The Next Generation Science Standards call for students to describe patterns of what living things need to survive, understand how plant parts contribute to their survival, and observe plant needs, life cycles, and diversity. Even with the language simplified as much as I did there, that's a whole lot of content!
Fortunately, most primary grade students are super interested in science. With interest so high, many of your students will bring their prior knowledge to your lessons, and of course those connections are going to help secure all that new vocabulary and information.
But what about those kids who don't have the background, or who aren't as interested? What do you do to make the path to mastery easier for them?
Have you tried riddles? Kids love solving riddles, and I'm a big fan of using them in teaching.
I have riddles for everything from the ocean to animals, from sight words to digraphs. And math? More math riddles than I can count! Riddles get kids thinking, and help them make the kinds of connections that make new information stick! Plus, every riddle that you solve together is another opportunity to model identifying key details, making inferences, and drawing conclusions. That's a whole lot of learning wrapped up in a package of fun!
I just finished up a set of 20 plant riddles with answers like stem, leaf, seedling, germination, cactus, greenhouse, roots, tree, shovel, sun, soil, and nine more. It also includes a small group bingo game, a riddle writing activity, and a whole class graphing activity. I love incorporating cross-curricular activities in my science riddle sets. The more times your students see and hear these words, the more quickly they'll conquer them! Besides, who doesn't want to cover multiple standards withone activity?!?
Would you like to try a free sample from the Plant Riddles set?
Your sample includes three vocabulary matching boards with 20 plants vocabulary word cards on each board. Here are some ideas for using them.
* Cut a board apart and match the cards to another board that hasn't been cut. You can adjust this according to your students' needs: words to pictures, words to pictures / words, pictures to picture / words, etc.
* Cut all three boards apart into sets of 20 cards. Have students find all the matching sets of three cards.
* Put the word cards or the picture / word cards in your writing center to encourage writing about science.
* Use the cards in a literacy center for alphabetizing or syllable sorts.
* Use on a tabletop pocket chart for categorizing and other activities.
Click to download your free copy!
Happy Teaching!
p.s. If you already own either the Science Riddle Cards Bundle or Riddle Round-Up, please download them again ... the Plant Riddles resource is now included, and is yours at no extra charge, of course!
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