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Showing posts with label Gail Gibbons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gail Gibbons. Show all posts

Life Cycle Ideas and Activities for Hands-on Learning Fun!

Do you teach about life cycles? 

Here is a plethora of ideas and resources to make your life easier and to help make learning fun!

Do you teach about life cycles? Discover hands-on learning fun with these life cycle ideas and activities!

Why is it important to teach about life cycles?

Do you teach about life cycles? Discover hands-on learning fun with these life cycle ideas and activities!

Teaching young people about life cycles is a great way to help them understand the world around them. It helps them connect with nature, and develop a sense of life patterns. 

 I typically start any unit with plenty of books on the topic, and here are some of my favorites! (Can you tell who my favorite children's non-fiction author is?) Each image is an affiliate link to Amazon.

The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons

Owls by Gail Gibbons

Bats by Gail Gibbons

From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons

Chicks and Chickens by Gail Gibbons

Frogs by Gail Gibbons

Apples by Gail Gibbons

What is a Life Cycle?  by Bobbie Kalman

Life Cycles From Start to Finish by Sam Falconer

Plant Life Cycles by Mara Grumbaun


You can find more books on life cycles HERE! (Also affiliate links!) In my classroom, I'll read a few, then leave several different life cycle related books out for them to read on their own. (The librarian/ media specialist is your best friend!)

Do you teach about life cycles? Discover hands-on learning fun with these life cycle ideas and activities!

Start with something small, with just a few parts to the life cycle. Flowering plants, such as sunflowers or daisies are a great place to start, since these life cycles are very basic. After going over one or two simple life cycles, advance to something else children enjoy and know something about like apples or chickens!

Do you teach about life cycles? Discover hands-on learning fun with these life cycle ideas and activities!

Then do a few more together. Advance to something more complex and fun, like the butterfly or the frog!

Do you teach about life cycles? Discover hands-on learning fun with these life cycle ideas and activities!

There are so many plants and animals out there, each child can have plenty of options for exploring on their own!

Do you teach about life cycles? Discover hands-on learning fun with these life cycle ideas and activities!

Then assign research. More advanced students can do all the research on their own. Average students can do some research on their own. Some students will need extra guidance. I highly recommend using the text pages from these collections:

Do you teach about life cycles? Discover hands-on learning fun with these life cycle ideas and activities!
Spring Life Cycle Bundle: 9 different plants and animals (dandelions, cherry trees, bees, Monarch butterflies, chickens, robins, salmon, earthworms, and rabbits)

Summer Life Cycle Bundle: 9 different plants and animals (watermelons, daisies, strawberries, tomatoes, frogs, praying mantises, sea turtles, ants, and ladybugs)

Fall Life Cycle Bundle: 8 different plants and animals (apple trees, corn, pumpkins, sunflowers, owls, spiders, bats, and wild turkeys)

Winter Life Cycle Bundle: 9 different plants and animals (orange trees, cocoa trees, pine trees, deer, groundhogs, harp seal, penguin, polar bear, and puffins)

Why are these sorted by season? Well, because it's more fun! I'm sure you know how excited the kiddos get about special events and holidays! Use that excitement in your classroom! Let them explore pumpkins and bats near Halloween! Let them explore pine trees and deer around Christmas!

All these life cycle sets are sold separately, but the bundles are at a huge discount. Plus, all bundles include these two extra resources: 

Do you teach about life cycles? Discover hands-on learning fun with these life cycle ideas and activities!
Reader's theater about life cycles: What Came First, the Chicken or the Egg? This is a great way for students to share what they've learned and culminate the unit! Plus, there's a song for performers to sing as a finale!
Do you teach about life cycles? Discover hands-on learning fun with these life cycle ideas and activities!

Digital fun! Life Cycle Fun Facts! This resource (hosted on the popular Boom Learning platform) includes facts and questions about a plethora of plant and animal life cycles! This deck has 40 different questions, and no child will know all the answers! One of the features I love about Boom Learning resources, is that they can play the deck over and over, and because of the immediate feedback, they can learn something every time they play! Teachers can easily check their scores to make sure they are showing growth! (If they aren't, there's a conversation that needs to take place!)

There are many ways to differentiate the learning of life cycles!

Do you teach about life cycles? Discover hands-on learning fun with these life cycle ideas and activities!
Whether they're working alone, with a partner, a small group, or the whole group, this is important:

Do you teach about life cycles? Discover hands-on learning fun with these life cycle ideas and activities!

Get them talking and thinking! Get them comparing different life cycles, looking for similarities and differences. Have them predict a life cycle of a plant or animal before researching it. Encourage them to sort life cycles that are alike! Most of all, get them talking about what they  are learning! Those conversations deepen the learning!

All life cycle resources include these 7 pages:

Choice is essential!

Do you teach about life cycles? Discover hands-on learning fun with these life cycle ideas and activities!

All of these resources are included in The Life Cycles Collection. This massive bundle includes 35 different plant and animal life cycles as well as the Reader's Theater:
What Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?  and the digital resource: Life Cycle Fun Facts! Have I mentioned that bundles come with big discounts?

Do you teach about life cycles? Discover hands-on learning fun with these life cycle ideas and activities!

Most important, give opportunities to share their learning. Although some might be shy about sharing information in front of the class, that's what makes it so memorable! The memory is powerful when strong emotions are involved. Not only will they remember what they shared, they'll remember what life cycles their classmates shared as well! 

Do you teach about life cycles? Discover hands-on learning fun with these life cycle ideas and activities!

A special day to celebrate all the learning is a necessity! Have a Life Cycle Festival! Have children share their presentations on what they learned! Invite parents, administration, friends, other classes, etc! I'll bet you can think of plenty of life cycle related foods to serve! Be sure to have someone videotape it all!

What ideas do you have for learning and celebrating life cycles?

Do you teach about life cycles? Discover hands-on learning fun with these life cycle ideas and activities!


Will the Groundhog Predict Spring?

Do you think Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow?

Will the Groundhog Predict Spring?  Who knows, but here are several ideas and resources for learning, thanks to the groundhog!

It's a tough call, but I'm thinking we might just have 6 more weeks of winter. 

But even so, Groundhog Day is a fun day at the beginning of a dreary month to scramble up some fun excuses to learn!

Let's start with books! I'm a big fan of Gail Gibbons, and this one is perfect for groundhog learning. I love her books because she puts information in a way that's interesting and easy to understand for children. 

These two books are fiction, but with a lot of learning to happen!

Speaking of reading skills, I have a close read about Groundhogs in this resource: Science and Social Studies Printables for February.


Explore this image for a link to this time saving resource!

Plus, there's an activity sorting animals that hibernate in the winter.
Science and Social Studies Activities for February

Then there's video! 

Look what I found! This is a reading of Gail Gibbon's book Groundhog Day!


I also found an informational video that tells about Groundhog Day. I like this one because it has real groundhogs for the kids to see!
 

Besides the science of groundhogs, kids really take to this topic, so I've got a few resources to help you out!

Here's some groundhog-themed word work! Perfect for grades 2-3!

Speaking of word work, Here's a fun game to practice prefixes and suffixes!

What student doesn't think story problems are a little bit more when they have a fun theme! This is my plan for this week! It combines groundhogs AND Super Bowl themes!

Want to try a little science? Here's a Life Cycle activity with lots of options

Explore this image for a link to this fun life cycle resource!

Want more science? Here are a couple of resources that give practice reading informational text while having some fun learning about groundhogs!


Explore this image for a link to this fun non-fiction booklet!

Or grab them all in this fun Groundhog-themed Mini-bundle!

Explore this image for this money saving collection of resources.


Isn't it fun to integrate seasonal topics into our learning?

Here's to hoping that groundhog doesn't see his shadow! 

We could use a little spring!

Will the Groundhog Predict Spring?  Who knows, but here are several ideas and resources for learning, thanks to the groundhog!


A Batty Art Project

I'm sure you know some children that are fascinated by bats! 

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!

After reading a great information book by one of my favorite non-fiction authors, I wanted to do a fun art project to help the children remember what they learned!
 

 
 
A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!

I'm not a fan of "cookie cutter" art projects that all look alike. I like to give the children an opportunity to be creative and make something unique. 

We started by making a night scene with crayons.

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!

Then we added a watercolor wash.

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!

The kids loved how the crayons came through the watercolor!

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!
It's amazing the effect paint has on a class of kids.  Suddenly all chatting stops and they are totally engrossed in what they're doing.

Of course, some classical music in the background inspires the creativity!

Now, please tell me why aren't I bring out the paints more often?

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!

I was tempted to give them a pattern to follow for the bats, but when I looked at photos of bats in the night sky, you really couldn't make out a specific shape. I gave each child a piece of black construction paper and they developed their own technique for making the bats.

The results were spectacular!


A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!

Each child wrote a fact they remembered from the book, and these are displayed with the pictures. 

These kids are amazing!


A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!

Here's a fun resource that might be a good source for your Facts About Bats!

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!

 
This resource is part of a bigger October resource with more fun Science and Social Studies activities:

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!

Or try this Life Cycles set:
A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!

Or this Boom Learning resource:
A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!

Or go for the bundle of all three bats themed resources:

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!



I'm thinking I'll be reading this book real soon! 
I love comparing fiction books to non-fiction!

 
 

Here are a couple more informational books about bats that might interest your students.

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it! 

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it! 

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it! 

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it! 

A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it! 
 
 
A Batty Art Project: Here are step by step direction a fun bat art project to integrate literacy with the arts. Plus, the kids love it!



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