In my district, the focus on science and social studies has taken a back seat to reading and math. Like so far back that it's basically not even in the car anymore. The pendulum has swung SO far over to that side that it's really hard to cope. I miss teaching science and social studies! The kids miss it! The little bit they get in the reading series isn't nearly enough. So while I wait for that freakin pendulum to start swinging back, I will supplement with at least a little something more. 

A few years ago I created these One Sheet Wonders. I was actually inspired by children's menus. I was also guided by my desire to get as much as I can on one page and make it worth printing. This set is the one I'm currently using, so I thought I'd share it a bit with you. This set covers habitats and even though it's a supplemental material, it really does cover a lot!

The set includes a page for the ocean, desert, rainforest, polar regions, and the wetlands. Each page has a variety of activities to keep the kids engaged and interested. Some consistency among pages helps build confidence. I snuck in some handwriting practice too! My first graders can definitely use the manuscript practice and have fun with the "fancy" writing too. 

I included a set of maps that you can print and post, leave at a center, or project when you're using the page. I love to have my kids use books and other resources, but with these maps you know they'll find exactly what they need to work on the page. 

I included a cover page in case you want to print all of the habitat pages as a work packet to use over time.

See what other teachers are saying:

This page of teaching ideas is included in the download, but here's a peek:

If you're interested, you can grab this set on TpT HERE. 

I also have a set for Science, which you can find HERE.

And a Freebie for Earth Day HERE.

I hope you find these as useful as I do! Just a reminder, I started a You Tube channel! It's a mish mash right now, as I'm still finding my way, but so far it's just mostly me being me. I'd love for you to come visit me at Denise Speaks. 

Happy Teaching!

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SunnyDays

We're working with a new reading series and I have thoughts. Sometimes I'm so completely overwhelmed by the amount of resources that accompany the series and sometimes I'm scratching my head and searching my files because they don't provide some of the most basic activities. Sound familiar? I'm on a mission to close the gaps. I need to add some things that my kids need while also keeping my pledge of "fidelity" to the series. It feels like an arranged marriage, but here we are...

So, what I find myself looking for is easy to implement center activities that are not overwhelming, can actually be completed independently, and provide practice for the skill set forth in the series. One way I've accomplished this is my word work booklet that I blogged about here. Another are these Chunk-It Games. These games are so easy to put together and really easy for the kids to figure out. Just print and cut, laminate in there if you like, and put them in a container. I like these double sided ones from Sistema, but obviously any container will work. I like the 2 compartments, but even one sandwich sized tub or even a baggie are just fine. 

I love the idea of teaching the kids how to play a game or complete an activity that I can just change up slightly to make it fresh and exciting but the kids can rely on the independence they have from learning the basic structure of the activity. So this set of Chunk It Games fall into this exact category. The basic idea is that the kids turn over two cards, one with the blend and one with the rest of the word, they read it and decide if it's an actual word. Each game comes with the word cards, teacher notes, and ideas for classroom use.

I've created three games so far, L, S, and R blends. They're working really well for my kids, so be on the lookout for more if these seem like something you can use. Each game is $2.25 but I just bundled all three for $4.75. You can snag that bundle here.

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SunnyDays