Our Week in Africa

Open House is a really big deal at my school. I can't remember the last time I did not have 100% of my class attend, not to mention the scores of kindergartners who come in to check out what is in store for them next year. So, even though it is still 9 weeks away, I am starting to get ready. Our first grade classes do a 7 continents theme. That gives me 1 week per continent and two extra to finish up anything we didn't get to. We started in Africa this week. Of course, I didn't quite finish and now I am behind on my plan already. We did get a good start and the kids are really into our world travels. Here are some pictures of what we have accomplished so far.

African Habitat Poems

Jungle Close-Up

Jungle, Savanna, and Desert Habitat Poems
These are from the book, September Theme Pockets, by Michelle Barnett


We do these adorable dancing giraffes based on the book, Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae. The art lesson is from Deep Space Sparkle. Get the lesson {here}

My class used the creature feature from National Geographic Kids to research animals from Africa. They absolutely loved doing these. There are tons of animals on the website. They each have a short video to watch as well. The only issue was that the text was above their reading level. I was able to manage by doing it with small groups of kids during our Daily 5 rotation. Check out the website {here}

We made these zebras from Deanna Jump's Zoo Animal Unit. The venn diagram and worksheets are from the same unit. Her unit has a ton of cute animal art projects and other activities. Get it {here}

Venn Diagram and Animal Research