Lesson Ideas

Earth Science

2nd Grade Earth Science

Earth science in 2nd grade needs to lay the ground work for 4th grade. This foundation focuses slow and rapid changes with wind and water.  

In order to understand slow changes, students must grasp the concept of "a long time." For a 2nd grader, a year is a long time or their grandparents have been around for a long time. It is very difficult to understand that the erosion of the Grand Canyon has taken millions of year.  All of these concepts lay the foundation for the 4th grade science and beyond. I have broken these concepts down into simple lessons  that get the students engaged in their learning and help move this knowledge from short term memory to long term memory.

 Build background knowledge with 12 different landforms. Enjoy engaging activities, including a detailed 5E lesson plan, photo vocabulary cards, student worksheets to define landform attributes, a simple informational article tailored for young learners, and a multiple-choice quiz for assessment. 

Build background knowledge with 12 different bodies of water. Enjoy engaging activities, including a detailed 5E lesson plan, photo vocabulary cards, student worksheets to define attributes of Earth’s bodies of water, a simple informational article tailored for young learners, a venn diagram to compare saltwater and freshwater sources and a multiple-choice quiz for assessment. 

Explore natural disasters caused by wind and water that bring rapid changes to Earth’s landforms. This Earth Science lesson is designed to engage young minds in understanding the complexities of natural phenomena while exploring innovative engineering solutions. 

Students have a difficult time understanding time and the large numbers involved with key earth changes. This lesson is used to create a visual model of earth’s stages using over 30 feet of string. 

Students will explore the processes of weathering and erosion through three (3) hands-on lab activities with supporting lab worksheets. They then apply their understanding to real-world examples presented in the article "The Marvels of Weathering and Erosion." 

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Upper Elementary Learning

Students add humor to their narrative writing using idioms <Click Here>

Take a nature walk. Have students observe different leaf patterns. <Link>

Preschool and Primary Learning

Have students matching shapes in this activity. <Link>

Practice Retelling with this interactive activity. <Link>

After reading The Kissing Hand, make connections with Life Science Activities. <Link>

Use a variety of activities to keep the Letter of the Week focus. <Link>

Schools expect bell to bell teaching. Sneak in reviewing the alphabet and rhymes in those last few minutes and as you take your students to recess. Start with the traditional “See you later, alligator” phrase and then add the 25 other rhymes to learning. You can easily tie it to the letters your students are learning. Then have your students practice reading the phrase in small group. They can count the syllables as they read and then match the lowercase letter learning mat with uppercase letters. The Easel interactive option is self-checking.

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