, and plant life.   Another fun painting activity is to create ocean murals.

Activity: Whale Fantasy Stories

• Students wrote fantasy stories about whales.   Some children chose to use a story starter from a prompt list such as- "One day I woke up and found a whale in my..." to help start them in the writing process.   We later shared these stories in class.  Below you will find one student's writing sample.

The New Kid

By John Rownd

Once upon a time there was a new kid that was a whale.   His name was Conrad.   He was a funny whale until he got detention!   Detention in that school was detention for three weeks!   It wasn't very fun.   He had to do all his work in the principal's office.   If you think it is fun it's not!   He had to stay after school.   All the other kids are making fun of him.   They are pushing him and calling him names.   He feels sad.   Nobody likes him anymore.   He is an Orca.   He is a toothed whale.   Now he is not nice anymore.   He's mean.   Now nobody likes him.   He doesn’t like them either.   Conrad is a bully.

The End

Activity: Computer Games

• Students worked at the computers in all three classrooms.   Many of the games were very informative about whales.   Here are a few websites we used:
• www.quia.com/mc/131002.html
• www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/index.shtml
• www.whalesfilm.com/spec.htm
• www.bytesize.com/ecokids/birds/games/memory.htm