Throwback Thursday: Hands On Science

Hi everyone!  My Throwback Thursday post is from last December.  I completed owl pellets in the classroom - and while I am glad I did it, I wish I had tackled it when I was "supposed" to in October. This next year - bring it on!  

Linking up with The First Grade Parade to share my post from December 2012

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I made it!! Owl pellets are complete! I took pictures of some of my happy (and slightly grossed out scientists). A mom donated a box of masks for them to feel official. It didn't help the smell though.

Here's my list of how I chose to prep:

*Butcher paper to keep the desks clean - the plan was to do this outside but it was still extra cold after recess, so we set up inside. Windows and door open... It was smelly!

*Each partner group had a bag of pellets, a heavy duty paper plate to dissect on, a bone bowl, tweezers (borrowed from the middle school science class),a plastic spoon,and a toothpick. I also had skeleton and bone sorting sheets in sheet protectors for the groups to use throughout the process. These came from the company.

*Each kid had their own mask, gloves, and recording paper from Scholastic's printables. After they were done they also got a piece of cardstock to glue their bones on and a Barn Owl Food Web sheet to color from Google Images.

*Each parent helper had a spray bottle full of water to help soften the pellets.  I borrowed these from my old grade level - it's always nice to visit and chat.  :)

So what were the steps for us?

- Students predicted what would be inside and filled out their paper to also describe what the outside looked like. While they were doing that the parents were helping me pass out supplies, open pellet bags, and spraying the pellets to make them moist.

-They started dissecting and putting bones into their bone bowls. One kid seemed to like digging in more, so while they dug the other person cleaned the bones. This part easily took 45 minutes to an hour.

-The second hour was spent deciding which partner got which bone, gluing their bones onto the cardstock, labeling each bone on the paper, filling in the reflection part of their worksheet, and then finally cleaning up.

-As they finished the adults cleaned their desks thoroughly with disinfectant spray and the kids colored an owl food web on the carpet. My kiddos love to color!!

All in all my class completed all this in about 90 minutes. I did need to encourage some kiddos to keep moving.

I'm sure dinner discussions are great tonight.

Well, that was this morning... Hope you had a good day!! One more day...

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I guess the moral of the story is that hands on science is fun (even though it's also sometimes gross).  Don't be afraid of it, have fun with it - and give the kids a memory at the same time.  

Tried it Tuesday: Daily 5

Last summer I shared a bunch about my thoughts on the book Daily 5, and how I incorporate the concepts into my classroom.  Since I didn't know many of you back then, I figured I would write a post with the different links to make it easy.

Word Work and Work on Writing

Read to Self

Daily 5 - Organizing groups

CAFE to FACE strategies

Yes, my 4th graders use Daily 5.  No, with our schedule it isn't possible to do all 5 rotations throughout the day.  I set it up a little different than the book, it's more like a Daily 3.  We complete Read to Self at the same time (right after lunch) every day.  Many of my kiddos over the years have always needed complete quiet to really focus, so it didn't make sense to have kids reading with a partner during that time.  Everyday we also complete Work on Writing.  They have their assignment that they must do (a small portion of the main weekly project), but when they are done they get to work on their writing choices.  In my district we have to use Open Court for our reading, but I also incorporate time for students to have 20-30 minutes of their choice of Word Work, Work on Writing, Listen to Reading, or Read to Someone.  So - about 3x per day it's set up in a partial Daily 5 format.  We make choices, we do mini lessons, we have that motivation that the Sisters talk about.

During one of our times of rereading the weekly OC story, I give students the opportunity to Read to Someone (partner reading) with their comprehension checkmarks, and the opportunity to Listen to Reading using the MP3 players.  My teacher time is in small groups or working with individuals during that "workshop" choice time, during silent reading, or any other moments of the day that I have time to check in.

During teacher time that first year I did try to do the Open Court lesson with the small group of students, but going through the long stories 4 times throughout the day took forever - and it wasn't a good use of my time.  Small moments with those 4 "region" groups made a bigger impact.  (I broke my students up into our state's "regions" since we learn about them at the beginning of the year - so I have a coast, valley, mountains, and desert group.)

Have no clue what I'm talking about?  I highly recommend reading the Daily 5 book - and just read it knowing that you can adjust it to fit your own classroom.  The first year I tried to do it all - and was left feeling completely overwhelmed.  When I reread it during the next summer and made it my own - I was much happier. Linking up with Holly over at Fourth Grade Flipper since this is something I've definitely tried.  :)

Happy Reading!

2 Linky Parties: Ten Pin Math and Throwback Thursday

Good morning everyone!  Before I dive into the point of blogging today, wanted to remind you of the Bloglovin' giveaway and the School To Do linky going on from yesterday.  

Linking up today with Ashley over at Just Reed with 10 math pins from my Math Board.  Click on any of the images and it will take you to the pin, then onto the blogs/websites.

I'm excited to start Math Journals this next year...

...and I want to start out the year with a Fact Family Neighborhood.

This will be one of the first things I share with the kids...

...and I want to incorporate more fun math fact games.

This past year I started doing math centers, I enjoyed them immensely.  I want to set it up similar to this Daily 5 math to match all the other Daily 5 anchor charts.  

In their lapbooks/interactive notebooks, I want to remember to use toothpicks for geometry, 

and to use this "M" strategy during factors and learning LCM.  

With Teacher Time, I want to add this aspect on when checking in with kids.

Fractions are almost always the most difficult for my 4th graders to learn, so I like this list of ideas to make it more interesting.  

I also love this freebie to make coordinate points a fun review.  

Then I'm linking up with Cara from The First Grade Parade for a post from way back when...

actually September 6, 2012 at 5:29 pm

Regions Maps

Last Friday we created our Region Maps.  The students had to bring in 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of salt in a gallon sized bag.  For homework they also had to practice drawing our state.  My wonderful parent helpers came to help monitor the students as we poured 1 cup of water into the bags, sealed them up, and they gently "massaged" the bag to make a cookie dough type mixture.  

A wonderful school mom donated 12x12 cardboard pieces from her business, so the students had to draw our state nice and large on the boards.  They then had to form the different regions, making sure to remember San Francisco Bay, the different mountain ranges, the large valley in the middle of the state, and a nice flat area for the desert in the southern area.  Once again, with this group of kids, I am so glad for extra eyes.  

So yesterday was painting day after they dried all weekend long.  I put the kids into groups of 6 or 7, and they shared the same color.  There is no need to wash out brushes between colors.  They just sit and work until it's time to switch spots.  We do the set up outside on the ground.  3 bowls of paint per group and I use tiny little brushes for all colors except the Ocean.  Those need the big brushes or they will never finish.  This year I also pulled out the laminated maps that came with the S.S. curriculum and labeled the specific areas they needed to paint when they went to that station.  The students only needed between 5-10 minutes per color, and no one switched until they were all ready to get up and move.  5 switches later and they were all done.  

 The Coast was purple.

 The Desert was yellow.

 The Valley was green.

 Mountains were brown.

 The Ocean (which I had them mark a X on the correct side of our state before we headed outside) was blue.  

When we came inside we took 1/2 pieces of index cards and created a Legend.  These are on their desks drying overnight.  I think these projects might be going home tomorrow.  :)  Have a good night!  

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I hope you enjoyed this walk down memory lane.  Since that post I did make up a Regions Pack to add more depth to my regions lessons.  It is posted in my store.  Maybe it can help someone. :)

Have a great day!

Revisiting the Plink

Hi Everyone!  Today I'm supposed to be getting off the boat.  I wanted to share one last revisit with you before I get home and get back to internet. :)

At the beginning of last school year I showed off this picture.

It's my team behavior system.  The power of the plink.  During the past school year I used it on a daily basis.  Some months I only had 2 teams, other times 5 or 6.  It worked the same though no matter the circumstances.  

I have glass marbles/gems that I drop inside the plastic cups.  Those plastic cups are located on my metal whiteboard.  Even one marble drop makes a loud "plink" sound, which gets so much attention.  I change up my team/seating arrangements every month, so at the end of each month we count the team points from the cups and the winning team gets a prize.  Sometimes it's a box of donut holes, sometimes it's a homework pass or school cash.  They buy into it. 

How do the teams get a point?  For being on task, being quiet, doing their best, cleaning up their area, having their books ready to go after transitions...  simple stuff.  

I will definitely be using this again next year. 

Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with pictures from the trip.  :)  If not, then definitely for Five for Friday!       

Revisiting Labels

Hi everyone... Yes, I'm still gone but had something else I wanted to revisit.

Labels!  

Remember last year when I got the deal of the century over at Office Max - 6,000 labels for pennies?  Anyhow, I made a bunch of labels to start out the year.

I had...

*writing labels

*Ask me about my test labels

*AR level labels on the back of ID cards

*Math Score Labels

*Parents, Please Sign and Return

*Parent Response Labels

*AR Levels

*Team/Student #'s

At the beginning of the year I was using all of them.. until I ended up forgetting to bring the labels to school and making more copies.  It was a good way to start out the year, oh so organized.   

So, what ones will I continue this next year?  

1.  The kids really got a kick out of the Ask Me about My Test ones.  Of course so many of my kids were getting them that I probably should have just made some buttons/awards/medals to have them wear for the day.  It's a future Monday Made It.  I just don't have the label deal again at this moment in time.  So yes, will do - just probably not in label form.  

2.  I will also definitely keep doing the Student #'s again.  In fact I already put student labels on the new workbooks/curriculum that was delivered before vacation started.  

3.  It was a good thing to use the writing labels (picture above) on the bigger final draft/projects, but I mainly only used them after a while on the ones that didn't score proficient.  I wanted to save them. 

4.  I will definitely do the AR levels again on the back of their ID cards.  It helped keep me organized when we went to library since it allowed myself, the student, and our librarian to know the level of books they should be reading.  

5.  The home communication sticker on low test grades "Parents, please sign" was also a winner.  It helped me to know that the parents did indeed look at their child's work, so it was a clue in before progress reports and report cards.  

What will I NOT print again?  

*I don't see a need for their math scores on a sticker.  It wasn't necessary last year like I thought it would be last summer.  

*The parent response labels "Thank you for your note.  I did see it, but there wasn't time for me to write you back before the end of the day..." - I still have these from last summer if I ever do need it.  Most parents usually email, hardly any wrote in the kids' agendas.  

If you want any of the labels I mentioned, head back to the old post (links are in green above) to download from Google Docs.

Hope this helps someone!  

Revisiting Birthday Pencil Bouquet

Hi again!

Today I wanted to revisit my Birthday Bouquet from last summer.  Here it is:

The kids really looked forward to getting to choose their pencils.  I had used the dicuts from the Dollar Tree, but I think they were a little too thin, going to use card stock next year, and print them out of my Cupcake Birthday set (see below).  My friend used silly straws and they were adorable too.  

I'm definitely going to be prepping this again this summer.  Hope you have a great day!  

Revisiting Homework

Hi everyone - I'm still cruising along... do you miss me yet?  I'm sure that I'm going through withdrawal from not having internet....  and yes, all these revisits were written and scheduled back when I should have been packing for the trip.  :)

Priorities and all that... 

Anyhow, I found another post from last summer that you may remember... Homework Folder.  

Last year my students brought in their own homework folder and we stuck a sheet protector inside.  They kept these papers tucked in there basically all year long.

Their daily homework checklist

Their spelling unit list

Now last year I also mentioned the sheet from Teaching in Room 6, but it turned out to work better in their folders as a reference guide.  

What do I want to add for next year?  I've been eyeing these monthly reading log menus from 3rd Grade Thoughts

Actually my entire grade level has been eyeing them to use next year.  We are thinking that it would give the students the perfect opportunity to use the different reading skills.  :)  Just a little something...

Hope you had a great day!    

Revisiting Clipboards

Yep - I'm still gone... Do you miss me yet?  Here's another revisit post in case you never saw it....

Remember this picture from last year?  

Last summer I spray painted my clipboards in my front yard for a Monday Made It.  I have loved them and they really have held up to the demands of 9 and 10 year olds.  Kids didn't write or doodle on them, except for a couple of markings on the top silver spray.  They still look great.  A couple of them have part of the red ribbon unraveling, which is understandable - the kids used these basically every day.  I probably should have used another type of ribbon at the time, but I went with the cheap thin stuff (which was what I could afford).  I'm thinking of replacing the ribbon when I go back in August.\

I did end up adding a huge apple sticker to the back of each clipboard.  It wasn't necessary at all, but all the stickers held up over the course of the year and was a great addition to tie it into my apple theme. 

If you are thinking of doing this project this summer I still totally recommend it.  Just remember to get a bunch of cans of spray paint since it takes a bunch to cover them all on the front and back.  Also pick up a drop cloth and watch out for the wind.  It took me 3 cans of blue and 1 of metallic.  Maybe a different color wouldn't mean as many coats - of course I love my blue!  Use a cut file folder to place under the clip part if you decide to spray metallic colors on the top (to protect the color underneath).

The link above goes back to my post from last year.  

Hope this helps someone.  :)  

Revisiting Student Yearly Challenges

Hi everyone - I'm still somewhere in Alaska, so I found this post from last summer that you may not have read.  

Student Yearly Challenges - Reading, ELA, and Math

Last summer I had just read The Book Whisperer for the first time and wanted to make up my own form for my students to aim toward.  Instead of the author's 40 book challenge, I changed it to 32 books.  

How did it work out?  It was so great!  The readers were reading, the kids were excited.  I didn't push the different genres in my class, but we did discuss it together.  I just wanted them reading since so many of them started the year at least 2 years below grade level.  As they finished their charts, they had a choice of classroom tickets, extra credit, or our school cash.  I'm definitely going to continue this next year, I'm just thinking of making it cute before I print it again - adding some clip art or something... another summer project.

The other 2 charts I mentioned last year I mainly started pushing closer to testing time.  Throughout the year I had my students circle the different skills after we finished the specific standards so they knew what to practice.  As we started getting into main test prep, I went over their specific areas and made sure they practiced the ones they hadn't mastered yet.  

This is the Internet 4 Classrooms game board

This was for IXL.  

 All in all - highly recommend something to get the kids motivated to take responsibility for their own learning.  

Have a wonderful day!