Expert: Bonnie Shimmin - 12/2/2010

Question
I am a student teacher and I am going to teach a unit on water to a grade 2 class. Some of the things that I am planning to do are things like  talking about where we find water (introduction to water), the use of water, how water moves, the 3 states of water, the water cycle and water conservation. What would be a good Culminating Activity to end unit? They are in grade 2 and they are quite a class- very slow learners especially the boys!
I will take any advice.
Thanks
Meg

Answer
Dear Meg,

I think your ideas for instruction are sound and will yield good results.  For your culminating activity, I'm unsure as to whether you want something that is like a test or like a project.  With 2nd graders, I would suggest a project-oriented activity because they will be more invested in something they are working on together rather than an individual activity like a test.  How about constructing a bulletin board in the form of a triptych - the three states of water?  The kids could divide into groups a illustrate all of the ways they can see the water states, e.g., ice cubes, steam coming from a teapot, rain - you get the idea.  They could draw pictures on paper and cut them out, then affix them to the proper section of the bulletin board.  They could also find illustrations in magazines and cut them out.  Oh, it's important to identify each illustration, too.  Then you'd have a really cute bulletin board and the kids would remember what they learned because they'd be looking at it for a month or so.

Thanks for asking, and good luck with your lessons.

Bonnie