How to Make Waves With Your Lesson Plan
Surf's Up, Dude!
Transitioning from summer mode to school mode is quite a process, especially when the school year begins during summer! Coming back from the relaxed, lazy days and fun vacationing and into your routine again can be a challenge.
Get Back On The Board.
Yet another advantage of home school is that summer fun doesn't have to end entirely just because the school dates roll around. There's plenty of ways to still make use of the beautiful weather and warm summer nights while including the task of teaching and preparing your home school lesson plans.
Catch My Wave.
Since I didn't see the need to rush the end of summer to a close, I instead focused in
on building a lesson plan around a very popular summertime activity- Surfing. After all, the beach was still calling our names and I knew the topic had plenty of history and culture surrounding it that would make for an inspiring unit. Using the surfing theme made for a great first week back and the nice summer vibe gently got us back into the groove of our learning routine.
So grab your board,
and let's get going on how to make some waves with this lesson plan.
First, Get Your Feet Wet
Introduce the week's adventure with some cool reading options:
"Surfing" by Ray McClellan
This book give an overview of the sport, its history, and information on the equipment used for the job. Great to use as a brief introduction to what the week will be diving into.
"Discover Surfing" by Victoria Marcos
This book covers the details of surfing, types of surfboards, and even explains beach safety signs.
"Bethany Hamilton Shark Attack Survivor" by Amy Van Zee
This book tells the remarkable story of a young girl attacked by a shark, but how despite this horrifying incident, continues her surfing dreams. A must read with this unit that will inspire courage and determination.
"Pigs Might Surf" by Oliver Miles
A sweet tale of a pig chasing his dream of becoming the first surfing pig and how resilience and determination is key. Always good to include a fiction read.
"Unstoppable Me" by Adam Dirks with Bethany Hamilton
The story of a lion who loves to surf but loses her courage after wiping out.
Next, Get Radical
Take this thematic unit to the next level by incorporating learning games and activities that speak to the surf concept. Games like "Surf Shack" for learning valuable money skills. Set up shop and invite the 'customers' in to pay for the snacks or surf equipment. Learning activities like, "Pop Up", to practice language topics. In this activity, learners will have a surfboard from foam board and pop up on their board once they have their answer to the questions of your choice. Include science by studying how and why waves are formed. Tailor each game and activity to meet your level of learners, but use the theme to get radical!
Drop In
Another way to immerse yourselves in the surf culture, is to eat like a surfer! Drop in some surfer smoothie recipes or visit a local surf and turf eatery to get a feel of the surf life. Include in your studies the nutrition and diet of a professional surfer. You can also carry this concept into the week's writing prompts with topics like, "What new recipe/meal would you create for a surfer?" .
Get Stoked
To really get your learners stoked, make a visit to the beach. Bring your binoculars to take careful observation of surfers live and in action. Or, if possible, coordinate the lesson with a surf competition to really get involved in the sport of it all. If you're in an area like me, visit a surf museum. Whichever option you can do will be a "totally awesome" way of infusing the information learned with the real life application.
Let's Go Surfin' Now!
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