We had a great opportunity to work with a grade two class for the past two weeks. In addition to creating dioramas, we also created ‘busy books’ for students, to help them learn about their animal and provide activities for brain breaks.

Although it would be extremely time consuming to make each student a different busy book as a classroom teacher, it could be done as a buddy project, where the big buddy creates the busy book for the little buddy. Alternatively, the classroom teacher could make one busy book for all the students if the animal of focus was the same.

AHA Moment

Students having access to a busy book is a great way to keep students engaged in curricular content, while taking a break from a different activity. These are something that I will create for different science units throughout my career! These fun, engaging activities do not feel like “work” to students, but are aligned with the BC Science, as well as ELA curriculum.