Oral Communication
Grade 2: Oral Communication
Listen in order to understand and respond appropriately in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes; use speaking skills and strategies appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes; reflect on and identify their strengths as listeners and speakers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful in oral communication situations.
Nature Journaling: I Notice..., I Wonder...?, It Reminds me of...
Sharing what students have observed and documented in their nature journal is the perfect way to integrate oral communication into nature journaling. This allows students to not only share what they have experienced but engage in meaningful conversation about it with peers. It will also help to build student confidence through showcasing their own thoughts and ideas with another.
At this age all three prompts "I notice..., I wonder...?, and "It reminds me of..." become very intuitive. However the last statement becomes very important for connection making. Encourage them to begin writing themselves using single words or simple sentences. Please note that spelling is not a focus in the nature journal. At this age you may start to see art fears - please ensure you are re-iterating it is not about a pretty picture. It is about their observations. Please see the link feedback at the bottom of this lesson for tips on this. Using words, pictures and numbers allows the students multiple tools to document their observations. With permission Bethan Burton has allowed us to link to her website as she has written a blog post for Teaching nature journaling at all ages.
Here are some more ideas to get you started.
Engage the fives senses (whenever possible)
Make leaf prints ( paint the leaf and press the print into the journal)
Make leaf rubbings
Trace the items they are looking at
Add leaves into the journal using tape
Count the birds/squirrels/insects etc.
Measure as much of the phenomena as the students can using non standard and standard units of measurement.
Here is a downloadable lesson from John (Jack) Muir Laws and Emilie Lygren book: How to Teach Nature Journaling. All resources shared with permission. "I Notice..., I Wonder...?, It Reminds me of..."
GIVING FEEDBACK here is a fantastic resource from Jack and Emilie
NOTE: You are encourage to spend time in the outdoors Nature Journaling. However, you can also bring nature inside, look out your wonder window, have a refrigerator Safari or even observe a house plant or pet.
Animal - Show & Share
Then share with a partner what you learned about animal characteristics or tell them about the picture you drew.
Curriculum Links:
See Visual Arts - Draw an Animal
See Life Systems
Plant - Show & Share
Go outside into the garden or use containers indoors to plant some seeds. After you are done planting share with a partner what you did and how you did it.
Curriculum Links:
See Writing
See Reading
See Measurement
See Data Management
NOTE: This can be used with the Nature Journaling activity at the top of the page.
Shapes Walk - Show & Share
Go for a walk or look out the window. What geometric shapes (circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, etc.) can you find outside?
Take a partner on a walk or look through a window and describe to them all the shapes you see
Make sure you show them what you are describing and include the details: name of shape, how you know it is that shape, if you can see the same shape somewhere else, if it is big or small, natural or not natural
Answer any questions your partner may have about the shapes you show them
Curriculum Links:
NOTE: This can be used with the Nature Journaling activity at the top of the page.