I have so many resources to share with you that are all about sharks!
So, let’s talk about ways I can help you with transforming your classroom for Shark Week or any week you need engaging ideas for your students.
In this post, for your convenience, you may find Amazon Affiliate links to resources. This means that Amazon will pass on small percentages to me with your purchase of items. This will not create extra costs for you at all! It will help me keep this blog running!
How about Sharks Task Cards?
I started creating these task card sets out of a need in my third-grade class. We subscribed to a magazine that arrived weekly and we spent an afternoon poring through the articles and learning. I loved the articles because of the chance they provided for kids to use text features.
We marked the text features and read all the articles, but sometimes I needed an article that accompanied whatever we were currently studying…. like sharks.
So, I started creating my own magazines! In the photo, you can see the magazine pages and the articles about sharks. I marked the text features with alphabet letters. The task cards ask students to identify text features or respond to basic comprehension questions.
I even added some open-ended task cards. Students have to complete extra research, or draw tables, or make a timeline. How fun is it for kids to get excited about a topic (like sharks) and draw a detailed chart comparing the sizes of sharks? #loveit
A Shark Escape Room Sounds Great!
Another fabulous and highly engaging activity we just love is anything to do with Escape Rooms! When I first started creating these task-related escape rooms my students just could not get enough of them! I could not invent them fast enough. One of the first ones we tried featured… you guessed it- SHARK WEEK!
In my Escape Rooms, students solve puzzles, complete math problems, use map grids, solve a secret code message, and more!
In this one about Sharks, students complete a math sheet to find a lock code. They put together a shark puzzle for the second lock code. For the last lock code, they travel over a world map to locate a clue.
We use a plastic toolbox and number locks that they actually have to open to get their task for the next step of the escape. In the end, it is even more spectacular.
A STEM Challenge about Sharks!
After the last box is opened we move right into a STEM Challenge. The activity for sharks is to design a shark cage.
We do this in a very positive way! I make sure to let students know that the sharks are not being trapped in a harmful way. The sharks are being caught to move them to a safer place.
Sharks Writing Tasks- Great for Centers
I have you covered with these, also!
First is a Little Flipper set. Students complete pages of a 5 x 8 flipper booklet that is all about sharks.
This resource also has shark posters!
I also have a Print and Read set about Sharks!
This set has four reading passages (in two ability levels) and a newspaper sheet with more articles. Each passage has a comprehension sheet and there are answer keys for you!
Are You Ready to Tackle Shark Week Now? I hope I have given you a few ideas! Whenever you schedule a study of sharks I have activities already planned, designed, and ready to go for you.
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