Real Tornado and other happenings...

Hello darlings! Well if this wasn't the wackiest week ever!  To top it all off, I woke up this morning and sincerely thought it was Saturday!  How sad THAT realization was!  Tuesday we had Tornadoes here is Missouri.  We are supposed to let out of school at 3:30pm and of course the Tornado sirens go off around 3:15.  So here we are, duckn' covern' in the hallways, and the time keeps on ticking away.  Our principal comes on the announcements and says the kiddos can sit up now, but that we are still under a Tornado Warning.  I illegally duck inside my classroom and grab some Time For Kids Magazines and start handing them off to my scared kiddos, trying to keep their minds busy.  That lasts for all of ten minutes and kiddos are starting to get super hot, whiny, and bored.  It starts to feel like an oven with all the doors and the emergency hallway doors closed.  Those little bodies put off a lot of heat.  Teachers are fanning kids, consoling crying kids, trying to keep their kiddos occupied.

A little kindergartner says to one of the teachers in a very authoritative voice, "Aren't they going to call the parents?"  She tells him the parents know and they will get to go home soon and he gets very concerned and says, "But I'm going to miss my DINNER!"  Cute!   I run in my room again (which now feels like the glorious Arctic) and grab paper and crayons.  At least now they could play tic tac toe or something...  Needless to say, I feel like I am in the middle of a rock concert with the noise level of k-3 all in one hallway and the principal comes on again and says the warning will expire at 4:00pm.  Oh brother!   The minutes feel like hours as we try to prevent the domino effect of one kiddo asking to use the restroom. Finally the principal comes on one last time and says "All clear."  We get to go back in the room and wait until they dismiss us.  Tons of parents decided to come pick up their kiddos in the tornatic downpour and now we have to wait as they call names over the announcements.  I turn on Brainpop and we watch some fun science videos before bus riders are finally called.

Holy mackerel   What an afternoon!  Of course THE NEXT DAY we have SNOW!  No kidding!  It is even too cold for the kiddos to go outside.  Do you have wacky weather where you live?

 On to the fun stuff.  Take a peek at just some of the fun things we have been up to in Scientific Inquiry.

Force and Motion Experiment: Building a Card House

Water Molecules and atoms: Will he get wet?

Chemical Reaction: Baking soda and vinegar

Making Parachutes: How long should the string be to make it stay in the air the longest?

Yes, I let them stand on the desk.  It is worth it, look at his face!

Paper Airplanes: Where should we put the weight (paper clip) to make it fly the farthest?

 Creating a boat that can hold the most weight.

Measuring in centimeters

No laughing...this is the drawing I used to explain what to measure.

They had to create the outfit they were wearing today.

We had so much fun this week!

Thank you to all who commented last week about my Scientific Method Unit Resources!  Here are the three lucky winners that will get the unit for free!  Check it out here.

Stephanie at 3rd Grade Thoughts

Andrea Morelli

Katie Smith 

Congrats ladies!