Grades 6–8

Maggies's Earth Adventure activities are meant to be taught as a supplement to your curriculum. Teachers can give specific activities to do as a way to get extra practice in a skill set or as an educational reward. For grades 6–8, the following activities are appropriate:

Grammar

Edit Dan's Copy

Goals: Level One of this game gives your students practice in finding and fixing errors in capitalization and final punctuation. More advanced learners can practice correcting run-on sentences, quotation marks, and apostrophes. This game also provides excellent keyboarding practice.

Classroom Use: Assign students individually or in pairs to retype these incorrect sentences. Then have them write their own copy of a news story. They could even write one based on one of the themes in the Maggie cartoons: over-fishing and coral reef problems, "A Great Catch;" air pollution, "You Must Be Choking;" endangered animals, poaching in Africa, "Herd of Elephants? Parts 1 and 2;" and invasive species, "Rushin' River."

Extension: For more writing practice, Maggie's Postcard section is the perfect place to visit. There you will find pictures of African art, African wildlife, Ireland and much more. Students can "snap" their own photograph using several pictures we provide. They can use this photo as a postcard and write different nonfiction paragraphs about it using the graphic organizers that are provided. Post them on a bulletin board. You may even want to tack up a large map and arrange the postcards on the correct spots.

Short Circuit

Goals: Help your students to learn more about prefixes and suffixes and their meanings. If your state's standardized tests include vocabulary, then your students will benefit from the 4 levels in this game. When a word like transpacific appears, your students will have the knowledge to define it!

Classroom Use: After playing the game several times, ask children to start a log of prefixes and suffixes with their meanings. When the logs have several entries, pair students to quiz each other. To appeal to the many Multiple Intelligences you find in your classroom, have children choose a prefix or suffix and create a poster illustrating its meaning.

Extension: Interested in helping your students recognize and understand prefixes and suffixes in context? You can download and print several nonfiction articles found in The Teachers' Lounge at www.missmaggie.org. Just find the unit to accompany "You Must Be Choking." Scroll down to the booklet, A Breath of Fresh Air. There are many word lists and lessons on the prefixes and suffixes contained in these articles. Not only will your students gain valuable practice with understanding these words in context, but they will learn about the many things people and companies are doing to prevent air pollution.

Math

Dude's Dilemma

Goals: This game gives your students practice in the four calculation areas, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, along with mixed practice. They will love rescuing Maggie's dog, Dude, from a rooftop. Even older children love to watch the helicopter come closer and closer to Dude as they correctly answer the math problems. Within each area of play there are 3 levels: Easier, Harder, and Extreme.

Classroom Use: As with many of Maggie's games, the several levels offered allow you to differentiate for instruction. Students needing review can be assigned to practice at one level, while those needing a challenge can be assigned a higher level. Hand students the Progress Chart (PDF) to track their progress. Because all students are playing the same game, they can still share the experience of rescuing Dude!

Extension: In The Teachers' Lounge section under the unit, "Herd of Elephants, Part 2" you will find some of the many math activities we have available for classroom use. Your pre-multiplication students will benefit from completing the activities found here. Several problem solving "stories" lay the foundation for higher level math skills while engaging them with an African theme. Amaze your higher level students with the many properties of Fibonacci numbers. These activities can be downloaded, printed, and duplicated. Perhaps you will want to use activities such as these for extension assignments or center work.

Looking for ways your children can extend their thinking about numbers? Send them to www.missmaggie.org. Click on the Games area, click on Target Math. This game helps students understand there are many names for one number (8 + 4, 20 - 8, one ten and 2 ones are all names for 12).

Around the World in 80 Seconds

Goals: This game allows for practice in the four calculation areas, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, along with mixed practice. Within each area of play there are 2 levels: Easier and Harder. In this game, speed is emphasized. Your children will get essential calculation practice while building speed. The bonus is that children also develop a greater understanding of geography!

Classroom Use: A good way to use this game is to have children keep a Progress Chart (PDF) of each game's time. This way, children are working toward their personal best. They have a visual record of progress which is motivating. You also have a chart to share with parents detailing a child's abilities.

Extension: There are many more interactive math games found embedded in the cartoon section at www.missmaggie.org. Your primary children may enjoy counting fish and then stating the third of the total number of fish. This interactive activity can be found in the cartoon, "A Great Catch." Intermediate students will love helping the monkey jump from rock to rock in the carton, "Herd of Elephants? Part I".

For problem solving activities involving pencil and paper, visit the Teachers' Lounge at Maggie's Earth Adventures. Your intermediate students will see the use of mathematics in real-life by completing the Problem Solving Math Activities in the unit, "You Must Be Choking."

Science

Science Labeling

Goals: Does your science curriculum include one of these topics: layers of the Earth, structure of a flower, anatomy of a fish, respiratory system, or layers of the atmosphere? If so, you'll want your class to play this game that helps them learn the specific labeling of these diagrams. Even if you are not currently studying one of these areas, this game will help your students to improve their memories. The game shows players the diagram and gives them a time limit in which to memorize the correct labeling. The student must then use their knowledge to play the game. It's a great way to encourage efficient study skills.

Classroom Use: Hand students the Progress Chart (PDF) to track their progress. After playing this game, ask students to write their own quiz about one of the structures. You can even assign your students to make their own diagrams of a topic of interest. Perhaps they want to show the parts of a car, a sewing machine, or even a room in their home.

Extension: Maggie's Earth Adventures offers many interactive science activities. When you click on Cartoons, choose a unit pack, and you will see several choices. In "Herd of Elephants," one of these interactive devices is a microscope. Your students use a dichotomous key to identify tree leaves or insects/spiders. In "You Must Be Choking," students can view the carbon cycle or play a game involving layers of the atmosphere.

Science teachers will love the 7 articles on the scientific classification system. These are found in the lesson plans to accompany "Herd of Elephants, Part 2."

Spanish

Spanish English Cycle Race

Goals: Your budding Spanish speakers will have a chance to practice new vocabulary on 2 levels. The Easy Level features many color and number words, the Advanced Level reinforces other vocabulary needed by the beginning Spanish speaker.

Classroom Use: This game is helpful in foreign language classrooms to help children practice basic Spanish vocabulary. It is also helpful for ESL students as they can practice English vocabulary. Hand students the Progress Chart (PDF) to track their progress. Follow up by giving your students a long piece of bulletin board paper. Have them create their own bike race by writing Spanish (or English) words on a bike path. Draw a bike with a basket and duplicate. Children can cut these out and write the meanings of the words in the bike basket. Glue them next to the correct word on the bike path. Hang in a long hallway!

Extension: Most of Maggie's Earth Adventures is available in both English and Spanish. Spanish and ESL teachers can have children change the language toggler to Spanish. Maggie and her friends will speak in Spanish in the cartoons, activities will appear in Spanish, and you can even receive our Weekly Activity Packets in Spanish. Be sure to check out this exciting feature!

Limpia tu gramática — See Clean Up Your Grammar under Grammar

El Dilema de Dude — See Dude's Dilemma under Grammar

Alredor del Mundo en 80 Segundos — See Around the World in 80 Seconds under Grammar

Diagramando a la Ciencia — See Science Diagram under Science

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