And Why Do I Teach This Way?
As many of you know, one of my favorite things to teach in my classroom is cross-curricular with thematic units. For me, this is the simplest way to teach by incorporating the curriculum together. You may be teaching reading, but you can certainly read a science or social studies book during your reading time, or you may be teaching social studies, but the students may be writing an expository piece during that time. In my mind, it’s just good teaching and it just makes sense.
I’ve taught this way for 22 years now, and my students learn so many skills and much much more by teaching through the themes. Plus, they make better connections that way! All you need to do is think about how you can incorporate your standards into your theme! I teach in Texas, so we have TEKS.
Before I plan my thematic unit, I ask myself these questions:
1.) What are my science/social studies TEKS and what part of the semester do I need to teach them?
2.) What are my reading/writing TEKS and what part of the semester do I need to teach them?
3.) What kind of hands-on and engaging science investigations and experiments can I add to this thematic unit to make it meaningful?
4.) What mentor texts do I need to incorporate into my reading/writing/science/and social studies time that go with my theme?
5.) What kind of craftivities can I have the students make to ensure that they are learning the TEKS and skills?
6.) Are there interactive notebook activities that I can incorporate to assess my students?
7.) What holidays or special occasions are coming up that I can incorporate my themes with?
8.) Does this theme require an outside lesson and what materials do I need to gather?
Wow! That’s a lot of things to consider when planning a thematic unit! But, let me reassure you, that after you have taught one thematic unit for several years, it becomes second nature to you. You get better at incorporating your subjects, and you can do more with it. This is where I am now, so I can teach outside the box and go above and beyond what I used to do. I can do more hands-on activities, more in-depth questions, and more technology.
My Theme Center
In my classroom, I have a theme center. This is where I change out the center according to what theme I’m teaching. I change it out every two-three weeks. My students get SO excited when they walk in the door Monday morning and notice I have changed my theme center. They cannot wait for me to show them all the new and exciting games, books, and materials that they can interact with at the new center. It’s like Christmas every two weeks for them! Here are the thematic units that I teach for each month. I show you my theme centers and some activities for each one.
August: All About Me/What is a Scientist?
Here’s my All About Me Thematic Unit
Here’s my Me as a Scientist Cratftivity and Writing
September: Apples/Community Helpers
Here’s my Apple Thematic Unit
We read Clothesline Clues and then we make a Career Day Craftivity of what we want to be when we grow up.
Here is my Community Helpers Thematic Unit
October: Owls/Bats
We read Stellaluna and then make this lapbook with writing templates inside.
We read Owl Moon and then write about the Owl Life Cycle.
Here is my Owl Thematic Unit
November: Veteran’s Day/Native Americans
We read The Wall and then write letters to our Veterans.
We read The Legend of the Bluebonnet and make this writing craftivity:
Here is my Native American Thematic Unit
December: Christmas Around the World
We read Jingle Bells Around the World and then talk about different traditions and customs of Christmas Holidays.
We make a Christmas Around the World book including: USA, England, Russia, Germany, Mexico, and Netherlands.
January: Objects in the Sky/Weather
We read Sun Up/Sun Down and then make this craftivity:
We read a Rainbow of My Own and make this craftivity:
February: Heart/America and Presidents
We read Duck, Grace and Teacher for President and make this craftivity:
Here is my America Thematic Unit
March: Texas
We read Armadilly Chili and make this writing craftivity:
Here is my Texas Thematic Unit
April: Rainforests/Insects/Plants
We read the Great Kapok Tree and make this writing craftivity:
Here is my Rainforest Thematic Unit
May: Fairy Tales/Ocean
We read Cinderella and make this sequencing foldable:
Here is my Fairy Tale Writing Unit
We read The Rainbow Fish and make this writing craftivity:
Other things to consider when teaching in themes is what kind of math manipulatives can I incorporate. For example, when teaching about apples, have the students use apple erasers and real apples to sort properties. Or, plastic animals, holiday counters or food!
If you’re interested in checking out my Holiday Math Mats, click here.
When teaching Rainforests, use plastic rainforest animals to sort, graph, and measure.
When teaching Christmas Around the World, use candy canes, marshmallows, or assorted nuts to count, add, subtract and problem-solve.
Another important hands-on and FUN way to incorporate themes is by having an end-of-unit celebration! This is where the students get to have a TASTE of the THEME!
For Fairy Tales, have a Fairy Tale Ball and the students can eat a castle cake!
Or, you can have the students celebrate by making a project that they can take home!
For Oceans, the students can make an Ocean in a Jar.
I hope you have gotten some great ideas about how to incorporate your TEKS or standards into themes. Your students will LOVE it and they are so fun and create a lifelong passion for learning. By teaching themes cross-curricular you are free to mix and match the subjects as you see fit and have fun at the same time!
If you are interested in checking out my thematic units, click below. These units include craftivities, investigations, vocabulary cards, lesson plans, mentor texts, interactive notebooks, edible experiments, and much more.
Enjoy!
P.S.) If you’re interested in checking out my Year-Round Thematic Unit BUNDLE, click here.
If you’d like to check out another blog post about my cross-curricular day in first grade, click here.
