Energy Everywhere!

I thought I would share what we have been working on this week. My kiddos are learning about the various forms of energy and I found a great idea here that we have been doing! They had to draw their bedrooms and things in their rooms and label items with the correct form of energy. They had to represent each form of energy we have been studying at least once. Here are several of their drawings. There are more girl drawings than boys....my girls took more time and did a better job! They turned out really well...:)

The students really enjoyed this activity and so did I. Hope you are all having a great week! I am but I am looking forward to the 3-day weekend coming up too! Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Be Blessed....

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Making Moon Craters!

Just wanted to share a fun, and simple activity my kiddos did in class today after their Solar System test. They made moon craters! They had such a fun time with this activity. They used a pan of flour....oops, I mean moon dust, a large marble......meteor, a yard stick, a ruler, and a recording sheet for this simple activity. Oops...I almost forgot, they also used goggles....didn't want to get any flour dust in their eyes. They were so excited to have a chance to wear them! It's the simple things...:) 

Anywho, the purpose of the activity was to see how a crater forms when a random space object crashes into the moon. They dropped the marble from 12 inches for 3 trials, and then from 24 inches for 3 trials. They had to measure each crater in millimeters or centimeters and record their data on the table I created for them. They worked in small groups and did a great job....except for 2 or 3 who thought they needed to play in the flour....LOL! Kids....gotta love 'em! They thought it was cool that craters and even footprints can stay on the moon for millions of years since their is no weather there to wash or blow them away! Here are a couple pictures of the activity. 

Measuring a crater!

This one went deep in the moon dust...:)

Close-up of a crater.

Bombs....or should I say Meteors Away!

Well, that's all I have to share for today! I hope you all are finding time to squeeze some science in your day! I know it's hard to find the time when you are responsible for all subjects, but science is so fun and the kids love it.....so have fun!

Be Blessed...:)

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Oreo Moon Phases, a Moon Viewer, & Discovery Education!

Hello all my blog peeps...:) Hope you all are having a fantabulous year! I know I am! I am absolutely loving 5th grade and teaching only one subject....science! We have been learning all about our Solar System for the past couple weeks and today we got to have some fun....not that we haven't had fun on the other days, but today involved food! 

The kids made Oreo Moon phases. Have you ever done this? Here is a picture....from the Internet, because we were so busy I totally forgot to snap some pics! 

 Since I have three blocks....60 students...I had them work in groups of four and assigned two different phases to each student. I didn't want to spend $50 on Oreos and that's about what it would have been to give them each 8 cookies! Not to mention....they don't need 8 cookies each! Anywho, they each made their two phases and then had to assemble them to show the phases in order.....similar to the picture above. They had a blast doing this and they couldn't wait for me to check their work so they could eat them! 

After they finished this project, we started making one of these....see picture below. Again, this is one from the Internet since I forgot to snap pics while we were working!

It's a moon viewer. They are making one to take home with a moon phase calendar so they can track the phases of the moon for a month from home. They are having fun with this project too!

And before we did any of this, we watched this video on Discovery Education. 

www.discoveryeducation.com

Does your school have access to this site? Oh my goodness.....it is AMAZING! They have so many resources...for every subject and/or topic you can imagine! My students took the Discovery Ed science assessment. It is set up similar to the FCAT science test that Florida students have to take in 5th grade. The data can be viewed in so many different ways and everything is color-coded which is great for visual people like me! I love, love, love Discovery Ed! I am new to it and would love for you to share your favorite parts of it if you are a DE user. Please leave me a comment and share!

Be Blessed!

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Science Songs, 2 Cool Websites, & a BTS Package!!!

Do any of you use songs to teach? 

I have discovered some awesome science songs over the past year. My 5th graders love them and want to listen to them over and over. The Solar System song is their current favorite! The picture below is from the video.

 Aren't they cute...:)

It's the most soothing song....and it runs through my head ALL the time! I will never, ever forget planet order...LOL!

Another one I love is the Photosynthesis rap. My sophomores loved this one last year. It is really catchy! I plan to use it this year as well. 

Today I found this one about the phases of the moon. I think the kiddos will really like this one! 

It is a tune they will recognize too!

Ok...on to a couple of awesome websites! Are any of you using Class Dojo? I just started today even though I discovered it over the summer. I had too much on my plate to start something new at the beginning of the school year but since we are finishing week 4 tomorrow and I needed a different behavior plan for my 3rd block, I decided to try it. Let me just tell you.....they LOVED it! I am using it with all 3 of my blocks and they all thought it was too cool! Each student is assigned a monster avatar and they can earn positive points or negative and have points taken away or even go in the red. You can assign the different things you want to award or take points for. The computer keeps up with the points and will show you a class average of positive and negative behaviors as well as keep up with students individually. You can print reports or e-mail them to parents. You can reset it to start over every week, every 6 or 9 weeks or however long you want it set for. It is pretty awesome. I am going to come up with a plan over the weekend for rewards for positives and consequences for negatives. You can check it out here.

Here is a picture of the cute little monsters you assign the kids. There are also other avatars, but they aren't nearly as cute to me and the kids didn't like them as much either. I let them choose which avatars they wanted. 

Another awesome website I found out about today is called Ninite. It is amazing....you can install and update software from this one site. Anything you can think of....from messaging sites to media. They are all there! My cousin, who is a tech junkie and who happens to be one of our school tech specialists, showed it to me today. She was in my room working on my student stations...:) Anywho....it is totally awesome! Go check it out!

And last,  but not least..... I got my Back to School package in the mail today from one of my sweet ProTeacher friends! Several of us signed up to send a package to a PT friend. It was so fun shopping for my friend as well as receiving my package today from another friend. You could choose to remain anonymous or reveal your PT identity if you chose to. I got lots of goodies from my PT friend....who did choose to reveal her identity! She sent me 3 purple pocket charts, 3 sets of science flashcards, a rubber band ball, a Chicken Soup for the Teacher's Soul book, and a container full of brightly colored binder clips, paper clips, and jolly ranchers! I was tickled 

PINK 

to open the mailbox and see my package in there! I love getting packages in the mail....especially when they are so cute.....see the turquoise padded envelope in the background!!! 

Well, I guess I should go.....if you're still reading this, I'm sure you are thinking I'm long-winded and are beyond ready for me to wrap things up.....;) Sorry if I rambled! I couldn't help myself!

Be Blessed!

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My Classroom Door Wreath & a Science Tools Lesson!

 Hi everyone....hope you all had a happy Tuesday! I know for some of you it was your first day back with students and I'm sure you are P...O...O...P...E...D! I know I always am on the first day....oh, who am I kidding? I am exhausted every day for the first week and sometimes longer! Anywho, I hope you all had a great day...:) I decided to tell you about a lesson we did in class today and it reminded me that I never showed you pictures of my door wreath. I use this same wreath every year and just change out the ribbon and decor to match my theme. Well, since I am teaching science this year, I decided to use various science tools on the wreath. It's nothing fancy, but it serves the purpose! It has a couple different size test tubes, a magnifying glass, a compass,tweezers, goggles, and a welcome bunting I made. The sign on the door is the sign I made for my biology class last year. It is from Vista Print. I couldn't bear to throw it away so I used white-out to cover biology and replaced it with science. It isn't perfect, but it will do. 

On to the lesson. I decided to have the students do an activity similar to Scoot for this lesson. As you can see in the pictures below, I numbered and labeled each item. I then placed them on 14 desks around the room and had the kids roaming around the room to write down the name of each item and also what they thing it is used for in science. Tomorrow they will find out what the items are really used for and write that information in on the form they made today. The students really enjoyed this activity and had fun examining each item...:)

Well, that's it for now! I have a few ideas for upcoming posts, so until then, have a fantastic week!

Be Blessed!

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Monday Made It, Really Want It, & Gotta Win It!

My Monday Made It for today isn't too exciting, but I like how they turned out, so I'm sharing! I found the ideas while searching for something on google. They are posters for my classroom. Since I have 3 blocks, I just made them and am going to hang them after they're finished. We talked about non-fiction text features last week, so I made this poster to keep up in the room as a reminder. I still have to make copies of the various features to glue on the poster. The other poster is titled....What is a Scientist? A scientist is someone who.......I will have the kids brainstorm about scientists during each block and add the words they come up with and then it will hang in my room. That's all I have for this week....I can't wait to see what you made! Be sure to hop on over and link up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics and share what you made!

OK....so I had to go get some blood drawn after work today and my nephew had a dentist appointment so I just rode with him and my sister. I was absolutely awed by the beautiful salt water aquarium in his dentist's office. It was the most beautiful one I have ever seen! The colors of the fish and the corals and they way they sway gently back and forth in the water.....so soothing! I could watch it for hours! If they weren't so costly to build and maintain, I would have to have one! Maybe when I retire one day....:) Here are a couple of pictures I took!

And now.....drum roll, please! I am thrilled to announce my blog buddy Crystal over at Ms. Jones' Junction is hosting a fabulous giveaway for reaching over 100 followers! I really want to win so I can be the proud owner of a second laminator! I contributed to the giveaway too, so hop....or should I say mosey on over there and enter to win! You have several opportunities to get your name in the drawing! 

Good Luck & Be Blessed!

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Before & After!

I was so happy to get somewhat caught up today after school! There has been something going on literally every day this week, from a training to meeting with the other 5th grade teachers to try to work out scheduling issues, yada, yada, yada! I know I'm preaching to the choir though because you know exactly what I'm talking about! Anyway, I took a couple before and after pictures to share. Funny how quickly things start changing when the kiddos arrive isn't it? Here's the area I do most of my teaching from. You can see that it looks a little different that it did pre-kiddos! You can see my Home Depot nail apron pocket chart hanging on the right side of the board. I have clinic passes in it now and will find other things to store there as the year goes on. I don't know about you, but I have to move things around and tweak everything until I feel like it's working for me. I like everything to look good, but I also like things to flow smoothly and be student friendly and not too perfect! 

Before-Kiddos

After-Kiddos

Here's another before and after shot. Again, I have moved things around a little and am still in the process of tweaking this area. I did want to point out the Scientific Method on the cabinet doors in the after picture. These were courtesy of  Kristen over at Ladybug's Teacher Files. Aren't they adorable....and they're free if you want to snag them too! I just love them...:) Thanks Kristen....you're a sweetie! We've been learning about the scientific method this week and will be using it all year long! I finally got a chance to put it up after school today! I made little arrows to put beside each step, pointing to the next step, and also little conversation bubbles at the end. What do you think?

Before

After

 This isn't all I have been teaching of course! 

We have been learning how to use our interactive science notebooks and today we started learning about nonfiction text features! 

Having a great week so far.....hope you are too! So....what have you been teaching this week?

Be Blessed!

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