Integrating science and social studies with reading is a must. We all know that time is always a problem for teachers. There are simply not enough hours in the day to teach all that we’re expected to teach. It’s just not possible. Due to testing and/or district and state requirements, social studies and science often take the back seat. That’s unfortunate on so many levels. Those subjects are essential for students’ schema for reading comprehension and can lead to powerful learning opportunities.

While I can’t say that I get it in every day, I do carve out time for intentional science and/or social studies instruction. You can read more about that here. I also try integrating science and social studies into my reading and writing instruction, or maybe I should say I integrate reading and writing into my science and social studies instruction.

Below are some of my favorite resources for effectively integrating science and social studies.

In this post:

• Interactive Notebooks for Social Studies and Science
• Social Studies and Science Paired Passages
• Fluency Passages
• Epic Science
• Bookmarks

Interactive Notebook for Social Studies

Interactive notebooks are an amazing for integrating science and social studies with reading. Through interactive notebooks, students can apply what they’ve learned in reading. This is a little more challenging than answering explicit questions or right there questions, because students will need to read and locate answers from a variety of places within a text. This helps students to take their reading comprehension to the next level.

I always liked using my Social Studies Interactive Notebook, but I didn’t particularly enjoy using up class time for cutting and pasting. However, when I shifted to a digital notebook, that changed everything! It’s so much faster to prepare and for students to complete, so you have more class time. One of the best parts to using the digital version of the interactive notebooks, is that you can link informational texts to each individual page. You can get a free version of the state research page here.

Students click on the icons to be taken to assigned books on GetEpic. If you don’t already use Epic, please check it out! If you want to assign different books or different video clips, that’s totally editable. Just type in what you’re looking for, and there’s almost always a huge selection to choose from. It’s one of the best ways for integrating science and social studies!

Social Studies and Science Paired Passages

Once students have a solid grasp on informational reading standards, paired passages are great for integrating science and social studies. You can teach students to respond to an informational text, compare and contrast technical writing, and integrate information.

One great resource for integrating science and social studies this are these Science Paired Passages and Social Studies Paired Passages. Students read two passages based on the same topic. For example, one passage may be on stars, while the other passage is about the Moon. Students circle prefixes, suffixes, homophones, synonyms, or antonyms and use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words. Then, students answer three text dependent, multiple choice questions for both passages.

Students then answer questions about the text structure and nonfiction text features for each passage. The following questions have students identify the main idea from a paragraph in each passage. You can see below how this can also be completed digitally. Students can type directly on the Google Slides.

Finally, students answer two extended response questions. The types of questions require students to integrate text from both passages, which is always a challenging skill for students.

These paired passages review all of the informational reading standards, so I don’t try to use these early in the school year. I also would not recommend trying to complete an entire set in just one class period, as that would be a bit overwhelming. Students typically experience better success when assignments like this are broken into smaller pieces.

Integrating Science and Social Studies With Reading-Fluency Passages

My favorite resources for fluency practice are these fluency passages which are perfect for integrating science and social studies topics. The fluency passages have made a tremendous impact on my students’ reading fluency, and I love the fact that my students are also reading information that we are studying in social studies and science.

I only assign fluency passages to students who need to work on fluency, because I don’t want to overly encourage excessive speed reading. Students do not benefit when they blaze through a passage and have no idea what they read. I check students’ cold read of the passage on Monday morning, and then they are to read the passage out loud to an adult three times a day Monday through Thursday and record the number of words read per minute. Students reassess on Friday, and they are always so amazed by their progress.

Epic Reading Passages

I want to give students the opportunity to work with “real” books. Since it’s not financially realistic to provide physical copies of large quantities of books to all students, I use Epic to get high quality books in my students’ hands. I recently completed a series of science comprehension questions to correlate with my favorite Epic books. The Epic Science resource has quickly turned into a classroom must-have!

This resource is geared toward upper elementary students, and I kept the passages in the range of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade levels. Since that is a large range of reading levels, I built in in some scaffolding on the more challenging texts. I also prioritized content over reading level, because some of the levels are quite misleading. Some of the “easier” texts were much more challenging than texts with a higher level. Also, some of the “easier” texts had more thorough content than the higher-level texts. This exposure to a range of levels will benefit all students.

You can see how fun and bright the illustrations are, as well as how multi nonfiction text features are included. There are just so many opportunities on how to use this! This definitely simplifies integrating science and social studies!

Integrating Science & Social Studies Bookmarks

I like to have students highlight where they found their answers in the passages. They can highlight either digitally or with a highlighter. The only problem I’ve run into is with my magazines. Since I reuse those, I don’t want anything permanently highlighted. I JUST discovered erasable highlighters! I plan to test them out over the school year, and I’ll be sure to let you know if they work.

You can also give students bookmarks with a color-coding guide so students can color-code their answers. You can download that bookmark here. I find that the color coding helps keep students a little more focused on the task.

While I still make teaching social studies and science a priority, these strategies are so helpful when it comes to saving time and integrating science and social studies standards!

The post Integrating Science and Social Studies appeared first on Ashleigh's Education Journey.

Do you ever wonder what 4th graders should know or be able to do? Changing grade levels is difficult. I still remember crying my eyes out the first time I had to change grade levels. It was devastating! It’s hard to sort through years worth of blog posts, resources, and articles to find just what you need to get started. I know how much of a challenge it can be when you’re new to teaching 4th grade, so I’ve written this post to help get you started. Even if you’ve been a fourth grade teacher for awhile, you’ll probably find something useful!

If you’re looking for a similar post for third grade teacher look here!

Classroom Set Up

If you’re a new(er) teacher, you can feel pressured to go out and create a designer classroom. That’s not necessary. At all.

The priority should be organizing, not decorating, your classroom. Of course, I’m not saying that having a cute or decorated classroom is a bad thing. I spend more awake time in my classroom than anywhere else, so I want an environment that makes me comfortable and happy.

But, you don’t need to go out and spend lots of money creating a Pinterest classroom.  Make sure your room is clean, not too busy or distracting, and organized.

You can see my classroom here! You can read more about organizing your classroom here.

What 4th Graders Should Know – Pacing Guides

It’s important to begin the year with a plan. Of course it’s necessary to keep in mind that it’s just a guide, not rules that are set in stone. Below are my reading and math pacing guides for teachers new to teaching 4th grade. You can download example fourth grade pacing guides here. If you want to map out the year on your own, you may enjoy this blog post on Planning For The Year. Either way, it’s a great format to what 4th graders should know.

COVID and distance learning has changed so many things for teachers. It’s incredibly hard to know how to get started when you don’t know what you’re planning for. It’s next to impossible to determine what 4th graders should know if their time in the younger graders was limited. To provide even more support, I’ve shared a First 30 Days for reading and math. What makes this plan special is that it can be used for in-class instruction, distance learning, or a combination of both. You can find that post here.

Fourth Grade Morning Work

A good morning work routine is one of the most important parts of the day. It’s also a great way to continuously review what 4th graders should know. It sets your pace and allows students to feel organized and prepared. This post shares some of my favorite ideas for morning work. It also mentions how to incorporate a soft start to your day. This morning work activity reviews all major content that 4th graders should know by the end of the school year.

What 4th Graders Should Know – Reading

After years of blogging, there is simply no way to narrow down all of my reading and writing blog posts to just one! However, I was able to whittle it down to just a few. Keep in mind, all of these lessons are available as a print and digital resource.

Reading Workshop-In this post you can get a good overview of what should happen during reading workshop. The post also discuss the differences between reading workshop, guided reading, and literature circles.

Integrating Science and Social Studies-This post shares several ideas on ways to integrate your science and social studies standards with reading. Time is always a problem, so this is a big help.

Making Sense of Reading Assessments-Depending on where you’re coming from, reading assessments may look different. They may also be quite overwhelming! This post breaks down the how and why of various reading assessments.

Upper Elementary Guided Reading Groups – Reading groups in the upper elementary classroom are complex to say the least. This post is a great place to start.

Introducing Reading Workshop – This post shares procedural lessons to allow your students get started on the right foot.

What 4th Graders Should Know – Writing

Introducing Paragraphs – This is one of my all time favorite ways to begin teaching writing! If you’re new to teaching 4th grade, I highly recommend starting the year by teaching students how to write paragraphs through these back to school books!

If you want ideas on how to teach writing, this Guide To Teaching Writing is just for you! Remember, even if you recognize what 4th graders should know coming to you, it doesn’t mean they will know it.

Personal Narratives-Here is a blog post that shares how to teach students to write personal narratives. I do have blog posts for other writing genres, but this seems to be teachers’ favorite genre to start the year with.

What 4th Graders Should Know – Math

When thinking about what 4th graders should know, don’t forget about math! Math Workshop/Guided Math-This post describes how math workshop can be used in a fourth grade classroom.

Upper Elementary Math Centers-You don’t have to incorporate math centers in fourth grade. If you do utilize centers, you don’t have to use them everyday. There is so much flexibility! This is a great post to show how to use math centers in an upper elementary classroom.

First Days of Math Workshop-I highly recommend this post! It’s SO important in order to have success during the year. There are step-by-step lessons to teach math workshop with routines and procedures.

Math Manipulatives-Math manipulatives aren’t just for the little ones. Big kids need them too! However, you don’t need to spend a fortune, and there are important things to remember when using manipulatives.

Multiplication Facts-There are few topics in math that cause more anxiety (for students and teachers) than math facts. This post helps take that away. There are TONS of fun ideas and freebies to make learning multiplication facts fun AND meaningful!

What 4th Graders Should Know – Social Studies & Science

Far too often social studies and science are neglected in third, fourth, and fifth grades. When you teach content heavy grade levels, it’s incredibly hard to find the time to squeeze it all into the day. This is one of the primary reasons I love integrating as often as possible. In this post I share a few ideas on how to integrate social studies and science into language arts and math.

Testing

Yes, fourth graders have to participate in state testing. I can say with 100% certainty that the best test prep is high quality instruction all year. It’s important to be extremely careful to approach testing with the right attitude with students. I don’t use it as a fear mechanism for motivation or over emphasize the importance of test scores.

While I can’t take away all of the stress relating to testing, you can make the year easier by integrating review into your instruction all year. You can see some of my favorite ideas here.

It’s definitely not possible to share all of my resources with you, but I would love to give you some ideas. The items below are my top 10 favorite resources for teachers who are new to teaching 4th Grade.

What 4th Graders Should Know

Top Ten Resources for Teachers New to Teaching 4th Grade

This Reading Workshop Bundle is probably my favorite product! It’s one of those that really does have everything! There are 180 reading comprehension lesson plans and printables to go with each lesson plan. I’ve also included fluency practice, vocabulary, and reading homework.

My Fourth Grade Math Units is a compilation of YEARS of work! This bundle includes 10 math units with hands-on lessons, skills practice, and task cards!

I honestly don’t know what I’d do without my Weekly Word Problems. I now use the updated version with the constructed response practice for my morning work. It’s one of my favorites!

Once again, I’d be lost without my Fluency Passages! I use these for weekly fluency and comprehension homework. The best part is that the entire pack is integrated with science and social studies!

My Language Arts Morning Work is an excellent spiral review. This will help keep tricky grammar and reading skills fresh all year. (I know the cover of this one says third, but I’ve linked the 4th grade version. My fourth grade cover is in the middle of being updated 🙂

Writing can certainly be tricky, which is why I love having the Writing Bundle ready to go! This contains three writing units  aligned to the Common Core Standards: informational, opinion, and narrative!

I love these Multiplication Facts Booklets! Teaching multiplication facts is a year long process, so I incorporate these booklets all year long. The are a great way to teach conceptual understanding and memorization of multiplication facts.

I use the Prefix of the Week packet along with my Homophone of the Week for weekly vocabulary and word work. This makes a cute bulletin board and comes with different booklets!

I use this Math Constructed Response packet at least once a week. This is one of those concepts that requires practice all year long, rather than taught as an isolated test prep skill.

I’m cheating a little here! I actually have a few 4th grade assessment packs, and I love them all! I especially like the language arts assessments, because it’s often difficult to find reading assessments that include the passage and assess one standard at a time.

You are going to love fourth grade! One of the best things about fourth grade is that students are young enough to still love school and have a desire to please their teacher. Yet, they are independent enough to participate in really fun activities. Plus, the older students are awesome at catching my corny jokes! Like all students, they need love, consistency, and strong procedures for optimal success. Don’t sweat the test! Your preparation starts from Day 1 and with good instruction your students will be ready!

Don’t hesitate to ask any questions! I’m always happy to help.

The post What 4th Graders Should Know appeared first on Ashleigh's Education Journey.

Before going into any detail on elementary STEM activities, I feel like I need to add a disclaimer. I like crafts. I have nothing against crafts. I’m only trying to clarify the difference between elementary STEM activities or STEAM activities and craft projects, as well as share ways to implement STEM lessons effectively in the upper elementary classroom.

To be quite honest, my personality is better suited to craft projects rather than elementary STEM activities. Crafts have step-by-step directions. I know what the finished product should look like. I can keep everything clean and in control. STEM activities on the other hand are….well…..messy. There aren’t step-by-step directions for students. There is no predetermined finished product. I have to give up control in the design process and entrust my students with that control.

I actually resisted STEM when I first heard of it several years ago, because in my eyes it was just another education buzz word. However, I began to slowly research, participate in professional develop opportunities, and create and implement elementary STEM activities and lessons in my own classroom, and my thinking changed. I began to see the value in STEM, and I especially love how it compliments the growth mindset attitude I work all year to foster in my students. As I teach science, I don’t only utilize STEM activities. Instead, I use these lessons in conjunction with a large variety of other resources and techniques.

Characteristics of a STEM Lesson

Let’s stop for a moment and reflect on the characteristics of a STEM activity (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) or lesson.

1. An engineering design process is what guides STEM lessons. Students define problems, research, brainstorm, create a prototype, and then test, and redesign.
2. STEM lessons involve students in cooperative teamwork.
3. STEM lessons apply math and science content students are learning.
4. STEM lessons allow for multiple right answers and see failure as a necessary part of learning.

There are also a few things that STEM is NOT.

STEM is not a cookie cutter project. STEM projects might use the same materials, but the final products are very different. For example, when I was teaching ecosystems, I had my students create a food chain. I gave explicit direction, so when everything was finished all of the food chains were complete, correct, and looked nice hanging from the ceiling. However, they all looked exactly alike. If students’ finished products are all exactly the same, then it’s a cookie cutter project.

Elementary STEM Activities

STEM creations are all different. Even when the groups have the exact same materials, the groups will design and build something different. Many times students take their creations to an entirely different place than I expected, and that’s okay. For example, in STEM activity where students designed a cannonball launcher, students had the same materials, but their designs were completely different. No two looked alike.

As I was developing these elementary STEM activities, I had my daughter try them out at home, before I implemented them in my classroom. She is the quintessential gifted student who has perfectionist tendencies and is used to getting things right. These lessons frustrated her SO MUCH. She initially thought it was all fun and games, but then she failed, and failed again as she tried to solve the challenges. STEM lessons are fun for students, but they’re not easy, require significant problem solving, and collaboration.  I love that it requires students to step outside of their comfort zone.

Elementary STEM activities force students to develop a growth mindset, because failure is a natural part of the design process. Building a sailboat seemed like such an easy task for students, but when we placed them in water and turned on the fan, the boats started tipping. Students had to redesign their boats to create more study and balanced sailboats. This shift in thinking is not quick or easy, but it’s so worth it for students.

The two biggest problems that I’ve run into are materials and time. Getting materials isn’t hard at all. I rarely ever spend money on our STEM resources, because 90% of the things we use are household items that would normally be thrown away. My problem is what to do with projects as students are working on them. Occasionally, we complete multi-day projects that have to be stored somewhere, and I don’t have any storage space. I teach two groups of students, so I have a lot of projects to store. I don’t have a great solution for this, so I do try to implement mostly one-day projects.

It feels like no matter what I’m trying to do time is always my biggest problem. There simply isn’t enough hours in the day for me to do everything I want/need to accomplish. I’m always looking for ways to integrate multi subjects, so I thought why not combine social studies and science. I’ve created a resource that provides elementary STEM activities and lessons that correlate with major events in United States history. It begins with European Exploration where students develop a navigational tool that sailors would have used in those days. I provide websites that students can access to research how sailors navigated during that time period, as well as information on compasses.

The stem activities move through early Native Americans, early colonies, French and Indian War, Boston Tea Party, American Revolution, and western expansion. Students even create their own version of the cotton gin. This was one of the few projects where I showed students an example of a finished product BEFORE beginning the activity. My instinct said that my students would need the extra support in this, and I was right. It was a bit challenging, but it was a great way to teach the concept.

The STEM activities continue through the gold rush, underground railroad, Civil War, transcontinental railroad, Chicago fire, telephone, immigration, and Wright Brothers. As I taught the industrial revolution, students attempted to find a faster way to produce Hershey Kisses. Groups designed their plan, and I timed them for five minutes. They counted how many they were able to make during that time frame. Then students revised and improved their plans and tried again.

There are more lessons for the San Francisco Earthquake, automobile, and World War One. When I taught the Great Depression, I taught about the Hoover Dam, so to integrate science I had students design their own working dam.

As the events move into more modern history, the STEM activities center around World War Two, Vietnam, space exploration, and the civil rights movement. Many of these activities can also be combined with language arts, which creates the ultimate integration of subjects.

STEM Resources

You can find these resources on my TpT shop here! I’ve included a fun STEM freebie (Google Drive link) that you may enjoy. It’s definitely a multi-day project, but my students really enjoyed it. We created bird feeders that we hung outside my classroom window. This is a great end of the year STEM activity-I don’t believe I would have attempted it before testing. The freebie is written in the same format as my other elementary STEM activities, so you can get an idea of what is included.

To get more information on incorporating elementary STEM activities into your science instruction be sure to check out this mega blog post!

The post Elementary STEM Activities appeared first on Ashleigh's Education Journey.

This week completed our unit on space. I wanted to end the unit in a big way, so I dedicated an entire day to teaching about space through activities. I hung a space backdrop on one of my larger walls, which made a big show! Finally, I placed a space tablecloth on my two tables.

I’m sure it’s beyond cheesy, but I tried to make my students’ tables look like spaceships. I covered them with thin silver paper. Then, I placed a blow-up alien on the center of their table and covered the alien with a plastic cake topper. I wrapped green LED lights around the cake topper, which had a really cool effect when the lights were out. Naturally, the cake toppers were lifted, and I pretended to be upset, because the aliens absolutely could not breathe oxygen.

Prior to our big day, I gave each student a sheet of black construction paper and a few glow-in-the-dark star stickers. Students placed the stickers on the construction paper to form different constellations. Students then used oil pastels to connect the stars. I taped the paper to our ceiling tiles, and students LOVE seeing their designs glow when I turn off the light.

Teaching About Space with My Solar System Project

We used the day to complete the activities from my new Solar System Project. I made a packet for each group of students and placed the materials in a manila envelope. Students also kept all of their completed work in the envelopes.

Astronaut Training Program

In the project, there are a total of six different activities or “missions” for students to complete. I arranged it so that the MINIMUM for students was to complete the first two missions. All of the other missions are “bonus missions.” However, before students can begin the missions, they must complete the Astronaut Training Program. In the booklet, students take interactive notes on the moon, day and night, seasons, inner planets, outer planets, life cycle of a star, and the universe. Once students complete the booklet, they may begin their missions! I had students use Study Jams for their research.

Teaching About Space: Mission 1

In Mission 1, students created a scaled model that demonstrates each planet’s distance from the sun. They used a strip of calculator tape to represent the length of each planet from the sun. This was probably the most challenging activity for students. I did need to give some groups a little extra help, since technically I don’t teach students how to round decimals. However, it was necessary for this activity, but it wasn’t hard concept for most groups to grasp, and I helped those who needed it.

Teaching About Space: Mission 2

In mission two, students created a scaled model to demonstrate the size of each planet with Play-doh. It was shocking to see how much Play-doh I need for this activity! Thankfully, students were working in groups, so that saved on supplies. Students were absolutely shocked to see the difference in size between Earth and Jupiter and Saturn.

Teaching About Space: Bonus Missions

Missions 3, 4, 5, and 6 are all bonus missions. In mission 3, students used models to create a video that explains why we have day and night and why we have seasons. We used Flipgird for the video, because Flipgrid is SO easy to use! You can read more about Flipgrid in this post.

In mission 4, students created craters in sand. Students leveled a shallow bowl of sand. They dropped a marble into the container from each height listed on the Craters table. Students then removed the marble and tried not to disturb the sand. They had to measure the diameter and depth of the crater that the marble created in the sand from each height.

In mission 5, students created a set of constellation cards for 12 different constellations. I had students use a safety needle to poke a hole through each of the stars and holes on the constellation card. They could shine a flashlight through the card in a dark room to see the constellation.

In the last mission, students design a shuttle lander that will slow the speed of the space shuttle to allow an astronaut to reenter Earth’s atmosphere safely. Students had a planning sheet to fill out before they could begin designing their shuttle lander. Students tested their landers by dropping it from the top of the monkey bars. Inside the lander was a Lego astronaut, and students tried not to break the astronaut as it dropped!

The post Teaching About Space appeared first on Ashleigh's Education Journey.

I recently posted Force and Motion Stations in my TpT store. You an use these as centers or stations, or as individual force and motion worksheets. In the activity, I tried my best to give clear directions, but sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. I want to share ideas from the stations with you, so that even if you don’t use the printables, you can get some ideas for hands-on activities to teach force and motion.

I’ll be the first to acknowledge that these force and motion worksheets and stations require some prep and materials, but they’re worth it. Plus, the materials can be used again and again with physical science lessons. I started by collecting everything I needed and setting up anything that required assembly. When my students walked in the classroom, they were SO EXCITED for the science lesson that day!

Force and Motion Stations

Station 1: Friction

In the first station, students experiment with the effect friction has on toy cars. I built a ramp out of thin plywood. On the ramp, I have a piece of felt and a piece of sand paper. Students roll the car down the ramp on the smooth surface and record how far the car rolled from the ramp. Then, they repeat the steps rolling the car down the felt and then down the sand paper.

Station 2: Pendulum

In the second station, students experiment with a pendulum. This is a station where I benefited from going ahead and setting everything up for students. I taped three rulers to the tops of desks. Then I cut yarn in three different lengths and taped each piece of yarn to the center of a different ruler. I tied a plastic jar to the end of each piece of yarn. In the station, students take a jar and lift it to the height of the ruler and let it go. They time how long each jar swings back and forth, so they can compare the movement of different lengths of string.

Station 3: Launching

Station three calls for a launcher, which in my mind is just a huge tweezer. Students use the launcher to launch a pom pom, and they learn that the further they press down the top of the launcher, the farther the pom pom will travel.

Station 4: Magnetic Force

Station four is fairly simple, but it allows students to discuss magnetic force. They measure how far away a paperclip can be from a strong magnet until they can feel the magnetic force. Then students place a piece of cardboard between the magnet and paperclip and determine how far away the magnet can be away from the paperclip until they feel the magnetic force.

Station 5: Bouncing

Students love station five! In this station, students hold a bouncy ball 20 cm above the ground. They drop the ball and see how high the ball bounces. Students repeat these steps holding the ball 50 cm above the ground and 80 cm above the ground. I was pleasantly surprised that all groups bounced the ball appropriately.

Station 6: Balloons

Station 6 was definitely the favorite! students blew up balloons about a fourth of the way full and released the balloon. Then students measure how far the balloon traveled. Students repeat this blowing up the balloon half way and again blowing up the balloon all the way. I ended up saving this station for last and having students complete this activity outside, because the balloons traveled a long way, and it did get fairly noisy.

Station 7: Mass and Distance

I had to improvise a bit in station seven. I needed a ping pong ball, tennis ball, and golf ball. However, we made it work with a tennis ball, whiffle ball, and baseball. As long as students can see the difference of the distance balls with different masses travel, the activity will work.

Station 8: Gravity at Work

In station eight, students place a toy car at various positions on a ramp and determine how far the car traveled in relation to where the car was placed on the ramp. This activity allows students to see gravity at work.

Station 9: Newton’s Second Law

In station nine, students experience with Newton’s second law by allowing two cars to collide in various positions to see the reaction of the two forces.

I had my students record all of their information on the force and motion worksheet below. It took us two 30 minute class periods to complete the stations, so I think this is definitely an hour to hour and a half activity.

Let me know if you have any questions or if you have any other great ideas for force and motion labs! You can use this post to learn how I use these stations as part of my science instruction.

The post Force and Motion Worksheets & Stations appeared first on Ashleigh's Education Journey.

Students love this ecosystems project and activity! Science should be engaging and exciting for students, and they should leave a science lesson feeling curious and intrigued, not bored. This ecosystems project hits the mark! In this post I’ve shared ten of my favorite ways of teaching ecosystems, which are all centered around engaging and creative lessons.

In this post:

• Nonfiction Text for Teaching Ecosystems
• Study Jams
• Ecosystem Accordion Books
• Teaching Ecosystems with Food Chains
• Food Web
• Food Chain Collage
• Changes to Ecosystems Jigsaw
• Teaching Ecosystems with Science Stations
• Biome Posters
• Build an Ecosystem

Nonfiction Text for Teaching Ecosystems

Research is an important part of any ecosystem project and lets you incorporate informational reading and science. The books below are a few of my favorites for this ecosystem project. We use the books with interactive anchor charts like the one shown below where students write examples of producers, consumers, decomposers, herbivores, and carnivores on sticky notes and place the sticky note on the correct section of the anchor chart. I like to have different groups of students use different book, so that students are including animals from many different ecosystems.

Study Jams

Study Jams is such a great online resource! I show videos for my mini lesson all of the time, and they’re perfect for my standards! They are also short enough and interesting enough to keep my students’ attention. There are little quizzes students can take or individually as a class, and best of all-it’s free! This engaging content is great for any ecosystems project!

Ecosystems Project – Accordion Books

Once my students have a good general understanding of ecosystems, they create simple ecosystem books. While this isn’t a major ecosytems project, students enjoy this activity. Students fold a half sheet of construction paper into fourths. I like to cut large 12×18 construction paper in half, so students have a 6×18 sheet of paper. Then, students label each section with a different term for ecosystems and draw a picture of an example of each term on the booklet.

Teaching Ecosystems with Food Chains

A crafty part of the ecosystem project is when students create their own food chain. I provide students with a copy of the sun and five circles. Students draw a picture of a producer, something that gets their energy from the producer, and so on until all five circles include some plant or animal on the food chain. I like to start with food chains before I teach food webs, since these are much more basic for students.

Food Web

I would LOVE to share some pictures of this ecosystems project, but I don’t like to post pictures with students, so I’ll just have to promise that this is an awesome activity for teaching ecosystems!

Give each student a card like the cards below and have everyone stand in a large circle. The student who has the card should stand in the middle of the circle with a ball of yard. Ask the student representing the sun to hold the end of the yarn tightly and toss the ball to someone who can use that energy (a green plant). When a student representing the green plant catches the ball of yarn, he or she should hold a piece of the yarn and throw the ball to someone else who could use the energy. After the yarn reaches a top level carnivore, cut it off to represent one food chain. Return the yarn to the sun to start another chain. Continue making chains until every student holds at least one strand of yarn. This is a great way to illustrate the difference between a food chain and a food web.

Food Chain Collage

I use crafts very sparingly, but I absolutely could not resist these food chain collages when I was teaching ecosystems. It was so tempting to premake some templates for my students to use so everything could be nice and neat, but I wanted to give ownership to my students and to allow them to select any series of animals in a food chain. This is always a favorite ecosystem project!

I did include a recording sheet that you can use to help students plan their project.

Ecosystems Project – Changes to Ecosystems Jigsaw

I haven’t had a lot of success with jigsaw activities in the past, so I was a bit hesitant to try it again, but I couldn’t keep ignoring the research. In this jigsaw, activity was related to changes to ecosystems. Each group had five members, and then I split the five groups up into expert groups. My expert groups were: wildfire, logging, drought, pollution, and floods. My expert groups spent a few days researching and working on their presentations. Then they met back together with their original group to teach the group about what they learned. The surprising benefit to this was that a couple of my students who weren’t giving me good effort REALLY felt the need to step it up on the day they were to present. Most students chose to either make an anchor chart or a slide show for their presentation.

Teaching Ecosystems with Science Stations

I love The Science Penguin’s Ecosystem Stations. I keep each station activity in a file folder. If the station requires cards, I keep the cards in sandwich bags in the folder. I love this resource, and I typically give students about three days to finish the booklet recording sheet.

Ecosystems Project – Biome Posters

Biomes are not technically in my science standards, but they lend themselves perfect to a ecosystem project or unit. An added benefit is that science is the one subject I don’t feel rushed to teach, so I have time for projects like this. I assign each student a biome: taiga, tundra, deciduous forest, tropical rainforest, desert, and grassland. Before beginning the poster, students will need to research their biome through books, videos, magazines, or online resources. Have students work individually or with a partner to create a biome poster on their assigned biome. The posters should include: attractive title and illustrations, biotic factors, abiotic factors, affects, and fun facts. The posters should be clear and easy to read, because students will participate in a study carousel to learn about the different biomes.

Once all posters are finished, display them in the hallway or classroom. All students should then learn about each biome studied through the various posters. Give students a note taking sheet and have students take notes as they observe the different posters. As an optional extension, have students write feedback on sticky notes and place the feedback on the appropriate poster.

All of the lessons for this ecosystems project (except the science stations) are included in my Ecosystem Unit. The unit includes lesson plans, pictures, and all needed printables.

However, even if you don’t use the unit, I hope some of these ideas can help you in teaching ecosystems! You can also read a post that breaks down teaching social studies and science into systematic steps here.

The post Ecosystems Project & Activities appeared first on Ashleigh's Education Journey.

Changing grade levels is difficult. I still remember crying my eyes out the first time I had to change grade levels. It was devastating! It’s hard to sort through years worth of blog posts, resources, and articles to find just what you need to get started. Since it’s such a challenge, I’ve written this post about moving to 4th grade to help get you started. Even if you’ve been a fourth grade teacher for awhile, you’ll probably find something useful!

A couple years ago I wrote a blog post for teachers who were new to third grade or transitioning back to third grade. If you’re moving to 3rd grade, be sure to check out that post.

In this post:

• Pacing Guides
• Fourth Grade Morning Work
• Reading
• Writing
• Guided Math & Workshops
• Social Studies & Science
• Classroom Management
• Top Ten Resources

Pacing Guides

It’s hard to start the year without a plan, so you can download example fourth grade pacing guides here.

Covid and distance learning has changed so many things for teachers. It’s incredibly hard to know how to get started when you don’t know what you’re planning for. To provide even more support, I’ve shared a First 30 Days for reading and math. What makes this plan special is that it can be used for in-class instruction, distance learning, or a combination of both. You can find that post here.

Fourth Grade Morning Work

A good morning work routine is one of the most important parts of the day. It sets your pace and allows students to feel organized and prepared. This post shares some of my favorite ideas for morning work. It also mentions how to incorporate a soft start to your day.

Reading

After years of blogging, there is simply no way to narrow down all of my reading and writing blog posts to just one! However, I was able to whittle it down to just a few. Keep in mind, all of these lessons are available as a print and digital resource.

Reading Workshop

In this post you can get a good overview of what should happen during reading workshop. The post also discuss the differences between reading workshop, guided reading, and literature circles.

Teaching Reading Through Social Studies and Science

This post shares several ideas on ways to integrate your science and social studies standards with reading. Time is always a problem, so this is a big help.

Making Sense of Reading Assessments

Depending on where you’re coming from, reading assessments may look different. They may also be quite overwhelming! This post breaks down the how and why of various reading assessments.

Upper Elementary Guided Reading Groups

Reading groups in the upper elementary classroom are complex to say the least. This post is a great way to get started.

Introducing Reading Workshop

This post shares procedural lessons to allow your students get started on the right foot.

Writing

Introducing Paragraphs

This is one of my all time favorite ways to begin teaching writing! I highly recommend starting the year by teaching students how to write paragraphs through these back to school books!

Narrative Writing

Here is a blog post that shares how to teach students to write personal narratives. I do have blog posts for other writing genres, but this seems to be teachers’ favorite genre to start the year with.

If you are looking for a general overview of HOW to teach writing, don’t skip this post!

Guided Math & Workshops

Math Workshop/Guided Math

This post describes how math workshop can be used in a fourth grade classroom.

Math Centers

You don’t have to incorporate math centers in fourth grade. If you do utilize centers, you don’t have to use them everyday. There is so much flexibility! This is a great post to show how to use math centers in an upper elementary classroom.

Teaching Math Workshop Procedures

I highly recommend this post! It’s SO important in order to have success during the year. There are step-by-step lessons to teach math workshop with routines and procedures.

Math Manipulatives

These aren’t just for the little ones. Big kids need them too! However, you don’t need to spend a fortune, and there are important things to remember when using manipulatives.

Memorizing Multiplication Facts

There are few topics in math that cause more anxiety (for students and teachers) than math facts. This post helps take that away. There are TONS of fun ideas and freebies to make learning multiplication facts fun AND meaningful!

Social Studies & Science

Transform Your Social Studies and Science Instruction

This is a series of blog posts that cover several different instructional ideas for teaching social studies and science. The series discusses vocabulary, presenting content, exploration activities, assessment, and more!

Classroom Management

A Starting Place for Distance Learning

This is your go-to, can’t-miss, starting place for distance learning.

Classroom Management Strategies

Includes free and editable behavior log.

Classroom Focus Wall

This is a great post for setting up a focus wall and math bulletin board.

Top Ten Resources

This Reading Workshop Bundle is probably my favorite product! It’s one of those that really does have everything! There are 180 reading comprehension lesson plans and printables to go with each lesson plan. I’ve also included fluency practice, vocabulary, and reading homework.

My Fourth Grade Math Units is a compilation of YEARS of work! This bundle includes 10 math units with hands-on lessons, skills practice, and task cards!

I honestly don’t know what I’d do without my Weekly Word Problems. I now use the updated version with the constructed response practice for my morning work. It’s one of my favorites!

Once again, I’d be lost without my Fluency Passages! I use these for weekly fluency and comprehension homework. The best part is that the entire pack is integrated with science and social studies!

My Language Arts Morning Work is an excellent spiral review. This will help keep tricky grammar and reading skills fresh all year. (I know the cover of this one says third, but I’ve linked the 4th grade version. My fourth grade cover is in the middle of being updated:)

Writing can certainly be tricky, which is why I love having the Writing Bundle ready to go! This contains three writing units that are aligned to the Common Core Standards: informational, opinion, and narrative!

I love these Multiplication Facts Booklets! Teaching multiplication facts is a year long process, so I incorporate these booklets all year long. The are a great way to teach conceptual understanding and memorization of multiplication facts.

I use the Prefix of the Week packet along with my Homophone of the Week for weekly vocabulary and word work. This makes a cute bulletin board and comes with different booklets!

I use this Math Constructed Response packet at least once a week. This is one of those concepts that needs to be practiced all year long, rather than taught as an isolated test prep skill.

I’m cheating a little here! I actually have a few 4th grade assessment packs, and I love them all! I especially like the language arts assessments, because it’s often difficult to find reading assessments that include the passage and assess one standard at a time.

You are going to love 4th grade! One of the best things about moving to 4th grade is that students are young enough to still love school and have a desire to please their teacher. Yet, they are independent enough to participate in really fun activities. Plus, the older students are awesome at catching my corny jokes! Like all students, they need love, consistency, and strong procedures for optimal success. Don’t sweat the test! Your preparation starts from Day 1 and with good instruction your students will be ready!

Don’t hesitate to ask any questions! I’m always happy to help.

• Classroom Set Up-Here’s a few classroom pictures.

To learn more about how I plan for the year, you can check out this post on planning for the year.

The post Moving to 4th Grade appeared first on Ashleigh's Education Journey.

This is the first year I’ve ever had the opportunity to teach about the solar system. I had always thought it would be one of those incredibly fun units to teach, but it was never part of my standards… until now! This classroom solar system project was hands-down my favorite science unit of the year so far!

One of my concerns for the solar system unit was keeping the content rigorous enough to challenge my fourth graders. They learned about the phases of the moon, stars, and planets in second grade. So, I didn’t want to simply review what my students already knew. We spent a lot of time thinking of the size of planets in comparison to the sun and other planets, as well as the distance of planets from the sun and each other. Despite reading and discussion the size and distance, it was still a concept that was difficult for students to grasp.

My students actually begged me to assign a solar system project. Since I didn’t want to disappoint, I assigned one that students could complete at home. (I did help out students who wouldn’t be able to do this at home.) I gave students a lot of freedom with the project, but I did want them to emphasize the size and scale of planets. My students turned in many amazing projects. I even remembered to take pictures of the projects, and then somehow deleted most of my them… talk about frustrating!

I did manage to keep pictures from one project that did an incredible job of showing the size of planets in relation to the sun, and the planets’ distance from the sun and each other. He taped together sheets of white paper that represented a specified distance from the sun. He unrolled the paper down the length of the hallway, as it was too long to unroll in our classroom. We didn’t display the large exercise ball until the very end of the presentation to get a WOW factor from students.

He used a small sesame seed to represent Mercury and two small berries to represent Venus and Earth. He used a smaller berry to represent Mars.

Jupiter was represented with a large apple, and Saturn was represented with a tennis ball. He used small bouncy balls for Uranus and Neptune. Students were so impressed to see how far apart some of the outer planets were from each other. In most traditional models of the solar system, everything is an equal distance apart, so this was very eye opening for students.

After all of the planets were laid out on the paper, we brought out the sun (exercise ball). That drew a huge reaction from students, because the idea of how much larger the sun was than earth (a berry) finally sank in to students.

I wanted to share this classroom solar system project, because it’s something I’ll definitely repeat next year! You can assign this as an individual project, group project, or as a whole group activity. I also have a Solar System Project & STEM Activities printable set on my TpT shop! Also, don’t miss my related post, Making Space Come Alive, for even more ideas. If you’d like to read a systematic approach to teaching science, be sure to check out this post!

What are your favorite solar system activities?

The post Classroom Solar System Project appeared first on Ashleigh's Education Journey.

Two books that have completely transformed my vocabulary instruction are Bringing Words to Life and the Marzano’s Building Academic Vocabulary. One of the biggest takeaways from my reading is that vocabulary instruction must be intentional, purposeful, and planned.

One of my favorite strategies for teaching academic vocabulary is frontloading or preteaching vocabulary. This technique is highly recommended for ESL or ELL students, but I’ve found that it’s highly beneficial to everyone. Frontloading vocabulary is a before-reading strategy where you introduce words to students through photos, analogies, metaphors, and symbols. When you introduce the words, give students time to discuss the words with partners (think/pair/share), small group, whole group. Pre-teaching vocabulary is not having kids look up definitions or other boring practices.

But First, We Plan

I’ve learned that I have to plan my vocabulary instruction and absolutely cannot wing it. When I start without a written plan, I don’t follow through. The first step in planning academic vocabulary instruction is to create a list of academic vocabulary to be taught in social studies and science. Below you can see an example of my social studies and science vocabulary terms. You can click here for a PowerPoint version or here for a PDF version. Since our standards and students are so varied, you’ll have to find a system that works for you.

When teaching vocabulary, keep it simple. Whenever I try something elaborate or time consuming, I end up quitting by Halloween. My approach to teaching academic vocabulary is very basic and consists of three steps.

Step 1

Introduce vocabulary. During this time, it’s essential to keep students’ interest, so keep this portion of the lesson VERY brief. Try to present the word in an engaging way as possible, and then give examples, pictures, symbols, synonyms, or examples of the word. Allow students to briefly discuss the word with a partner or a small group (who they sit with at their table).  My favorite strategy is think, share, pair, because it’s so quick, easy, and effective.

Step 2

Add the word to students’ notebooks. Since I’m limited on time, copies, and paper, I don’t print anything out for the vocabulary. I simply have students draw a version of the Frayer Model in their notebooks. We fit two boxes on one page, and we almost always add a definition, example, and picture. In the fourth block we may use synonym, antonym, non-example, or sentence.

Step 3

Review with games. The first two steps should be short and sweet, and Step 3 is when the fun begins! Anyone who has taught more than a week or two knows that review is essential for students to be able to store and retrieve information from their short term and long term memory. Review shouldn’t be boring. It should be a part of the day students look forward to, not dread. This vocabulary review gives students a basic knowledge base that will allow students to soon develop a deep understanding of those concepts.

I suggest cycling through four games of your choice. Any more than that is hard to manage and create. Four is enough to keep the games novel for students, which prevents them from losing their effectiveness. As you begin to plan your games and the terms reviewed, you will need to decide if you only want to review the words in the particular unit you are studying or if you want your review to be cumulative. I personally like cumulative reviews, because I feel like it prevents students from forgetting some of the more difficult terms. At the beginning of the year, I usually incorporate some second grade grade vocabulary words into our games, because each of the games need 20-30 words.

I Have, Who Has

BINGO

BINGO is one of the oldest games in the book, but that doesn’t make it any less fun. It’s a great way to review social studies and science terms. I give each student a BINGO board and call out one question at a time. If the student has a word that is the answer to a question, they cover the word with a counter or other marker. You can download a free geography BINGO game here.

Guess It

One of my students’ favorite games of all time is Guess It, which is similar to Headbandz. The great news for this game is that it requires little to no prep. To play have a collection of social studies or science terms on index cards. Have one student chose a card. Without looking at the word, the student should hold the card to their forehead so the word faces out. Students should then give clues about the word so that the student can guess the term. We usually start the game by playing a few rounds with the whole class and then I break students into groups of three or four. The discussions I hear during this activity make my teacher heart smile every time!

You can write the words on index cards or print a pre-made set. I printed the cards from my social studies and science word wall cards. To save paper and ink, I’ve even printed multiple pages on one piece of paper, because you don’t need anything big for this activity.

I also like to display all of my essential science and social studies vocabulary on a work wall. I consolidate math, social studies, and science word walls into one large word wall. I’ve printed large letters that I display across the top of my word wall, and I hang brightly colored ribbon underneath each letter.

I’ve made a a version with a white background or a chalkboard background. I love the chalkboard version, but I definitely don’t like how much ink it uses!

Both social studies and science word wall cards are available in my TpT Store. The science word wall cards include over 70 different terms. All terms necessary for teaching the Georgia Standards of Excellence are included, as well as several more!

Social Studies Word Wall     Science Word Wall

I know it’s a lot, but this first step will make a tremendous impact in your science and social studies instruction.

 

The post Social Studies and Science Vocabulary appeared first on Ashleigh's Education Journey.

While I agree that the content area topics should be reinforced and integrated into students’ tested curriculum, it’s not enough on its own. There should also be intentional social studies and science instruction.

In reality, this instruction may not be every day. Many teachers alternate between teaching elementary science and social studies, which is better than nothing at all. In this post, I break down how to teach social studies and science in a systematic and scaffolded approach.

5 Step Process

There is a five-step process for teaching elementary science and social studies, First, frontload vocabulary by pre-teaching vocabulary terms. The next step is to present the content through a variety of forms. After presenting the content, let students expand and explore the topic through learning activities. After exploring, students should apply what they’ve learned. The final step is a summative assessment, with formative assessments utilized throughout instruction.

Social Studies and Science Vocabulary

It’s no secret that vocabulary is a major predictor for student success. Academic vocabulary is essential for teaching elementary science and social studies. This includes words that are traditionally used in academic text, which are not common in everyday reading. These terms are important because they help students comprehend text across different content areas such as social studies and science.

One of my favorite strategies for teaching academic vocabulary is frontloading or preteaching vocabulary. This technique is highly recommended for ESL or ELL students, but it’s beneficial to all students. Frontloading vocabulary is a before-reading strategy where the teacher introduces words to students through photos, analogies, metaphors, and symbols. Pre-teaching vocabulary is not having kids look up definitions or other boring and inefficient practices.

Planning Vocabulary Instruction

Vocabulary instruction needs to be intentional. The first step in planning academic vocabulary instruction is to create a list of academic vocabulary necessary for teaching elementary science and social studies. Of course, this is specific to your grade level and state standards.

When teaching elementary science and social studies vocabulary, keep it simple. My approach to teaching academic vocabulary consists of three easy to follow steps.

Step 1

Introduce vocabulary. During this time, it’s essential to keep students’ interest, so keep this portion of the lesson VERY brief. Try to present the word in an engaging way as possible, and then give examples, pictures, symbols, or synonyms of the word. Have students briefly discuss the word with a partner or a small group. My favorite strategy for this process think, share, pair, because it’s quick, easy, and effective.

Step 2

Add the word to students’ notebooks. Since I’m limited on time, copies, and paper, I don’t print anything for student vocabulary. I simply have students draw a version of the Frayer Model in their notebooks. We fit two boxes on one page, and we almost always add a definition, example, and picture. In the fourth block we may use synonym, antonym, non-example, or sentence.

Step 3

Review with games. The first two steps should be short and sweet, and Step 3 is when the fun begins! This review is essential for students to store and retrieve information from their short term and long term memory. Review shouldn’t be boring. It should be a part of the day students look forward to, not dread. Consistent vocabulary review gives students a knowledge base that will allow students to soon develop a deeper understanding of concepts.

I suggest cycling through four games of your choice. Any more than that is hard to manage. Four games are enough to keep the activities novel for students. As you begin to plan the terms to be reviewed, you will need to decide if you only want to review words in the particular unit you are studying or if you want a cumulative review. I personally like cumulative reviews, because I feel like it prevents students from forgetting some of the more difficult terms.

Example Vocabulary Game – I Have, Who Has

Example Vocabulary Game – BINGO

BINGO is one of the oldest games in the book, but that doesn’t make it any less fun. It’s a great way to review social studies and science terms. Give each student a BINGO board and call out one question at a time. If the student has a word that is the answer to a question, they cover the word with a counter or other marker. Download a free geography BINGO game here.

Example Vocabulary Game – Guess It

One of my students’ favorite games is Guess It. The great news for this game is that it requires little to no prep. To play have a collection of social studies or science terms on index cards. Have one student chose a card. Without looking at the word, the student should hold the card to their forehead so the word faces out. Classmatess should then give clues about the word so that the student can guess the term. We usually start the game by playing a few rounds with the whole class and then I break students into groups of three or four.

Example Vocabulary Game – Board Games

You can display your science and social studies vocabulary on a word wall. I consolidate math, social studies, and science word walls into one large word wall. I’ve printed large letters that I display across the top of my word wall, and I hang brightly colored ribbon underneath each letter. I’ve made a a version with a white background or a chalkboard background. I love the chalkboard version, but I don’t like how much ink it uses!

Both social studies and science word wall cards are available in my TpT Store.

Social Studies Word Wall     Science Word Wall

Teaching Elementary Science and Social Studies-Presenting Content

After teaching elementary science and social studies vocabulary, it’s time to present information and content to students. For students to learn and remember the content, they must first pay attention as you present the information. That’s why it’s important to use a variety of resources. The brain loves novelty, so try to keep it fresh and interesting for students.

By preteaching vocabulary, students will be able to make connections with the content as they read and discuss the material. I do not recommend giving students a reading passage with comprehension questions. I’ve done this, and I don’t feel like the majority of my students learned much from those lessons. I try to save that for later.

Resources for Presenting Content

• Studies Weekly-This is one of my favorite resources for social studies. It covers almost all of our state standards. The science version isn’t aligned as well, so we don’t use those. These are also available for almost any state and grade level.

• BrainPop-This is always a student favorite. The videos capture and maintain students’ attention. For my third graders I like the Jr. version, but I’d probably use the regular version for older students.

• Study Jams-This is very similar to Brain Pop, except it’s FREE and the videos are a bit shorter. Unfortunately, at this time there are no social studies videos.

• EPIC-Teaching social studies and science content is much easier with EPIC. There is a huge collection of trade books to choose from. It’s a teacher and student friendly website. Plus, it’s free. I have all my favorites organized into categories.

• Generation Genius-This is one of my favorites. It’s packed with fantastic science videos. Plus, each video comes with an optional corresponding Kahoot. Students love it!
• TpT-I’ve bought some wonderful resources from TpT that are specific for my state state standard. I’ve also written several packs myself to use to present content. You can see those here. Don’t forget, you don’t have to use reading passages. I’ve also bought some great PowerPoint lessons that perfect for presenting content for my students.
• Youtube-There is a plethora of content on Youtube. But-be sure to watch it first!
• There’s also Flowcabulary-I almost added this to vocabulary resources, but it’s really more than just vocabulary. Either way, it’s great!

Interactive Notebooks

After introducing the material, students can interact with the text and content with an interactive notebook entry. For social studies, I use my Social Studies Interactive Notebook and for science I use The Science Penguin’s Science Interactive Notebook. Interactive notebooks are more fun for students than traditional note taking. You can use paper-pencil notebooks or digital versions of the notebooks.

Teaching Science and Social Studies-Exploration

Social studies and science should be more than rote memorization of dates and facts. When teaching science and social studies, students need to interact, explore, and experiment with the content. These are the activities that bridge the gap between facts and vocabulary to being able to apply what they’ve learned. This is the hands-on, active learning portion of instruction that students love and that will allow them to retrieve content from their long term memory.

Exploration Ideas For  Science and Social Studies

I love incorporating science or social studies stations for this portion of my instruction. I feel like it’s the best way to get the most out of my limited time teaching science and social studies. I’ve included a links to a few of my favorite blog posts that give examples of how I use this strategy in my classroom.

• Magnet Stations
• Force and Motion Stations

• Geography Stations

Occasionally, we complete whole group experiments or activities. Each topic lends itself to it’s on form of exploration. I’ve linked a couple blog posts on whole group science experiments that were successful in my classroom.

• Space
• Ecosystems
• The Scientific Process
• Heat Experiments

• Government
• Economics

My very favorite resource for science exploration is Mystery Science. It is truly the BEST!

Teaching Science and Social Studies-Application

At this point in the process of teaching elementary science and social studies, students are ready to show what they know. Students should begin to analyze and evaluate, and apply. This is also a great time to incorporate writing. Sometimes I have to remind myself that a lesson doesn’t have to be cute and fancy for it to be effective. A simple paragraph can be a powerful tool.

I try to keep the activities interesting for students, so I occasionally incorporate choice boards. These are great for teaching science and social studies. You can have students complete the choice board with a tic-tac-toe option or have students complete one activity from each row.

My advice is to mix it up. If you do the same activity week after week, it will become boring and mundane for students. If you do a choice board one week, try a writing assignment the following week, and then maybe something a little more creative the next week. While I like for the flow of my lessons to be consistent, I do like to keep students on their toes, so they don’t know what to expect.

There are digital resources that can be utilized during this portion of your instruction. I enjoy using Readworks paired passages. This integrates reading, writing, and either social studies or science.

Another great resource is PBS’s Interactive Lessons. This also incorporates many different modes and levels of learning.

Before beginning any of these activities, it’s important that your students understand your expectations. I try to set the bar high and keep high expectations, so that students will complete quality work.

Teaching Elementary Science and Social Studies-Assessment

I was hesitant to make summative assessment a part of the instructional process, but I felt that it was necessary to emphasize that summative assessments should not take place until after the student has experienced multiple learning opportunities with the content. I’m not going to record a grade when I first introduce new vocabulary or concepts. I wait until students have received guided practice, support, and feedback. This does mean that you may not have a ton of grades, but more does not always equal better.

Throughout the entire instructional process of teaching elementary science and social studies, I am constantly assessing students through formative assessments. The assessments may be observations, class discussions or individual conferences. I occasionally use exit passes that help me address misconceptions and allow me see if there are any areas that need reteaching. If I see that a small group of students are having difficulty, I may work with that group of students or provide them with a little more scaffolding. If I see that the majority of my class is confused, I’ll make adjustments to my plans.

When you use exit tickets (exit passes) the assessments should be short and to the point. This is not your instruction. It’s a simple follow-up assessment to help guide your instruction. For summative assessments, use a variety of styles of questions and formats. This includes, but is not limited to, traditional multiple choice questions, short answer, and matching.

Hopefully, you’ve found some new ideas for teaching elementary science and social studies!

 

The post Teaching Elementary Science and Social Studies appeared first on Ashleigh's Education Journey.