Magnets: 1st Grade Science

Hello, friends1 Today I’m stopping by to share about our recent, Magnet Day. With the end of the year, I’m trying to integrate our learning more than I did at the beginning of the year (this is one of my big goals next year as our school begins to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards), and The Science Penguin’s Primary Science pack has made my first-couple of science-themed days much simpler.

As students worked, they determined which objects were magnetic and just ones were not. I set the timer on the board for 20 minutes, so students could budget their time as they wanted.

After cleaning up, we met on the carpet and read, Magnets Push, Magnets Pull. It’s a fabulous nonfiction book written so 1st grade friends can read/understand it, but still includes spot-on content vocabulary.

Then, to dig a bit deeper into some of the vocabulary, we used the Projectable Book from Reading A-Z: Power of Magnets. We read the book together on the SMART Board highlighting vocabulary words, making lists of everyday things that have magnets inside of them, and then, learned about magnet safety.

Finally, Annie and Moby taught us about the two forces in the world – pushes and pulls. We love the humor of Moby, and taking the ‘HARD’ quiz is always very exciting! 😉

All-in-all we spent about 2.5 hours on our magnet learning. I snuck it in on a day we were missing specials (50 minutes), skipped morning work for an extra 15 minutes, and then, used our theme time (50 minutes). Although I feel like there is never enough time for science, when we do it, I’m always reminded how important and motivating it is. We read high-level, real-world texts, we get hands-on experience, and are able to share our learning in writing!