Daily 5 & Apparent Motion

       When I think back over the past week the two things that pop into my head are Daily 5 and apparent motion.  Our school has started to use Daily 5 during our reading block, so we spent last week going over procedures and doing lots of Read To Self practice.  One of the things we had students do at the end of reading Friday was tell us what they liked about Read To Self and what they did not like.  Many students said they liked the time to just read, they loved quiet time to focus on their book, and they liked that they could pick where they sat.  The main thing students complained about was students who would get up because they had to use the restroom.  We'll have to address that as a class.

       The reason apparent motion popped into my mind was because of science.  We are discussing the Earth, the sun, the moon, and how things seem to move but it's actually us moving.  My favorite activity we did to illustrate this concept was having students pair up, go outside, stand facing north, have their partner trace their shadow with sidewalk chalk, and label the time.  We did this three times throughout the day, then discussed our findings.  The students were VERY excited to see the movement of their shadow, and I truly believe they understand that the sun is not moving, we are.  Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera out to get pictures of them doing this.  Instead, I am including pictures of the students outside using their sundials to tell the time.