ELA Activities: Before History
Start Here
Lesson 16
Lesson 17
Pacing Guide
Materials List by Week
Narration and Timeline Creation
About the ELA Activities
Optional Spines
Optional Books List by Week
Lesson 1
Balloon Hands-on Demonstration
The Story of the Big Bang
Rabbit Holes: Big Bang
Other Activities to Try
Literature Extension: Exploring Creation Myths
Music Extension: Percussion and Also sprach zarathustra
ELA Activities-big
Lesson 2
Play Dough Stars
The Story of Stars
Rabbit Holes: Star Formation
Play Based Activities
Star Myths Around the World
Van Gogh’s Cosmos
Sentence Types
ELA Activities: Star Formation
Lesson 3
My Cosmic Address
The Story of Our Galaxy and Solar System
Rabbit Holes: Our Galaxy
Play Based Activities: Galaxy
“The Planets” by Gustav Holst
Constellation Stories from Around the World
ELA Activities: Solar System
Lesson 4
Gravity Demonstration
The Story of Gravity
Rabbit Holes: Gravity
Gravity in a Bottle Activity
Gravity in Balance
ELA Activities: Gravity
Lesson 5
Rabbit Holes: Formation of Earth
The Story of Earth's Formation
Earth Creation Myths
Balloon-Print Art
Earth's Layers and Density
Crash Test Earth
Misty Copeland and the Firebird Suite
ELA: Earth's Formation
Lesson 6
Rabbit Holes: Story of Rocks
The Story of Rocks
Rock Cycle Art Project: "Paint the Cycle"
Rock Sorting Lesson: How Do We Tell Rocks Apart?
Sediment Jar
Erosion Demo: How Wind and Water Change Earth
Fossil Layers and Sedimentary Rock Demonstration (Bread + Gummy Candy!)
Volcano/Mountain Myths
ELA Activities: Rock Cycle
Lesson 7
Rabbit Holes: Plate Tectonics
The Story of Plate Tectonics
Alma Thomas–Style Plate Tectonics Art Project
The Great Wave and Tectonic Tsunamis
Scientist Spotlight: Marie Tharp
Earthquake Engineering: Shake It Up with Jell-O
What Is a Volcano?
Turtle Myths and Shifting Earth
ELA Activities: Plate Tectonics
Lesson 8
Rabbit Holes: Liquid Water
The Story of Water and Atmosphere
Water Myths and Flood Stories
Discussion Questions: We Are Water Protectors
Maya Lin and Wave Formations
The Goldilocks Zone: Why Earth Is Just Right for Life
The Amazing Atmosphere – Earth’s Protective Blanket
Ocean Slime & the Water Cycle
ELA Activities: Liquid Water
Lesson 9
Rabbit Holes: Definition of Life
The Story about What is Life?
Exploring Life Through The Carnival of the Animals
Moral & Ethical Discussion: What Counts as Life?
Living vs. Nonliving Collage
ELA Activities: Defining Life
Lesson 10
Rabbit Holes: First Life
The Story of the First Life
Spotlight on Hilma af Klint
Ancestor Stories
A Billion Tiny Things
Microbe Size Comparison
ELA Activities: First Life
Lesson 11
Rabbit Holes: Oxygen
The Story of Oxygen
Spotlight on Kara Walker
Wings of Air
Build a Model of Photosynthesis
Fossil Hotspot: Shark Bay, Western Australia
Synechococcus (still alive today!)
ELA Activities: Oxygen
Lesson 12
Rabbit Holes: Eukaryotes
The Story of Eukaryotes
How Do Soft Things Fossilize?
Trickster Tales
Artist Spotlight: Howardena Pindell
ELA Activities: Eukaryotes
Lesson 13
Rabbit Holes
Dot Stories of Early Life
Rabbit Holes: Multicellular Life
Monsters & Multicellular Life
Cnidarian Ancestors
The Story of Multicellular Life
ELA Activities: Multicellular
Lesson 14
Rabbit Holes
The Story of the Cambrian Explosion
Rabbit Holes: Cambrian
Myths of the Sea
Echoes of the Deep:
Body Sort: Who Gets to Be a Fossil?
Anomalocaris
Fossil Hotspot
ELA Activities: Cambrian
Lesson 15
Hands On: Play Dough Insects
The Story of the Carboniferous World
Rabbit Holes: Carboniferous
Other Activities: Life on Land
Literature Extension: Firefly Myths
ELA Activities: Carboniferous
Lesson 18
Hands-On: Playdough Creatures
Story of the Permian Period
Rabbit Holes: Permian
Other Activties Permian
ELA Activities: Permian
Lesson 19
Hands-On: Making Carbon Dioxide
The Story of the Great Dying
Rabbit Holes: The Great Dying
Other Activities: The Great Dying
Literature Extension: Hades and the Underworld
ELA Activities: The Great Dying
Lesson 20
The Story of When Dinosaurs Began to Rise
Rabbit Holes: Triassic
Other Activities: Triassic
Literature Extension: What Is a Dragon?
ELA Activities: Triassic
Hands On: Moving Like Reptiles vs. Dinosaurs
Lesson 21
Hands On: Measuring Jurassic Giants
The Story of the Jurassic Giants
Rabbit Holes: Jurassic
Other Activities: Jurassic
Literature Extension: East Asian Dragons (China, Korea, Japan)
ELA Activities: Jurassic
Lesson 22
Hands-On: Fruit Dissection
The Story of Flowers and New Partnerships
Rabbit Holes: Cretaceous
Other Activities: Cretaceous
Literature Extension: European Dragons
ELA Activities: Cretaceous
Lesson 23
The Story of the End of the Dinosaurs
Rabbit Holes: End of Dinosaurs
Other Activities: End of the Dinosaur
Literature Extension: Dragon-Like Creatures in Other Regions
ELA Activities: End of Dinosaurs
Hands On: Impact Crater Simulation
Lesson 24
The Story of When Mammals Took the Stage
Rabbit Holes: Mammals
ELA Activities: Mammals
Other Activities: Mammals
Hands-On Activity: Mammal Survival Simulation
Lesson 25
The Story of Dinosaur Descendants
Rabbit Holes: Dinosaur Descendants
Other Activities: Birds
ELA Activities: Dinosaur Descendants
Hands-On Activity: Bird Beak Exploration
Lesson 26
The Story of Ice Age Giants
Rabbit Holes: Mega Mammals
ELA Activities: Mega Mammals
Literature Extension: Stories of the Arctic I
Other Activities: Ice Age
Hands-On Activity: Blubber & Fur Insulation Experiment
Lesson 27
The Story of Glaciers and Change
Rabbit Holes: Glaciers
ELA Activities: Glaciers
Other Activities: Glaciers
Hands-On Activity: Glacier Movement Demo
Lesson 28
The Story of Primates and Our Family Tree
Rabbit Holes: Primates
ELA Activities: Primates
Other Activities: Primates
Hands-On Activity: Thumb Power Test
Lesson 29
The Story of What Makes a Human
Rabbit Holes: Humans
ELA Activities: Humans
Hands-On Activity: Dexterity & Bipedalism Challenge
Other Activities: Humans
Lesson 30
The Story of Tools, Fire, and Survival
Rabbit Holes: Tools
Other Activities: Tools
ELA Activities: Tools
Hands-On Activity: Soap Stone Tool Knapping
Lesson 31
Hands-On: Migration Map
The Story of Human Migration
Rabbit Holes: Human Migration
Other Activities: Migration
Literature Extension: Human Migration & Wayfinding
ELA Activities: Human Migration
Lesson 32
