Torri, over at The Junior Mad Scientist is linked up with Ordinary to Extraordinary Classroom! I love Torri! Not only does she follow me... love that!... she also has great ideas and teaches science just like me! So, to all of you... here's getting to know me! Five things in my purse ...
1. Lots of old receipts...should really clean those out!
2. My wallet
3. Lip balm (eos rocks!) Love the mint one... light blue
4. Got some coupons, I forget about them sometimes
5. A picture of my grandma... want her by me always
List 5 things you love about yourself...
1. I never ever think about this... ever... so... I love that I teach science now! Best job ever!
2. That I am a hard worker and want to make people happy
3. That I think I am a pretty good mom that has raised some great kids!
4. That I got a farm to school grant... never planted a garden before... but plants grew... kids love veggies now! I love to see them learn how to garden, too.
5. That I am a go getter and always willing to try new things... right away... let's do it.
5 things that keep me entertained...
1. My children
2. The Housewives of...
3. Blogging
4. Making new products...I too have a goal of 50 by the end of the year... see goals:)
5. I am not very social at times. My kids keep me so busy, but I love spending time with some new co-workers. It is nice to start to do things with adults. Changing schools is never easy.
5 things that attract you to the opposite sex...(or same sex...I don't discriminate...)
1. Hard work
2. Family values
3. Ability to plan for the future
4. Supportive
5. All those good things that still connects me to my husband after 20 years...
5 things to accomplish in 2014:
1. A school garden bigger than last year... and a home garden build with my family
2. I would love to meet up with Midwest bloggers to share ideas and learn the tricks of the trade
3. Over 50 TPT products... and the ability to earn enough to help my children with college funds
4. A stronger relationship with family and friends
5. This next school year...I will be evaluated on the new system... so an action plan to keep helping my students succeed on their assessments and gain knowledge of science:)
Thanks Torri. It will be great getting to know more of you as we keep blogging together!
First things first... I was called at school this week. My son was playing football and he hit his head and blacked out. Rough game. So, thank goodness I post my lessons on Peek at My Week. I was pretty ready to let someone look at them and know what to do. I have to plan my week today, so that I can be home with my son this week as he recuperates from a concussion. Now, it's time to plan for the week as I sit in the dark with my son.
Kindergarten:
Kindergartners will be learning more about science predictions by forecasting the weather. We will be watching the weather forecast on The Weather Channel... We will then play a forecasting game that I made with a dice(clouds on three sides, sunshine on three sides). I also made a tally sheet for the kinders to fill out. You can find this unit on my TPT store at Science Patterns and Cycles: Weather for Kindergarten.
First Grade: First graders will be taking a quiz on their vocabulary words: stable, unstable, counter weights, and top heavy. After the quiz: the students will be working on a circus act. The firsties will be getting a golf ball to balance on after we read the book Circus. Then, my kiddos will be creating a circus clown to make and take...
Here is a video we watched that showed a circus performance of balance beauty... The kids were mystified!
Our balancing clown pattern...
balancing clown pattern Second Grade:
Our second graders are finishing up their solids and liquids unit. Time for...what is between liquids and solids? Oobleck and toothpaste! I put oobleck in a baggie for them to feel. I show them at the end how to make it at home. I read Bartholomew and the Oobleck to start off our time after we review solids and liquids and words to describe them. I then ask what about toothpaste? Solid or liquid. From there... If you would like a copy of my sheets, click and print:) Oobleck Sheet and Toothpaste Sheet . Hope that helps!
Third Grade:
Round two of the Water Cycle. Students will be watching Bill Nye the Science Guy and the Water Cycle. They will need to answer questions as they go.
The students will then create a Water Cycle Poster to explain the water cycle. Here is free water cycle poster project that I made for my kiddos...enjoy!
They will continue to work on he activity in their homerooms. The make and take of the day comes from Pinterest... at GirlStart.
Fourth Graders:
Coordination Stations my friends. FOSS at its finest. The kiddos love the challenge. I am working with a small group of students to reteach ligaments and tendons while the others are writing and illustrating what they already know about ligaments and tendons. We will then take a 3 question quiz. Students will then learn about the nervous system after reading a short passage with a partner.
We will then work on 4 activities that could work as stations. The first is the FOSS lesson on coordination (hand/eye). The students then can play...catch my finger.... tennis ball drop drill... and hand slap. (one person has palms up and one with palms down of the other. The bottom hands must try to slap the top hands). Before the kiddos are done, they will write in their science notebooks what coordination means and how the nervous system works.
Fifth Graders:
Fifth graders will be following the salt concentration lessons from FOSS as they put the soft drink lesson, George's Marvelous Medicine Lemonade, and salt concentration together. Next week, the quiz. The students will get a study guide to help them connect the vocabulary with the lesson. Here is the sheet they will use...
The thing is...my daughter had a car accident over winter break, and now it is time to get a "new" used one. Propane in WI is over $5 a gallon and yikes that bill was over $1000. So, mama has to get another job. We have an after school program that gets our kiddos another 2 hours of school. Our focus is to design activities that provide them with CORE lessons: reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. I created a three week unit based on KNEX kits we have based on roller coasters. I can't wait until it starts next week. We have an engineer coming to start the unit off, having our kiddos see their potential and know that they can do anything if they put that extra effort into it. I also am working on the next sessions unit...cardboard arcade. Stay tuned.
Check out the roller coaster unit on TPT. You can use this great STEM unit for your classroom, too.
We are learning about the human body, so what better time then the present to include some heart healthy learning. Here is what I made for my classroom teachers to use next week... Find it on my TPT site...Valentine Heart Healthy Stations
February has already been very busy! We started off at a 5th grade boys' basketball tournament, followed by driving our son to a birthday party, going out on a date with my husband out to eat (alone), then coming home to a messy house, my girls were in hot water...followed by my attempt to "catch up" on blog life. So currently... is hosting a currently February! That Farley rocks!
LISTENING... to a quiet house is sure nice after a day of boys' basketball.
LOVING... that my lessons that I started on Friday...my day of of my five day week... went so well. The kinders love shadows and puppets! Firsties love Mirette and their try at a tight rope...2nds loved the What's the Matter With Frosty activities....3rds loved the water cycle lesson with songs, demos, and games...4ths showed me they really understood ligaments and tendons and playing a game of indoor soccer with leg models helped after a week of indoor recess (and counting!)...fifths are preparing to make George's Marvelous Medicine (homemade lemonade, a great mixtures and solutions activity, taste testing and all!)
THINKING...we had an in-service this past Friday and Monday. We are looking at the new way to be assessed, SLO's and SMART goals...yikes. A lot to take in. I have been teaching 22 years and am soooo lucky to be teaching science...I love it, but to set a goal with a percent when I only see my kiddos once a week for an hour makes me nervous. Has anyone created any for science yet?
WANTING AND NEEDING... my almost 19 year old to come home next weekend for her birthday...however, my husband and I are also celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary out of town, before she arrives home. I can't wait to have all 6 of our family members around the table! What a gift for dear ole' mom!
My truths, I am not certified to teach kindergarten, however I "facilitate" their lessons. I actually love those little buggers! They are sponges! I also am nervous for the future of my children and for the kiddos I teach. Education is a bit scary right now. However...my fib...I love science and with all of the testing right now, I don't really want to go back to a regular ed classroom. I love that my students can't wait for science each week and they fight for the PBIS extra science class with me! It is good to be loved by so many wonderful students k-5!
I am throwing a SUPER BOWL SALE on my TPT site! All of my products are 20% off today! So take a little time out from watching the game and stop on by to see the great items you can get on sale!
This week has been a short week. We had an inservice day to discuss SLO’s for everyone. It is hard to write a SMART goal for me when I only see my kiddos once a week for an hour…so if anyone has any ideas, wow…send them my way. We have 8 teachers in our district in the same boat. The question is…do we write a math goal to go with the classroom teachers, a writing goal to go with along with the classroom teachers, or do a separate science goal? This is also hard because right now we do not have a common assessment. Maybe, that is what we need to do first.
What does your district do for smart goals for science?
As for FOSS next week, kindergartners are learning about weather and what a perfect time to learn about shadows due to Ground Hog’s Day next week. Here is what we did… We started off by checking the weather...it is snowing again. Five inches projected. We then talked about how fun it is to walk into Mrs. H's room and put their hands in front of the projector. I asked them what they see when they do that? I projected a blank screen and put my hand in front of the light. We discussed shadows. We experimented with how to makes a shadow bigger and smaller and what makes our shadow disappear. We need light! Bigger is when it is closer to the light and smaller when it is farther away. I then showed them the shadow video...they loved it and wanted to do that too!
We also made shadow puppets in front of the projector with our ground hog picture. The students wrote a sentence to show what the ground hog was going to do. We read Gregory’s Shadow to help them find a shadow in the room. I used the TPT free download for inspiration. I showed them several lessons on how to change the size of the shadow and what happens when there isn’t light.
Our own shadow puppets...
For first grade, we are continuing to work on balance. I started with our vocabulary words: staple, unstable, counterweights, and balance point. I asked them to look at a picture of a high wire walker to use the vocabulary words. Pierre Petit has a great collection of you tube videos. We started with the pictures. Then we read Mirette on the High Wire.
I then gave them a chance to work with Mirette and Bellini. I gave them the arch (Bellini) and the triangle (Mirette). I asked if they could get them to balance on their own. Then I asked them if counter weights would help keep them more stable. We gave them the popsicle stick for the table and asked them to use the clips to stabilize Mirette and Bellini. I then gave them the stable balance sheet to work on as the learned balance point and where the weights are. We did a few together and learned to predict the outcome as we learned what “top heavy” was. I made connections and shared times that things can be top heavy. Carrying a too heavy load of groceries, a muscle man, a pregnant lady, the game jenga. To finish up on the balance lesson we watched a video of the tight rope walker Phillipe Petit as he crosses two buildings.
The triangle is Mirette, and the arch is Bellini. The connection really makes sense to them. Do you see the lines on the ground? Our tiles are build in high wires. As they walk out...the too are balancing on the tight rope! Those cuties trying not to fall...
Our dear second graders are continuing to learn about liquids and solutions so I made a cute three part activity for TPT called What's the Matter? (solids and liquids) Science Stations. Check it out. I am using the What's the Matter, Frosty? part. Within one hour we:
1. filled snow in our bottles
2. we gave our snowman/woman a name
3. we measured how big and wide our snowman/woman was
4. we listed things snowmen should never do...hot tubbing, smore making, sleepovers...
5. we then read the book Snowmen All Year from the site We Give Books. It is a free site to join...and great books I might add!
6. we then listed what we could do if snowmen could be around all year... go on a picnic, rollerskating, swimming to name a few.
7. then we measured again...melting away after 30 minutes...half the size and getting skinnier!
8. We even wrote a snowman sequence story with cards I found on line.
9. We even made predictions as to what was going to happen over the weekend. We also asked questions: why no water at the bottom? Why condensed? Why so compact after it being full?
10. Next week, we will share the stories and the outcome.
Our third graders are working on the water cycle for the next two weeks. We started with the book Cleopatra's Tears. We watched a quick video on the water cycle, next.
We followed it up with the Water Cycle Hoe Down I found on TPT by Jenna Rupp. Kids love it! We then moved on to a water cycle demonstration...also found on TPT by Laura Candler. We also worked on two sheets that I bought from TPT Science Penguin. I love TPT!
As for my fourth graders...I am still working on ligaments and bones. We created the leg model and played soccer with the legs and marbles. I also tried ticket out the door in a new way...I gave them each an index card for them to show what they know about ligaments and tendons after watching the video from last week's FOSS Friday. I checked them and put them in piles of understands and doesn't. I will meet with my doesn't understand group next week. I was impressed with their understanding overall.
I can't wait until my first group of fifth graders on Monday. We are making George's Marvelous Medicine! Stay tuned... this week was a long one. I hope this helped make FOSS fun!
is hosting a currently February! That Farley rocks!
Our own shadow puppets...
