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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Who Doesn't Love a Fun Game!

Happy Saturday everyone! Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend....mine is going great but it has been super busy so far! It started with a Friday night football game....Go Bears! We won 48-8....it was an awesome game! Then, this morning I had to be up bright and early to attend a Learning Wheels workshop at 7:30. Well, I didn't have to be....I signed up for it. Anywho, it was a science workshop where they teach you these really fun games to play with the kids for review of all the concepts they are learning. It is a super fun workshop....and I made an easy $150.00 as well as getting around $200.00 worth of games for free!!! They are really fun games and the kids love them. Debrah Harman, one of the creators of the company, was our trainer. She is from Texas and is just the sweetest lady! You can read about her company here. They do math, reading, and science workshops and they are all lots of fun. Here are the games I got. You can read about them here if you are interested.

Well, anyway, I got home around 2:00 and decided to blog for a while before I get ready to head out to hang out with the hubs and some of our closest friends..) Not sure what we will do.....maybe game night....maybe just hang out and talk....who knows, but it will be a fun night. It's raining....AGAIN....in good old sunny Florida, so I do know we won't be outside. I would love a good game of redneck golf if it was nice out! If you've never played, you should! Here's a picture of the game. It is so much fun!

This is a picture I found online to show you! I wish this lawn belonged to me!

Maybe a game of Jamaican Rummy! That's a fun game...:) Anywho, we'll find something to do. I hope you all have a fun evening spent with the ones you love the most...:) 

Before I go, I wanted to share an exciting bit of news! I can feel a slight bit of fall in the air!!!
This is always a huge welcome in Florida....I am so tired of the heat and humidity!
I absolutely love the fall....minus the allergy problems that always flare up! I love the weather, the colors, the decor, the holidays, I just love it all!

Be Blessed!

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Teddy Turtle & a Beautiful Rainbow!

Today I want to share my classroom pet, Teddy Turtle. Teddy is red-eared slider and I have had him for about 8 years. I got him during my first year of first grade. We had a bear theme that year, thus the name Teddy! He has so much personality for a turtle and is very interactive with the students. Speaking of students, they LOVE Teddy every year! Even my sophomores at the high school loved him last year and I had to fix them a feeding schedule so they could have turns feeding him. They were too funny...:) In 5th grade, my Lab Assistant in each of my 3 blocks feeds him. They are only allowed to give him 3-4 reptile sticks since he gets fed three times each day. They sure do love him though and each of them are waiting patiently for their turn to feed him! He has had lots of artwork made especially for him this school year and you can see it displayed under and above his tank in the third picture. In the second picture, you can see him waving at my finger I tell the kids he is waving, but in reality, this is what they do when they "like" another turtle....lol! 

I just had to share the beautiful rainbow I saw on the way home yesterday. Luckily my hubby was driving and I was able to snap some pictures. It was just gorgeous! The pictures just don't do it justice...:) I hope it brings a smile to your face like it did mine! I watched it all the way home and was reminded of  God's promise to us....:)

Well, I'm off to the high school for some Friday Night Lights!

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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3-Day Weekend, Monday Made It, September Currently!

Let me just begin by saying, I have thoroughly enjoyed this 3-day weekend! After being in school for two weeks, it was much needed to do some "catching up" on everything....house cleaning, laundry, blog stalking, resting, grocery shopping, lesson planning, and the list goes on! But now, on to the fun stuff!

For this week's Monday Made It, I finally finished my No Names plaque. I started it a month ago and it just kept getting pushed to the side since I didn't really need it as much as other things I was trying to finish up! I found the large clothespins at Michael's over the summer. At the time I didn't know what I was going to do with them, but I just had to have them! They were too cute to pass up....you know the feeling, right? They were all pink, but I spray painted two of them. They are  attached to a wooden plaque that I already had. I mod-podged turquoise blue scrapbook paper on it and attached the clothespins with a little Gorilla Glue. I wrote No Names with Elmer's glue and sprinkled white glitter on and added some rhinestones to bling it up a little!  I like the way it turned out! Be sure to head on over and visit Tara at 4th Grade Frolics to see what everyone is making! I'm glad it's down to once a month now....maybe I can keep up with that now that school in session!

Another thing I am sharing is the birthday postcards that I designed on Vista Print for my students. I used these last year at the high school and I had lots of them left so I am using them for my 5th graders too! On one of their get to know you papers, I ask them to tell me their favorite candy and that's what I give them for their birthday. My high schoolers loved it and couldn't wait for their turn! They were always excited to see what candy they had written down at the beginning of the year too! My 5th graders are just as excited....we've already celebrated three birthdays and are just starting our third week of school tomorrow!

 Speaking of birthdays, I finally got around to writing all their birthdays down on my giant cupcakes (see pic below....before I added names) and discovered that not only do I have a student with a Halloween birthday, but I have students with a Christmas and a New Year's birthday  as well...:) Too cool!

And last but certainly not least, I'm linking up with Farley over at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade for September Currently! I just puffy heart love Currently and reading what everyone is doing!

Be Blessed....and enjoy your Labor Day! Best of luck to those of you just heading back to school tomorrow! I hope you have a fantabulous week!

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