Decorating for Christmas: Rock Cycle Party Time!

This morning I told my students we were going to have a Rock Party in the afternoon.  They ooohhh'd and awww'd... and then they started getting nervous that I was going to have them eat real rocks.
It's that kind of class this year.
Really.
So this afternoon it was almost Rock Party time, and the kids had a hard time concentrating through silent reading.  It was more like read a page... look to see what I was doing... read another page... look... in the meantime I was passing out paper plates, 3 green "rocks", and 3 red "rocks" to each desk.
Then the party started and the kids got out their science workbooks  with all the fun tidbits of info.
Each type of rock had it's own moment to shine.
For Igneous Rocks I used Magic Shell on a cold cookie sheet (that I had ice packs sitting on for the majority of lunch.)  It wasn't the greatest thing in that the kids couldn't eat it as it didn't harden up as much as it would have on ice cream, but it still proved the point of the rock hardening.  

Sedimentary Rock was just the generic type Oreos.  I couldn't bring myself to spend $4 on Oreos (not even a full class set), when these store brand type were 60 in a package for $2.50.  The kids got the point of sedimentary rocks being cemented together due to pressure and enjoyed a 2nd cookie as well.

My personal favorite was Metamorphic Rocks.  I brought in my griddle and my Star Wars spatula (kids always get a kick of it even though I don't understand it) to make chocolate chip pancakes.  The point being that rocks change and form due to heat and pressure.  I mixed up the pancake batter at home, stuck it in a tupperware container, and just did a tablespoon of batter with a little sprinkling of chocolate chips on top.  2 rounds on the griddle and everyone was able to eat one.  

Now as we were going through the different rocks I was having them fill in their workbook for the comprehension piece.  They were also taking the green "rocks" to write the definitions of the rocks and the red "rocks" to write what made up the rock cycle.  We took a paper plate and trimmed out the middle to create a wreath shape, then the students glued their "rocks" to the outside edge.    

I specifically had them glue Igneous and Sedimentary with arrows pointing towards Metamorphic as both kinds can change to Metamorphic if something makes it change.  The kids showed their understanding of the concept, and now they have little wreaths they are able to share with their family.

Another plus - my classroom smelled heavenly like chocolate chip pancakes...

3 more days...