A Make And Take Explorer Study Guide

I've gotten so many amazing resources from my blogger contacts out there. Now it is my turn to share one with you. I know many of my Virginia friends are or will be working on a European Explorer Unit. I wanted to share a great idea I got from a class I took a few years back. In it we worked on creating different types of study guides or lap books. Here is an example of one using pockets and cards. Here is the front cover glued to a simple folder

Inside we glued down four pockets. These pockets are made from legal sized envelopes cut in half and glued down. We glued the pictures of the four explorers we study in Virginia. As we learned about each explorer, we wrote down essential information on four cards which are then stored in their pockets.

We glued down a map that we use to show where they came from and where they went. Students are given a wikki stick that they use to match the four routes. They can do this again and again as they study the information. You could give them a pipe cleaner too, it would work just as well.

Here are the close ups of the cards. We include the most important points of each explorer.
The cards make it an interactive study guide because to study the students mix up all the cards in one big pile and then practice sorting them into the right pockets. We mark it with the explorers initials on the back of the card so students can self check at home when they study.

Glued to the back is the song sheet that includes songs for all four explorers. The songs also contain the important information that students need to know. One of my students was saying that the song was stuck in their head.....exactly what I wanted!

Those who know me know I love thinking maps. Here is one my kids made for a reference poster. It is a bridge map of the four explorers. The relating factors include where they came from and where they explored.

Here the kids took their cards out of their study guide and used them to play a version of Go Fish. The first student to collect all four cards from one explorer was the winner.

I could see how this type of study guide could be used for many other topics too. How about Famous Americans or Indians? Please comment if you are going to try it out! I love to hear your ideas on making it work for you!

Check out my TPT page to get a copy of this file on European Explorers!




http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/European-Explorers-A-Make-and-Take-Study-Guide-913509