Summit Elementary's First Grade Animal Fair provides fun opportunity to showcase learning
It was a “zoo” at Summit Elementary as first-grade classes shared the afternoon of March 16th with their fellow schoolmates and community. The annual First Grade Animal Fair is an event which showcases more than 100 first grade students’ hard work and research of animals. Hundreds of guests came to explore and learn interesting facts about animals from around the world in Summit’s newly constructed Collaborative Learning Environment.
The purpose of the Animal Fair is to showcase what first graders have studied in their classrooms regarding animals, their habitats, diets, and other interesting facts. It provides an opportunity for students to practice and use scientific language and vocabulary, as well as develop ways to share their findings with peers and the community, building important social skills.
First-grade teacher, Alison Daugs, shared some insight as to how students prepared for the event:
- Students explored all the different animal groups: insects, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and mammals.
- They also learned the qualities that make each of these animals unique to their animal group: carnivores/herbivores, vertebrates/invertebrates, cold-blooded/warm-blooded, habitats, diet and more.
- It was fun to daily see the students’ young minds absorb all this information as we read stories, researched and made connections to the similarities as well as differences between each animal group.
- Later, students identified an animal that they had an interest in and were given opportunities to explore more information about their selected animal through texts and technology.
- The students created multiple art projects that tied in with animals. Our wonderful art teacher, Mrs. Talbert, helped each class create clay animals to display in habitats that the students made in class.
The Animal Fair adds value to Summit students’ education in many ways. It is a fun event to look forward to each year. The students are the creators, producers, and stars of this event! They work hard building up to the Fair, and they are proud and excited about all they have learned. It’s a terrific opportunity to wrap-up their animal unit and share it with others.
Here are pictures of a few students with their projects: