Science can be super fun, and I know I love when I discover new and exciting experiments to try with my kids. These sensational science experiments for kids are gathered up from a few of our own Elementary Entourage family and others too, and they are sure to be a hit with your kids as well! Fizzing Beginning Sounds Science Experiment - The Kindergarten Connection We spend a ton of time identifying beginning sounds and learning to read - why not mix it up with a little science experiment fun? Make your sounds fizz with this super cool activity. All About Plants - Kooky Kinders Kooky Kinders always has such fun ideas for Foodie Friday! This science activity is a snack too! View her All About Plants Post, and grab the printable to sort your snack too! Dancing Worms - The Kindergarten Smorgasboard I don't know many kids (if any) who would say no to a science experiment involving gummy worms! States of Matter Fun - Mrs. Thompson's Treasures Sometimes things are just better with a snack! Explore states of matter with a variety of fun activities, including using cheerios to represent solids, liquids, and gases! Multicolored Flower Experiment - The Kindergarten Connection Did you know you can turn flowers multicolored? This fun experiment is always a hit and one to get some "oohs" and "ahhhs" out of kids! Elephant Toothpaste - The Kindergarten Smorgasboard Great for dental health month - or anytime really - this experiment is sure to cause a reaction not just in the bottle, but in your kids too! Planting With Kids - The Kindergarten Connection Do you garden with your kids? Grab some soil and plants (and this free printable too) to get started with a super fun plant unit! Some more exciting science experiments to try with your kids from other fabulous bloggers: Gummy Bears Science - Creative Lesson Cafe Burning Money - Playdough to Plato DIY Rain Clouds - Toby and Roo Dancing Raisins - Gift of Curiosity Magnetic Slime - Growing a Jeweled Rose Happy Teaching!
Here are 30 brilliant crafts you can do with sharpies. Get creative and make something beautiful and unique today.
Hardie Grant Explore June 2024 9781741178951 $24.99 Way back in March (and it really does feel like WAY back!) I was asked to create teaching notes for this sensational book and what a joyful task …
So we are back to another fun filled school term. After the nice 3 week long break, we dove headfirst into another exciting science unit. ...
Summer is the perfect time to try simple and fun summer activities with the kiddos! To mention, there are so many fun interactive activities, like blog and tutorials found on pinterest and facebook too perfect
Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928 – 2000) was an Austrian architect and painter. I first became aware of his work when I was travelling through Austria and saw his architecture in Vienna- it was so original and unlike anything I have ever seen, though it did remind me a bit of Gaudi's work in terms of outright originality. The vibrancy of his colour, the lack of straight lines and recurring motifs make him a good choice for students of any age to study. The common themes in his work include bright colours, organic forms, love of nature, individualism, spirals, onion domes, 'lollipop' style trees, windows of different shapes and sizes and rejecting straight lines. He called straight lines "the devil's tools" and considered them 'ungodly'. He also disliked the monotany of the colour grey saying "Colourfulness, variety and diversity are by all means better than the grey, the average grey." Although Hundertwasser first became well-known for his boldly-coloured paintings, he is more widely known for his individual architectural designs. Ecology and fantasy were very important in his works and he created his buildings in a way that nature and human beings could live together, including having live trees in and on the rooftops of his buildings. "Waldspirale" in Darmstadt, Germany, which nicely illustrates his love of the spiral and colour and different shaped windows. An example of one of his paintings with his typical 'lollipop trees'. I was inspired by the art lesson found on this New Zealand art education website. (Hundertwasser is very popular in New Zealand as he made it his second home for 25 years.) I first showed my Grade 7 students a slideshow of his work and posted pictures from my calendar on the whiteboard for them to refer to. We discussed the characteristics of his work and had a really good discussion about the differences of his unique, individualistic buildings as opposed to the houses they generally live in (in the suburbs, for the most part), where building codes are strictly monitored as well as our 'safe', standard buildings found in the city core downtown. Then students sketched out ideas for their own Hundertwasser-style houses in their sketchbooks. They had to include a number of Hundertwasser's typical architectural elements but were also encouraged to add their own ideas and make the houses fantasy-like. They drew their good copies on long, thin, horizontal sheets of heavy white paper. EDIT: a few people have asked about the specific paper size. I cut up sheets of poster paper (22 x 28 inches) into strips- I got 4 strips per sheet, so they're about 7" x 22" each. Watercolour paper would yield even better results, if you can afford it. I mixed up a bottle of 'black glue' (glue mixed with black India ink or black acrylic paint) and distributed it into small containers. I found these great plastic mini containers at the dollar store that come with lids, so the glue stayed in these from week to week without drying out. If the black glue thickens up, just add a bit of water and mix. EDIT: some people have found that black ink mixed with white glue doesn't work. It might depend on the ink brand. Try mixing black acrylic paint with some white glue, or simply just slightly watering down some acrylic paint. Basically, you're looking for a black waterproof material, so when you paint later with the watercolours, the black lines to 'bleed'. As always, it's best to test your materials ahead of time before you teach the lesson. For a shortcut, simply use Sharpies. You just won't get the organic line quality. Students used bamboo sticks (skewers) (I buy the big bags from the Dollar Store) to draw the black glue over all their pencil lines. I'm not going to lie - this took a while (2- 80 minute classes depending on the complexity of the design). You will get some kids saying "this takes soooo looong". At least my Gr5ade 7's and 8's did! That's when I lecture them on instant gratification, haha. You get a really nice irregular line using this technique. If you're in a time crunch, students could simply use black permanent markers for this step. Let these dry flat overnight. Then we painted them with watercolours- students loved this part. We used Prang watercolours, but liquid watercolours would be even more vibrant. Some students painted their onion domes with gold paint and others glued on aluminium foil for a silver effect in some of the windows. The possibilities for embellishments are endless with this project. Here's a close-up which nicely illustrates the wavy, organic line you can achieve using the bamboo stick and black glue. Loved the results! Ta da! You might be able to notice the aluminium foil windows in this one above. This student drew a hundred raindrops which represent Hundertwasser's name which translates "hundred waters". An imaginative half upside-down composition. Hallway display.
Well, here we have it, I am proud to present you with my very first Guest Blogger, Amy...From Teaching in Blue Jeans! I was very excited when I read her blog post, because I am always looking for new ways to make sight word instruction fun in my classroom. Amy has some great ideas to share with you, so read on and then pop on over to say hello to her! Sensational Sight Words by Amy Biddison from Teaching in Blue Jeans I am so excited to be joining you here at The Teacher's Chair for Blog Swap Sunday! Thank you Tracey for giving me this opportunity. I wanted to start and get this out of the way up front - no I don't get to wear blue jeans everyday. I love blue jeans and the feeling I have when I am in them. They are comfortable, familiar, and I am always a little more free when wearing them. I am more eager to try new things, think outside the box, and just all around more fun. Why? I don't know - I think it has to do with not pulling and tugging at hose, or some other uncomfortable garment. But I do love me some blue jeans. So when I am planning and teaching I always strive to make my classroom environment feel like a comfortable pair of blue jeans. OK - now that your not unnecessarily mad at me for getting to wear jeans, lets get down to business. Long story short - I am an attorney turned teacher. I taught 1 year in middle school as a dyslexia intervention teacher, 3 years in 3rd grade and now I am in my first year of kindergarten. Through the last 5 years I have seen the importance of sight words to a student's reading success. I don't think it matters your grade, if you struggle with sight words your reading will be hindered. I have always loved a multi-sensory approach to learning and sight words are no exception. A quick side note on multi-sensory learning: not every student learns in the same way. There are those students that will never "get it" if it is only told to them. There are those students who will instantly "get it" when its told to them. The more sensory channels you can use to send information to your students' brains, the more likely they will retain the information. In my classroom we are working with sight words on a daily basis. Some days we are spelling them and adding body motions as we spell (Auditory, Verbal and Kinesthetic Learning). Some days we are building them out of play dough or word tiles (Visual and Kinesthetic Learning). When I plan an activity I try make sure that at least 2 different learning styles are used. We do sight word practice whole group, in our guided reading groups and as word work. I am always looking for fun new ways to add sight word practice to word work. Here's just a few of my favorites that I found on Pinterest! Recycle letters from boxes to make a Letter Basket for building words. Use legos with sight words to build towers. Make it a game and the tallest tower wins! Or put only letters on the blocks for some word building! FREE scrabble tiles to print out and use for building words or playing word games. Just click the picture for your free scrabble tiles to print and use in your classroom. I also like my students to have some 1-on-1 time with their words. This year I created this sheet that my students completely independently during word work. We started by doing 2 together whole class so I could model my expectation. Now they are pros and do it on their own. What I love about this sheet is the many ways it gets my kids working with the word. They start by touching the word, saying it and spelling it orally. Then they trace the word and write it on the lines. Next up the class favorite, Rainbow Writing. There is something about using different colors that really helps those visual learners. Then its time for a little word search and finally building the word. I created this little freebie of 5 sight word pages for you to try in your classroom. Just click the picture below to take you to them. There's just one last resource I want to share with you that has been hugely successful this year. I really wanted my students practicing their sight words everyday at home as well as at school. In their reading bag, each student has a Sight Word Sticker Book. Earning stickers has been a huge motivator for my kids and they love practicing their words! This is a booklet on a ring that stays in their reading bag. Every night the students read through their sight words at home. About once a week the students see me or my parent volunteer to be "quizzed" on their sight words. I quiz them on flash cards not the ring because I don't want rote memorization. I also suggest to parents that they practice the words in random order too! When I quiz a student I give a count to 3 in my head for each word. They either know it or they don't and since these are words they should know by sight I'm pretty tough when it comes to reading them fluently. If they get it right, they add a sticker to their sticker book. If they don't get it they keep working on it. I LOVE how this helps me differentiate my sight word instruction for my students. I add new pages to the ring as they are ready. This helps my lower kids from getting overwhelmed and my higher kids keep moving right along at their pace. Here's a sample of my Sight Word Sticker Book. I'd love to know how you teach sight words in your classroom. Wow, Amy...that was fantastic! Thank you for sharing with us. The information, strategies (and freebies!) are very much appreciated. You are right, kids love stickers! What a motivating idea to make learning fun. I look forward to trying this with my first graders. Please feel free to share your ideas with us ANY TIME! It was definitely fun working with you! Don't forget to leave a comment and then stop over at Teaching in Blue Jeans for more of Amy's great ideas!
Here are some fun and easy ways to help students master the NGSS First Grade Life Science studies plants and animals in three different capacities.
July 2011 "When I grow up, I too will go to faraway places, and when I grow old, I too will live beside the sea." "That is all very we...
Classroom management is a critical piece of any successful school year. Start the school year off right with these classroom management hacks!
Introducing the Personal Boundaries Worksheet! Designed for individuals looking to enhance their self-awareness and improve their interpersonal relationships, this worksheet focuses on exploring and establishing healthy boundaries. By clearly defining your personal limits, needs, and expectations, you'll be better equipped to communicate and assert yourself effectively. Download and complete this worksheet to gain insight into your own boundaries and start fostering healthier connections with others.
and well because it's my passion.
This freebie now includes the 2nd half of 1st grade, too. :) The kiddos will be heading back for the 2nd half of 2nd grade soon. This would be a great time to find out about their goals and hopes for the rest of the year! I hope this freebie will be useful to you! Have a great 2nd half to your year! Jenn @ 2nd Grade Snickerdoodles