Happy Wednesday!
Today I am linking up with my bud, Jivey, from Ideas by Jivey, for her Workshop Wednesday linky:
Today’s topic is about implementing science into reading. This is God-timing because this was a post I’d recently prepared and was looking for the best time to publish it 🙂
This is my first year teaching science to fifth graders and I LOVE it!
We just wrapped up a study of biomes that really captured the students’ interest.
I decided that 30 minutes for science just wasn’t enough in a day, so I snuck some into our reading time as well 🙂
We started out the unit with this AMAZING video to get the kiddos excited and whet their appetites:
Doesn’t that get you all pumped up and excited for science? It did for my students!
Then, over the course of the week, we read two different books.
Then, over the course of the week, we read two different books.
I found this book on the free table at my local library (seriously the best place ever!)
Children learn about life in everything from the chilly arctic tundra biome to dry, grassy savannas. It was a great introduction to the unit – plus it gives excellent, biome-specific information that we used later to research.
Click HERE to check out the book.
Here’s another AWESOME book I found in my study of biomes:
Amazon description: “This educational picture book explores the unique sleep environments of animals, taking children on a fascinating journey to see the world’s diverse biomes: from fresh waters and marine waters to the dry desert, and from dense woodlands and forests to the open grassland and tundra.”
The pictures in the book are breath-taking:
Click HERE to visit a site to order this must-have book!
I’m linking this book up with Collaboration Cuties for their Must Read Mentor Text linky:
I’m linking this book up with Collaboration Cuties for their Must Read Mentor Text linky:
As we wrapped up the unit, I wanted to give my students a real-life, hands-on way of showing me what they learned about the biomes. So, I broke them into groups, let them choose a biome, and sent them off to create!
Each of their posters needed to have:
The Name of the Biome
Description and pictures of the:
Climate
Precipitation
Locations around the world
Common animals
Common plants
Unique/Interesting Facts
They divided up the work and got busy researching!
Then they came together and started collaborating on the poster:
*Note: This project taught the students TONS about working in a group – we worked on 3 Cs: collaborating, compromising, and complementing.
Here are some of the final products:
Didn’t they do a fabulous job?!?
The kids learned a lot about their biome – and about the importance of working together and being a dependable teammate. I pray this experience sticks with them.
If you’re interested in trying this project with your students, I have put together a clear, easy-to-use, print-and-go packet that includes everything you need to assign, guide, and grade your students:
You can snag this print-and-go packet in my TPT store.
If you’re looking for another way to extend your study of biomes, I have also created a set of 32 Biome Task Cards:
The task cards are in a variety of formats: true/false, multiple choice, and open-ended and cover a variety of topics in a science study of biomes.
We played SCOOT as a review before our unit test – it helped my students know what to study (what questions they were unsure of) and helped me informally see which students had already mastered the information.
Getting your students up and moving – all while reviewing important science information? Sounds like a win-win to me! 🙂
