Thematic Thursday Going Batty over BATS!!!!

I know since it is October that the first thing I think of when I hear the word bat, is .....

yes, the boys of summer desperately trying to become the boys of October! Missing my lil slugger who is finishing up his senior year of college playing, what else, BASEBALL in Texas!  Why do kids have to go so farrrrr away?!! Seriously, when I think of bats, the only kind I want are either metal or wood!! But not so true for my students!

What is it about kids and bats? My fifth graders are finishing up a non-fiction week on Rattlers and the first thing they ask me is, "Are bats next?" Bats? Really?  Since we are a 1:1 ipad classroom, my students have multiple opportunities to use the internet to research given topics.  California does have bats so this topic wasn't too hard for me to gather some resources together for my fifth graders to devour!

Upper grades love being read to! Bats bring in the perfect bat series!  And you can't go wrong with any National Geographic animal book. The BATS! one won't disappoint! The photos alone make my students day!

My friend Carla over at Comprehension Connections has an amazing thematic link up every Thursday! This week happens to be about.. you guessed it.. BATS!! She has great links up of literature and creative fun for all!

http://www.bats4kids.org/ starts off with basic bat facts.   Multiple opportunities for further research with great links here, including one on how to build your own bat house!  Now I am all up for a Bat cave similar to my childhood after school afternoon treat of Batman and Robin featuring Adam West!! San Diego has bats as does Northern California so there are several sources featuring true facts on bats that live at either end of our state!

My students, though, will be in bat heaven when we embark upon our Bat Web quest!! Do you use web quests to further students' knowledge? My 5th graders DIG Them!! They just think I am THE BEST when we spend our time READING, RESEARCHING, WRITING, and CREATING based off web quests!! A web quest is a bunch of activities that you complete using the internet to help you do the research. They usually have multiple links to take you to different sources or sites where you obtain your information.  There is usually a culminating activity, too, where students have to use what they learned in an engaging and meaningful way. There are great primary web quests as well. One More.   Join the fun!! Even if you only have one computer, think of what excitement will buzz through your room when students are allowed to use it to find bat facts!!  First one to the bat cave wins!

Fifth graders are getting ready to transition our way into decimal place value using base ten.  I needed an activity that would help them gain confidence and reinforce place value concepts along with powers of ten exponents.  They can always use multiplication practice and the added bats make this a win win situation!
I can't wait for them to use  Batty for Base Ten Exponents tomorrow!!As part of my participation in the Tricks and Treats Blog Hop, this product will be on sale 20% off all weekend!

 

Happy Bat Hunting ya'll!! And goooo DODGERS!!!!   BECOME the MEN OF OCTOBER!!!