STEM Native American Homes

I wanted to be able to teach the standard of long ago vs. today without making vests and pilgrim hats.  Now if this is something you do, no judgement from me.  I just knew for me there was a better way.  We study Native American Homes, and how the region the Native Americans lived in, along with the natural resources available effected what kinds of homes they built.  In this unit, students get to build model homes of Long Houses, Adobe Homes and Chickees.

First, we read about the different types of homes, who built them, where those people lived etc.  This is a full color projectable book. 

There are 2 black and white mini-book options included in this pack, one for Kindergarten and one for 1st-2nd grade readers.

     

My favorite part of this unit however is the STEM component.  Students get to build model Native American homes.  

Long Houses

Teepees

Chickees

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

All new Science Vocabulary Cards and TPT Gift Card Giveaway!!!

Hey everyone,

I have been working to update my science vocabulary cards.  I am so excited about them I wanted to do something kinda big to announce their new look!  Each day through Saturday, I will have a new giveaway or sale that I announce on my Facebook.  I am also running a TeachersPayTeachers gift card giveaway right here- details below.  Here is a sneak peak at my science vocabulary cards.

Enter below to win a $10 TeachersPayTeachers gift card!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One Dog Canoe

One Dog Canoe was written by Mary Cassanova, and is a part of our reading series.  I love getting to teach this book!  If you haven't read it before, this girl and her dog go on a canoe ride, and all these animals keep joining them.  The repetitive text and predictable pattern makes it an enjoyable read for the kids.

I usually spent 3-4 days just on this book alone- it has great vocabulary, and a text that works well for retelling.  It also works really well in a compare and contrast with Jan Brett's The Mitten.

Day 1- We read the book, not stopping a whole bunch so the kids could appreciate the cadence of the story and just enjoy it all around.  I stopped only when there were vocabulary words that greatly hindered their understanding of the text.  I explained them briefly and moved on.  (We will spend a lot of time on those words in days to come).  We created a double bubble map to compare One Dog Canoe to the book The Mitten by Jan Brett.

Day 2- We read the book slower; taking time to talk about the vocabulary words and come up with our own definitions of them.  We made and anchor chart of these vocabulary words and their definitions.  I had the kids draw out one of the vocabulary words on a sticky note and adhere it to the chart, then as a class we developed definitions to go with each word.

Also on day 2, the students wrote a summary of the book.  They earned a sticker on their paper by using one or more of the vocabulary words in their summary.  

Day 3- We read the book again, this time with more of an emphasis on the details of the book.  Who got in the boat next?  We used a large canoe made of butcher paper and inserted the animals into the canoe as we read the story.  Students then were given the mini-book pages and required to put them into sequential order.  I love this mini-book because it is simple enough that when the students are finished putting it together the majority of the class is able to read the book.

Day 4- We read the book one final time.  (Although I have placed it in a bucket where they can read it on their own, I have a feeling it will get read a lot more.)  The students took a quick comprehension assessment about the book.

To grab these One Dog Canoe resources click any of the pictures on the page.

Maps- Dr. Seuss, 3D models and more

We have come to a unit that I absolutely love teaching, maps and geography! When we introduced maps it happened to be during Dr. Seuss week- cue in There's A Map in My Lap!  This book was a great introduction to maps and their many uses.  Some of the information was little bit over my students' heads (latitude and longitude for instance.)  For the most part those, the book was a great way to kick off learning about maps.

The students did an at home project and each created a different 3d building out of a box.  I used poster board to create parks and streets.  The students made the trees.

The students also created a follow the directions game for their classmates.  In this game students were given a blank zoo map from the The Mailbox Magazine.  They chose 4 places they would like to go on the map and numbered those places 1-4.  The students then wrote a paragraph about where they went on their zoo trip.  First, I went to see the lions, next I went to see the bears.  Students then put the map into an envelope, glued their paragraph to the front and students worked in pairs to read about different students' zoo trips.  The student pairs we given a laminated map and a dry erase marker to write the numbers on the map as they read the directions.  Once they marked all 4 locations, the students took out the map from the envelope to check their work.

I hope you got some new ideas on working with maps!  Enjoy!