You know the classic animal report—it's a staple in elementary classrooms. Simple, familiar, and always a hit with students eager to learn about their favorite creatures. But what if we took it a step further? What if we moved beyond collecting facts and challenged students to analyze, connect, and think critically about the natural world?By expanding a traditional animal project into a full habitats unit, students can explore biomes and ecosystems through nonfiction text features—uncovering patterns, relationships, and the bigger picture of how living things interact with their … [Read more...] about Beyond the Animal Report: Deepening Learning with a Habitats Unit
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Using Poems to Teach Visualizing While Reading
Helping students improve their reading comprehension starts with teaching them to create mental images as they read. One powerful strategy for developing this skill—visualizing while reading—is through poetry. Short, vivid poems can spark imagination and give young readers the perfect opportunity to slow down and truly picture what’s happening in the text.Why teach visualization in early elementary?Visualization is all about making mental pictures while reading. It helps kids see the story in their minds (I always say “let’s create a movie in our mind”), using clues from the text, like what … [Read more...] about Using Poems to Teach Visualizing While Reading
Top 10 Classroom Activities for Halloween
Spooky season is my favorite and I've got several fun hands-on classroom activities for Halloween that I'm putting together as one list for you here. This list includes everything from Halloween STEM challenges to printable Halloween-themed task cards and my favorite Halloween books. I'm even including a free printable classroom activity for Halloween so let's dive in.#1 Spooky Narrative Writing This creative writing unit for Halloween is my favorite writing to do with students each year because they love it and it brings out so much of their creativity! This unit has all the tools you need … [Read more...] about Top 10 Classroom Activities for Halloween
Digging into Discovery: Dinosaur Unit Study
As educators, we're always on the hunt for innovative ways to spark students’ curiosity and explore their favorite topics. What better way to captivate students’ interest than with a dinosaur unit study!? Below you will find several of my engaging dinosaur activities for reading, writing, research, and more. So grab your shovel and let’s dig in!Dinosaurs, with their awe-inspiring size, mysterious extinction, and fascinating features, have a natural appeal to learners of all ages. Harnessing this fascination, we can create immersive nonfiction units that dig deep into the world of these … [Read more...] about Digging into Discovery: Dinosaur Unit Study
