November Science: Dinosaurs

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you are probably familiar with my monthly science units.  My kids, even those who I have had for multiple years, look forward to the new topic each month.  The other day, one of my kids made me list out the topics for the entire year just so he could hear them all!  Anyways, the thrill they get out of science inspires me each year to add some new activities to keep their interest!  This year, I am recreating all of the units for Teachers Pay Teachers as well so other people can utilize these units in their classroom!  

This month, we are working on DINOSAURS (recently posted to TPT).  This month's unit revolves around 9 vocabulary words related to dinosaurs (T. Rex, pterodactyl, triceratops, stegosaurus, plants, meat, egg, extinct, and fossil).

The packet includes:

-3 Levels of assessments
-Materials to create a vocabulary velcro-matching activitiy
-Flashcards
-18 Different worksheets
-1 Game (Dinosaur Bingo). 2 versions based on level of difficulty. 
-1 Adapted book (with matching pieces and comprehension sheet).
-1 experiment comprehension sheet for making fossils with play-doh.
-1 Note home about the unit.
-1 Cover sheet for kids to color and use as a cover for all their completed work (wither to send home or for in the classroom).

This unit has materials for learners at different levels.   Also, it includes a variety of worksheets which allow my students to work on their science IEP goals as well as a variety of other goals (language arts, math, speech, and OT).  I use this unit over the course of an entire month.  The kids repeat some of the work, but the repetition seems to help them learn the concepts as well as work on becoming more independent.

I don't want to bore you with every worksheet and activity, but I do want to share some of my favorites!  Here is the vocabulary matching sheet so you can see all the vocab words for the month.

Here are some of the assessments included.  Here is the hard version of the science test which actually tests some of the concepts related to the unit.

And here is the easy version of the assessment which is more for teaching receptive/expressive vocabulary.  There is also a version included in the packet that has the vocabulary words without the pictures.

I love these cut and paste activities to work on vocabulary.  It is a nice change of pace from the typical worksheets.

 I also like these measurement worksheets for measuring dinosaurs 1, 2, 3, and 4 inches tall.

Every day, we do "social time" activities in my classroom.  This social time activity is related to our science topics.  Kids get to ask others "What is your favorite dinosaur?"  And then graph the results!

Here is the comprehension sheet for the science "experiment" we do.  For this month, I really just have kids make imprints with different things into play doh to make "fossils."  You could have your kids make their own play-doh as well for this experiment and still use the following worksheet.

This is the first month I have had an adapted book in my science units on TPT.  I am obsessed with adapted books (and luckily, so are my kids!!).  This adapted book is all about the vocabulary concepts covered in the unit (what the different dinos eat, what "extinct" means, what a paleontologist is, etc.)

AND...a lovely little comprehension sheet to go with it.

 Another new addition this month is a note home to parents so they can be aware of the science topic and vocabulary words (and maybe even practice with their kids?!) and this cover page for the kids to color.  Kids can use the cover page to put on their work when they bring it home...or just as a cover on their packet in school.  This was a suggestion from Melissa at The Adventures of Room 83 and I loved the idea!  If you have bought any of my science units and have any suggestions, please email me and let me know!  autismtank@gmail.com

 For more info on my other science units and more details on what is included, check out these posts!
- A post describing my topics for the year as well as how I organize my materials.
- A preview of my Landforms Unit.
- A preview of my Insect Unit.
- A preview of my Plants Unit.
- A preview of my Body Parts Unit.