A guide for using our resources

Children will discover facts about various kinds of shark teeth.

Vocabulary: prey, megalodon

Health and Safety: Dental Health Month

Science Focus: sharks, shark teeth

CCSS (and states that have similar standards): RI.1.1 ask and answer questions; RI.1.2 key details; RI.1.10 read informational texts; RF.1.2 vowels; RF.1.3 digraphs; W.1.2 write informative texts; W.1.8 gather information; SL.1.5 add drawings to clarify ideas; L.1.1 demonstrate standard English grammar when writing

Simple, spectacular ideas to boost your lessons.

Paired Text Suggestion: Tooth Fairy in Training by Michelle Robinson

  • In this rhyming tale, a tooth fairy practices collecting teeth with her sister. On her adventures around the world, she collects teeth from various animals before mistakenly waking up a little girl with a missing tooth!

Phonics Focus: Digraph sh- and -th

  • Write the words shark teeth and discuss the digraphs found in the words. Which word has a digraph at the beginning? Which word has a digraph at the end?
  • Split students into two groups. Have one group find all the words in the article that begin with sh-. The other group can hunt for the words that end in -th. How many words did each group find?
  • To further challenge students, ask them to revisit the issue and find their assigned digraph in different words. Where else do the digraphs appear? (fish, they, them)

Hands-on Activity: Shark Teeth vs. Your Teeth

Skills: compare and contrast

Materials: Shark Teeth vs. Your Teeth skill sheet, mirror, pencils, crayons

  • Students will compare what they have learned about shark teeth with what they know about their own teeth.
  • Have students take turns looking in a mirror with a big smile! What does each child notice about their teeth? How many rows do they have? Is anyone missing a tooth? Allow students time to tell about their experiences losing and growing teeth.
  • Give each student a Shark Teeth vs. My Teeth skill sheet. One row at a time, review the prompts in the chart. Allow students to revisit their issue and revisit the mirror to write and draw their responses.