Now that it’s October, it’s time to talk about all things creepy and crawly! I may not be the biggest fan of spiders, but over the years I have found that they are completely intriguing to students! So, let’s take a look at five spider activities that can be used in the classroom as well as some of my favorite spider picture books!
First things first. When we are covering a topic in reading (or science/social studies), I love to take it across the subjects as much as possible. It adds excitement and the students seem to have an extra level of buy-in. This spider math activity can be used with addition, subtraction, multiplication. or division. I’ve used it as both a subtraction spider and addition arachnid both of which have students solving equations on the legs of the spider.
Click HERE to find Spider Math
It’s pretty well known that I can’t resist a student-made hat! These spider fact hats give students the opportunity to display what they have learned about these eight-legged arachnids. It is also a great way to review facts and opinions. Plus, it makes for a precious class picture!
Click HERE for Spider Fact Hats
Next up we have charts, charts, and more charts. The wonderful thing about a unit like this is it lends itself to so many teaching opportunities: fact and opinion, text features, comparing/contrasting, researching, fiction vs nonfiction, etc! For this chart, students compare arachnids and insects after reading nonfiction books about both creatures.
Teaching tip: If you create anchor charts on poster boards, they are more durable than a typical anchor chart paper. Use sticky notes and you can save the charts year after year!
Click HERE for Spider Anchor Charts
Another skill that can be touched on is creating and labeling diagrams. Students can draw a picture of a spider and label the parts of the body. We did this as a class first, and then students created their own version of the diagram.
Click HERE for Spider Reading Activities
Last on the list of spider activities is research! Using this FREE activity, students research spiders either through books or the websites that I’ve compiled. Students create a research booklet that will contain the information that they gather while researching.
Before I go, I must share my favorite spider picture books with you. I have a mix of fiction and nonfiction books.
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Hey, y’all! My name is Amy Lemons and I am passionate about providing students with both engaging and effective standards-based Math and ELA lessons.
Sample a day of Rooted in Reading with these lesson plans and activities for Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, and Grammar!
