We began this unit by listening to whale literature, I Wonder if I’ll see a Whale, by Frances Ward Weller. This book is beautifully illustrated by Ted Lewin. After this we brainstormed different types of whales we knew existed. (Throughout this project we learned that there are many more types of whales than we knew.)

 We did a K-W-L chart on the information we already knew and what we wanted to know. We broke into cooperative learning groups and each group was responsible to research a particular type of whale. The students used the internet for research along with library books. They are still working on whale booklets using the research they found.

When the month of April came about, we decided to write poems on whales since it was National Poetry Month. Students either wrote with partners or individually. They then illustrated their poetry.

We concluded this unit by completed the K-W-L chart along with reading, “A Thousand Pails of Water” from a reading text in class.

Student’s Work

Haiku

Cinquain

Acrostic Poems