If you’ve ever taught Virginia Studies, you know how much there is for students to learn! But most 4th and 5th graders don’t know how to take notes quite yet. Plus, there isn’t always a lot of time in your social studies block to devote to writing it all down.
When it comes to notetaking, I’ve tried interactive notebooks, worksheets, and lapbooks, but the best option I’ve found is flip books! No more struggling trying to get kids to write down all the things!
Why Use Virginia Studies Flip Books?
Virginia Studies flip books save time, provide scaffolded support, are easy to use, and support the SOLs.
They’re less messy than interactive notebooks. And they make great review tools!
The flip books come in printable and digital versions so you can pick what works best in your classroom.
How Do The Flip Books Work?
Each flip book covers the content in one of the Virginia Studies SOLs.
To complete the flip book, students fill in the blanks, add notes, and draw pictures!
I also like to have them highlight important vocabulary words. This keeps kids engaged during each Virginia Studies unit!
The digital flip books are in Google Slides™. Students complete them by typing in text boxes and dragging objects (great TEI skills practice)! Each student can work on their own copy or you can create one together as a collaborative project.
Both the printable and digital flip books come with sample answer keys so you have an example done for you.
How Do I Make Them?
The printable version has step-by-step directions and photos to walk you through putting the pages together. After printing, folding, and stapling, you’ll have a double-sided flip book.
I recommend having students help with the assembly to cut down on time!
The digital version is even easier – just assign it through Google Classroom or share a link with your students! Directions are included to walk you through this step, too.
How Can I Use the Flip Books?
One of my favorite ways to use these Virginia Studies flip books is for scaffolded notes as we move through a lesson or unit. I usually do this part together but you can have them complete it independently.
Another thing that works well is to do a section or page for an exit ticket or for a warmup the next day. I don’t recommend completing the entire flip book at once!
The flip books also make great review tools to use at home or school! The tabs make it easy to quickly find the information they need. And I love that you can reuse them for each unit and for Virginia Studies SOL test review.
I even know some teachers who use them for assessment!
Where Do We Store Them?
The printable flip books fit easily in notebooks (and the back sides are blank so you can glue or tape them).
I’ve heard from some teachers who store them in folders or hole-punch them and put them on a ring. Since the flip books don’t have lots of little pieces, you have a lot of options!
Where Can I Find VA Studies Flip Books?
Check out the bundles below at a savings of 20%!
I hope this blog post gives you a little more insight into how the Virginia Studies flip books work and how they might be used with your fourth and fifth grade students. Let me know what questions you have in the comments below!
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