I use to have this nursery rhyme record when I was little that I had at my grandma's house. I LOVED that record and I knew every nursery rhyme by heart. Our littles now really do not know them very well. Some do...some don't. Last year, I tried to find a way for my kinders to engineer. So, I started taking simple books to get them excited. We made puppets of the three billy goats...which I am working on now and we made bridges to learn over...under...all that good stuff! They LOVED it.
Throughout the year, I kept trying new stories and rhymes to find ways to use simple supplies to have my littles engineer! They have built stamina and used creativity to make some great zip lines...egg protectors...and learned how to use pulleys!
This summer, I have been working on packs that incorporated all of the ideas that I did this last school year!
Miss Muffet Link...Zip Lines and Tuffets and more! We've been busy this summer engineering! With simple supplies...and simple steps...your students can be building stamina...creativity...and problem solving skills while connecting with reading, writing, and math! Just in time for back to school! NGSS science standards are linked to each lesson as well!
Hey...it's almost that time of year...the excitement of a new school year is upon us...many of us have teacher effectiveness goals...others are reflective of the direction you want to head when new kiddos come through you door.
Last year, I was on the teacher effectiveness rotation. After 23 years of teaching...I had many artifacts that deemed me a proficient teacher, but then again I am not always reflective on paper. It got me thinking...what are my beliefs as a science teacher. I have looked at it through the lens of a classroom teacher up until now...but now I want to take a different approach.
Thanks to my sweet blogger friend Whitney over at With Love From Texas over 40 teachers are also being reflective in a great blog hop. Hope you will join us to challenge you to write down your purpose and beliefs. Teaching purposefully is so important because teaching smarter not harder works for me...
It took me a while to really figure out what is important in my room now that education has changed so much. I also had to put my beliefs into perspective when it comes to me being a K-5 Science teacher.
What about you? Do you have beliefs that you establish and reflect on before the new school year? Have you ever written them down? This is a first for me. It helps me have a purpose and it will drive me to action. I encourage you to write your beliefs down and strive to live by them.
Continue on with the Beliefs to Actions blog hop by visiting my new friend Stephanie Upton over at The Marvelous Middle!
I love freebies...as you can tell if you have ever checked out the Science School Yard...I include many freebies to make science easier for you! Love and Laughter in Second Grade is hosting a flash freebie event that starts at 8:30 am EST on Monday August, 27th until August 28th at 10:30 pm EST. Each 1/2 there will be a different product for you to snag! What a great way to add to your back to school ideas!
This pack...will be free...just check out my facebook page for more details on the exact time...and while your there...like my page! This pack is a fun way to make science simple...and fun! Who doesn't love Popsicles!
Always trying to find fun ways to get the kiddos outside! Here are two different scavenger hunt freebies that you can use with your students in the garden or in the school yard! Think of it as your own little Science School Yard!
I love finding ways to get them using math, too! Here is a great book link as well that I use before we head outside... Seriously a great book for having kids look closely at nature. This book allows them to practice what they will do outside as they take a closer look around them. With this book...you can also draw a picture after they come in and have them hide different things among their drawings and write just like the author. It is like a Where's Waldo...but all about the great outdoors!
Just click on the link for your scavenger hunt freebies! Scavenger Hunt Freebies...in and out of the garden! Thanks for joining me in my science school yard! Stop back regularly to find more simple science ideas, book links, and freebies!
To make science simple...all you need is a bag of goodies per table.
**I added 8 Jenga blocks, a paper towel tube , a little car, a bull's eye, a plastic figure, and a marble.
I asked my students to see if they could use all of the supplies to make the plastic figure land on the bull's eye on the floor. This a simple, yet easy way for your students to work together to problem solve!
I love to show this video to get them thinking...
I share with them what a Rube is... a contraption, invention, device, or apparatus that is deliberately over-engineered or overdone to perform a very simple task in a very complicated way usually with a chain reaction.
There you have it...Simple science! Try it in your school yard! For more ideas, check out my Rube Goldberg Engineering Pack on TPT! Tons of great engineering ideas to make science easier!
Who doesn't love bubbles? They are so much fun and a great way to end the year or begin the year...or any where in between! I love the joy on the kids faces when they make discoveries!
What do you need to keep science simple? Bubbles, bubble wands or just pipe cleaners from the dollar store!
RECIPE time! I like to mix up Dawn, water, and glycerin to make the perfect bubble solution. I use 1/2 cup Dawn, 4 1/2 cups of water, and 4 tb glycerin. There are recipes with sugar, too. I have glycerin in our insect kit for FOSS.
We start with a bubble anchor chart...what do we know about bubbles...then we think of adjectives to help describe! I use a great freebie from Hollie Griffith on TPT. What a fun presentation for a smartboard! I use every page as an introduction to a new concept to learn. From the shape of a bubble to bubble gum!
I also use my bubble pack to get kiddos thinking and using stations after we investigate the magic of bubbles.
Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles Pack on TPT is where I dip into to help my students with some bubble reflections, observations, and extensions!
I also love to play a little music as they blow bubbles! Here is a fun song for the occasion! Blowing bubbles and popping them=joy!
This is the first in many posts that I will be sharing this year as we all find our niche. Several emails that I received or even blog comments have been about how to add science into the school day. Science is like that dandelion...you can see it as a weed, or a flower. Here, at the Science School Yard I will focus on how to help you make science simple.
Maybe it's just a science trade book and worksheet...maybe it's a book and an easy STEM idea with simple household items...maybe it's an NGSS science concept using the scientific method in an easy, set for you plan.
I know that your scheduled are packed with reading, writing, and math and sometimes science is hard to "fit" in, but if I can help you make it simple...that is what I am here for...
It is the end of the summer school cycle, our garden is in...and now it is time to learn about weeds. During the last week of summer school, my littles (K-1) will be learning about the dandelion. My students love time lapse...here is a quick one to show the life cycle of the dandelion!
We use a great picture book to help make connections on how seeds can travel once we write our ideas down!
Next, we learned about the life cycle through pictures. We followed it up by going outside to find each stage. The kids love being able to go out into the school yard for their "field" trip. I give them the sheets I have been working on in a dandelion pack. Stay tuned...but here is A SNEAK PEEK FREEBIE.
Hope this small taste of science will get you thinking of how simple it may be to add some science to your school day! And for even more Dandelion fun and activities...check out my Dandy Simple Science Stations...A Dandelion Pack on TPT!
Seriously a great book for having kids look closely at nature. This book allows them to practice what they will do outside as they take a closer look around them. With this book...you can also draw a picture after they come in and have them hide different things among their drawings and write just like the author. It is like a Where's Waldo...but all about the great outdoors!
