We just finished a life science unit about Salmon. I like to try to combine Language Arts with Science whenever I can. That’s why I came up with my Non-Fiction Animal research units for Primary classrooms.
Where I live, we have a program where we can hatch live Salmon eggs in the classroom, watch them grow into fingerlings, and then release them into a local stream to complete their lives.
I find that when you bring live animals into the classroom, it really sparks the kids interest in the topic. We are still waiting for our little salmon to grow some more, but the kids enjoy checking out the tank every few days to see how big they are getting.
First we looked through some videos I found on YouTube about Salmon. Then we colored the worksheet below on the Life Cycle of a Salmon. You can grab your own copy of this worksheet here.
Next we read through my little non-fiction reader, from my animal research pack.
to get your own copy.
Then, as you can see above, the kids filled in a few brainstorming frames about the facts they were learning about Salmon. I like to let them choose their own facts first to spark their interest, but then I also like to give them the frame with the speech bubbles to help them focus on more of the pertinent facts. Finally I had them write a rough draft and then a good copy which I put on the bulletin board with some salmon art.
We also fleshed out their three facts into these little books on Facts about Salmon. I really like making these little books and I put them in the reading corner so that the kids can read each other’s books . They really enjoy this. Below you can see some of their final copies.
And that’s it! The kids loved doing this unit. Next I’m planning to do an animal inquiry unit, using these little packs – check back soon to see my post about that. Below are some links to my bundles of animal research products. Click on the pictures to go to my store.
Mrs D says
This looks really awesome, Sandra. Thanks for sharing this!
Desiree
Reading with Mrs. D