Why enrichment?
Students come in all sizes and shapes. Some students understand concepts more easily, and some struggle a bit. Some finish assignments fast and some need remediation. I always have at least one or two enrichment activities on hand for my middle school science students to grab when they’re ahead of the pack. I was surprised to learn that my 13 year old middle schoolers love color by number worksheets. Color by number worksheets for enrichment in middle school science engage students with content while also allowing them to chill out. Providing down time without chaos reigning has become my signature move 🙂
How do you make a color by number worksheet?
It’s easy peasy to make your own color by number. Students immediately knew what to do when they saw the worksheet – it was as if they’d been coloring by number their whole lives. They got to chill while I worked with other students. No chaos.
Step 1: Choose a picture. The hardest part for me was making a decision about which picture to use – maybe kids will like this elephant? Will they like the geometric mandala? How about a minion or a minecraft picture? I debated over those decisions a million times. Try googling “black and white drawing” or “mosaic drawing” if you need inspiration. Make your picture simple if you want a 5 minute activity or more complicated if you want it to take a little longer.
Step 2: Number the pieces of that picture. I found that the numbers 1-9 works fine (I happen to have a class set of 10 colored pencils each – red, dark blue, light blue, brown, light green, dark green, purple, yellow, orange, pink), but if you want to get wild and crazy, go for it.
Step 3: Write matching questions – if you have 9 colors, you need 9 questions. For each question, provide choices. Each choice should correspond to a color, but the correct answer choice corresponds to the correct color.
Step 4: Print your worksheet. I print on 2 sheets of paper so students don’t have to flip back and forth. I also usually make an answer key for the type A students that want to check their work.
What kinds of color by number for middle school science are in the JustAddH2OSchool store?
I have a bunch of resources I’ve collected available in the JustAddH2OSchool store, priced at $1.50 each (with 25% off now through Valentines Day). Here are some to check out:
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