Dinosaur Fun
Dinosaurs have fascinated kids and adults for generations and now a new study shows that there are significant benefits to kid’s intelligence in studying dinosaurs. So why not incorporate a wonderful unit about dinosaurs into your teaching? I love to tie this unit in with math and science but my primary focus is linked to the kindergarten standards RI.K.2 and RI.K.8. This unit Day of the Dinosaurs helps me accomplish all my learning goals.
With dinosaurs, there are no limitations to what you can do. I begin by printing off dinosaur footprints and copying them on construction paper, laminating them and then placing “tracks” all over the classroom. Including the window so that’s the first thing my students see when they arrive at school. I can hear their excited voices from outside the classroom!
First, we create a KWL chart to ascertain what they already know about dinosaurs which helps me guide the activities a bit. Then I teach them the Great Big Dinosaur song. It’s so cute and the kids love roaring at the end!
The Dinosaur has five cute themed songs to really set the stage for dinosaur excitement!
We finish the day by creating dinosaurs out of paper plates, toilet paper tubes and construction paper. I love how these came out! I wish I could share them all! The kids were so excited to take home there new pet dinosaurs!
I want my kids to feel like real scientists and have opportunities to explore on their own so this year I added dinosaur bone models to our activities. I broke the bones apart and students had the opportunity to examine them with a magnifying glass. Afterwards, they had to sketch their bones and write down what type of dinosaur they thought it was and support their theory with evidence (tying in to our reading standard about how the author supports their writings with evidence).
I take the activities from the Day of the Dinosaur thematic unit and split them up between student directed and adult directed. For example, I print a copy for each of my budding paleontologists of The Paleontologist, for them to write about a dinosaur they created as a center activity; Dinosaur Hunters works great as a Write Around the Room activity. I also print off a recording sheet for each of my students of Dino Addition, and 6 sets of the dino cards for the students to use to solve the math equations. Remember the prep for this unit is only one time if you store everything in a “Ready-to-Go” manner for use year after year, that is what I do! And don’t forget the great planning sheet that is included with each unit can be placed right in your lesson planning binder.
I use Dino Take-Over, Dinosaur Sounds and Dinosaur Lunch as small group activities for my aide or a parent volunteer to play with the students. They are easy to use because they are scripted, making prep work is a snap. I prepare it once and place each game in a gallon Ziploc bag to be used year after year. It’s so easy in fact that my parent volunteers can walk into my room, pull out a game and get started without any instructions from me.
Another thing I love about these activities is everything is connected to the Core Standards. My students are learning the required academic concepts that they need to be prepared for first grade, but through play and they are engaged and excited. I recently read that it takes approximately 400 repetitions to build a new synapse in the brain but if it’s done through play, it takes only 10-20 repetitions. When I teach through play, which Kindergarten Kiosk helps me to do, my students are learning more quickly and having fun at the same time. The benefits are huge!
Also available at Teachers Pay Teachers!
Product Description
This Thematic Unit Dinosaurs, is strategically linked to academic Core Standards. It is divided into areas of literature, music, art, literacy, math, worksheets, science, creative writing, word wall, and guided reading. The activities are clearly written, easy to use, and need limited amounts of preparation.
Your classroom or homeschool students will love to learn more about Dinosaurs using this play-based cross-curricular ideas.
Songs/Fingerplays
Stegosaurus
A Paleontologist
ROAR
Five Enormous Dinosaurs
Art Projects
Dinosaur Mosaic: A Cooperative Activity
Paleontologist: Using Geometric Shapes
Dinosaur Hat
Dino Rider
Writing
Dinosaur Word Wall
Writing Prompts:About Dinosaurs, If I Were a Paleontologist
Writing Activities: List, How To, Label It
Science
Dinosaur Facts & Information
Stegosaurus Skeleton: Tactile Science
Dinosaur Dig
Guided Reading Books
When Dinosaurs Lived
Class Made Books
Our Dinosaurs
Math Lessons
Dino Diner: Composing Numbers 10-20
Dino Land: Identifying Numbers
Dinosaur Addition: Solving Addition Problems
Dinosaur Park: Counting Objects & Recording Numbers
Independent Activities
Dinosaur 10's
Dinosaur Hunter
Literacy Lessons
Dinosaur Desert: Fluently Naming Alphabet Letter Sounds
Dino Detour: Fluently Naming Letter Sounds (Or Sight Words)
Dinosaur Lunch: Reading Simple Sentences
Dinosaur Sounds: Writing Alphabet Representation of Sounds
Dinosaur Takeover: Decoding Words
Independent Activities
Dinosaur Eggs: Writing Simple Words
Dinosaur ABC: Alphabetical Order
Dino Blends: Identifying Graphophonemic Representation of Blends