Integrate Science and Writing

Are you running out of time for teaching science each day with the main focus being math and language arts while science and social studies get the short stick?Well, I just may have a solution for you.

I have revamped a product that I made and used in the classroom many years ago. 
Now this resource is a PDF as well as a Google Slide.Use it in-person with students in your classroom or use it during a google meet or zoom by sharing your screen and having a discussion about the animal similarities and differences. The absolute best part of this lesson is the discussion. Kids are so funny and when you start getting them talking about animals and their prior knowledge about each animal I promise someone will say something that shocks you and is funny. Those laughable moments turn into teachable moments where you are also making connections with your students and building relationships. 

Response sheets are included that can be printed or shared in google classroom. This is where the integration of writing comes in. You can print the response sheet for in-person students to draw the animals they are comparing and write a response. 
If you are teaching remote or if you enjoy using technology instead of paper copies, you can share the slides and students can add text boxes. 

Did you know that students can actually draw on assignments in google slides?The image below shows how to get to the scribble option where they can freely draw on the assignment. This would of course be something you need to teach and I'm sure they will become pros over time. 

I've been teaching students how to use google drawing during our media center lessons and they have really been enjoying it. If you know how to use google drawing, it works exactly the same in google slides. 
If you like this product also check out Digital Picture of the Day to focus on generating ideas and making inferences. 

I've actually update all of my Picture of the Day Products in TPT. Here are some other examples:

BOOK TASTING!

This year was the first year that I had a Book Tasting and it was lots of fun. 

What is a Book Tasting?

Well, first off let me tell you that you do not need to bake anything! It is just a fun way to expose students to different genres and books that they may not usually pick up to read. I tell them that when they taste a meal they do not eat the whole thing. They just get a bite. During the book tasting they are not going to read the whole book. They will just read a bite or piece of it. 

Students came to the media center during their specials time and we had books from different genres on each table. Students stayed at each table for about 10 minutes. They read one of the books for 5 minutes and then had 5 minutes to fill out part of the "menu" to tell about their first impressions of the book and to rate the book out of 5 stars. I then had students switch tables and read from a different genre. 

 

My para and I wore a chef hat and a red apron. We decorated the tables with red and white table cloths and silver platters in the middle for the books to sit in. I was able to order all of these things on amazon. The tablecloths were large rectangles and I cut them in half to used one table cloth on two square tables.

I make lots of products for TeachersPayTeachers, but sometimes you don't need to because someone else has created something wonderful. I used https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Book-Tasting-Introduce-Your-Students-to-New-Books-2741616 by Head over Heals for Teaching. I used this product for my 3rd-5th grade students and it was such a time saver.

The main thing I really had to plan and make something for was Kindergarten-2nd grade, because I am one of those media specialists on the specials schedule and I see K-5 all in one day. If I am going to dress up and decorate the media center with table cloths, silver platters, and menus, then we are ALL going to enjoy this book tasting! Not to mention, students would have been super sad to come to the media center after seeing it like this during the week and not get to participate. In reality, the main purpose of the Book Tasting is to get student attention and to get them excited about reading. I feel that I definitely accomplished this main goal.

So, for K-2, I put different stacks of books on each table (it was just a general variety not organized by genre) and they rotated from table to table and I made a simple sheet where students could draw a quick picture and write about whether of not they like the book or their favorite part of the book  after reading/looking at the books on each table. They are also able to rate their impression of the book out of 5 stars, which they really enjoyed this concept. I always try to explain this by saying a really good restaurant is called a 5 star restaurant. 

I wish I had take more pictures. Well, there's always next year!

The super simple sheet I made for K-2 can be found for FREE in my TPT Store.

BOOK TASTING RESPONSE SHEET

 

Hello 2018!

Thought I'd start the year off with a 2018 post!

For some reason,  I don't like the phrase "New Year's Resolution". Therefore, I am calling the following my goals of 2018. 

I have got to find a good balance between work, TPT, school (grad school, I'm working on getting my specialist in library media), and fun aspects of life. Quite honestly, I also have goals for each of these areas. I'll try to keep those short and to the point.

Work- Google Certification this year. I am working on it this month actually. I've gotten better about not staying late or worrying too much about things at work, because they will be there the following day for me to work on. :) I'd like to keep this mindset for the rest of the year. It's hard to do this in education, but I'm getting better and better at it. 

TPT- I have totally neglected TPT this past year. I have got to get organized and pace myself with realistic goals. Possibly, try for at least 1 instagram post a week, 2 new TPT products a month, 2 blog posts a month. I need to make a chart/check list to keep up with this. I love checklists, they are my jam!

Grad School- This is where all my time and attention has gone and it's not even going to end in 2018. I have 5 more classes. I plan to take 1 in spring, 2 in summer, 1 in fall and 1 in spring. I tried to take 2 at the beginning of this school year in fall, but just couldn't do it. Fall is such a busy time with it being the beginning of the school year and I have so many other things needing my attention during that time. So, I've paced the rest of my courses accordingly. I wish I could just rip it off like a band aid and be done with it, but slow and steady will win this race. 

Yep, take care of me. I need to get more exercise, eat better, and drink more water. The holidays and cold weather are just terrible when you are trying to be healthy, so I have to get back on it. I still love taking my Plexus each morning and will continue in 2018.

Laugh more! This is a real goal. I am known for taking things too serious. I just have to laugh more. My husband is the best partner for this goal. We actually recently purchased a Nintendo Switch and have laughed like crazy while playing many games together. We also love board games. Have you played Exploding Kittens? Well, the people that made that also made Bears Vs. Babies and it has been lots of fun to play over the break.

Those are my basic goals for 2018!

Five For Friday - 5/13/16

Check out my Five For Friday for the week. I sure do love linking up with DoodleBugs Teaching!

End of the Year Fun Awards

I give academic awards, but I also like to give awards based on student personality. 

In my TPT Store HERE

Fractions with book read alouds! Students made their own versions of each of these this week.

Engaging Book Activities

Pirates Love Underpants

Watercolor painted sharks with underpants! Students loved these merely because I said "underpants" so many times.

Three Hens and a Peacock

We made a bag puppet peacock.

During Teacher Appreciation Week  my principal told us to come back to school at 6pm for a surprise. At first, I was a little skeptical about coming back to school as you can see, but was happily surprised when we had a Paint Party!

My husband's TeachersPayTeachers store is SuperDaveScience. He is in the process of putting his photographs on TPT for sellers to use in their products. The photos are for personal, commercial and educational use. 

Here are some that he has uploaded so far. You should follow him to be aware of his new products and photos as he uploads them. 

You can view his store HERE

Thanks for joining me for my randomness from the week!

Five For Friday - 4/15/16

Check out my Five For Friday for the week. I sure do love linking up with DoodleBugs Teaching!

Back from Spring Break required two things: Starbucks and my trusty Sand Snake Tieks! 

The "S" on my alphabet had me wanting to rewind to the beach.

Alphabet Posters HERE

We enjoyed making Weather books or Little Red Riding Hood books. We've read about both this week and I allowed students to choose one of the two to turn into a book. I used some grocery store brown paper bags as the book covers.

MATH

During math we worked on making equal groups and finding multiple solutions to problems.

If you have 40 fish, how can you equally distribute them into fish tanks?

We used BlendSpace to review comparing numbers with interactive websites and videos. I find it easy for students to access BlendSpace by putting the link on Edmodo. 

Took some time to organize a few of the books I ordered from Scholastic. I organize my books with these labels you can find in my store. I then put color coded and numbers stickers on the tub and on each book so students will be able to put them back in the correct tub after reading. This system has worked really well. You can find the labels HERE.

My new product for the week!

You can see it HERE. 

My mom has started up her own store on TPT. She teaches 5th grade and has started with listing Paired Passages. Her products are unique because the fictional part of her paired passages have the same characters and read more like chapters in a book opposed to stand alone passages. The main character is Skeeter and at the end of reading one passages students ask, "When are we going to read the next one?" You and you're students will fall in love with Skeeter. You can see her Duncan's Munchkin's store HERE.

Here's one of her FREE products.

Funny things you find yourself saying or students saying. I've decided to start posting these on instagram as I reflect on my day for fun. My instagram name is casedillacrumbsclassroom

Anyone else have something funny to share?

Thanks for joining me for my randomness from the week!