Check out October’s featured resources – seasonal lessons, subject area content, and some of our staff favorites too! 

Seasonal

Pumpkins and Measurement

Grade(s): 1, 2

Subject(s): Math, ELA, Science

Looking for a way to celebrate Halloween and practice math? Need an activity to complete after that pumpkin patch field trip?

In this activity, students will practice measurement using real-life items in the classroom. By discussing what types of items make sense as a unit, students will critically think about measurement and space.

Letter Leaves

Grade(s): K

Subject(s): ELA

This activity is centered around the theme of fall. The students will practice identifying and writing the uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet. The students will first discuss the four different seasons and brainstorm all of the activities they can do when the leaves fall off of the trees in autumn. They will use uppercase and lowercase alphabet flashcards during a whole class game simulating a tree losing its “letter” leaves. Students will also do “letter” leaf rubbings to practice writing their letters.

Why Vote?

Grade(s): 2

Subject(s): Social Studies

In this Rank & Reason, students consider the reasons that citizens might choose to vote. They rank these according to which are the most important to them.

This question is designed to have no right answer. Students must think critically and provide justification for their rankings. Interactive features allow students to compare their rankings with others and to the class average.

Math, ELA, Science, Social Studies

Shopping Strategies

Grade(s): K

Subject(s): Math

In Shopping Strategies, students shop in their favorite store and practice addition and subtraction using a range of different strategies. When they finish, they can repeat the activity for another store with different sums. This essential has different editions for 9 stores, including Toys R Us, Walmart and Target.

Music Critic

Grade(s): 2

Subject(s): ELA

In Music Critic, students use their favorite song to practice composing opinion pieces. They brainstorm and then compose a music review including an introduction, opinion with reason and concluding statement. When they finish, they can repeat the activity for another song.

This essential has different editions for 14 popular songs including Let it Go, Roar, and The Fox.

Exploring Animal Communities

Grade(s): K, 1, 2

Subject(s): ELA, Science

In this inquiry based Project, students work together to define the word “community” and investigate one animal community and its inhabitants.

Reading and writing informational text becomes purposeful as students share their findings with the class by creating an informational poster to present to the rest of the class about their animal community.

Mapping Your Community

Grade(s): K, 1, 2

Subject(s): Math, ELA, Science, Social Studies

In this inquiry based project, students investigate their local neighborhoods in order to come to a shared understanding of “a community.”

Research skills, map reading, oral and written communication, and creativity will become purposeful as the class builds a model of the local community to present at a public exhibition.

Staff Favorite

Cereal Box Biography

Grade(s): 2

Subject(s): ELA, Social Studies

In this project, students are introduced to the concepts of biographies in a creative way. Students work on their own or in pairs to research a historically significant figure and create a short biography based on their findings.

To make this project more engaging for students, they decorate a cereal box using the information and create quizzes, images, and a bibliography.