Five for Friday!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for five for friday!

I don't know about y'all, but this has been the loooooooongest week of the year! Shesh!
Full moon? I don't know if the lunacy is related, but I will use it as an excuse!
But the show must go on, so here's a peek at what I was up to this week! and be warned this is really random!

I have problems with Instagram, as in I see lots of cute clothes and jewelry and follow the IG'er and subscribe to their liketoknowit accounts, and click LIKE on EVERYthing, get the email about the outfits, and then buy it...
luckily one account I LOVE is a set of twins who love target! Go follow the double take girls! such cute outfits! I would've passed this flannel right up at Target if they had not styled it so many cute ways! oh, and the necklace too of course!

My teammate Katie and I have started switching classes in the afternoons. I LOVE teaching science and she loves SS, so I teach science to her youngins twice a week while she covers all the holiday jazz. Mondays are reserved for Letterland and Library and the other two days I repeat the lessons with my kiddos. She used my Day of the Dead unit and this powerpoint! The kids EATitUP every year. They've never heard of this holiday and it's the perfect followup to Halloween, plus it's just so different than our culture! If you didn't snag it for free earlier in the week, it's included in my unit now, as well as separately!

Now I was across the hall teaching matter. Which I love. When I had a kit to use. Y'all, it's hard to teach matter without my kit! But, I just supply my own little experiments now! I started out with a little refresher of what they learned about in first grade, and after watching BrainPop Jr, we broke out the magazines and searched for examples. Finding gas is always a treat! This activity is from Inspire Me ASAP! I've used it for  years now! Next week we will start with experiments because they sure do not believe air takes up space! =)

While I obviously use my unit for teaching the bulk of this unit, I always supplement with a few other amazing resources, especially ones for any crafts, reading, and more experiments! Here are the ones I use! because 2...or 5 Heads are better than one!

  

My team has tweaked our schedule just a tad to allow for some whole group reading. We actually only had time for our reading groups as it was. So I snagged Cheryl's The Ugly Pumpkin unit and off we went! Oh MY! They LOVED the book (and I do too!) Of course they all thought I was crazy for reading a Halloween book on Monday, Nov. 3, but I promised not all was as it seemed! I won't spoil the story, but it is for THANKSgiving! She focuses on making connections in the unit, so we watched Thank You, Mr. Falker on Storyline today (because Pat writes some great books, but they are long!) and I could believe all the connections they made! And I mean, seriously...look at these gourds! Oh My Gourd! I also love her unit because it has just what I need and not lots of fluff! She has some great book companions! and why yes, I DID hand write that title...I can copy a font like a pro, I just have to look at it and I'm obsessed with this font! I type whatever I want, pull it up on my screen, sit with my sharpie and go!

I also got a couple of tattoos this week. Not great pictures, but the twigs are above my elbow and I just can't get a good one anyway!

BOGO Deals Day 3: Matter!

Today's BOGO is one of my BEST sellers! 

I love teaching matter and I think this little unit shows!

It.is.packed!

I literally have to use nothing else! and that's awesome!

So if you buy Marvelous Matter today through Saturday, you get this fun little add on free! It will be included in the download for this week only. 

Double Double Toil and Trouble is regularly $3 in the shop, and it's perfect for Halloween! It brings all sorts of potions into your science time! and even if you are not teaching matter at the time, it can stand alone!

and here's the rest of the deals!

Wishlist Wednesday! a weekly giveaway!

My girl Jen had the best idea!
We all have TONS on our TpT wishlists...I do anyhow. I tend to wait til I know I need something unless there's a big sale! Then I find more like the very next day!
Well, Jen knows that teachers never rest and really wanted to make me work a little bit more over the summer, so....each Wednesday I will be joining her for Wish List Wednesdays!
As teachers we love some data, and the data shows us how many people have added our shop's items to their tpt wish lists! Cool right?!
And, believe it or not, 457 people have my Marvelous Matter for Little Scientists wishlisted! Not that I blame them, it's the best thing in the store! I firmly believe the best products are ones we have used and tweaked again and again! I have used this one for the past 4 years and edited it a lot over the years!
And it's my most favoritist unit to teach!

SO for the whole week, it's on sale and you can enter to win it! I will end the giveaway on Fridays so you don't have to wait around and see who wins!
Check out the pictures and enter the giveaway! or just buy it! cause that's what I always do! Impulse buyer here!
Happy Wednesday!

graphics from DJ Inkers and fonts from KG fonts and Zip-a-dee-do-dah!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

double double, toil and trouble

so excited about a little idea that popped into my mind two nights ago! We always finish up our matter unit around Halloween. What perfect timing for a little potion making! SO my first thought was sorting ingredients onto a witch’s shelves. Super cute, but I wanted something more after I made that.

Potions! I mean I really coulda used some mimosas magic potion today! Oh, I was foul today. It’s the whole idea that my second graders still cannot sit for more than two minutes without talking that’s getting me. Tests, lessons, speakers, anything in front of them-they talk…..argh. The dojo was working overtime today! If you have any tricks-please tell me!! I think I’m going to pick up a few exercise balls for some little hineys at Wal-Mart this weeked!

I digress…back to Matter!

oh, it’s so stinkin cute! Not to mention actually curriculum driven too.

      

and I also got that request for a Room on the Broom craft posted. Pick up this freebie here.

speaking of, my first dragon was, dare I say, cow looking! SO says my Middle Lamb! Mr. Lamb helped me work out the kinks and I’m happy with it now! that first one is pretty cowish!

Happy Half-way to Friday Day!

matter matters {and a giveaway}

Today we raced our ice off!

Along with the Common Core, our state adopted “essential standards” in SS and Science. For the most part, not much was changed. But they removed teaching gas from our matter standards…I know, how do you teach matter and then later weather changes without gas??? So, I’ll probably just keep up my same stuff!

But I did adapt a few of my matter lessons to focus solely on liquids and solids.

Yesterday I told the kids since I’d really dropped the ball on our matter study {it’s just not as fun without gas, what is?!} that we would have an ice race the following day! Woot! Well, since they had NO CLUE, they were excited today!

This was our first changing matter experiment. The only directions I gave to to be the first person to get all three pieces of ice to melt. We all wrote 10:22 on our time card {cause no one was allowed to touch the baggie til I said go} and off they went indeed. They sure came up with some interesting ways to melt little pieces of ice!

banging

smooshing

caught ya! Great idea though!

these gals stuck to friction

and she got it! No pieces left

Afterwards we discussed why I even had them do this experiment. They knew ice is solid and when it melts it’s a liquid. But after writing the method they used, we discussed what each had in common…creating heat! So in bog bold letters on the back of their index cards we wrote HEAT CAN CHANGE MATTER

I just updated my Marvelous Matter for Little Scientists unit to include this activity, as well as a Matter Menu where they will create a restaurant menu full of liquids, solids, and a combo option too. I also added a comic strip and additional Matter Changing Superhero template! Because in science, matter matters!

         

First THREE peeps to comment with their favorite science unit to teach will get a few copy! Be sure to leave your email address!

Marvelous Matter

I love teaching matter! We finished up our 5 week unit last Friday with a Marvelous Matter Mixture aka Coke Floats! This post is really a sharing of files and pictures of our activities. Most of these activities are included in my Marvelous Matter Activities for Little Scientists on TpT! I just got it listed this morning.

Our curriculum goals (at least until next year when we move to NC’s Essential Standards) include the 3 states of matter: Solid, liquid, and gas, their properties that make them different, and how they can change chemically or physically. To be exact they are:
*Identify three states of matter: Solid, Liquid, Gas.
For this goal I used Solids, Liquids, and Gases, Oh My from Lesson Plan SOS. After learning what the 3 states of matter are over a 3 day span (I do one type per day), we began this magazine project. I haven’t used it before, but I really liked it. We used old mags to find examples of each type. I am glad they added Combinations. Most matter we are around tends to be combinations of 2 types.
*Observe changes in state due to heating and cooling of common materials. *Explain how heat is produced and can move from one material or object to another. We played the Great Ice Race. This is an idea I got from our old science kit. Student pairs get an ice cube in a Ziploc baggy. I let them try to melt it anyway they can think of (within reason-no beating on others or destroying property!) Some sit their bags on the window seal, others sit on them, or rub them between their hands. Some put them under the lamp bulbs! They check in when there are NO remnants of the ice cube left and I record the times on the board. It can take anywhere from 4-15 minutes! Then we talk about what we tried and how those who used body heat tended to win. I have them rub their hands on their little pant legs, then rub them together to create friction. This friction can melt the ice quicker than leaving it alone.
We also sat a cube on a paper plate at each table group. They students described the properties of the ice then drew it. We went along as the ice melted then repeated the process with water and it’s properties.
Another fun activity was creating Matter Superheroes. We played the matter games on BBC and then talked about items we could use to change matter from one state to another. (I also intro chemical and physical changes at this time). They included some of these tools on their heroes belts. They’re adorable!
*Show that solids, liquids and gases can be characterized by their properties. We watched some great videos on United Streaming. There are 2 in particular that do a great job of explaining differences between matter.
Next I handed each group a bowl of items (they all had a stick of gum, a shell, piece of wire, straw, hair bow, a piece of coral or sand dollar, and other random things I found in my closet! It won’t matter. They were all solids of course. We did a quick review of the 5 senses used when describing properties, then they had at it. Each student chose 5 items from the bowl to describe.

 

 

Later on we discuss why solids don’t change shape, liquids move and pour, and gases float around. We made molecule models using round cereal (I used Cheerios) and watch The Magic School Bus Meets Molly Cule.
*Investigate and observe how mixtures can be made by combining solids, liquids or gases and how they can be separated again.
This is where the Coke Floats came in handy…and delicious! Students observed me pouring the Coke, of course we saw all the carbonation, then, as the ice cream is added, the gas levels really begin to rise! I made a small float for each kiddo to eat while they did the Marvelous Matter Mixture sheet labeling the 3 states of matter in a float.

  
*Observe that a new material is made by combining two or more materials with properties different from the original material.
For this you gotta make Oobleck! There’s just no way around it! I use a printable from Teacher’s Clubhouse after reading the book. Just a warning if you’ve not read Dr. Seuss’ Bartholomew and the Oobleck…it is long!
Lastly, I play matter SCOOT! If you don’t know about scoot, then scoot up closer! I first read about it on Second Grade Teachers’ Club. You set out {numbered} flash cards, math problems, vocab, anything you need to review. You could even set our items to identify. Kids sit at their desk and move to the next one when you say “Scoot!” Depending on your class it how long you need to allow (and what you have asked them to do). For Matter Scoot, they need no more than 30 seconds. I set out these cards and a Scoot answer sheet. If you have more kids it’s ok. They get a break time! I include little prompts for some that need explanations. Then it’s assessment time!