Fossils, Rocks, and Minerals - Mentor Text Link Up

Today I'm joining up with Collaboration Cuties to share a Science book that I use every year with my class of 4th graders.  

When I get to teaching the Rocks and Minerals section of the textbook the kids tend to either get really interested, or else they get really bored.  So I turn them into little paleontologists and use this book to get them searching for clues.  I picked it up in a Scholastic book order a few years ago - complete with a few rocks.    

We read this at the beginning of the unit, then we go onto classifying rocks vs. minerals.  We are given a rock kit at school as part of the science materials box.  Those rocks are all labeled and we notice the hardness, cleavage, color, texture, etc... filling in a simple chart that they make on a piece of copy paper.  Then we go onto classifying others by having students bring a rock from home.  We are outside on the concrete doing the streak test and they are finding information using this book and their text.  It's fun and the kids get the point.

Then later on we complete the Rock Cycle and use food to understand the 

different types of the rock processes.   

So here's the recap:

Have a great day!