Happy Star Wars Day: Yoda Descriptive Writing and Yoda Swamp Slime!

May the Fourth Be With You my Friends!  I love the first week of May.  There are so many fun and interesting little bits and bobs about this week.

May Day, Cinco de Mayo, and of course Star Wars Day!

I'm going to have a ton of fun with my students on May the Fourth, and I wanted to share with you a few fun things I found to make it a Galactic Day! Of course.. one cannot begin teaching on May Fourth without:
a) playing Star Wars music... all... day...long
b) speaking like Yoda... all...day....long..<LoL>  Let's all admit THAT gets annoying after 20 minutes.

At any rate, I do have standards to focus on, so for reading we are going to finish up our Space Unit, so we are going to read about jobs that are part of the space program.  I assign my students articles from NEWSELA to read and annotate. Have you used NEWSELA before?  This sight is amazing!  I love that my students get the practice of reading and annotating on the computer.  Plus we can adjust the lexile level of the material, so it is a perfect way to differentiate within the classroom while still discussing a similar piece of informational text.  I'm still waiting for NEWSELA to come out with some specific Star Wars articles, so we'll have to read about space and pretend we are heading to a galaxy far...far...away.

To incorporate a little more language work with similes and metaphors, I am going to show my students the scenes where Luke first meets Yoda in the Empire Strikes Back.  I'm using these because it will relate to our STEM activity (Keep reading below).  We are going to brainstorm some adjectives, verbs and adverbs to describe the swamp, and I'm going to throw in some preposition work too.  We are going to incorporate these into a similes activity to describe Yoda and his home. I found this picture of Yoda on a free printables page.  I trimmed off the head and shoulders for a page topper, and then we cut the rest of the body up the middle so we could write on the inside and show Yoda's body.

I'm asking my students to write 3 similes and 3 metaphors that would incorporate a character trait of Yoda.  I'm  pushing them to enhance their work by trying to show the type of character Yoda was through his thoughts, words and actions.

Next Up:  STEM TIME!

I feel like the best part of the day will be our STEM time, because we will be making Yoda Swamp Slime!  I mean, the day can't get any better than that when we make Yoda Swamp Slime!  This is your basic slime craze slime with green food coloring.  For slime you need 1oz of glue, (which is perfect since we are talking about measurement conversions right now in math)which is about a quarter of a glue bottle by the way, 1/4 cup of water, food coloring (optional) and 1/4 cup of borax. You mix the glue and water together, add the food coloring, and then slowly add the borax until you get a good consistency.  The kids will need to use their hands, which of course is always a squishy gross feeling, but they will love making and taking HOME the Yoda Swamp Slime!

You can check out my Instagram and Facebook pages where I'll be posting some pictures of our Intergalactic day!

Do you have any fun celebration days coming up?  I would love to hear any other ideas or activities that you plan around Star Wars Day.. or any upcoming fun days for May!

Until then, May the Fourth... I mean Force Be With You!

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Using a Map for an Inquiry Based Learning Pre-Assessment: Natural Disasters

Our weather unit has been so much fun with a ton of hands on inquiry labs.  I wanted to share an activity that I used as we began our unit.  This is easy to complete in your classroom and tons of fun for your students.  What I really like about it is that you can use the activity as a pre-assessment of their basic knowledge without using a test.  Although I think graphic organizers like K-W-L charts are great activities, this map activity was different, and I saw a lot of engagement in my students.

Disaster Maps
A few days before I began our study of natural disasters I had students format a natural disaster map.  I divided my students into groups and gave each group a large world map and dot stickers.  I asked them to place stickers on the map to represent where they thought tornadoes, hurricanes and snow storms might be located.

We also placed a smaller version of this map in our interactive science notebooks and color coded it with colored pencils.  It was amazing to listen to the discussion and conversations my students had.  Their reasoning for placement is what I was really interested in listening to. It gave me a great idea of what misconceptions we might have going into the unit.  I gave my students about 15 minutes to place their dots, and prepare their justifications.  Each group was able to present their thinking, and we had a discussion about what we agreed and disagreed about.

Being on the Gulf Coast it was amazing to see that there were some groups who didn't place hurricane dots in our city or the Gulf of Mexico, some even had tornadoes placed in the Northeast, which rarely sees them.  This activity is a perfect pre-assessment for concepts!!  I had a really clear path as we moved forward, and was able to hone in on some key concept ideas that my students were lacking.

I would love to hear about other pre-assessment or inquiry based tools that you use in your classroom.  Thanks for stopping by to visit today!

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Interactive Science: Water Cycle Bracelets with The Incredible Journey

Do you teach the Water Cycle in your classroom?  One of the ways that I do this is with an activity called The Incredible Journey. In the Incredible Journey, my students pretend that they are droplets of water.  They go through a series of stations based on the roll of a die.  As they travel to each station they collect a bead to make a bracelet.  The stations include Cloud, Animals, Plants, Stream, Soil, Ocean, Mountain, Glacier, and Rivers. Depending on the number that they roll, they either stay in that station and collect a bead or journey to another station and collect a new bead there.

The Set-Up
The interactive activity is pretty easy to set up.  I bought a set of 1000 pony beads from Amazon for $2.95, and divided the beads by color.  I used these awesome containers that I found a Staples a few years ago.

I use cards that show each station.  The cards coordinate the journey with the a number rolled on the dice.  This made it easier than creating a cube with a picture of where students should go next.  

I use a small cup to contain the die. I cut a piece of string a little longer than the circumference of my wrist, and we knotted one end to hold the beads as we traveled on the journey.  I started students at all of the different stations.. seven in all which was a great way to spread them out.  

Cross-Curricular-- Writing in Science Class

I also have students keep track of their journey in their Interactive Notebooks for science.  They write down where they are and then where they are traveling to next.  I usually have them do about 12-15 station rolls.  This helps them to get through several stations within the journey.  The kids get so excited as they travel through the Water Cycle!

When we have finished the 12-15 rolls I have students color code their notebooks with the same colors as the beads.

Then we use the information gathered from the stations to write a story about our journey through the water cycle.  I also have students color code within the story.  I expect them to use water cycle wording as well.  Things like "Next, I evaporated into a series of storm clouds," or "I traveled as precipitation onto the Mighty Alps and skied my way down."  I like to challenge them to use as many science vocabulary words as possible from the units.

It's a perfect way for me to combine writing skills in the content areas.  I would love to hear how you add writing activities to your content areas!  If you want to try completeing The Incredible Journey with your class you can go to Project Wet {HERE} and read an overview of the component lesson.

Have a great weekend!

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Sparking Student Motivation: Back to School Activities to Keep Students Engaged

Phew!  I MADE IT through the first week of school!  WOot WOot! I had a great opening week and I am already loving the intelligence of my new sixth graders.
Today I wanted to link up with my BBB Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching to share a few activities that kept my students motivated on the first week of school.

In science we spent the week learning about safety and the scientific method.  As exciting  boring as that sounds, I knew I had to end the week with an activity that would keep my students thinking about science, and sharing it with their parents.  Have you heard about Saving Fred?  I first heard about this activity from some of my BBBs.  My friend Jivey has a great post about it {HERE}
One of the things I loved about this activity was that it needed very little prep. Gummy worms, plastic cup, peach ring and paper clips.  All things easily picked up in a quick shopping trip.
The premise behind this experiment is that Fred (our faithful gummy worm) has been trapped in a storm and capsized his boat (the cup).  Our job is to get Fred, into a life preserver and back in the boat using only the paper clips provided.  No hands touching the cup, or any of the materials.

What I particularly loved about using this with my sixth graders was what I had them do BEFORE they made their attempts to save Fred.  I call it a THINK TANK.  I gave them two minutes to THINK about how they would solve the problem on their own.  They could not share, touch or make eye contact with any group members.  Then I gave them 2 minutes to SHARE their ideas with their partners.. again, no touching, but the sharing had to come from NO talking.  They had to communicate their movements with gestures.  It was a great way to watch where frustration levels occurred and who would want to try and take over the group.  Next, I allowed them 2 minutes to share their ideas verbally, again with no touching the materials. Finally, I gave them 10 minutes to get Fred in his life preserver and back in the boat.

All of my groups but one was successful in that 10 minutes.  They had a blast attempting this activity!  Look at those silly happy faces!

Here a few FREE resources I found and used with this activity:

PowerPoint to set up Saving Fred {HERE}

Scientific Method worksheets for our Notebooks {HERE}

I used the PowerPoint to explain the scenario behind FRED, and the printed the worksheets 2 per page, had the students cut them out and make a booklet.  When we finished the activity we wrote a summary using sequence words and put this in our notebooks, gluing only the bottom page.  (Sorry I forgot to take a picture of that).  This helped us save space in our notebooks.

The second activity that helped keep my students motivated this week was in math.  I taught them a quick game I call Sum of the Dice.  Students get a game board that is numbered 1-9.  They need a pair of dice, and bingo chips.  Students take turns rolling the dice and covering up the sum on their board.  

For example if Student A rolled a 9, they have the option of covering the 9, 1 and 8, 2 and 7, 6 and 3, 4 and 5.  Once a number is covered, they cannot remove it. Then Student B rolls the die and covers his/her sum.   If the student rolls and the/she cannot cover any more numbers his/her turn is over.  You count up the uncovered numbers to get your score.  The person with the lowest possible score wins the game.  You can see that the boy in the picture below has all of his numbers covered except the 3.  This is his final score for the game.  He was a happy winner! ;)

This is a VERY VERY basic game for sixth grade.  But it does get them using mental math right away on the very first day of school.  It is also a great way for students to get to know their peers, AND it is easy for an older sibling to play with a younger one!  I always tell my students it is a good way to earn brownie points with their parents when they have to play with a younger sibling.  Any child that is learning or knows their number families can play this game!

Thank you so Joanne for hosting this great linky.

  I'd love to hear how you motivated your students this week!

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Earth Science Rocks and Minerals Bundle

Hi friends!  Happy Hump Day!  I just wanted to pop in and write you a quick note that I have bundled my two Earth Science products for Rocks and Minerals.

In the Bundle you get 7 reading passages that you can apply Close Reading strategies to.  I've given you directions as to how I handle this in my classroom.  There are 10 interactive notebook foldables, two labs, studyblock reviews, and two assessments, and of course answer keys (including suggestions for the foldables).  The easiest way to check this out is to download the preview and get and idea of the 80+ pages that are included in the bundle.  You can click on the picture about or {HERE} to take a look.
I hope you will find it useful with your students!

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Squared Away on a Sunday: Earth Science PD, Rocks, and Painting

Hello friends!  I think I've finally recovered from Vegas and I wanted to let you know a little of what I've managed to Square Away on this beautiful Sunday.

1)  After Vegas I spent last week at a Professional Development session for science.  This is how I am able to get the materials I need for my science labs.  The session was 4 days long, and it had ups and downs as every PD usually does.  One lab that I really loved was making magma and seeing how cool and hot lava affects the creation of a volcano.  When I actually do this with my class this year, I'll blog more about it, because I'm figuring out how to create the magma without the science kit I'm given, but in the mean time, check out these neat pictures of our lab:

2)  All this talk about science  has prompted me to finally finish my Earth Science Rocks Unit.  As great as our science kits can be, they don't cover everything, and I need to incorporate more reading informational text into my content areas.  This unit includes 4 passages on the three rock types as well as the rock cycle.  I do these using Close Reading strategies so we can really dig deep into the text.  I also use foldables for our interactive science notebooks, complete an easy lab-- this one shows the Rock Cycle with Starburst candy, incorporate a studyblocks review, and finally an assessment.  If rocks is something you teach, and you are looking for something complete, check this out.  

3)  Finally, after spending Monday through Thursday at the PD I mentioned above, I dragged my teenagers to my classroom and spent 12 hours painting.  Home Depot was kind enough to donate discontinued paint which I could have tinted.  I had to paint over this hideous blue wall.

I decided on a grey because my color scheme is white, red and black.  Plus grey goes with lots of other colors too and it won't show the dust that appears in my classroom.  We got SO CLOSE to making it on the 2 gallons of paint, but we were just a little short. I ran to HD to grab a quart for touch ups, and guess what happened! Yea.. this...

We had to repaint two of the walls.. can you hear me crying!  Luckily we got hit my a MONSOON rain storm, so we weren't going anywhere anyway, and we knocked out the nasty book cases too.

I have another week of PD and a softball tournament to take my "24" to this week, but then I'll be back in to clean up this disheveled mess.  

Hopefully, the paint will be dry by then! Enjoy your beautiful day!

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Minerals Galore! Reading, Interactive Notebooks, Labs and Studyblocks

School finished up for me Tuesday with a Professional Work Day.  I'm so glad to finally be able to be on my own schedule.  My own kids have had school this week, which has left me with Free Time!  I had originally planned on enjoying a few hours at the beach, but it has really been raining here, so instead I used the time to start looking at organizing my science units for next year.
This was the first year I've had to teach science in a very, very, long time.  So it was like being a brand new teacher.  I had to learn the material. I had to wade through the numerous amounts of folders, and plan and prepare.  I was traveling through my science time by the skin of my teeth.  THAT was NOT going to be happening again this year.

I spent some time putting my minerals unit together.  Take a look at what it has to offer:

We all know that there has been a huge push to teach reading skills in the content area, so I incorporated some Close Reading passages into my unit.  I'll have students cold read these and make connections, complete vocabulary picture notes after discussion, and then do a foldable for our interactive notebook.  One thing I love about these foldables is that they aren't all vocabulary based, but my students have to DO something with them.. hello!  and in INTERACT with the interactive notebook foldable!

For example, the first passage we will read is What is a Mineral?  Throughout this passage my students will learn the four characteristics used to classify something as a mineral.  When we have finished discussion and answering quick check questions they will put this foldable into their notebooks:

Inside I have them write down justification for each item.  The inside looks like this:

Last, we color code the items.  In this case we did green for mineral and red for non-mineral.  It was more than just an enter in your vocabulary kind of thing.

We also have a Project Based Lab to complete.  I think PBL is such an amazing tool, and I can't wait to have more opportunities in my classroom for this.  All of the instructions for the lab are included in the unit.  You just have to supply the minerals.  Most schools that have minerals in their curriculum supply minerals and rocks, but if you happen to not have them try contacting your high school or a local university.  I found both very helpful at loaning me items when I was looking for them this year.  You can also buy rocks and minerals kits fairly inexpensively online.  Try www.rocksandminerals.com  It might make a great Donors Choose project.

I also included a studyblocks review sheet and a unit assessment.  The fabulous, amazing, creative, teacher that I worked with at my former school taught me about studyblocks almost 15 years ago.  I love them because they can also be an amazing data tool for you to see what stuck with your students.

Basically, you give students boxes with topic headings.  Independently or with a partner, students fill in the most important information in each heading.  The key is not to use complete sentences, or have information overload.  The key is just a phrase or code word(s) that will help you remember the important concepts.  My students really loved these this year.  It helped them learn what was REALLY an important part of the unit.  I always make these AFTER I make up my assessment, so students know that what is on the studyblocks is ON THE TEST.  After all, my job in not to trick them into studying a whole lot of trivia.  My job is to teach them how to pull out and retain pertinent information.  After my students create their own studyblocks I have them use a different color pen or pencil and I show them my blocks.  They write down any further information that they may have missed and then use the studyblocks as a tool to prepare for the assessment.

Here is an example of the studyblocks for minerals.

If Minerals is on your list of subjects to teach next year, consider checking out my unit.  It will give you a chance to enjoy a little more of your summer vacation!  My Rocks unit is up next in the queue!

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