Download the Play Academy’s ready-made cat thematic unit and you’ll be ready to lead a week of fun and educational activities for your children to learn about big cats and domestic cats.
Ready-made Cat thematic unit lesson plans
Save time and enjoy teaching with this ready-made Cat thematic unit. These Cat lesson plans give you everything you need to teach your children about big cats, domestic cats, habitats, biomes, camouflage, and more.
Ready-made thematic units are such a time-saver, and the Play Academy units are based on the proven educational philosophy of learning through hands-on activities and cross-curricular teaching, so they are highly effective and children love them.
Read on to find out what’s in the Cat unit and how you can download it and be ready to teach a fun and educational Cat week.
The benefits of teaching through thematic units
A thematic unit is a programme of learning that includes a wide range of skills and activities, all linked to one central topic. There are many benefits to teaching with thematic units.
:: thematic units teach skills and concepts so well because they match the way we live and work in real life. Everything is integrated.
:: our children get an education that is much more relevant, realistic, and suitable for life in the real world
:: integrating traditional subjects (math, literacy science) in one whole programme of learning based on themes (dinosaurs, space, forest school) lets children see links and make connections
:: the Play Academy’s thematic units offer children a wide range of hands-on learning activities, so there are things that appeal to all learners. This keeps lessons engaging and encourages our children to try new things, and develop many skills.
:: the thematic units are also an excellent way to teach mixed-age/ability children together, which makes teaching a class of children or a homeschool family group so much easier
:: and our children also benefit from the depth and breadth of a thematic unit. They can learn much more about a topic if they consider it from a scientific, artistic, literary, mathematical, geographical and playful point of view. Their learning will be so much more practical and robust.
The benefits of using the Play Academy units – for you!
The Play Academy units are also great for you, whether you are a school teacher, child-care professional or homeschool parent.
The Play Academy gives you over 50 grab-and-go thematic units which are all ready-made for you, saving you so much time. No more dread on a Sunday and no more overwhelm: you’ll always have a unit you can use, every week of the year.
The Play Academy units integrate perfectly with your timetable: you can use as many as you like, however often you want. Our curriculum is completely customisable: you can start with any unit, at any time of the year.
The Units are carefully planned to introduce each topic and give children a range of hands-on lesson plans that really engage them in learning and developing cross-curricular skills and ideas, so you get enthusiastic learners who love taking part in the lessons. The Play Academy puts the joy back into teaching.
Each unit is clearly laid out, showing you how to introduce and lead each lesson, so you can pick up your chosen unit and be ready to teach.
Each unit also comes with bonus printables included, so you don’t have to hunt around and find them.
You can use individual units and you can also group units together to build a year-round pathway of cross-curricular leaning based around extended themes including Festivals, Science and Math, Literacy and Storytelling, Art, and Nature.
This saves you so much planning time and gives you a year-round curriculum you can rely on whenever you need it. And with so many themes to choose from, you’re not stuck with one curriculum for the whole year if your needs and interests change – you can simply pick another unit from our library of over 50 options.
I also guide you through the year – by email and in our private online community group – suggesting which unit is perfect for each week, so you can easily find a great unit to use, even last minute.
Your teaching is about to get a whole lot better and easier! Join the Play Academy and choose your first unit here.
What’s in this Cat Thematic Unit?
In this set of Cat lesson plans your children can:
:: learn about big cats: their names and appearance, where the live around the world, what they eat and how they live
:: make a paper camera and ‘take photos’ of the cats they see on their world-wide safari
:: explore camouflage and create their own tiger
:: learn about biomes and habitats and make their own jungle or savanna small world, complete with printable tiger, lion and lioness puppet / models.
:: learn about American artist Laurel Burch and create cats inspired by her, exploring pattern and line techniques
:: learn interesting facts about big cats and domestic cats and host a Cat Quiz: asking and answering questions to consolidate knowledge and develop language skills
Bonus Cat thematic unit printables
The Play Academy’s thematic units come with practical printables that make the lessons more engaging for your children and easier for you to teach.
No need to go searching for printables to accompany your lessons, they’re all included when you download your chosen unit.
In this Cat Unit you’ll receive these bonus printables:
:: world map to show where big cats live
:: interactive paper camera to ‘take photos’ of the big cats they see one their world-wide safari
:: My Favourite / Favorite Big Cat journal page to write and draw
:: Big Cat Models: a lion, lioness, and tiger model to print, colour and use for diorama displays and imaginative play in small worlds
:: Pattern & Line Art Handout to explore new art techniques
:: ‘Ask Me A Question” Hat and Question Words Anchor Chart poster, to learn about asking questions and develop grammar, punctuation and spoken language skills
How to download this Cat thematic unit
You can download this unit along with over 50 more from NurtureStore’s Play Academy.
If you are already of the Play Academy, you can download this unit straight away from our Library here.
If you are not yet a member, find out more and choose your first unit here. Your teaching is about to get a whole lot easier!
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