Non-Fiction – The Teaching Texan

A Joyfully simple Kindergarten Reindeer Unit: Reindeer Activities for Winter Learning

theteachingtexan — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 15:07:25 +0000

There’s something special about winter in kindergarten. The energy is high, the routines feel a little wobbly, and teachers are balancing excitement with the desire to keep learning meaningful (and some days just pushing towards break!). When attention spans are short and the wiggles are real, the search for activities that actually engage students becomes even more important.

That’s why I love using a kindergarten reindeer unit during this part of the year. It’s fun, high-interest, and full of opportunities to connect literacy, vocabulary, science, writing, and centers into one smooth, cohesive learning experience. And because kids are genuinely interested in reindeer (come on Santa…), this theme practically hooks them for you.

Let me walk you through what this kindergarten reindeer unit looks like in our classroom — and why it makes such a difference during the winter months.

Start With Curiosity: Building Background Knowledge Together

One of the biggest challenges in December and January is channeling student excitement into something productive. Starting the week with nonfiction about reindeer works like magic because it gives students something real to latch onto.

They’re fascinated.
They’re asking questions.
They’re sharing observations you didn’t expect.

This curiosity becomes the foundation for everything else we do. Even your most distractible learners suddenly have an anchor — a topic that feels new, cozy, and worth exploring.

And that’s really the power of a reindeer theme: it sparks interest instantly, which makes every other skill easier to teach.

Literacy That Feels Like Discovery, Not Work

Winter is a tricky time for literacy instruction. Students need routine, but they also need something engaging enough to break through the seasonal wiggles.

This reindeer unit makes literacy feel like a shared investigation. Through read-alouds, discussion, labeling, and vocabulary activities, students begin talking like little scientists — using words like herd, antlers, adaptations, and Arctic with complete confidence.

What I notice every year:

Students stay on task longer
They retain the vocabulary because they use it over and over
Even hesitant speakers participate more
Writing becomes easier because they have words and ideas ready to go

It’s not “holiday learning.” It’s meaningful literacy wrapped in a theme kids love.

Centers That Students Can Actually Do Independently

Here’s the truth: winter centers can feel chaotic if the activities require too much teacher support.

But reindeer-themed centers? Different story.

Because everything ties back to the same big idea, students already have the context and confidence they need to work independently. Whether they’re sorting vocabulary, completing literacy tasks, or exploring early math skills, the theme keeps them focused.

Teachers tell me all the time:

“These centers run smoother than anything else I do in December.”

And that’s exactly why a reindeer unit belongs in the winter lineup — it gives you ready-to-go activities that maintain structure on days when you really need it.

Writing With Purpose (and Without Tears!)

Writing can be tough this time of year if students don’t feel connected to the topic. But once your class has spent a few days learning about reindeer, something shifts.

Suddenly they have:

Background knowledge
Vocabulary
Visuals and examples
Confidence

This means their writing isn’t forced — it feels natural.

Some share facts, others write descriptive sentences, and some draw detailed pictures to go with their ideas. No matter the level, every student finds an entry point that feels doable and exciting.

Creative Moments That Bring Calm to the Classroom

One of the sweetest parts of this kindergarten reindeer unit is how it incorporates creative opportunities that double as quiet, focused work time.

Activities like drawing, labeling, and hands-on tasks create a sense of classroom calm that’s often hard to come by in winter. The room settles. Kids concentrate. You can breathe.

It’s the perfect balance of fun + purpose.

Why Teachers Love Using a Reindeer Unit in Winter

This theme works because it solves real classroom problems:

Students stay engaged even with high winter energy
Lessons feel connected instead of fragmented
Prep is minimal during an already busy season
Activities support literacy, vocabulary, writing, science, and centers
It works beautifully in December or January

And for students?
It feels like learning wrapped in wonder.

Looking for Reindeer Activities That Make Winter Teaching Easier?

If you’re wanting a kindergarten reindeer unit that blends nonfiction learning with centers, writing, creativity, and vocabulary — all in one simple package — this Little Explorers unit is the perfect fit for your winter plans.

Click here to take a closer look at the Kindergarten Reindeer Unit.

Bring the magic with Gingerbread Man Activities for Kindergarten: Engaging Literacy, Math & Center Ideas

theteachingtexan — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 22:14:48 +0000

If there’s one theme that instantly lights up a kindergarten classroom in December, it’s Gingerbread Man activities. Something about that playful little cookie captures students’ imaginations every single year — and honestly, it keeps me smiling too.

But here’s the thing most non-teachers don’t realize:
December is also one of the hardest months to teach. Schedules change, excitement is high, assessments sneak up out of nowhere, and we’re still expected to keep learning meaningful. That’s exactly why I love using literacy centers and small group lessons that feel festive but stay intentional.

And the Gingerbread Man theme might just be the best example of this.

Let me show you how I make it work without adding more planning to your already full plate.

Why Gingerbread Man Activities Work So Well in Kindergarten

The magic of a Gingerbread Man theme isn’t just the colorful crafts and sweet stories — it’s the learning possibilities hiding beneath the whimsy.

With one theme, my students can:

Build vocabulary using real pictures
Develop background knowledge through nonfiction facts
Practice reading and writing skills with playful prompts
Strengthen fine motor and listening with directed drawings
Work independently in kindergarten literacy centers

And yes, they still think they’re just having fun.
(That’s the best part!)

If you teach kindergarten, you already know that engagement is half the battle — especially in December. When learning feels like play, students stay focused, confidence grows, and behaviors calm down.

How I Introduce Gingerbread Man Literacy in a Meaningful Way

I start our week with a teacher-led mentor text, but instead of reading a storybook right away, we explore nonfiction. My students learn real facts about gingerbread, baking, ingredients, and traditions.

We anchor vocabulary using real photo cards, which are incredibly helpful for emergent readers and multilingual learners. Instead of guessing at pictures, they build actual knowledge — the kind that supports comprehension later.

From there, we explore poems, labeling pages, and shared writing opportunities. My students think they’re just talking about cookies… but they’re actually building literacy skills that matter all year long.

A Classroom Favorite: Gingerbread Directed Drawing

This might be the quietest 20 minutes of the entire month.
(Every time we start a directed drawing lesson, I can practically hear angels singing.)

Students practice:

Listening comprehension
Fine motor control
Following sequential directions
Visual literacy skills

And the best part?
No two gingerbread people look alike — which makes for the cutest hallway display.

If you want to try this part for free, you can grab my Gingerbread Man Directed Drawing here. It’s a classroom favorite and zero-prep.

What Our Gingerbread Literacy Centers Look Like

During centers, I want independence, engagement, and meaningful practice… not busywork. Here’s what I rotate through the week:

Word work & phonics with a gingerbread twist
Writing prompts that extend nonfiction learning
Reading center with gingerbread poem + response
Vocabulary activities with real-world connections
Math centers that build number sense through play

When centers stay themed, students understand expectations quickly. They aren’t learning how to do the centers — just practicing the skills inside them.

This is especially important in December. The more familiar the structure, the more confident they become, and the easier small group instruction becomes for YOU.

Want a Week of Gingerbread Man Activities Planned for You?

If planning during December feels overwhelming, you’re not alone. I used to scramble for ideas, search Pinterest late at night, and piece together activities from different places. It took forever — and it wasn’t always aligned with what my students actually needed.

That’s why I started creating thematic literacy + math units that are developmentally appropriate, fun, and academically strong.

Inside the Gingerbread Thematic Unit, you’ll find:

A nonfiction mentor text
Real-photo vocabulary cards
A poetry activity
Informational writing pages
Literacy centers
Math centers
Labeling
Directed drawing
Anchor chart templates
KWL chart and more

Everything is ready to print, teach, and enjoy — which means you get to spend more time actually teaching… and less time prepping.

Your future December self will thank you.

Ready for Takeoff: My Experience with Project-Based Learning and the Solar System Part 2

theteachingtexan — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 22:41:00 +0000

Recently I wrote a blog post sharing how I tackled my first experience with project-based learning outside of our science block. My first PBL unit was anchored in the solar system. You can read more about that [here]. You can also check out more info about PBL and why I use it [here].

Today I’d love to share how the PBL unit looked during our science block.

In case you missed my first post on this unit, our challenging question was this:

Everything we did was anchored in answering this open-ended question! One thing I learned during a PBL networking event was that a good challenging questions is NOT Google-able and can lead to sustained inquiry. Definitely keep those things in mind when creating your own PBL unit.

During our science block we started out our unit by talking about the moon (we kept the entire unit focus on things we can see in the sky). We use [Crayola Model Magic] and plastic balls to create a model of the moon.

When we were learning about the moon the kids became super interested in what the moon was made out of and why it looks different in the sky on different nights. I created a few QR codes the kids could scan that linked to a Google Doc with pictures and videos to satisfy their desire to learn about what the moon was made out of.

To explore the phases of the moon, I gathered materials for a classic and hands-on demonstration.

You can learn more about how to do this demonstration in my [Ready for Takeoff] unit!

When we learned about the sun we wanted to bring in a little more art. The result? Puffy paint suns! All you need is shaving cream, red/orange/yellow food coloring, tooth picks, wax paper, and cardstock!

Moving into other stars the kids become super interested in constellations. We talked about the origins of constellations and even created our own using watercolor paint!

To wrap up our unit we revisited our challenging question (yet again) and answered it to a T!

I learned during this experience to plan the WHOLE PBL unit ahead, then sit back and enjoy the ride. Due to time constraints at the end of the unit, we didn’t end up showcasing our public product to an audience (except for the children showing their parents at home).

If you teach a solar system unit and you’re needing a few more non-fiction resources – check out my [Ready for Takeoff] unit!

I’m so excited to be in the middle of our second PBL unit of the year! What’s this one about?! You’ll have to find out when I post at the end of the year, but here’s a hint: think zoo.

Ready for Takeoff: My Experience with Project-Based Learning and the Solar System Part 1

theteachingtexan — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 12:37:00 +0000

A few days ago I posted about why I use project-based learning (PBL) in my Kindergarten classroom (click [here] to visit the original post). There was a lot of interest in what PBL is and how to implement it. So, today I want to share part one of my first experience with PBL. I can honestly say that there are areas that I need more development on and some steps that need improvement. However, after my first experience with PBL I know that it is an absolute essential in my classroom.

The [Buck Institute for Education] lists 8 key components to consider during the design process of a PBL unit. For the Solar System PBL unit that I am sharing today I did not fully plan the unit before diving in with my students. I’ve since learned that it is best practice -and things go much smoother- if you have the unit completely planned out prior to beginning it. This allows you sit back and enjoy the ride with your kiddos.

While a PBL topic can be centered in any subject area (math, science, ELA, etc.), it really is integrated into all subject areas. Our solar system project was clearly centered in science, but integrated across our curriculum. Here’s a look at how the unit was integrated into other areas beyond science. Check back later this week to see what the unit looked like during our actual science block.

The planning for the unit began by taking a look at the previous solar system unit of years past, as well as the [NGSS]. After digging through all of this and researching solar system PBL units online, I settled on this challenging question:

The challenging question in PBL guides learning and all activities, lessons, and learning experiences link back to helping to answer the challenging question. A good rule of thumb is that the challenging question should not be “Google-able” meaning you can’t simply search for the answer on Google. The goal for this unit and challenging question was to keep the focus of the unit on things we can see in the sky from Earth (the sun, moon, stars, constellations).

With the challenging question decided on I started planning our learning experiences. If you take a look at the planning forms available on the [BIE website] you’ll notice a space for an “Entry Event.” The entry event is a highly-engaging experience to kick off a PBL unit. At the networking event I attended several examples were given of entry events, but they can range from a guest speaker, Skype session with an expert, field trip, or even a simple read aloud. The important thing is to hook your students into the unit and get them excited.

For our solar system unit I found a great entry event that allowed the students to go on a virtual recreation of the Apollo 11 mission. This was originally planned as a learning experience rather than the entry event, but our guest speaker fell through. Flexibility people!

The Apollo 11 recreation was designed by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, and the coolest thing about it is that you can view real pictures from the mission, listen to actual transmission between the astronauts and NASA, and you get to move through it at your own pace. We split the mission up into several days. But let me tell you, by the time we were finished with our entry event every single kid in my class was ready to learn more!

If you’re interested in the virtual Apollo 11 mission, you can find it [here].

Once our unit was up and running I used trade books, QR codes, and apps to let the kids conduct their own research. This helped satisfy the student voice and choice aspect of PBL. During our lessons on the sun and the moon I created QR codes that led to a variety of media (pictures, videos, websites) and let the children choose what they wanted to research.

Because a PBL unit extends throughout content areas, we used some Writer’s Workshop time to craft letters to astronauts. The kids were so excited to learn about both of our astronauts and then write letters to them. While we did not receive letters back in my classroom, a teammate did receive an autographed picture back. There wasn’t a kid in Kindergarten who wasn’t over the moon!

You can find information about how to write to an astronaut on the NASA website [here].

Two other cross-curricular activities (math) during the unit were creating spacecraft from 2D shapes and taste-testing astronaut food then graphing our favorite.

We are fortunate to have a shared space between all 4 Kindergarten classrooms that houses a Makerspace. We’ve been trying out the Makerspace idea during Free Choice time.

During our solar system unit the children planned their own spacecraft with the requirements of an energy source, communication device, container, and science instruments. The rest was up to them. After designing the spacecraft on paper, the students built their spacecraft using all sorts of recycled materials. This was a great learning experience for the children to see that plans on paper don’t always pan out, and that it is a good practice to return to plans to see if there are parts missing.

That’s pretty close to a wrap on learning experiences related to our solar system unit that didn’t happen during the science block. Truly integrating the unit into all content areas led to a much deeper understanding of the sun, moon, and stars than I could have ever hoped for.

During this unit I created a non-fiction unit that provides more information about the sun, stars, and the moon. This unit is full of leveled readers, close reads, magazine pages, and more! While this unit isn’t a PBL unit itself, it is a resource that is perfect for learning during a PBL unit. Check it out by clicking [here] or clicking the picture below.

I hope that this post has been helpful for you and has maybe even inspired you to venture into the land of PBL yourself! Don’t forget to check back later this week to see what this unit looked like during our science block.

Why Project-Based Learning?

theteachingtexan — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 01:07:00 +0000

Earlier this year I went to a project-based learning (PBL) networking event at another local school. Before this event I had never really heard of PBL before, much less taken a stab at it. However, I was so inspired by the reasoning and research behind PBL that I knew I had to take the idea and run with it. The [Buck Institute for Education] says PBL makes school more engaging for children, improves learning, builds success skills for college/career/life, helps address standards, and makes teaching more enjoyable and rewarding. That being said, what’s not to love?! I am so down for anything that makes kids excited about learning while also being effective. Making my job even more enjoyable than it already is isn’t too shabby either!

I recently wrapped up my first experience with PBL. There were many successes, and there were many bumps along the road that I’ll be sharing later this week. Today I’m sharing 5 reasons that I’m sticking with PBL, and why you should be using it too!

I think it’s safe to say that learning strategies, techniques, structures, etc. are a dime a dozen these days. Oh so many of these said strategystructuretechniques tout that student engagement will be increased if you use that method.

Let me lay it out straight for you. Project-based learning WILL increase your students’ engagement because the kids take ownership of their own learning. Gone are the days where the teacher must decide every bit of knowledge the students will acquire on a given topic. With PBL children learn on a “need to know” basis and are then given the freedom (and time) to explore their own interests related to the topic. How do children explore and learn with more independence? Trade books, video clips, pictures, QR codes, Symbaloo bookmark pages… Children really can take ownership!

When planning a PBL unit, there is always a challenging problem or question. This guides the learning, and all learning experiences that takes place leads back to this question. Here’s an example of a PBL driving question, “How can we as zoologists design a zoo that keeps our animals in their natural habitats?”

That one question can lead to weeks of learning about how to classify animals, animal habitats, animal adaptations, the list goes on. The exciting part of PBL is the challenging question points to a problem or question that is completely plausible. [This] interesting article by John Eger of Huffington Post quotes former U.S. Secretary of Education as saying, “The top 10 in-demand jobs in the future don’t exist today. We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.”

What better way to get our future leaders’ brains thinking in a problem-solving manner than to phrase and structure learning that way?!

Reason three speaks for itself. In a true PBL unit students must interact with each other, with adults besides their teacher in the school, and with other adults in the community.

Children learn by doing and experiencing. We know this.

I’ve noticed a huge increase in retention during my first PBL unit. Because the overarching topic is integrated into all subject areas and the kids are given multiple opportunities to do and experience, there is so much more for them to attach new learning to in their schema. Demonstrations, discussions, creating models, reading, videos, pictures, community experts all weigh-in to provide the ultimate learning experience.

In the real world there are often times where there isn’t a clear cut right and wrong answer, so why teach our children that way? There’s no multiple choice bubble to fill in or answer to circle when a doctor must decide how to treat a patient or when an airplane pilot must veer off course. Why not open children’s eyes to the possibilities, and reality, that there are often multiple right answers and multiple ways to approach solving problems?

Teaching should be enjoyable. End of story.

After living the PBL experience I can attest to the fact that PBL units make teaching more enjoyable. Seeing the natural curiosity of children run wild while taking every opportunity to learn more is so rewarding. Ditch the worksheets. Kids won’t remember them and neither will you. (Yes, some worksheet practice is inevitable and probably necessary – but make that the exception, not the rule). Another highlight that makes teaching with a PBL style more enjoyable is decreased behavior issues. When kids are truly engaged and excited there’s is less reason or need to act out.

Check back on Sunday for an inside peak into my first experience with PBL during our solar system unit.

For anyone unfamiliar with PBL or wanting more information, you can visit the [Buck Institute for Education]. BIE is considered the “gold standard” for project-based learning.

Monday Motivation: Exploring Trees and Bark

theteachingtexan — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 22:58:00 +0000

Welcome to the return of my weekly blog series, Monday Motivation!

Now that I’ve gotten into the “groove” so to speak at my new school, I feel like it’s time to kick off my Monday Motivation series. This series is all about lesson ideas, classroom tips, behavior management ideas, and more! Make sure to follow my blog if you’d like to keep up with this series.

On to the good stuff…

As a bit of background, we’re in the midst of our Tree Unit in science. We’ve reviewed concepts the kiddos learned in Pre-K about trees – needs, basic parts of a tree, etc. This week we dove deeper into trees by exploring tree bark. Using some hands-on centers to anchor our learning, I think my kiddos came away with a solid understanding of what bark can look like, why trees have bark, and a basic intro as to how it is formed.

Here’s a look at 4 centers focused on exploring bark. They’re easy to set up and lead to GREAT conversation!

Using modeling clay or [Crayola Model Magic], students press and roll tree cookies to create imprints of tree bark. This is a great way to explore how different types of trees create bark that make different imprints. It’s also a fantastic activity because you can leave the clay out to dry for a cute take-home piece.

A large function of tree bark is protection of the tree from outside elements (like the skin of a human). To help illustrate how tree bark keeps things out, students hypothesized how many water drops it would take for water to soak through tree bark. Then, they tested their hypotheses.

I definitely recommend using a piece of bark that is large enough to place across the top of a bowl (as in the second picture above) because it keeps the bark out of any water that runs off the bark. Kiddos can pick up the bark and see that it takes quite a few drops (and some patience) for the water to soak through to the other side of the bark. Even then, it doesn’t simply run through.

Another simple, yet effective, center is observing tree bark using touch, hearing, sound, and sight. Adding in hand lenses, or magnifying glasses, is even better. The kiddos started to notice things beyond the bark – marks on the wood layer, what looks like tunnels, etc. Perfect priming for us to move into the cambium layer and xylem/phloem next week!

Last week I went outside one day after school and took pictures of the bark of several trees right around our classroom. I printed and laminated these to create a tree bark matching activity. This center is super versatile! Students can go outside in teams (with adult supervision) to try and find the tree that each picture matches. This led to some of the best conversation of the day because students were unknowingly using great description words to justify why a certain picture match a tree or not.

I’m fortunate enough to have an assistant that was able to go outside with groups, but I know many teachers don’t have an extra set of adult eyes. Therefore, this could be done with a whole class. Additionally, you can make two sets and students can match the pictures in class OR sort them by characteristics they observe.

I hope that these centers will be useful to you or at least spark an idea for your classroom! If you have any hands-on activities for exploring trees, please share! I love new ideas!

Looking for more resources to add to your Tree Unit? Check out my [Think Green: A Non-Fiction Tree Unit] resource! It’s packed full of resources to build vocabulary, boost writing, and increase comprehension of non-fiction texts/concepts.

The Little Explorers Debut

theteachingtexan — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 21:12:00 +0000

As I sit down to write this post I realize that it is mid-July. Wait. Summer, where are you going?!?

This summer has been a busy one for me with lots of PD, teaching a summer camp, and working on non-school related things. I’ve got to remember to tell myself to slow down for a few days and recharge.

Speaking of slowing things down a bit, I’m unveiling a brand new non-fiction series today that I’ve been working on like a madman. Literally… Now that I can share this awesome-sauce resource with all of you, I think I can take a backseat to working for a couple weeks.

So anyway, enough about that. Are you ready to see my brand-spanking-new non-fiction series? I hope so! But, I’m going to make you wait just a moment longer while I explain my inspiration behind it.

I’ve always loved science and learning about animals, gadgets, plants, etc. through non-fiction. When I started teaching I even wanted to just be a science teacher (OK, that may still be a dream of mine). I hoped to inspire my students to love science just as much as I do. As I jumped into the classroom, planning math my first year, I quickly learned that my school and team did not do the best job possible bridging and connecting content areas. I will raise my hand and admit that I was part of that problem. It just felt like an insurmountable task once we were knee deep in the school year to plan these big thematic units and gather all of the necessary materials.

Fast forward to my second year teaching. New school, new grade level. We, and I do mean my whole team, did a much better job of bridging content areas through thematic units. If our literacy unit was about the ocean, we spent time picking and connecting ocean-themed topics that fit the standards for science and social studies as well. But, it still felt like more could be done.

I could honestly see a difference in how my students connected with material. Because we were building and modifying kiddos’ schema across the board, they had an easier time fitting new pieces of knowledge into their existing framework. No more reading about automobiles in literacy block, then exploring plants during science, and being a good citizen during social studies. The choppiness of days like this literally made my stomach hurt.

I’d love to know other teachers’ opinions. Does it shock you to know that there are schools that don’t use thematic units? Or, is that how your school plans?

To make this already long story short, my goal is to make sure that I am prepped and ready for bridging content areas this year. I’ve got a road map for units through the year, and I’m spending my time on the front end putting together the resources I will use. Lucky for you, I’m sharing them!

Please welcome [Little Explorers: The Complete, NO-NONSENSE, Non-Fiction Resource]!

This is the road map for the year.

So once I had my road map laid out, what next? I figured ironing out the exact activities that needed prepped in advance vs. what could be done right before the unit was taught was important.

After reflecting a bit, I decided on a few must-haves for each unit that would help myself and other teachers easily connect reading, writing, science, and social studies.

I really feel like having all of these items ready to go is going to make this aspect of my year such a breeze. Now I can spend my time focused on working with my kiddos rather than that nagging feeling of everything I need to do to prep for the next day or next week.

Now, I should be clear and state that the whole year isn’t complete yet. It’s a growing unit so each month on the 15th I will upload the resources for the following month. But enough with those details. Let’s dive into what all is inside a unit. I think we’ll use the [Fantastic Farm] unit that is featured for August as an example!

As you can see, there are a TON of resources included for each non-fiction unit. My hope is that myself (and others) will have plenty to pick and choose from as needed.

I’m the king of trying to pull up all YouTube videos for the day, signing into each account, opening center rotation files, etc. in the morning before kiddos arrive. Nothing spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E more than having to log into a website or search for a video while kiddos sit by idly.

The Teacher Tips page is perfect for this because it lists recommended mentor texts, videos, and prep work. I even made the video pictures clickable for easier access!

Of course I love building in the thematic unit during small group or Daily 5 time. That’s why I included leveled readers for the topic accompanied with comprehension pages and close read passages.

Who doesn’t love to look at beautiful, full-color pictures? That’s the inspiration for the magazine-style articles in each unit. These articles are short bursts of information that dig deeper in the overarching unit. They are perfect for hooking students into a unit or as an extension. I can totally see these being perfect for small-groups, too!

And let’s not forget the importance of vocabulary and writing. Content-related vocabulary can be such a struggle for kiddos, especially English Language Learners and students with little background knowledge of a topic, so there are many resources included to bolster content-related vocab.

Didn’t I mention content-related vocab was important? This QR Scavenger Hunt is sure to be a hit! Last year was my first time delving into the world of QR codes, and my students LOVE using them!

Plenty of options for graphic organizers are a must.

Another idea I considered while designing this unit was that many teachers/schools only teach non-fiction text and text features as a unit during one part of the year, especially in younger grades. But why? Why are we not providing our youngest kids plenty of exposure to non-fiction texts early on? Well the included mini-book steps up the exposure and actually asks kids to utilize or create non-fiction text features. This way, using non-fiction text features is a daily, weekly, monthly experience rather than an isolated unit. I imagine this will greatly impact my kiddos as they move into higher grades.

Last but not least, are the engaging science experiments and recording sheets. I tried to make these as straight-forward as possible and think through some helpful tips for completing the experiments.

You can check out the current Little Explorer resources at the links below! There is much more to come in the future!

[Fantastic Farms: A Non-Fiction Farm Unit]

[Think Green: A Non-Fiction Tree Unit]

[Little Explorers Non-Fiction Yearlong Bundle]