Living or Nonliving?

This is a great article providing an experience from a first grate teacher. The article goes through the thought process of a child classifying if a rock was living or nonliving. I liked how... See More

This is a great article providing an experience from a first grate teacher. The article goes through the thought process of a child classifying if a rock was living or nonliving. I liked how this article gave a rubric for the lesson along with journal reflections and technology tips.

Review

I find this article very interesting. I find that I often ask the wrong questions when dealing with this topic. I like how this article gives examples of the right questions to ask. The a... See More

I find this article very interesting. I find that I often ask the wrong questions when dealing with this topic. I like how this article gives examples of the right questions to ask. The article also provides the properties of both living and dead things, which is great for a teacher to use.

"Living or Nonliving?" Article Review

In this article first-grade students explore the differences between living and non-living objects and the characteristics that help define each. The author provided a detailed, specific rub... See More

In this article first-grade students explore the differences between living and non-living objects and the characteristics that help define each. The author provided a detailed, specific rubric for assessing students' knowledge about classification. This article provides all the information a teacher would need to know when teaching a Unit about Living vs. Non-living Objects for the first time.

Living or Nonliving?

In this article, an Elementary teachers talks about how he taught the students to compare and contrast about living things, non-living things, and the dead. I loved how he hooked the student... See More

In this article, an Elementary teachers talks about how he taught the students to compare and contrast about living things, non-living things, and the dead. I loved how he hooked the students into the lesson. I also like how the article talks about the author's experience throughout the lesson. It gave me a good perspective of how I should conduct this lesson in a class so the students can be engaged and learn a great deal of the content.

Very helpful!

Using a previous teaching experience, the teacher immediately captivated the reader’s attention by illustrating the thought process of a seven-year-old student through a simple, yet highly i... See More

Using a previous teaching experience, the teacher immediately captivated the reader’s attention by illustrating the thought process of a seven-year-old student through a simple, yet highly informative Q&A session. The results of this article proved that hands-on, real-world activities made a huge impact on these first-grade students. By asking the right kind of questions and providing multiple opportunities to challenge their thinking, students in this class were able to differentiate between living and nonliving things. With the ever increasing presence of technology in the classroom and the daily lives of students, the use of digital cameras, camcorders, or document cameras would be excellent resources to utilize instead of relying on student illustrations. I believe that this would be a quicker, easier alternative that would allow for more accurate comparisons. I found the student-led teaching approach demonstrated throughout this article to be very refreshing and productive.

Rocks are Alive!

This article written by a first grade teacher is a great lesson on classifying and observing. She starts out with some humorous misconceptions about rocks being alive or not. Then she goes... See More

This article written by a first grade teacher is a great lesson on classifying and observing. She starts out with some humorous misconceptions about rocks being alive or not. Then she goes on to give an excellent series of lessons on observation and classifying of objects being alive, once alive, not alive. She allows her students to figure out for themselves if rocks are really alive.

Living, Nonliving or Dead?

First grade students explore the topic of living vs nonliving concepts starting with the right questions. These questions lead the authors to realize that some children had misconceptions a... See More

First grade students explore the topic of living vs nonliving concepts starting with the right questions. These questions lead the authors to realize that some children had misconceptions about this topic. This article provides a simple rubric that can be used for classification of living vs nonliving. After further exploration of student understands the classification was expanded to living, nonliving and dead with students justifying their choices.

Distinguishing living from nonliving

In this article, the author outlines an activity to help students learn to distinguish living things from nonliving things. Outlining the 5 criteria to define living things, the author prov... See More

In this article, the author outlines an activity to help students learn to distinguish living things from nonliving things. Outlining the 5 criteria to define living things, the author provides a living vs. nonliving classification rubric, information on addressing student misconception, and ideas for using this lesson with English language learners. This article includes fresh ideas for elementary-level educators teaching about living vs. nonliving things. While the article describes the author experience with a first grade class, the activity can be modify for use by kinder through 2 grade classes.

Living or Nonliving?

Primary teachers are often asked to teach basic concepts about the characteristics of living things and life cycles. This article addresses children in the first grade. It is during the prim... See More

Primary teachers are often asked to teach basic concepts about the characteristics of living things and life cycles. This article addresses children in the first grade. It is during the primary years that teachers help children to transition from the pre-operational to the concrete operational stage. This article explains how the author scaffolds what the child already knows, into how to observe and to articulate their own thinking to others, and the skill of asking themselves provocative questions. The author provides a rubric for assessment, technology tips, journal reflections, and English Learner strategies. This article provides everything a Primary teacher would need to know in implementing a Unit about Living & Nonliving.

Is a rock alive?

First grade teacher Britt Legaspi, prompted by the responses of her first grade student's misconceptions about rocks being 'alive' developed inquiry lessons for her students based on Jean Pi... See More

First grade teacher Britt Legaspi, prompted by the responses of her first grade student's misconceptions about rocks being 'alive' developed inquiry lessons for her students based on Jean Piaget stages of cognition.

Excellent Resource!

I thought this journal article was so enlightening. I definitely found ways to apply its findings to my classroom. :)