Kindergarten/First Grade Explanatory Writing Topics

Transcription

1 Kindergarten/First Grade Explanatory Writing Topics 1. What does it mean to hibernate? Explain how mammals hibernate. 2. What does it mean to have shelter? Describe the various types of shelter one can have. 3. What are some ways to be helpful? Why should we be helpful? 4. What would you wish for if you had three wishes? 5. The Life Cycle of a Frog Videos: mid=a56ff165dcefe6fbb0aba56ff165dcefe6fbb0ab&rvsmid=94fe25cd7e86e B94FE25CD7E86E017866B&FORM=VDMCNR d=94fe25cd7e86e017866b94fe25cd7e86e017866b&form=vire 6. The Life Cycle of a Butterfly Videos: =detail&mid=20ba65cf383cbc02078d20ba65cf383cbc02078d&form=vire 7. Explain how kids can be nice to each other. Video: All about Kindness Book: Kindness is Cooler Mrs. Ruler by Margery Cuyler 8. Explain why it is important to eat healthy. Video: Eat your Rainbow Book: Why Should I Eat Well? By Claire Llewellyn

2 9. There are many different community helpers that work to keep our community safe and functional. Choose one community helper that interests you and write to explain what they do. What is their job? How do they help the community? Books: Miss Bindergarten Takes a Field Trip Career Day by Anne Rockwell Youtube Videos: Community Helpers - Community Helpers Play and Learn - Community Helpers Play & Learn Top Best Educational Apps for Kids Community Helpers Play & Learn is available for: ipad, iphone More Information App Download (itunes): App Downl... 2 nd Grade Explanatory Topics 10. Why people should be kind to animals 11. Explain ways kids can stay save on the internet. 12. Talk about how you can make your diet healthier 13. My Ideal Home Most people can imagine a dream home. What would yours be? Big or small? In the country or in the city? How many floors? Would it be underground or up in a tree? As a young person, write an essay describing your dream home to a parent or guardian.

3 Classic Sesame Street Video Homes around the World Different Types of Homes around the World by HomeAdvisor World Around the world, people live in many different types of houses. Some houses are very large, some are made with expensive materials, some are very simple, and others are extremely old. All of them have one thing in common: they keep people comfortable, whatever the weather outside. Depending on where you live, a particular type of house may be most appropriate. If you live in the city, you won t live in a log cabin, and if you live in the arctic tundra, you can t live in a tepee. Learn about some of the most unusual houses in the world to get an idea how other children live. Igloo Igloos are dome-shaped houses made of ice. In places where the weather is below freezing for most of the year, an igloo is an ideal type of house. To build an igloo, you first cut blocks of ice in particular shapes. Then you can stack them, much like bricks, to create a dome. Tepee A tepee is a type of conical tent. Traditionally, tepees were used by certain Native American tribes. Tepees are made of light materials, so they are easy to transport and ideal for nomadic groups. Wigwam The wigwam is a type of domed house that was used by Native American and Canadian First Nations tribes for many years. They are usually made out of brush, bark, grass, rushes, hides, or cloth. Longhouse There are many types of longhouses from around the world. In general, all of them are much longer than they are wide. In North America, they are traditionally made of wood, but in some

4 other places, longhouses are made of logs, reed poles, or thatch. Longhouses exist in America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Chickee A chickee or chickee hut is a type of house that the Native American tribes in the southeastern United States traditionally lived in. Chickees are mostly open, with simple poles and a thatched roof. In Florida, where most chickee houses can be found, there is often rain but very seldom very cold temperatures. Log cabin A log cabin is a very basic type of wooden house. Instead of sawing or milling lumber into planks, someone building a log cabin simply uses whole logs. By flattening the sides of these logs, it is possible to stack them up and create a closed structure. Stilt house A stilt house is any type of home that is raised off of the ground with strong poles, also known as stilts. Stilt homes are very useful in places where it rains frequently and may be flooded. Even if the ground becomes soaked with water, the house stays dry! Adobe home An adobe home is made of clay and usually built in places where the soil consists of a lot of clay. For example, in the southwestern United States, it is common for native tribes to build their houses out of adobe. The roofs of adobe houses are often flat because it rarely rains in these regions. Mud house A mud house is a little bit like an adobe home; it is made of mud. However, mud houses may be built in places with more rain than where you find traditional adobe houses. They usually have sloped roofs made of thatch. Houseboat If you live in a watery place, you might wish to live in a houseboat. Houseboats are simply boats that are designed for comfortable living, with a kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, and an area to eat and relax. Castle

5 In the past, the richest people in Europe lived in enormous houses called castles. Today, most castles have been converted into museums so everyone can see how kings and queens used to live. Lighthouse A lighthouse is a very helpful type of house because it has two purposes. It is a place for someone to live, but it is also important for sea captains because it features a large light that indicates where the coastline begins. Mobile home A mobile home is a type of house that is built on wheels. If you have a mobile home, you may park it in one place or you may choose to drive it around. Cave house A cave house is a very basic type of home where early people lived. Today, very few people live in caves, though there are some exceptions in southern Spain, for example. Penthouse A penthouse is a type of home that is high at the top of a skyscraper. These apartments are usually found in big cities, where you can see interesting views from the windows. 3 rd Grade Explanatory Writing Topics 14. Every day, Americans throw away approximately 40% of their food, which has a direct impact upon our climate. Explain food waste and how we can reduce it. - Newsela U.S. throws away half of all food produce. newsela.com Good food gone to waste How can kids help after a natural disaster

6 th Grade Explanatory Topics Water Conservation 16. What can you do to save water? The short video can be found on YouTube: Water conservation tips-how to conserve water at home The video is recommended, but is optional. Save Our Water! Did you know that kids can make a very important difference in saving the earth s water? They can! But first off, why do we even need to save water? Water is a natural resource that we get from the Earth. Without it, we would not be able to live! Imagine a world with no water at all. You wouldn't be able to drink it, bathe, or swim! Without clean water, plants, animals, birds and ocean life would also be unable to live. Kids can help protect this resource. You make a huge difference simply by starting at home. To get an idea of how much water we could save if we all made a small effort, think about this. What if every person across the nation flushed their toilets one time less every day? Together they could save enough water to fill a lake as large as a mile wide and long and four feet in depth! Now you know how important it is to help save water. Try some of the ideas below. Start doing your part to change our world! Some Ways Kids Can Help to Save Water: When you wash your hands, don t leave the water running. Wet your hands and turn the water off. Use soap and lather your hands well. Then turn the water on to rinse. Turn off the water and make sure it is off completely. Then dry your hands.

7 Do the same when you brush your teeth. Turn the faucet on to get your toothbrush and toothpaste wet. Turn it on again to rinse your mouth and toothbrush. Don t leave the water running while you re brushing. Baths use a lot of water (about 37 gallons on average). Take short showers, and use only about 20 gallons of water, instead. Do you have plants in your house? When vegetables or other fresh produce are washed, collect that water and use it to water the plants. Do you like a drink of cold water now and then? Keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator. That way you don t have to run the water to get it cold. Put a barrel outdoors to catch rain water. Then use that water for things like watering plants or flushing toilets. You can save hundreds of gallons of water a year! In the summertime, it s fun to play under the lawn sprinkler. When you do, make sure it s only when the lawn is being watered. Remind the others in your home, and your friends, not to leave any faucet running. Only use what is truly needed! Is there a leaky faucet or toilet in the bathroom at school? Be sure to let someone know so that it can be repaired. Even if you do just one thing each day to contribute to your home s water conservation, you re doing the right thing! 17. What Is an Eclipse?

8 An eclipse happens when light gets blocked by a moon or planet. For example, when the moon covers the sun, it will show as a large dark circle. There are two types of eclipses that people can see from Earth. The first is a lunar eclipse, or eclipse of the moon. The second is a solar eclipse, or eclipse of the sun. Lunar Eclipses The moon orbits, or moves around, planet Earth. At the same time, Earth orbits the sun. Normally, sunlight hits the moon and reflects back. This reflected sunlight is what causes the moon to shine. Sometimes Earth moves between the sun and the moon. When this happens, Earth blocks the light from the sun. Instead of being hit by sunlight, the moon is covered by Earth's shadow. This is a lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse can only be seen from Earth at night. Total And Partial Lunar Eclipses There are two types of lunar eclipses. One is the total lunar eclipse. The other is the partial lunar eclipse. A total lunar eclipse happens when the moon and the sun are lined up exactly on opposite sides of earth. Although the moon is in Earth's shadow, some sunlight still reaches the moon. The light first passes through Earth's atmosphere. This is the air around the planet. When light passes through it, the light becomes reddish. When the light hits the moon, it makes the moon appear red too.

9 A partial lunar eclipse happens when only part of the moon is in Earth's shadow. Earth's shadow appears very dark. A lunar eclipse usually lasts for a few hours. At least two partial lunar eclipses happen every year. Total lunar eclipses are rare. A partial lunar eclipse happens when only part of the moon is in Earth's shadow. Earth's shadow appears very dark. A lunar eclipse usually lasts for a few hours. At least two partial lunar eclipses happen every year. Total lunar eclipses are rare. Solar Eclipses Sometimes when the moon orbits Earth, it moves between the sun and Earth. When this happens, the moon blocks the light of the sun from reaching Earth. This causes an eclipse of the sun or solar eclipse. During a solar eclipse, the moon casts a shadow onto Earth. There are three types of solar eclipses. The first is a total solar eclipse. For this to happen, the sun, moon and Earth must be in a direct line. In a total eclipse, the sky becomes very dark, as if it were night. A partial solar eclipse.

10 The second type of solar eclipse is a partial solar eclipse. This happens when the sun, moon and Earth are not exactly lined up. The sun appears to have a dark shadow on only a small part of its surface. The third type is an annular solar eclipse. This happens when the orbiting moon is farthest from Earth. Because the moon is far away, it seems smaller and does not block the entire sun. The moon looks like a dark circle on top of a larger, bright circle. This creates what looks like a ring around the moon. Solar eclipses happen once every 18 months. They only last for a few minutes. Why Does NASA Study Eclipses? NASA is the U.S. space agency that does research on space. Its full name is National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Scientists at NASA look at how the moon, sun, stars and planets move. They also study solar eclipses. Scientists use solar eclipses to study the sun s corona. The corona is the sun's top layer. During an annular eclipse, NASA uses ground and space instruments to view the corona when the moon blocks the sun s strong direct light. The sudden blocking of the sun during an eclipse reduces the light. This changes the temperature on the ground. It can also affect local weather and animal behavior. An annular eclipse. NASA is the U.S. space agency that does research on space. Its full name is National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Scientists at NASA look at how the moon, sun, stars and planets move. They also study solar eclipses. Scientists use solar eclipses to study the sun s corona. The corona is the sun's top layer. During an annular eclipse, NASA uses ground and space instruments to view the corona when the moon blocks the sun s strong direct light. The sudden blocking of the sun during an eclipse reduces the light. This changes the temperature on the ground. It can also affect local weather and animal behavior.

11 Viewing Safety Never look directly at the sun. It can permanently damage your eyes! The only safe way to see an eclipse is by using special glasses. Homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses are not safe for looking at the sun. Another method for safe viewing of the partially eclipsed sun is with a pinhole projector. With this method, sunlight passes through a small hole. This can be a pencil hole in a piece of paper or even the space between your fingers. The light is then cast onto a makeshift screen, such as a piece of paper or the ground. It is important to watch the screen, not the sun. 5 th Grade Explanatory Writing Topics 18. There are many benefits to growing our own fruits and vegetables. Explain why it is beneficial to grow our own fruits and vegetables. Include relevant information about the benefits of gardening. Healthy Eaters, Strong Minds: What School Gardens Teach Kids August 10, 20157:03 AM ET PAIGE PFLEGER Tall brick walls conceal a colorful garden at Eastern Senior High School in Washington, D.C., where students like Romario Bramwell, 17, harvest flowers and produce. The program is run by City Blossoms, a nonprofit that brings gardens to urban areas. Lydia Thompson/NPR School is still out for the summer, but at Eastern Senior High School in Washington, D.C., students are hard at work outdoors. In a garden filled with flowers and beds bursting with vegetables and herbs, nearly a dozen teenagers are harvesting vegetables for the weekend's farmers market. Roshawn Little is going into her junior year at Eastern, and has been working in this garden for three years now. "I didn't really like bugs or dirt," Little says, thinking back to when she got started. "Well, I still don't really like bugs, but I like the dirt," she laughs. She gathers a handful of greens, yanks from the stem and pulls up a baseball-sized beet.

12 During the summer, Little gets paid to work Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. with City Blossoms, a nonprofit that brings community gardens to schools, community centers and other places where kids gather in urban areas. Little believes that working in the garden has taught her to try all sorts of new things like eating different kinds of vegetables more often. And she's taken those healthy behaviors home with her. Little brings home vegetables from the garden, and she says her eating habits have encouraged her family to buy more fruits and vegetables. Yanci Flores (left) and Roshawn Little harvest beets from the garden at Eastern Senior High School on July 17. Lydia Thompson/NPR "We're a chubby family and we love to eat. Well, I do," she adds with a laugh. "We mainly live around liquor stores and snack stores. There aren't that many grocery stores. They're way out, and you have to drive so far" a common problem in low-income urban areas. "It seems so pointless, when there are snack stores right there," she says. City Blossoms is one of many groups across the country teaming up with local communities to install school gardens, like the one at Eastern, in areas with low access to fresh, healthy foods. These gardens, advocates say, are really outdoor classrooms where kids learn valuable lessons not just about nutrition, but also about science and math, even business skills. By The Books Many of these groups have big ambitions to tackle complex problems. But there is research that shows the benefits of school gardens can be real and measurable, says Jeanne McCarty, the executive director of REAL School Gardens. "There's a trend across the country where kids are not spending enough time outdoors, period," McCarty says.

13 Top Left: Nychele Williams, 15, gathers basil in the garden at Eastern Senior High School. Bottom left: Yanci Flores rinses recently harvested beets. Right: Carrots and beets are displayed at the Aya farmers market, where students sell their produce on Saturdays. Lydia Thompson/NPR To counter that, the nonprofit, which operates in Texas and Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, works with schools to create "learning gardens" and trains teachers on how to use them to get students engaged and boost academics. For example, the gardens can be used for math lessons like calculating the area of a plant bed or learning the science of how plants grow. McCarty says REAL School Gardens which has built nearly 100 gardens is constantly evaluating the outcomes of its programs, and the numbers are encouraging. She says partner schools have seen a 12 to 15 percent increase in the number of students passing standardized tests not just those in the garden program, but schoolwide. Students at Eastern Senior High School in Washington, D.C., trim bouquets to sell at the farmers market. Lydia Thompson/NPR And 94 percent of teachers in the REAL School Garden programs reported seeing increased engagement from their students, according to an independent evaluation conducted by PEER Associates and funded by the Rainwater Charitable Foundation. She says the benefits don't end with the students, either. Schools that installed learning gardens saw less teacher turnover, McCarty says.

14 Principal Margie Hernandez tells us she's seen the effect firsthand among her teachers. "They start realizing that they need something to invigorate themselves, so they can invigorate their classrooms and invigorate their students," she says. Her school, Pershing Elementary in Dallas, has worked with REAL School Gardens since Rebecca Lemos-Otero (right), co-founder and co-executive director of City Blossoms, helps Erwin Tcheliebou, 15, pick flowers to sell at the farmers market. Behind her is a wall featuring the painted portraits of Eastern Senior High students who have worked in the garden. Lydia Thompson/NPR And for her students who come from predominantly low-income backgrounds the experience can be a nutritional eye-opener, Hernandez says. "It totally changed my kids' perceptions of where food comes from, and what it takes to produce food." If They Grow It, They'll Eat It Many studies have found that kids are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables if they help garden them. That's part of the motivating principle behind Colorado-based Denver Urban Gardens, or DUG, a school garden program that puts a heavy emphasis on having kids taste the produce they grow. NPR ED Why These Kids Love Kale THE SALT How Newbie Gardeners Can Safely Grow Food On Urban Land

15 DUG has 13 garden programs at schools where more than 90 percent of the students qualify for free and reduced-price lunches. Some of the produce that students grow then gets sold to the school cafeteria. That way, kids can recognize the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor in the lunch line. DUG has found that 73 percent of the students who work in the school garden reported increasing their actual consumption of produce. Rebecca Andruszka, who works with DUG, says her friend's children will only eat vegetables from the garden at school not from the grocery store. "I think it's just that it seems less foreign when you're a part of the growing process," Andruska says. A Business Education In D.C., the kids of City Blossoms are also part of the business process: They take their produce to farmers markets. On a recent weekend at the Aya farmers market in Southwest D.C., the kids' table is decorated with handmade signs that read "onions" and "garlic," with little pictures drawn beside them. The kids greet customers warmly, shaking their hands and calling them "sir" or "ma'am." Roshawn Little mans the table, inviting people to try their herbed salt with bread. Working at the market has helped her practice her public speaking skills, she says. Plus, it teaches her business and money skills. Roshawn Little (left) invites customer Nate Kohring to try the herbed salt with bread at the Aya farmers market on Saturday. Lydia Thompson/NPR "I used to spend money on anything, mainly junk food," Little says. "Now, as I'm working here, I learned how to use my money more responsibly."

16 Homemade signs decorate the table at the Aya farmers market, where the kids of City Blossoms sell their produce on Saturdays. Lydia Thompson/NPR Nadine Joyner of Nutrition Synergies LLC, a nutrition education company, has a booth next to the kids at the market. She often buys produce from them to incorporate into her quiches. She says she's constantly impressed by the kids' knowledge of what they're selling they know how to grow it, how to prepare it, and how to cook it. "It's a very impressive thing to see young urban entrepreneurs," Joyner says, looking over at the kids. "It's a refreshing thing." Joyner believes that teaching young people the importance of healthy eating will have long-term payoffs. "The payoff is exponential, because they'll be young mothers or young fathers someday, and they'll feed their children based on what they've learned now," she says. Students from Eastern Senior High School in Washington, D.C., sell vegetables, soaps and salts at the Aya farmers market on July 25. Lydia Thompson/NPR But the kids aren't thinking of that bigger picture. Instead, they're just enjoying the little things, like the way their hands smell after harvesting herbs, or the satisfying crunch of a freshly picked carrot. ing_for_children/ Fact Sheet Summarizes Benefits of Gardening for Children

17 Gardening provides different forms of engagement for children, including designing, planting, and maintaining gardens; harvesting, preparing, and sharing food; working cooperatively in groups; learning about science and nutrition; and creating art and stories inspired by gardens. The studies summarized below have been selected because they include control groups, pre- and post-measures, well controlled correlations, or in-depth qualitative analyses. For more studies and an analysis of this research, see Blair (2009), The child in the garden: An evaluative review of the benefits of school gardening. Lifelong Benefits In a nationwide telephone survey of 2,004 respondents, people who reported picking flowers, fruits or vegetables, planting trees, taking care of plants, or living next to a garden in childhood were more likely to show an interest in gardening as they aged and to form lasting positive relationships with gardens and trees (Lohr & Pearson-Mims, 2005). In two interview studies with adult gardeners (sample sizes of 18 and more than 100), most respondents recalled vivid positive memories of play and exploration in childhood gardens, which inspired garden ideas and a desire to garden later in life (Francis, 1995; Gross & Lane, 2007). Positive Social and Interpersonal Skills When third to fifth grade students who participated in a one-year gardening program filled out a survey of life skills, they showed a significant increase in self-understanding and the ability to work in groups compared to nonparticipating students (Robinson & Zajicek, 2005). Youth interns in community gardens reported increases in maturity, responsibility and interpersonal skills (Hung, 2004). In a community garden program in San Antonio, qualitative interviews of teachers, parents, a principal and 52 second and third grade students revealed that children were likely to have positive bonding experiences with their parents and other adults (Alexander, North, & Hendren, 1995). These findings are consistent with research that indicates that community gardening projects grow community (Glover, 2004). Healthy Eating and Nutrition Children who grow their own food are more likely to eat fresh fruits and vegetables (Canaris, 1995; Libman, 2007; McAleese & Rankin, 2007; Pothukuchi, 2004) or express a preference for these foods (Lineberger & Zajicek, 2000; Morris & Zidenberg-Cherr, 2002). Garden programs often include lessons on nutrition, resulting in greater knowledge about healthy eating (Koch, Waliczek & Zajicek, 2006; Morris & Zidenberg-Cherr, 2002; Pothukuchi, 2004). Science Achievement and Attitudes Towards Learning Fifth grade students who participated in school gardening activities scored significantly higher on science achievement tests than students who had a curriculum without garden experiences (Klemmer, Waliczek, & Zajicek, 2005). Evaluations of the Junior Master Gardener program in Indiana (Dirks & Orvis, 2005) and Louisiana (Smith & Motsenbocker, 2005) also found greater science achievement gains among gardening students compared to control groups. Gardening

18 activities can be integrated into all areas of the school curriculum, making learning more meaningful (Canaris, 1995). Parent involvement, shown to enhance student achievement (Henderson & Mapp, 2002), increases at schools with garden programs (Alexander, North, & Hendren, 1995). Design Skills and Environmental Stewardship Even young children can contribute to designs that make gardens enjoyable places (Whiren, 1995) and older children can competently design and create gardens and garden programs with a range of elements and themes (Canaris, 1995; Heffernan, 1994; Lekies et al., 2006). Second and fourth grade students in a school gardening program in Texas showed significantly more gains in proenvironmental attitudes than students in a control group, and the more outdoor experiences they had, the more positive their attitudes (Skelly & Zajicek, 1998). In a qualitative assessment of an intergenerational gardening project, students expressed an increased understanding of ecology, interconnections in nature, and responsibility to care for the environment (Mayer-Smith, Bartosh & Peterat, 2007). Special Populations According to observations, interviews and journals, a multicultural school gardens programs for recent immigrants provided a space where children could share their cultural heritages, feel a sense of belonging, and form connections to the local environment (Cutter-Mackenzie, 2009). When juvenile offenders assessed their participation in a horticultural training program, most believed that it sparked their interest in further education, gave them ideas for green careers and improved their job skills (Flagler, 1995). Pre- and post-tests of juvenile offenders in a Green Brigades program that involved learning horticultural techniques and working on community landscaping found that participants increased their levels of self-esteem (Cammack, Waliczek & Zajicek, 2002a), horticultural knowledge and proenvironmental attitudes (Cammack, Waliczek & Zajicek, 2002b). Gardening has long been recognized as a therapeutic healing activity which can positively impact mental health and well-being (Ulrich, 1999). 19. Explain the long-term effects of bullying. Bullying Exerts Psychiatric Effects Into Adulthood