Moon Phases Teaching Activities for Kids in 4th, 5th and 6th Grade

Students are naturally curious about the moon. Why is it sometimes big? Why is it sometimes smaller or a different shape?

Before beginning this unit, you may wish to have the students create a moon log in their science journals. Have them write and draw a picture of what they see. They may also wish to take some photographs.

1. Moon Phases Video

Here is a 10 minute video from PBS Digital Students. Phil explains the cause and the phases of the moon.

2. Phases of the Moon Classroom Experiment for Kids

In this science classroom experiment, students will learn about the phases of the moon by acting them out. You will need a large Styrofoam ball and a light source, such as a lamp.

3. Moon Matching Game

Your student will enjoy matching phases with pictures of the moon. Click here to play the game online.

4. Online Lunar Phases Quiz

This is a simple online quiz for students to self-check their learning in a science center or station. Click here to see the quiz.

5. Moon Phases Rap

Music definitely helps students learn and remember. They will love this one!

6. Moon Phases with Oreos

Why not make some moon phases out of Oreos. Did you know they are allergy sensitive? They are free from dairy, egg, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, mustard, sesame, peanut, sulfites, mollusks, celery and lupin.

Click the picture to see 2 moon phases crafts.

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7. Moon Phase Viewer Craftivity

Students may make a very simple moon phases viewer. Step by step instructions are in the video. Click HERE. 

8. StoryJumper Online Book 

Here is an online book for your students to learn about the moon phases.

9. Moon Phases Crossword Puzzle for Kids

Your students will show what they know by completing this printable crossword puzzle. Click HERE to download and print.

10. Phases of the Moon Interactive Science Notebook

This is a fun cut and paste activity for your students to practice matching definitions to pictures. Click HERE to download and print.

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You may also like these resources from our Amazon Store:

Carson Dellosa Mark Twain Phases of The Moon Chart

Moon In My Room Remote Control Wall Décor Night Light - Uncle Milton

Just A Phase Moon Shirt Lunar Space Gift T-Shirt

(This comes in lots of colors!)

Uncle Goose Moon Phase Blocks - Made in The USA

Shelly Anton is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. ** This means there are Amazon affiliate links in these blog posts. This does not mean you pay a dime more when you purchase a product through the link. It just means I am trying to save you valuable teacher time by making it easier for you to find valuable resources for your students, and I earn a few cents for my research and time. Thank you for all you do for kids!

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TpT Seller Tip to Increase Sales

How do you know what to do next as a TpT seller?

There are so many great tips for increasing your sales on Teachers Pay Teachers:

Pinterest

Tailwind

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

New Products

Bundles

Pinning Courses

Email Marketing Courses

Sales Funnels

Ad Campaigns

and on and on!

HOWEVER...

Think about it...

In the classroom, what is the ONE main thing teachers must do to ensure students are achieving success?

I mean....how do YOU KNOW when students are achieving success?

How do YOU KNOW your methods and strategies are working?

How do YOU KNOW when they aren't working and you need to change it up?

You use a variety of assessments:

diagnostic

formative

benchmark

summative

THEN..

You LOOK at the data and analyze it.

VOILA!

Stick with me... I'll give you the link in a second from a seller who figured it out!

TpT is an amazing marketplace driving millions of traffic to our stores.

I've been selling since the beginning, and let me tell you, they have improved tremendously on giving us the ability to track URLs, access the sources of our traffic and sales from each.

We have the ability to download spreadsheets for any given time frame!

BUT THEN WHAT?

I mean I've sorted it, filtered it, but then struggled.

You see, over the years I've changed titles and changed prices.

Title changes mess with the filters! Ugh!

But there is an EASY SOLUTION!

I found this seller, TDS Resources, from a Facebook group.

I didn't even buy it right away. (DUH)

Finally, I decided the price was so reasonable, what did I have to lose?

NOTHING,

but I GAINED a world of USEFUL data to make sound decisions for my store.

BTW, I don't get any commission from this and don't even know the seller.

I do know this is a legit spreadsheet and the seller is SUPER helpful!

Onward...

Here is what this AUTOMATED DASHBOARD can do:

(Note: This is sample data, not from my actual account or the seller's.)

Who doesn't love analyzing graphs?

Who doesn't want to know their top selling products by month?

Who doesn't want to know which titles were most successful?

It's not pictured but a fancy pivot table will show you so much more!

Actually, the pivot table is my FAVORITE part!

Here is a video explaining how it works as well:

So now what?

There are so many ways to use this data that will take your store to the next level.

How can it not?

Any time you are making data-driven sound decisions, success will follow.

Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

1. What were your most popular products sold last year? 

Make some related products and then bundle them all!

2, What are your best selling months? 

This may be a time to ramp up paid ads, social media posts or list new products.

3. What are your worst selling months? 

Are there holidays or other key events during those months? Create some products related to them to drive traffic in off months.

4. Is a holiday or event coming up? 

For example, use the pivot table to analyze Halloween or Christmas resources. Which titles worked best? What sold the most? Create more products related to your best sellers for that holiday or season.

5. Analyze the pivot table to determine during which month a specific product sells the most. 

Use social media, paid ads and email marketing to promote that product even more during its hot month.

To download instantly:

Then, please come back and leave some comments with more ideas on how you plan to use this amazing TpT seller resource!

Shelly Anton is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. ** This means there are Amazon affiliate links in these blog posts. This does not mean you pay a dime more when you purchase a product through the link. It just means I am trying to save you valuable teacher time by making it easier for you to find valuable resources for your students, and I earn a few cents for my research and time. Thank you for all you do for kids!

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Top 20 Best Selling Thanksgiving Books for Kids

Do you set up a Thanksgiving reading center in your classroom?

Here are some ideas for a younger classroom that could be modified to meet older students' needs.

Here a some super cool classroom reading nook ideas. They aren't Thanksgiving but could be easily modified with some simple decorations.

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 for Thanksgiving classroom decorations.

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So now that we've discussed a Thanksgiving reading nook and some possible ways to decorate it, let's look at all the best-selling and/or best-reviewed Thanksgiving books for kids on Amazon. (affiliate links of which I earn a very small commission. My hope is that it saves you time in searching for your classroom resources!)

1. Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano

Click HERE.

"Stuffed with clever wordplay, groanable puns, and easy-to-ham-it-up animal sounds, the chuckle-inducing narrative makes a crowd-pleasing read-aloud. Turkey's getups are exuberantly silly and the animals' sardonic facial expressions are sublime." -School Library Journal

2. Thanks from The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Click HERE

Perfect for Thanksgiving or any day of the year, this charming book of pictures is the colorful way to tell loved ones "thanks!" Featuring art from the World of Eric Carle

3. Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet

Click HERE.

“It’s a history lesson, inventor's sketchbook, and inspirational story all rolled into one marvelous mixed-media masterpiece. Sweet's beautifully rendered true-life tale will have your child's imagination soaring to new heights!”—Education.com

4. 10 Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston

Click HERE.

This silly rhyming story about ten turkeys teaches children how to count backwards.

5. The Night Before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wing

Click HERE.

Follow along as the feast is prepared, cousins are greeted, and everyone gathers around the table, all with an extra helping of holiday fun.

6. Junie B. Jones #28: Turkeys We Have Loved and Eaten by Barbara Park

Click HERE.

Room One is getting ready for their very own Thanksgiving feast! There’s even a contest to see which room can write the best thankful list.

7. Thanksgiving Is for Giving Thanks! by Margaret Sutherland 

Click HERE.

Cheerful, colorful illustrations accompany the simple text in this celebration of family, friends, and the holiday that brings them all together.

8. Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White

Click HERE.

Rebecca Estelle has hated pumpkins ever since she was a girl when pumpkins were often the only food her family had. 

9. I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson

Click HERE.

And with that the feast begins! After the pie the old lady swallows a whole squash, all of the salad, and the entire turkey!

10. Pete the Cat: The First Thanksgiving by James Dean

Click HERE.

Starring in your school’s Thanksgiving play would make even the coolest cat nervous, including Pete the Cat! But the show must go on….

11. 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey

Click HERE.

On the night before Thanksgiving, a group of children visit a turkey farm and meet Farmer Mack Nuggett and his coop of cockerels: Ollie, Stanley, Larry, Moe, Wally, Beaver, Shemp, and Groucho. The children and turkeys giggle and gobble, and everything is gravy.

12. A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting

Click HERE.

Mr. and Mrs. Moose invite all their animal friends for Thanksgiving dinner and the only one missing is Turkey. When they set out to find him...

13. Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende Devlin

Click HERE.

Every year Grandmother invited a guest for Thanksgiving dinner and allowed Maggie to do the same. "Ask someone poor or lonely," she always said.

14. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving by Daphne Pendergrass

Click HERE.

Celebrate Thanksgiving with Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the Peanuts gang in this retelling of the beloved Thanksgiving TV special!

15. Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes

Click HERE.

Everyone knows that Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks—the question is, where to begin?

16. Five Silly Turkeys by Salina Yoon

Click HERE.

Toddlers will love the silly Thanksgiving turkeys in this fun counting book full of silly turkeys doing very silly things!  


17. Llama Llama Gives Thanks by Anna Dewdney

Click HERE.

With short and simple rhyming text, the Llama Llama board books introduce Llama Llama to babies and toddlers before they’re ready for longer full-length stories.

18. The Thankful Book by Todd Parr

Click HERE.

Todd Parr's bestselling books have taught kids about unconditional love, respecting the earth, facing fears, and more, all with his signature blend of playfulness and sensitivity. Now, The Thankful Book celebrates all the little things children can give thanks for.

19. What's for Thanksgiving Dinner? by Sally Huss

Click HERE.

A duck, a goose and a turkey have different ideas about the menu. Each chases the other until they decide that it might be a nice idea to celebrate together.

20. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey! by Lucille Colandro

Click HERE.

You won't believe why this old lady swallowed a turkey, a ball, a hat, a balloon, a boat, some wheels, and a horn of plenty!

Shelly Anton is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. ** This means there are Amazon affiliate links in these blog posts. This does not mean you pay a dime more when you purchase a product through the link. It just means I am trying to save you valuable teacher time by making it easier for you to find valuable resources for your students, and I earn a few cents for my research and time. Thank you for all you do for kids!

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