During my takeover weeks, I had the opportunity to teach Social Studies once again. This particular unit dealt with landforms (mountains, volcanoes, valleys, The Grand Canyon, river, lakes and oceans.) We began the unit discussing the different landforms through real-life pictures found using google maps! Then, I introduced a partner-project that the students would be participating in. The partner pairs were each assigned to research a specific landform. I had hunted for 30-40 picture books that represented each individual landform we would be learning about in class. For two days, students were required to write down 8 different/unique facts about their landform to share with their classmates!

     On the third day, I brought in many plastic bags full of vibrant salt-dough colors (blue, green, brown, yellow, bink, turquoise, etc.) Beforehand, I placed the colors each group had requested in small plastic tubs. This way, the colors would be easy to distribute when it was time to conduct the activity. In addition, I assigned one "clay master" per group. The "clay master" would be responsible for getting more clay if the group ran out of a specific time. This prevented chaos from occuring at the back table! The students had a wonderful time creating their masterpieces! I was pleased with how well each group worked together. The following day, the students presented their creations and were asked to share one fact that they had researched with their classmates. The salt-dough creations are now housed in the hallway for all to see!

     I must say, this project was much more involved than I had originally thought. Nevertheless, all of the work was worth it! Not only did my students learn valuable information, but they also learned how to properly communicate with their partner about what colors to use and what to build! I would certainly conduct this activity again in the future. However, I do think I would have my students label their creations upon completion.