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!

Mitten Graph and Snowman Name Activity

I tend to stick with a "snow" theme throughout January. My last name is Snow, so it seems appropriate to make it one of my themes. Mrs. McDowell, another fabulous kindergarten teacher just posted these outside of her classroom. We are working on writing last names, so I'm thinking of doing this with first and last names and have my students build two snowmen side by side. You can also use this idea to build CVC words in centers. How would you use this in your classroom?

Click below to download a FREE copy of the snowman pattern. Hand out construction paper to make hats, scarves and sticks. 

                                                     

                                                            Mitten or Gloves Graph

We made a graph showing if we preferred wearing mittens or gloves. I gave each student a piece of paper and had them trace a "mitten" hand (keep fingers closed) or a "glove" hand(trace hand print). Then, students cut it out and decorated it. We graphed the results and my class likes gloves more than mittens!

 Thank you so much for stopping by! It was strange teaching this lesson when it was 70 degrees outside today! It feels like Spring in January! What is it like where you are?

                                           -Shelley

Scientific Method Madness...and giveaway

Hello darlings!  Nothing like a rainy day to force you to stay in and actually get some work done...  I have just been go, go, go lately so it was good to have a reason to stay home.

My kiddos and I have been working on our Scientific Method Project this month.  We went through the steps of the Scientific Method and then did our own class project as an example so they would know how to complete their own project at home.

Our project was about chocolate chips melting in bare hands or gloved hands fastest.  They LOVED it.  Anything with food of course!

Below is my HUGE (over 70 pages of resources) unit on the Scientific Method.  Leave a comment about science and I will pick three random winners on Tuesday to get the unit for FREE!

Click the picture below to purchase this Awesome Unit!

Well, my brain hurts my friends!  I hope this is useful for someone!

Money Freebie: Coin Combos

Hello darlings!  My third graders are working hard counting money and learning about equivalent amounts.  One of the things they have to do for their assessment is to be able to use a table and record two different ways to compose the same amount of money.  Below is a freebie for your little friends!

When I first teach the coin combinations to my kiddos, I run the paper below off on cardstock and then laminate it.  We use dry erase markers to record our answers.  It is much better than wasting a bunch of paper or waiting for them to draw the table on their own dry erase boards.  Believe me, I tried it!

After I feel they have a good understanding, they complete it on their own.  I have two different sheets.  One has blank money amounts so that I can differentiate on the fly and the other one provides the numbers so that I can take a grade.

My low kiddos might just have to count change that is under $1, while my high kiddos might have to count something like $14.68 without using any bills.  I'll always put a stipulation on it because those smarties like to use 1,469 pennies!  

I hope this was helpful!  What are you working on in math right now?  I LOVE comments!

Snowman Ice Sculpture

I have an amazing kindergarten team to work with! I am so lucky that we can get ideas from each other! This cute snowman ice sculpture was made by Mrs. Higby. She is an amazing teacher and she does this every year.

To make the snowman, take 3 balloons and fill them with water making a small, medium and large balloon. Don't make them too big or else it won't melt in a day. I would suggest putting the snowman together at school. Cut the balloons off the ice and use salt to stick it together. Then, add a felt hat, nose, eyes and buttons with salt as well. Use an old piece of fabric for the scarf. 

The following picture is a prediction chart to use with the kids to guess how long the snowman will melt. Make sure the snowman is in a pan to catch the water!

The picture isn't very clear! The title says, "How long will it take for our snowman to melt?"

The hat says, "More than 3 hours"

The middle says, "2 hours"

The bottom says, "1 hour"

I made a page to go along with the project. Click on the picture below to download a free copy!

Thanks for stopping by! 

-Shelley

Nerdy Thirty Giveaway Winners Announced!!

Hello darlings!  I am happy to announce that we have our winners for our first giveaway!  I want to thank my amazing bloggy friends for contributing this celebration!  You made this possible!  (Everybody... make sure you stop by their pages and say hello!)

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

classroom friendly supplies 

And the Winners are....

I love how Rafflecopter chose the winners for me randomly!   It even let me email these ladies!

Have an awesome day!

Snowball Fight!!!

This is the time of year that the kiddos don't get  outside and get the fresh air that they need. We had indoor recess last week because of snow and ice. I personally don't mind indoor recess because I am a big baby when it comes to cold weather! So, I figured, what better way to get your students up and moving than with an indoor snowball fight! You can do this with any subject.

To begin, give students a full or half sheet of paper. I handed each student a sight word to write on his or her paper and then checked to make sure the word was spelled correctly.

Once all students are finished, I call everyone to the carpet and have students form two lines on opposite sides of the carpet. Then, they face each other, crumble their paper into a ball and get ready to throw their snowballs.

I give students about 20 seconds to throw snowballs. Then, I have them freeze, pick up a snowball and  read their word.

We repeat this a few times so students practice reading many words. I also have my students walk around and read their words to each other.

This can also be done using math facts, numbers, letters, spelling words etc. My students love doing this! What activities do you do to get your kiddos up and moving?

Here is a freebie for you! I love to do roll a sight word games in centers. I make dice by using a square block and writing the words with a sharpie. Click on the pictures below to download a copy!

Check out the new Snowman Sight Word Game on my TPT!

Thanks for stopping by!

            -Shelley