So many uses for plastic eggs!
This month's Secondary Smorgasbord blog hop's theme is "Out of the Deep Freeze." During this cold Korean winter I've been working on an id...
Learn about our bodies with these human body activities for kids! All of these ideas are hands-on way to explain the body's systems and functions for kids.
We came back from winter break with a two day week last week. I really wanted to do a review of multiplication concepts, because we had been away from school for twelve days. So I had planned some …
The Secondary Smorgasbord Theme of the Week?? Free and Fabulous!! I am super excited to be participating in a new monthly blog hop / linky for secondary teachers. This terrific idea is the brainstorm of two friends Darlene Anne Curran (The ELA Buffet) and Pamela Kranz (Desktop Learning Adventures). I was fortunate enough to finally meet both new friends this past summer at the TeachersPayTeachers convention in Las Vegas. The idea behind this blog hop is to provide you secondary teachers with some new ideas, tips for your classroom, free teaching materials, and anything else we can think of. So welcome to the first installment of the Secondary Smorgasbord! The theme for this month is "Free and Fabulous!" Be sure to click on the links in the first paragraph of the post so that you can grab all of the awesome free teaching materials. What is on the smorgasbord menu from Science Stuff? I have decided to highlight two freebies that I have in my store. Both are simple one-page references tables, but I have used both of these in just the last week! If you are a biology or a chemistry teacher you know that both of these play a very important role in our classes. I know you already have these tables, but I have spruced them up to make them attractive for our students. For the Biology teachers: Here is a chart of all 64 mRNA codons and the amino acids they code for. This is a must-have during your unit on DNA, RNA and Protein synthesis. (Click image or red text to download freebie.) For the Chemistry teachers: This is a table of electronegativities. This is a must-have during units on the periodic table and bonding. Click image or red text to download freebie.) Again, be sure to check out all the posts / freebies by clicking the links in the first paragraph. I hope you find something you can use! Be sure to watch each month for the Secondary Smorgasbord Buffet of Resources! An InLinkz Link-up
Do you use card sorts in your science classroom? I like using them with my middle school students. Card sorts can be used in a variety of...
I’ve been a biology teacher for 28 years. Every year, I find myself looking at my curriculum with an eye toward how I can keep both a.) the content of my course fresh and b.) the delivery of …
Cell walls prevent plant cells from bursting. Blow up a balloon until it pops. An animal cell (or a plant cell that's missing a cell wa...
Explore how the digestive system works with this STEM DIY.
Secondary teachers are doing it again...they're coming together, with the help of Darlene Anne from The Ela Buffet and Pamela Kranz from Desktop Learning Adventures, to bring you a wealth of resources from all content areas in this bloghop: Secondary Smorgasbord. This month's featured theme is "Happy Hour" where we're offering free and fabulous resources, and this time saying "...maybe just one more" won't lead to greasy food and a splitting headache in the morning! For my free and fabulous product, I'm offering an activity that's found in the Chemical Bonds & Equation chapter of The Complete Physical Science Interactive Notebook - Jitterbug Chemical Reactions. Students need to be able to distinguish between different types of chemical reactions (i.e. synthesis, decomposition, single and double displacement), so what do you think they would prefer: Mg + 2HCl --> MgCl2 + H2 or That's what I thought. This freebie offers a fantastic visualization that is not only cute, but takes a very overwhelming concept and makes it fun and manageable. Just by adding this little spin to your lesson, you will have a concept that was once overwhelming to most, mastered in seconds by all. What you will be left with is confident chemistry students and one happy teacher when you know your students just "got it!" Check it out here: Again, be sure to check out the other free and fabulous resources from the Happy Hour Linky found on The Ela Buffet and Desktop Learning Adventures. An InLinkz Link-up
A printable comic about the amazing digestion system.
I'm always striving to help my young scientists become proficient writers. It can be tough for some students to focus on the data gat...
Build stone men. It's a fun relaxing activity for you and the kids. It doesn't cost anything and doesn't take much time. These stone men are known as Inuksuk in Canada.
Working in the lab and being engaged in science experiments is the most exciting part of science. The following Plants Demos, Labs, and Science Stations give your students the opportunity to investigate, explore and learn the science topic being studied. Plants Demo, Lab, and Science Stations Includes: 1. SCIENCE STATION SIGNAGE for all 7 stations is provided in color and in black and white (see preview) and all student answer sheets have icons that correspond with each station for ease of use. 2. DEMONSTRATION (teacher-led) allows teachers to invite scientific discussions and can help uncover misconceptions and, most importantly, lead to heightened curiosity and interest in the topic being studied. 3. GUIDED INQUIRY LAB which is a traditional lab that allows students to perform an investigation in order to solve a problem. Students will hypothesize, collect and analyze data and communicate their results. 4. TEACHER GUIDES to DEMOS & SCIENCE STATIONS help get you started and give you background information to make your science lessons engaging. 5. 7 SCIENCE STATIONS which are designated locations in the classroom with activities that challenge students to extend their knowledge and elaborate on their science skills by working independently of the teacher in small groups or pairs. Stations included are: INFORMATION STATION - Group members will read an interesting and relevant science passage then complete a task to help increase science literacy and deepen their understanding of the science concept. OBSERVATION STATION - Group members will have images, illustrations, or actual samples at this station that show applications or processes of the science topic. Using what they’ve learned, they will need to apply their observation skills to complete the questions attached to each. CALCULATION STATION - Group members use their math skills to complete the station challenge. Skills may include graphing, analyzing data, using models, measurement, and calculating formulas or word problems. INVESTIGATION STATION - Group members will work with one another to explore the concept through hands-on activities so they may practice specific inquiry process skills as they learn. COMMUNICATION STATION - There are three different options for this station: interviews, video, group essay. Depending on the option you choose, group members will communicate what they know by answering questions in creative ways. CREATION STATION - Group members will work together to solve a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) challenge by creating models or designs that demonstrate their understanding of the science topic being taught. IMAGINATION STATION - This station makes science concepts relevant for students by asking them to imagine scenarios that will bring about discussion and critical thinking. 6. INQUIRY PROCESS SKILLS CHECKLIST is provided with each set to show teachers and administrators the inquiry skills used by students in each activity. These skills include, but are not limited to, communicating, creating models, inferring, classifying, identifying variables, measuring, observing, predicting, gathering and organizing data, comparing and contrasting, interpreting data, and manipulating materials. Topics Included for Plants: Plant Kingdom Plants without Seeds Seed Plants Flowering Plants Roots, Stems, and Leaves Plant Responses and Growth Plants Demo, Lab & Science Stations will showcase each student’s ability to: Identify characteristics of land plants Identify adaptations that allow plants to live on land Describe stages of a plant's life cycle Compare vascular and nonvascular plants Explain how seeds develop Identify structures of a flower Identify tropisms - phototropism, gravitropism, thigmotropism, hydrotropism Explain the adaptations that allow seed plants to reproduce Compare and contrast monocots and dicots Explain the categories of plant life spans Define the three main tissue systems of plants – roots, stems and leaves Describe how the structure of a leaf enables a plant to carry out photosynthesis (stomata, guard cells, cuticle) ************************************************************ Copyright © NGS Magnified, LLC. All rights reserved by author Dr. Erica Colón. This product is to be used by the original downloader only. Copying for more than one teacher, classroom, department, school, or school system is prohibited. This product may not be distributed or displayed digitally for public view. Failure to comply is a copyright infringement and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Clipart and elements found in this PDF are copyrighted and cannot be extracted and used outside of this file without permission or license. Intended for classroom and personal use ONLY.
Discover how plants and animals are connected by taking a closer look at your local ecosystem to examine the interdependence of living organisms.
Last week the weather broke and we had near record high temperatures for February. I decided to do an impromptu outdoor Cell Sidewalk Chalk Activity. The students really enjoyed having the opportunity to get outside and so did I. They created some beautiful cell drawings (I am slightly bias) and labeled the functions using a … Continue reading Cell Sidewalk Chalk Activity →
Linking up with Fabulous in First for the Sunday Smorgasbord! I had about a million thoughts rolling around in my head today, so I figured it was the perfect chance to do a Sunday Smorgasbord post! Fun fact: when I first started my teaching blog, it was called Fabulous in Fifth, so I love that this is hosted by Fabulous in First. I've been super busy prepping for the upcoming school year lately! I know that my time at school will be more limited than in the past because of childcare, so I am trying to really think ahead. I am redoing a few things that I use often in the classroom, and just finished one that I thought I'd share! When my students take a test, I am more concerned with what they learn than the grade they get. However, a lot of my students are more concerned with their grade. I like to give students the opportunity to work through the problems they made mistakes on to earn additional credit. It works for me, because the students correct their errors and show their learning. It works for them, because it helps their grade. That's a win-win situation! I revamped the sheet I use today, and created an instruction sheet to go with it. Check it out! I ask the students to circle the type of question that they got incorrect so I can quickly assess their weakness. For instance, if they are most often losing credit on short answer questions I know that I need to target this area in the future. The other columns are a bit more open ended and require some student thought and reflection. I created an instruction sheet go along with the correction sheet. I printed this sheet on colored copy paper, and the students will keep it in their binder all year long. One of my favorite parts about this sheet is that the students are asked to identify the reason they did not receive full credit. Along with this, I ask the students to write a paragraph long reflection in their math notebook. After a few tests, I am able to identify frequent errors and address them within my instruction. This instruction sheet is incredibly useful in teaching the kiddos how to use this sheet. It prevents (to an extent) students from leaving columns blank because they "didn't know what to write." I've created this to work with my classroom procedures, but if you are interested in downloading a copy check it out here! Totally unrelated to anything, I am super psyched to have just bought this adorable wristlet! It's a wallet that has a smartphone pocket, which solves my "gotta have the diaper bag, so I can't carry my purse, but I'm always dropping my iPhone because it's not in a bag" problem! :) Check out my view right now... How can I not go join in? :) Off to spend time with my loves.
Quick strategies to get your kids talking about the RIGHT stuff at the RIGHT time!
Are you looking for a free way to enlarge a pdf to print on multiple pages? To make a classroom poster for your bulletin board from a pdf? In this post are 3 simple steps to make this happen. You will be able to enlarge any pdf into a multi-page poster to hang in your classroom.
Want to create large letters for your classroom? We outline a step by step set of directions to create large bulletin board letters that look amazing!
The “Elements” of a Successful Learner classroom display will not only reinforce great attributes of successful students, but will also remind them that there is more to learning than just getting good grades. Showcasing this poster on a bulletin board will allow students to know that you also recognize characteristics of a highly effective learning and that you respect and understand that there are many types of successful learners. This periodic table-inspired classroom display can be used in ALL classrooms since all students are familiar with this science icon. The “Elements” of a Successful Learner classroom display includes: • Color coding – similar to a periodic table • Small version (1 m) • Large version (1.4 m) • Title pages • Images to help with layout Terms of Use: Cliff Note Version: Product is for ONE TEACHER – Please do not distribute illegally and PLEASE keep it off the internet! Thanks for your honesty. Copyright © Nitty Gritty Science, LLC. All rights reserved by author Dr. Erica Colón. This product is to be used by the original downloader only. Copying for more than one teacher, classroom, department, school, or school system is prohibited. This product may not be distributed or displayed digitally for public view. Failure to comply is a copyright infringement and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Clipart and elements found in this PDF are copyrighted and cannot be extracted and used outside of this file without permission or license. Intended for classroom and personal use ONLY.
Find fantastic resources for teaching inferences (with free mini lesson). The resources are ideal for 4th graders but also features ideas for grades 1-3.
Get free printables for kids in preschool and kindergarten! Find hundreds of free printable activities for literacy, math, science and more!
We have been buzz, buzz, busy learning about insects. I do love science, but real bugs, ummmm, no thank you. I'll leave the dissection of insects and up close & personal to 7th grade science. Instead I opted for a cuter insect label sheet. (Please note: animals were not harmed while making the following activities :) Insects Label Insects Label Sp
I love science. I love teaching science. But sometimes it takes a lot of extra time and planning to make great science lessons. We are currently working on our Force and Motion unit and we just learned about simple machines. I introduced them with this shutterfold foldable. Together we took notes on each of the simple machines and coming up with examples of each. Then, I showed them these Rube Goldberg inspired videos: Honda's "The Cog" video - a Rube Goldberg invention made entirely of (CGI) car parts. "The Page Turner" Ok Go's "This Too Shall Pass" music video. And just released this week... "Girls" from GoldiBlox I explained to the class about Rube Goldberg and his inventions and showed them his Pencil Sharpener. Warning: some of his inventions are not quite school appropriate (i.e. smoking/alcohol), so preview them before showing kiddos. We were inspired to design our own inventions. I encouraged them to use at least three simple machines in their inventions. Here just a few of the creative ideas from my class. I was out for two days last week at a district training and my kids finished these up with the (amazing) substitute. I was very impressed with their thoughtful and creative inventions, and they were all excited about them as well. I added the Simple Machines Shutterfold to my TpT store for anyone interested in adding these to their Interactive Science Notebooks.
I know, I know. It is kind of late for eggs, right? Well....it has been a C.R.A.Z.Y. week. Anyone else? Stomach bugs (kids at school), state Praxis test (me), birthday parties (for my little 4 year old), cold weather, warm weather, local amusement park opening....the list could go on. BUT.... I have had these eggs sitting around my house: And FINALLY it struck me what to do with them! Math review. We have hit our standards but my little mathematicians need constant review. So I created some games: To play, our firsties will get a stack of eggs that look like this: The eggs all fit one skill but the students will need to put the puzzles back together. I still have some eggs left. But even if I run out, this would be super easy to make out of foam paper or even just construction paper. What other review games could I make?
Close reading, broken down with a FREE planning page that works for any text
Were Hammurabi's Codes Fair? Students decide and defend a claim with primary sources! Students analyze short, chunked primary sources and evaluate if they were fair with a checklist. Then, students use a stem-sentence structured response to support their ideas. This great, scaffolded activity is easy to teach and inspires thought! This activity previously had 135 5-star reviews on TPT (see notes below if interested). Here's what's included: 1. A paragraph introducing the codes and their historical significance 2. A chunked-comprehensible codes evaluation checklist 3. A stem-sentence structured response to the claim that the codes were fair. 4. Hamuurabis punishments were often brutal, so we included an opinion- question-close asking students if harsh punishment is ever acceptable. 5. A Google-Ready version for Google Classroom Why was it taken down? This product was taken down because it quoted a primary source showing harsh punishment. Teachers and students hopefully know punishments have evolved- which was the point of a larger conversation about growth mindset. While teachers overwhelmingly agreed with us, we were reprimanded due to rules that no longer remain part of last year's TPT policy :( Still, we did revise it so harsh punishments are mentioned but not described in any way. This product was designed for a digital learning environment. It suits the needs of an online classroom that fits perfectly with a Google Classroom platform. This virtual learning experience allows teachers to guide students through the curriculum. Through Google Forms quizzes and tests, students test out important skill and content areas, including unit-specific vocabulary, geography, and historical content. Every online learning bundle of resources includes Google Forms quizzes and tests that have students cite and find the best-supporting evidence from primary or secondary source reading passages. ✎ ✎ ✎ Save Big! This activity is also included in our most popular discounted ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA BUNDLE! ⭐ BE SURE TO FOLLOW US ON: TPT to receive notifications of new products, sales, and notes to followers. Just click the “follow me” button next to the ⭐ ✅Pinterest for creative classroom ideas, lessons, and more. ✅Instagram for laughs and to see products at use in the classroom. ✅Facebook for interesting articles, posts, & tips! ✅ Check out our website & blog ❤️ABOUT MR. AND MRS. P, THE TEACHERS BEHIND INSTRUCTOMANIA❤️ We are a Middle School teacher duo with over 40 years of experience in the Middle School classroom! We strive to create history and science lesson plans that inspire teachers and engage students, focusing on history activities for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. Our Ancient History and Medieval History curricula include no prep worksheets and Common Core lessons that have been tested and polished in the classroom. World History activities are created with visually rich graphic organizer worksheets and fun thematic assignments. We hope you and your students love our products as much as we did making and using them in our Middle School classes! ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ Terms of Use ☺ ©Instructomania, Inc. All rights reserved by Tony and Erika Pavlovich. This product is to be used by the original downloader only. Additional teachers must purchase their own licenses. TPT now offers multiple license options if you are a teacher, principal, or district interested in purchasing several licenses.primary or secondary source reading passages.
Classroom management is key to classroom success, and a must-have classroom management tool is a wireless doorbell!
Sort colors while you squish a DIY sensory bag! Learn how to make your own super simple DIY color sorting sensory bag with a quick tutorial.
Learning centers diversify student experience, encourage student voice, leverage available resources, and give teachers built-in opportunities for formative assessment and critical one-on-one conversations.
