Exploratory Learning for Teaching Life Cycles in Second Grade

If you are like me, you never have enough time to teach science content thoroughly, and you want students to work independently so that you can pull small groups during reading. After reflection, I came up with this life cycle resource to address both needs.

Usually, during reading time, I have students read independently. The more books kids read, the more vocabulary, story structure, and background knowledge they experience. However, I have some kids who spend more time looking through their book boxes than actually reading. I also have a couple of students who don't yet have the reading skills to read independently effectively.

I am working with all of these students to strengthen their reading skills, but I needed something they could do independently that would help them become stronger readers. One of the biggest factors in reading comprehension is background knowledge, and students can build it without reading independently.

Our science and social studies standards provide amazing opportunities to build background knowledge, but we often don't have time to dig into the content because of a lack of time in our schedule. So, I built a slide deck that students can use independently that teaches the content. Now, while I am pulling small groups, the rest of my class can work quietly as they listen, read, write, and learn about life cycles. Later, we can talk about what they learned and use that information in other activities.

Now, if you are also like me, your students have a wide variety of abilities, interests, and motivations. I knew if I kept the slide deck to the expected content, my fast finishers would be done and bored quickly. So, I built in extensions. Students can choose which topics interest them and learn more about those topics. Links within the slide deck guide students through their choices.

Check out the slide deck:

You can get the template link for the Canva presentation here. With Canva education, you can assign the slide deck to your students, and they can respond directly on the slides, so you can track their thinking as they learn.

Kids learn best when new information builds on what they already know. Slide decks like these give students new information a little at a time, allowing them to integrate it into their existing background knowledge. It also includes a combination of text, video, and interactive activities to keep students engaged.

Canva Template Link

If you use this resource, please let me know what you think about it. Are there any topics you would like added? What did you find helpful? Thank you for sharing your thoughts!