Meet my newest science obsession Mystery Science! This website provides science teachers with interactive science lessons complete with an experiment! They are presented as "mysteries" I love this because it really encourages the students to delve deeper and use higher order thinking skills.

Mystery Science is currently developing a K-5 Science curriculum. Right now they have 2nd-5th grade curriculum. Users have access to ALL grades activities. This is nice because it provides a bigger range of topics. I found myself using a 4th grade Rock experiment for our first "mystery" THE STUDENTS LOVED IT! I LOVED IT! It was a complete win win. The program does the majority of the teaching! I led discussions and monitored the activity.

The lesson is broken down into exploration and activity. Mystery Science also provides additional activities to extend thinking. The first activity we completed was "Will A Mountain Last Forever" The exploration provided great video clips and graphics to explain ways a mountain can change over time. There were discussion questions every few slides, providing the students an opportunity to share their ideas. I liked this much more than a 20 minute video because they were able to frequently stop and discuss their ideas.

After the exploration we moved into the activity. It involved sugar cubes. The instructions go STEP by STEP with pictures and demonstrations, and they continue playing over and over until you go to the next slide. If a student asks what they are supposed to be doing, you can simply point to the board. As a teacher this is a GOD SEND! 

The students had a BLAST, and the experiment was the perfect amount of hands on. The students were able to see how a rock rolling down a mountain would change in size and shape. We have done one other "mystery" since then, and it involved coordinate graphing volcanoes. The mystery was "can a volcano pop up in my backyard?" Talk about a catchy hook! 

Have any of you tried Mystery Science? I am BEGGING my principal to buy a subscription for our school!!!! 

Research in Second Grade

Our school is slowly but surely making its way towards Common Core. I have found myself really enjoying this transition (minus the countless trainings). It focuses a lot on writing which has always been my favorite subject.

This year my fellow second grade teacher and I have been planning Science and Social Studies in accordance with our reading series. This has provided us with little units each week. The students have been loving them!

One of the skills for second graders is learning how to research...Now, I am not quite ready to unleash my second graders wild on the internet, but I am ready to give them some safe opportunities to gather information and use that as their research.

Our first mini unit was on Space. The students had the opportunity to research their assigned planet using a SAFE website (kidastronomy.com) They were instructed to write down FIVE facts about their planet. The students each got a turn on the computer during our weekly ELA rotations. Students then met with the others who had the same planets, shared information and planned out their project.

The assignment? Convince us to live on your planet. The students had to create a poster and write a short paper. Sounds tough for second graders, but WOW! They BLEW me away! The students had some of the most interesting facts to share with their classmates.

One problem we encountered several times was not working nicely as a group...we modeled good group behavior, and surprisingly by the end of the project everyone was getting along fine!

The next research unit we completed was on Ellis Island and immigration to the United States...pretty tough stuff for second graders! We found an AMAZING webquest on TPT FOR FREEEEEE! that went along with a virtual field trip. We spent several days working our way through the Virtual Field Trip together with the interwrite board. During the "field trip" the students had to answer the webquest questions. This project could have been done independently by older grades, but working together worked fabulous for second grade. At the end of the unit my kiddos were EXPERTS on all things Ellis Island. They each wrote a story from the perspective of an immigrant, and oh my goodness I have never been prouder! They included such detail in their writing! One of my students (who usually HATES writing) wrote over three pages!!!


We are extremely lucky to not only have an entire computer lab we can visit, but also a set of ipads that can be checked out. Having these resources helps make researching in the classroom a little easier. I prefer using the computer because I am able to create a folder of the websites I want the students visiting, vs me telling them the site to type on the ipad.

Elf on the Shelf: Adventures in the Classroom

Last year a parent let me borrow an Elf on the Shelf for the holiday season. I had never heard of this before, so I had to do a little research. Unfortunately for my class last year our elf was a little bit of a slacker... This year I vowed to find a better elf!

 It is my honor to introduce Sparkles our class elf! 

Sparkles was a few days late to our classroom...but to keep us from worrying she sent us LOTS of fun surprises! The first day we walked into the classroom to find a brand new Christmas tree, a Nativity, a postcard from Texas and a LOT of glitter! Sparkles was in Texas on top secret Santa business.

The second day we got a postcard from Atlanta, Sparkles was on her way to visit our classroom, but she made a stop at the World of Coca Cola! She brought each student a special jingle bell from Santa's sleigh (and promised to bring Miss P her favorite book "The Polar Express") 

When Sparkles finally arrived the kids were very excited...and boy did Sparkles have some fun plans up her sleeves! Most days she left us a detailed note telling the kids how they were the day before, explaining her newest hiding spot, or telling us about Santa. I think the kids favorite day was when Sparkles built her own Zip Line! The kids each wrote Sparkles an individual letter for her to read.

One day the kids had not been on their best behavior, so Sparkles was not very pleased. She had to BEG Santa to let her stay in the classroom. Lucky for the kids Santa was in a forgiving mood, but Sparkles did not have time to reply to the letters right away...and she caught a little cold!

Do not worry! Sparkles recovered from a quiet day in the classroom and was able to write EACH student back! One of my favorite letters to a student from Sparkles...

Sparkles really bonded with our Jungle friends during her stay! The students had a hard time finding Sparkles this morning! She did a great job hiding! 

Sparkles did not just watch the students, but she brought them projects! Mrs. Claus accidentally shrunk Santa's suit and Sparkles needed the classes help in designing a new suit! Sparkles brought us the story of what happened, as well as a letter from Mrs. Claus HERSELF! The students had to design a new suit and then write a SEVEN sentence paragraph explaining their choices. (These second graders BLEW me out of the water with their writing!) 

During the last few days of school Sparkles got extra silly! One morning we came in to find her drinking a concoction of Sprite and Glitter! (Sparkles favorite color is GLITTER) 

The last day of school was the most fun. Sparkles found my wrapping paper and had a little too much fun with it. To the kids surprise she brought us BRAND new markers and crayons (she had heard some arguing students and wanted to solve that problem!) 

Overall, I think Sparkles had a GREAT stay in the jungle and I do not think my wild things scared her off! I had so much fun having this little visitor for the month of December! 

Teacher Survival Kit

One of my favorite things about being a teacher, is the fact that so many of my good friends are also teachers! It provides me with many outlets to discuss new ideas, to vent about a long day, and gives me people that understand the "teacher life!" 

One of my absolute best friends just started her first year teaching 5th grade! She had taught previously in Oklahoma, but it has been a couple year since teaching. I decided to surprise her with a Teacher Survival Kit. I had seen several ideas on Pinterest, and one kind teacher at my school made me one when I first arrived, so I had lots of help. 

 I found the box at Michaels and found the stickers there as well. They have so many options, that picking the right ones can be a challenge! I loved the contrast between the bright letters and the cardboard ones!

So what did I deem essential for this survival kit? 

1. Mini Toothbrushes (How many times have you been wishing you had this after a lunch?)

2. Advil...need I explain?

3. Notepad and Post Its (for all those little reminder notes!) 

4. Fancy Flower Pen (make writing those notes a little more fun)

5. Stickers (kids will do anything for a sticker...and these ones are giant!) 

6. Kleenex (Classrooms are germy...you will probably get a cold!)

7. Shout To Go (For those rushed mornings where you spill something!)

8. Deodrant (another rushed morning essential!)

9. Protein Bar (for the day you forget to pack a lunch!) 

10. Apple Timer 

11. Airborne 

12. Stamps

13. Hall Defense Vitamin C Drops

There are so many different things you can put in your own Teacher Survival Kit. I loved this box because it was HUGE and allowed me to fit everything in it! 

Math Talks, Manipulatives, and Freebies... Oh My!

I have to be completely honest, last year I really struggled with making math engaging and fun for my students. I would try every so often to pull out the manipulatives, but in my mind it just took too much time/effort to use them (terrible I know)! This year my amazing school started the year with a Common Core Math training for every teacher. We spent two days learning, and observing a veteran teacher...and WOW! After that everything kind of clicked for me. I have been doing hands on math for the past week and a half, and my kids have been loving it! The woman training us came into our classroom and taught a lesson for us to observe. That was probably my favorite part of the training. I was able to observe four lessons in all, and I have already implemented a few of them in my classroom! 

using ipads during Math Centers (still a work in progress) 

One of the best things I took from the two day trainings was called "Math Talks"(it comes from Number Talks, check out their website here)  It is all about having the kids explain their thinking as they solve problems. We sit on the floor and I will write a simple math problem (7+9) on the board and let the kids go! When they have one answer they hold a thumbs up to their chest. It gives the kids an opportunity to share their thinking process, and hear their classmates. I explained to the kids that being able to explain math using words is a super skill! We will be working on this new super skill using Math Talks and Interactive Notebooks (more to come on that later!). 

Math Scoot! (find it here)

Besides the Math Talks, I have been trying to avoid the book. That may sound bad, but currently we are reviewing first grade skills and the majority of my kids do not need to be doing the math book pages. Instead I have found some hands on activities that allow me to assess their knowledge, while still covering the skills found in the textbook. 

My new favorite thing ever? Part Part Whole Mats. I think I used these in a variety of ways every day last week! (Find a download of the part part whole mats I created at the end of this post!) This way we used Part Part Whole Mats was as seen above. Each pair of students received a bag with 7 counters. They took turn tossing the counters. The yellow counters represented one part, the red counters the other part. The students were able to find all the different ways to make 7! 

This picture is from the same activity, but we used a different Part Part Whole Mat the next day. It had a few things filled in and the students had to use their minds to fill out the Part Part Whole Mat. Then came the tricky part...they had to create the Fact Family that went with it! 

My favorite part about this style of teaching? One day a student said "but we didn't do math today?" My response, "Yes! We did, we did Math Talks and used our Part Part Whole Mats." The students were surprised that this was considered math. I am loving it because it gives them a little bit of independence to learn things on their own, while at the same time giving me a chance to informally assess them on their understanding! 

Grab some of the Part Part Whole Pages I made for my students FREE here...I hope you can use them in your classroom!

Also...if you are hunting for SUPER Cute Apple Themed Math Centers...please check out Miss Amanda's new product! I love it, it is perfect for Fall and has everything covered. Perfect for getting a quick and easy start with hands on math lessons! You can check it out here!
 

Silent "E" Scavenger Hunt

So...I have to admit, I am a major Teacher Pay Teacher's addict. It is seriously a dangerous thing. I could spend hours searching through all the amazing products. If you are a fellow TPT user, than you will understand the excitement felt when you find an awesome product that is FREE! 

Our skill for the week was silent E, so I logged into TPT and searched for some fun activities to do with my Wild Things, and I stumbled onto this activity.  I changed the use of it a little, by turning it into a scavenger hunt. 

The kids loved getting to use their clipboards and search the room for hidden words. The used their silent "e" magnifying glasses to change the words! My quick finishers were instructed to practice writing sentences using these new words. I also loved this scavenger hunt, because it allowed me to circulate and talk with the kids, an informal assessment on their understanding of the skill. 

This was a great TPT find, that allowed me to make learning the skill for the week a little more fun! Plus the kids loved getting to keep their brand new magnifying glasses! :) 

Safari Explorer Craftivity

Going along with the jungle theme, my students spent this morning crafting their very own Safari Explorers. I purchased the template from Teachers Pay Teachers...and it was worth every penny. This was most of the students first time completing this much cutting...it was definitely a process. I had many students finish quickly, while others took all morning finishing with Explorers missing a few fingers (I joked that maybe their explorer ventured to close to some lions!) Once I hung them all up in the hallway I was very pleased with how they turned out. My kids LOVED hearing compliments from all the other teachers has they spotted our explorers. I really loved this product, because it included the template for the explorer as well as several writing activities! I modified it a little and had my students write about one thing they were looking forward to this year. Get your copy of the template HERE. 

Like I said this project required a LOT of cutting...which for some new second graders was a little tough! Luckily I have some awesome parents who have already volunteered to help cut for future projects like this one. I think that will save us all some time. 

I let the kids use the floor to assemble their explorers. Most of their desks were completely covered in scraps of paper so the floor was the PERFECT workspace. 

My favorite part of this project? How much fun the kids had completing it. Yes, it did take us an ENTIRE morning to finish, but it is still the beginning of the school year. I let my kids "Squeak like a mouse" (which means whisper voices) while they work, and I loved hearing them socialize with one another! It also warmed my heart seeing my early finishers help their classmates put their explorers together! 

What fun beginning of the year projects are you doing with your class?