ABOUT ME

ABOUT ME
ABOUT ME

My Store

My Store
My Store

Free Resources

Free Resources
Free Resources

Engineering Connections Towers and Coasters

This week, I used two great picture books to tie in science and engineering...and presto...bammo...
two new freebies for you! I read the book, set the mood and tone of the project...even went on a coaster ride with kiddos...both projects were FAB...U...LOUS! Check out my Science School Yard TPT Store for both sets today!

In the meantime...check them out in action!
They are on a roller coaster ride...once done they saw the ride as a bystander...one little asked..."Is that us on there?"
Roller coasters go up, down, fast, and change directions!


Our art teacher made these last week and we both read the story! What a cool connection!

The sheet in action.
Noodle Towers....

Paper Towers...

Teamwork...

Tall Towers!!!

FOSS...Radiology and Medical School!

Our fourth graders are learning the human body unit and it is lesson two...the bone puzzle. This can be hmmmm how do I put it....not quite engaging enough or long enough for an hour...

So....let's continue to encourage all of kiddos to pursue college...maybe a radiology technician, CNA, RA, doctor...Why is it so important for people to know their bones? What if a doctor wasn't sure what bone was where? Or if a family member needed help figuring out what was broken? If someone didn't know their femur from their humerus...well misdiagnosis.

One of the many X-rays we used to look at the bones of the body...carpels, metacarpals, ulna, radius...  
Working on the bone puzzle...

The finished skeletal system! 

Check out how we started our lesson...with Xrays! We each got an X-ray and the kiddos used their skeletal bone sheet to figure out what they were looking at.

Sometimes...it was a real puzzle...in goes the FOSS puzzle activity. We followed up with...a small skeletal system cutout for us to label on the back and study from.

Skeleton Pattern for Kids

Skeletal System and Bone links, games, and more...

Great Learn the Skeletal System Game

Hope you enjoy the "bone"us activities, videos, and links!




HoHoHoliday Fun

I am planning away for the next week of science lessons and into the last week of school before Christmas Break!!!!!

I am thinking a little holly and a bit of jolly should be in the works...

 Last year, I had my 4th and 5th graders working on my Christmas Holiday Science Pack ! I can't wait for the fun to begin. They love science stations and in one hour they seem to be able to get to each one!

I also made a pack for my littles to have fun with in science and in their classrooms!


You can find  Winter/ Christmas Stations at my TPT store! Happy Holidays!

So Predictable...Those Kinders

Our kinders are working on setting up experiments to test their predictions...so here is there little ditty...to the song High Ho The Dairy-O. A prediction is a guess, a prediction is a guess...high ho the dairy-o A prediction is a guess.

They LOVED it. We predicted where our car would land on a yardstick. Our partner marked the spot and we tried to "push" the car to the spot. Then we predicted if a big hill would make our car go faster. We marked our graph with a sticky tab, then I demonstrated big hills and small hills. We saw the outcome. Then...the kinder kiddos got to set up the same experiment. The finished with a race between the partners...predict who will go farther...Science is FUN!


Predicting where the car will be pushed reinforces number recognition!

Reviewing push and pull through experimentation!
A big hill makes our cars go farther!!!!

I use the sheets for the kiddos from my Force and Motion Pack!

Check out this fun link for push and pull review...

Currently December...Christmas Baby!

 What great things await this month. It's time for a bit of a break (two weeks)...time to think about Christmas present lists(all those odds and ends!) ...time for planning for a Christmas birthday...yes my second child was born on Christmas...we opened presents first then went to the hospital...Best Christmas present I ever got!!!

Thanks again to Farley over at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for hosting this blog linky!


Listening: I am a Bravo fan. I don't watch much TV, but I love watching other people and their lives. I stick to Bravo though. My daughter and I are watching Glee together on Netflix, so I watch some decent television...

Loving: That all my kids were home this week for Thanksgiving. We had time to reconnect! We got to see family each day after that, from aunts, uncles, and cousins, to my sister and her family! It was wonderful!

Thinking: I should make some quick assessments to see how my kiddos are doing now that we are half way into the second quarter.

Needing: Great deals...check...my daughter got a computer for $210 with two coupons! Hoot hoot! Now it's time to figure out if I have everything. I still need to get my sister's family, gift cards from California, and some fillers for in-laws. I have time...right?

Good luck holiday shopping...have a great holiday and vacation, and I hope you don't get any coal!

Cyber Monday...and Tuesday Sale

It is Cyber Monday...and Tuesday on TPT! Check out my store for great deals on all my products! Don't forget at the check out you will receive an extra bonus if you use the code TPTCYBER!
Have fun shopping...Start by clicking Here To Go To My TPT Store!
Happy December!

Wordless Wednesday...The Magic of Magnets freebie

Teaching isn't always magical. Each lesson doesn't always spark our little kiddos and get them in awe of learning, but...this week...this week...I saw magic...awe...excitement!!!! All due to a magnet. My little kinders are learning push and pull so I decided to add magnetism to the mix.

I showed them two magnets that pull toward each other or attracted. We did hand motions and the whole bit. The first time they saw the power of magnetism they were in sheer awe. Then, I showed how magnets repel or push away. Again squeals of excitement. It was the magic of magnets. After repeating and explaining what the magnets were doing with scientific explanation, I gave them some magnet balls and let them "play".  I walked around to see the thrill of learning and was explained countless times how they push and pull or attract and repel.

Here is a Magnet Freebie For Kinders for you!
We don't do that too much in our busy, focused day...but I love science was said a bunch of times and the hugs I got when they left made a tear come to my eye.

                                                   Magic!


What science activity do you do that gets kids excited?I am linking up with Sugar and Spice. Check out Miss DeCarbo's Site for other great pics and blogs.  So, stop on over and check out some other great pictures that say it all!


Black Friday Wishlists




I've been making a list and checking it twice and I have been a bit naughty, much also very nice. I am really excited to link up with The Primary Pack for their BLACK Friday  Linky Party and giveaway! I did put together a wishlist of my own that I may purchase on BLACK Friday! Here are some ideas for your Black Friday Shopping...See anything that you like? Check out my store at The Science School Yard TPT Store.
Things on my wishlist...clipart, science, and melonheadz!

Check out my store for some great Black Friday Deals at The Science School Yard TPT Store!
         Don't forget to enter The Primary Pack's Giveaway HERE!
The Primary Pack


Sunday Scoop...Widow Weekend!

It's Sunday again and I am enjoying some alone time. One daughter is at work, while the other is at volleyball. My boys are hunting...so I have time to blog, create, and post. Thanks to our blogger friends at Teaching Trio we can share the scoop with each other. Here's my Sunday Scoop!

We have a two day week this week and I am so excited to have some much needed time off! And with all of my kiddos under my roof again...I AM SOOO excited!!!! I also love pumpkin and pecan pie, green bean casserole, and fresh cranberry sauce!  Okay...turkey too, but the other stuff makes it. I almost hit a turkey today as I was driving in the fog...could have been a "free bird"! Cue the music.

So, the Sunday scoop on the deer hunters...they saw 7 bucks and 3 does and a bear on the deer cam before hunting season...ZERO deer while actually hunting. Boo hoo. Still one more week though.

Christmas is coming and I swore this year, no gifts on credit cards...trying to get that puppy down. Not sure if I can do it...but I certainly will try. Well, back to my creations! I want to finish my Water pack this week for my kiddos.

Happy Thanksgiving!

FOSS...Matters

We use FOSS in our district as our core means to teach science. It is now time to switch over many of my boxes and kits to new ones. One of the kits that I (let's just say...don't care for as much) try hard to love is Solids and Liquids for our 2nd graders. Beans and seeds everywhere, words they don't ever remember...

I needed to work on each grade level...for my PPG/SLO...or I might be SOL. I was under a ton of pressure...(put there by myself)...to finish  a new pack for my second graders by...

Next week! I did it! And I kind of am excited about the fun that will be had with FOSS as the basis. I made a lapbook for them to study...and fun connections for my classroom teachers to do. I only get them once a week:( Here is what I am starting next week!


FOSS Lapbook connections will help my 2nd Graders with Vocabulary

We took the test today and I previewed the packet with them...they are SO excited!

Check this pack out at The Science School Yard's TPT Store! Don't forget...everything this Saturday and Sunday is 20% off!

Wordless Wednesday...Ice Crystals

                     Okay...so this might sound silly, but...

I hate winter and cold weather and indoor recess! Sounds bad coming from someone who lives in Wisconsin, but I do have to admit that when I was driving with my daughter this weekend...the trees, bushes, grasses...everything was covered in crystally ice. It was pretty breathtakingly beautiful!
Wordless Wednesday...the crystals in the sun were amazingly beautiful! Coming from someone who hates the cold...

As for the type of writing I teach...as a science teacher...informative using Great Short Answer and science notebooks.

                 Today, I am linking up with Sugar and Spice. Check out Miss DeCarbo's Site for other great pics and blogs.

Weather Vocabulary

Ok...once again I find myself needing to work on bringing science vocabulary into the regular ed. classroom. Our second graders are finishing up their weather unit and so I figure...

hang some vocabulary posters up...let them see those words...let them see the pictures...let them learn to study...

My hopes are high...So here is a freebie for you...just a few weather posters showing weather tools...

Weather Tools Freebie
Powered by Blogger.