Students always love the week in science where we dive into exploring magnets. I loved that it was a great way to really introduce science topics with hands-on magnet activities and explore like scientists. It’s such a great introductory unit to do in the beginning of the year!
Today I want to share some of our favorite magnet activities so you can be inspired for your own magnet lessons (or snag my Magnet Unit and be set). I wanted to help take some of the stress of planning away by sharing easy-to-implement activities. You can also save time during the day by integrating science and literacy. I’ll show you how!
Before you launch into hands-on magnet activities, we want to give our budding scientists the right academic vocabulary to use. You can use teaching posters with visual pictures to help introduce and remind students of the new words they will be seeing during your magnets unit.
One way to help students learn important science concepts is through read alouds. Science read alouds are a fantastic way to integrate science into your day. They build background knowledge for your students before you introduce a new topic. They can also provide visual support for your ELL students to be more successful. Science read alouds can easily engage students and begin the conversations they will have with new vocabulary.
Grab a FREE list of read alouds that not only has books to use during your magnets unit but read alouds suggestions for the entire year!
There are so many ways to integrate science and literacy! From interactive and shared writing with anchor charts to shared reading and flip up books, you have multiple opportunities to have students read and write about science. The benefit of incorporating anchor charts into your science lessons is that it gives students a visual of their learning and thinking.
Another must-try magnet activity is to let students explore with magnets. First, they can explore the classroom to find magnetic items. Then, you can put a few items in Ziploc baggies and use magnets to discover which items are magnetic and which items are non-magnetic.
A science experiment is always a fantastic way to incorporate learning with hands-on activities. We can teach students the scientific method, how to make predictions, and assess their understanding of important science topics. This magnetic cereal experiment is included in my Exploring Magnets unit!
Who doesn’t love a good, purposeful craft? Another activity to include in your magnet unit is a picture sort. Pictures of magnet items can go on a magnet and non-magnetic items can go on the sentence strip way away from the magnet. My scientist always loved this craftivity!
You can find the activities in this post and many more in the Exploring Magnets Unit!
This unit is designed for a week of science and for kindergarten and first grade students. I put in a teaching plan so you’ll know exactly what to do and when to do it. I wanted you to have a unit that was super easy to implement! It has everything you’ll need (and more) for a successful week of learning all about magnets, including:
You’ll be totally set! Grab Exploring Magnets today and have the planning done for you!
I’m a K-1 teacher who is passionate about making lessons your students love and that are easy to implement for teachers. Helping teachers like you navigate their way through their literacy block brings me great joy. I am a lifelong learner who loves staying on top of current literacy learning and practices. Here, you’ll find the tools you need to move your K-2 students forward!
4 Responses
Would love a copy of the “sort Pictures” you used. Could you share? THANKS!
Hi Maureen!! I wanted to make sure that you knew I had added this fun little activity to my magnet unit! Here is the link. 🙂 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Magnificent-Magnets-a-mini-unit-on-movement-and-magnets-1126696
Maureen, I am so sorry but I do not have the pictures. They were from our district’s curriculum so I can’t share them. Someone out here in blog world made a template after I showed what we made. If you search on Pinterest, I’m sure you’ll be able to find it. If I am remembering correctly, she’s a 2nd grade blogger.