Currently August

I am linking up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade for Augusts Currently! I cannot believe it is AUGUST already! Where has the summer gone? I just got done with summer credits and a big energy class that was two weeks long. My two oldest are working hard to save for college so they are gone quite a bit and now my husband starts football next week. Did anyone else's summer go WAY TOO FAST? 

Now it is time to plan for the upcoming school year, finish up some TPT projects, and get my classroom ready, not to mention that school garden that is overflowing with veggies to pick. It sure is always fun to link up with Farley though!

Here is my Currently....

Wind and Solar Fun and Energy Island

Thanks to Mrs. Jump's Class and Book Talk Tuesday we can share some great books. Wind turbines, my friends. UV meters. "Egg"cellent STEM lessons. This week, I am starting a summer class with some of my colleagues that is based on energy. We got to make wind turbines and used UV meters to create a solar experiment. We even created a STEM activity to see if we could protect an egg on a zip line. We were given a copy of this book, Energy Island to figure out how we could use it in our classroom.

                                                 
This week, we are learning to find ways to use what we have, for example we use FOSS, to create inquiry based questions. Here is what question I will use to start my energy lesson off with. We are also trying to integrate more NGSS concepts even though Wisconsin hasn't adopted it yet.

                                      Wind Turbine Freebie

Apple Time Science

I love apple picking time! Each September, one of my favorite memories was when we would take our kids to the apple orchard with my grandma. We would pick apples, take a hay ride, eat an apple dumpling or turnover...YUM, and even feed the goats. I miss that tradition now that she is gone. When I taught little kids the apple theme was always a way to tie everything together, but there was never much for our older students to actually do that was interconnected. Now there is. Check out my Apple Time Science For Intermediate Classrooms.

Apple Time Science For Intermediate Kiddos...I can't wait for September!

Wordless Wednesday

I was so lucky this weekend to be able to be part of an annual girls weekend with my cousin and her wonderful friends. We went to the Porcupine Mountains in the UP and were able to see waterfalls and hike. This is Bond Falls on our way out of Michigan to get back into Wisconsin. It was Gorgeous...don't you think! Sugar and Spice and Wordless Wednesday is always a fun place to stop. Lots of great pictures that are wonderful!

Bond Falls!

I Took A Walk...In The Garden

Yesterday was my Garden Class and did we get a ton done. Littles heard the book I Took a Walk by Henry Cole. I love this book because littles get so excited about trying to find all of the hidden pictures on "their" walk. I then gave them a clip board, pencil, and paper I included in a previous post and encouraged them to meander (word used in the book...great vocabulary word) quietly looking closely for things to uncover.


Take a look at what some of them found when they took a walk...

Our littles also planted asparagus in the new bed that our bigs worked on! They even got to make strawberry jam! All in 50 minutes!

Onto our middles and bigs...We planted donated plants, filled a new bed with dirt, made strawberry jam, weeded the garden, and then picked vegetables to take home. Zucchini, lettuce, radishes, peas...oh my!

Observing...

Americorp helpers cutting...

Bed is ready for plants...

Making jam with one of the groups...

Mashing the berries...

Some of our bounty!

What a great job I have, teaching kids about gardening! I am growing as a teacher everyday! 

I Got ENERGY!

Well...it has taken me a few weeks to fine tune this new lesson pack. I went to three days of energy classes, reviewed the new NGSS science standards and pulled out my FOSS electricity kit to figure out what will work for a 4/5 multi-age class that has seen all of the 4th and 5th grade FOSS kits. Check out my new pack...Energy Lessons: NGSS and FOSS Connections

Science, Engineering, Core Concepts Through Energy Activities

Book Talk Tuesday...Jamberry and Jam Making

This week, I am teaching my community connections classes how to make homemade freezer jam. Teaching students how easy making jam is will hopefully encourage them to make some at home with their families. We will be making a list of berries that we have eaten, picked, or heard of. We will survey which jam is their favorite...then we will make jam together. We be Jammin'!
Thanks again to Mrs. Jump's Class for hosting this book talk.
I love this next book for many reasons...
1. It is such a fun rhyming book that allows little ones to rhyme along with the book.
2. It is a fun way to add some science of cooking into your classroom
3. It is a great way to make connections such as jam tasting.

Here are some ideas for Jamberry...Jamberry Book Connections

Jam with this book! Rhyme with this book...and more!

Here is the sheet I will be using to make a writing connection. A freebie for you...

                                   Strawberry Jam Sheet Freebie