As if teaching mid-pandemic wasn’t already hard enough, this past year my district moved to block schedule. I went from over a dozen years of teaching 50 minute classes to being thrown into 93 minute classes. Over an hour and a half! It turned my world upside down. Here’s the problem. NO ONE can pay ... Read more

Teaching science in the special education classroom can be one of the most interesting but challenging topics for our students. Hop over to find some ways to present it and document progress for alternative assessment.

Teacher-tested tips for effectively using interactive notebooks in secondary science classrooms by Getting Nerdy Science

Science vocabulary is crucial in science teaching, and as a teacher, It’s super important to do things to increase students’...

The best "icebreaker" activity for high school students (who hate icebreaker activities). Get a jump start on creating a bond with your students.

When teaching the scientific method, it's important that you also teach the scientific process skills. Check out these science activities to help you get started and grab a freebie!

Are you a science teacher looking for graphing resources? Here are 10 resources to help your students create better graphs!

This guest post was written by a friend of mine, Kristin Lee, who writes terrific resources for teachers who want to help their students with scientific literacy! Scientific Literacy is becoming an increasingly important set of skills for our students and to our society at large. How do I tell fact from fiction? What is […]

As teachers, there is always a balance between teaching students our content area, and following the curriculum, but also teaching students other core skills that they will need for our class or for others. I am often asked about how to integrate more math into science class. Here are five strategies that I have found to be helpful.

Learn 5 engaging states of matter hands on experiments and activities to teach grade 4 5 6 students in your classroom.

Filler Activities for ELA (blog post) What can you do with five extra minutes in secondary ELA? Here are a few ideas to engage students until the bell.

Love these labs tips for a smooth worm dissection! - Getting Nerdy Science

Interactive notebooks have been one of the biggest trends in education over the last few years, but are something I’ve never been able to buy into. I've

When I moved to my current school the department chair made it clear that we should “teach bell to bell.” I understand the logic in this, and sometimes class does last exactly 50 minutes. But if EVERY teacher taught bell to bell EVERY period, students would never have time to give their brain a break. ... Read more

I love labs, model-building, and inquiry-based activities like any good secondary science teacher - but I also still really enjoy lecturing. Lectures don't have to be boring like the 300+ person lecture hall courses you took in college. You CAN make lectures engaging - and I am here to share with you my 4 best strategies (plus a bonus tip for all of you currently still teaching virtually #blessyou) for doing so.

Close reading in science class? This post shares strategies and a free resource for implementing close reading in science instruction.

I read once that Albert Einstein remarked it is a miracle curiosity survives formal education. This observation has stuck with me: a pesky stone in my shoe. Somehow, amongst all the curricular demands, standardised testing, graduation requirements, examination preparation, and everything else which pulls at me, I desperately want to instill a sense of wonder, curiosity, and excitement in my students. I desire for them to love learning, to ask questions, to be curious about what they see, read, and hear. And one of the best – and simplest – ways I have found to do this, is the use of lesson openers which excite and engage. Inspired by the concept of provocations in the Reggio Emilia Approach1, I open learning experiences in an open-ended way which provokes student exploration, discussion, creativity, and ideas. This way, when we move into the content of the lesson, students are already engaged; their curiosity is hopefully piqued, and they’re more receptive to learning. Below are five simple ways I open classes in order to provoke engagement, discussion, and curiosity. Click here to get a downloadable version to stick in your daily planner, or on your desk as a reminder when lesson planning! INSTRUCTIONS: Place an object (which links to the lesson content) in the center of the room. For added intrigue and curiosity, place it under a cloth to ‘reveal’ when students are settled. Then use the exploration of this object to springboard into the lesson of the day: through a discussion, writing exercise, word association game, etc. For example: for a writing class about using varied sentence types, the object could be a bowl of sweets, and students write about the experience of eating one for the very first time. Or, it’s an informational text lesson, using a newspaper article on how social media impacts beauty standards, the object might be a pile of make-up, and students discuss their personal associations with these products. [Nouvelle ELA has a similar lesson for analyzing symbols: get it here] IDEAS FOR GOING FURTHER: Wait a while before you explain the presence of the mystery object: perhaps even have students spend time thinking about it and making predictions for why it is there (you may want to give them one or two clues). Equally, if appropriate, have the desks arranged in groups and place different objects on different desks. For example: in an introductory lesson for a unit on ‘Identity’ place different pieces of fruit around the room, and have students move to the one that most represents them, and then encourage them to explain their choice. WHY IT IS EFFECTIVE: Any time you add a little mystery or present something unexpected in the classroom, it will pique students’ curiosity. When they are intrigued and curious, they’re primed to engage and learn. Indeed, the emotion of curiosity has long been recognized as a vital motivating factor driving learning2. INSTRUCTIONS: Write a provocative statement on the board which links to the lesson content. (e.g. If you’re studying Romeo and Juliet: It is possible to fall in love the first time you meet someone. Or reading Maya Angelou’s ‘Still I Rise’? What about: Your dignity is always within your own control.) Then place tape, or indicate an imaginary line, across the room, with one end as “Completely Agree” and the other as “Completely Disagree.” Give students a minute to consider the statement and then have them stand on the line to indicate their opinions. [You might also want to check out the Daring English Teacher's blog post on Introducing Complex Ideas to Students] IDEAS FOR GOING FURTHER: Once students have taken their places, ask a couple of students on opposite ends to speak to each other: to debate and defend their positions. Or, have students turn to the person next to them and discuss, seeing if they really are in the right places, or if they should switch (if they feel stronger than their neighbor on the line). Finally, at the end of the lesson, why not do the activity again and see if any of them have changed their positions? WHY IT IS EFFECTIVE: This not only gets students thinking critically about key themes and issues, but it is also an effective way to make their thinking visible, and to push them to take a stand. Moreover, requiring students to give reasons for why they picked where they did, helps them back up their opinions with evidence and reason. INSTRUCTIONS: Think about the content of the lesson, and then try to mimic something of the mood/setting/theme in the classroom environment. While pinterest-worthy classroom transformations are wonderful, that’s not what I am talking about here. You can set the mood in quick and easy ways, which will engage students’ senses when they walk in the door. For example: when studying Lord of the Flies, visually project a jungle screensaver on the board, with ambient sounds. This doesn’t have to be just for literature lessons: if you’re spending the lesson writing, have students enter with ambient coffee shop sounds, or stormy weather (great for writing horror stories!). Check out the website A Soft Murmur for this: go play around with their sound settings. IDEAS FOR GOING FURTHER: If possible, engage more senses: play with lighting, images, smells, touch, etc. Or – to really engage students’ imaginations – before playing the ambient noises, have them settle down, and close their eyes. Then give them a scenario to imagine as you slowly turn up the volume on the ambient sounds. For example: in a lesson on Emily Dickenson’s “The Railway Train,” start by playing the sound of a train and ask students to imagine this sound as an animal: what would it be and why? WHY IT IS EFFECTIVE: Engaging the senses is a powerful learning tool: when we create a multisensory experience in the classroom, not only does it pique students’ curiosity, but it can also make the learning more memorable. Indeed, when engaging multiple senses, we optimise the learning mechanisms in the brain, and tap into the many different ways different students learn best3. INSTRUCTIONS: It is as simple as this: play a current song or music video, show an extract from a current TV series, use a trailer for a recent movie: anything which links the content of the day’s lesson with students’ interests and lives outside of class. For example: before we studied The Great Gatsby (click for resources), I played Lorde’s Royals and asked students what the song meant to them. Before telling students anything about Lord of the Flies, we watched the trailer for The 100 and discussed what such a situation would be like. IDEAS FOR GOING FURTHER: Have students suggest the media you present: at the end of a previous class, explain the broad content of the next class (themes, main topic, etc.) and ask students to suggest appropriate songs, video clips, games, etc., which would make for engaging lesson openers. This way, they too are making connections to their learning, and you are making sure the references are highly relevant! WHY IT IS EFFECTIVE: When we incorporate students’ personal interests and entertainments in the classroom environment, their learning becomes more relevant, engaging, and multi-dimensional. The key here though is making sure it is really something which students’ are currently interested in: not just what we might assume they will be interested in! And the best way to ensure this, is to really spend time building relationships with students, finding out their interests, and knowing what’s currently popular. INSTRUCTIONS: Before class, think about the key theme, topic, or skill which you aim to explore or develop. Then, think of 3-5 key words related to this; write these on the board, or around the room. When students enter, draw their attention to these words, and instruct them to work in pairs to construct a question using the words. For example, before a lesson on Fahrenheit 451 (click for resources), you might use “knowledge” “future” “technology” and “books.” A possible question students might generate: In the future, will books become useless, as we use technology to access knowledge? And this doesn’t have to be limited to lessons on literature: in a lesson about essay writing, words such as “style” “structure” “opinion” and “voice” might generate some engaging questions. IDEAS FOR GOING FURTHER: Once students have formed a question, provide the means for discussing or answering the question: this might be through small-group discussions, through accessing online sources, or through analysis of a text. The key here is you need to be flexible and open to going where students’ questions take the lesson. Why not even ask them how the class should proceed in terms of answering their questions? WHY IT IS EFFECTIVE: Too often, by the time they reach middle/high school, curious questioning has been replaced by incessant answering: students become adept at answering questions, but often lack opportunities to inquire and question. Developing this ability to ask questions will help with developing critical thinking skills, and engaging discussion proficiency. Moreover, students will be hooked from the start of class, and invested in finding out the answers to their questions. So that's it: if you have ANY questions, please feel free to reach out: come find me on Instagram, or email me at [email protected]. Looking for other high-interest, provoking lessons to excite and engage? Check these out: Active Learning Exercises for Reading & Writing by Room 213 READING Escape Room (Activities, Trivia & Puzzle Games for High School ELA) by The Classroom Sparrow MAKER CHALLENGE - Team Building Activity by Presto Plans RESOURCES: 1Strong-Wilson, T., & Ellis, J. (2007). Children and place: Reggio Emilia's environment as third teacher. Theory into practice, 46(1), 40-47. 2Markey, A., & Loewenstein, G. (2014). Curiosity. In International handbook of emotions in education (pp. 238-255). Routledge. 3Shams, L., & Seitz, A. (2008). Benefits of multisensory learning. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12(11), 411–417.

Have you been on the hunt for effective strategies to teaching high school anatomy? Keep reading for 3 strategies to teaching high school...

Looking to start your year with a bang? Including some engaging scientific method experiments provides a solid foundation for any high school science course.

Don't settle for a boring macromolecules lesson! Engage your Biology students with these fun macromolecules videos, lessons, activities, labs and more!

If you are a secondary science teacher, I can bet that you are probably pretty tired from all of the responsibilities that go into your job. It can be hard to come up with ways to engage students in your classroom that don't require a TON of behind-the-scenes prep work on your end. But have no fear, I am here to share my FAVORITE no-prep student-centered activities with you.

When I grew up and decided to become a teacher, I really didn't think twice about assigning homework. Having homework in high school was just what I was used

Engage your Forensics students with the pickle autopsy! Check out how I prep and implement this fun activity into my Forensic Science class.

Is it REALLY November already?! Let me just say that October flew by with work, life, and party planning! I always throw a huge Halloween party for my girls, and this year...it was awesome! Sooo, even though I have had things to post about, I truly haven't had much time to sit down. I don't know about any of you, but I'm the type of person that is a little OCD and gets lost in the details. I can't just blog about nothing, unless it's a super quick spare of the moment giveaway! Soooo, you're going to get caught up in this post that's sure to be filled with pictures and the business that is my life right now. :) WHERE DO I START?! I'll introduce you to my giant plant and animal cells I created for our hallway! I LOVED how they turned out and they always made me smile as approached my classroom. :) They accented my students' cell labeling projects. These were super simple and quick to make. I just drew them and painted them. The eyes were created from paper plates, at the suggestion of one of my coworkers...great idea! I made the arms, legs, and mouth from black construction paper, and the shoes were a group effort between myself and the same coworker that gave me the idea for the eyes. :) It's nice to have another creative mind around! Here are some samples of the student work that was around my super cell figures! Okay, let's see..what can I show you next? Let's look at what we are doing during our Daily 5 time! Which, I have to be honest...this is the first year that I started implementing Daily 5 into my classroom and I know the "sisters" would not approve! I am still ironing out the details...but for me, it's a GREAT option to incorporate into my weekly Reading routine AND the kids LOVE it!!! This is our small group time. I call up my students in groups of four and five and work with them on various Reading and Language Arts skills. I have even done this for Math, and I have to be honest...it's wonderful! Our classes are typically somewhere between 23-26 students, so to break that down and focus on individual needed skills...goooooood stuff! We also work on our Interactive Reading Journals, thanks to Nicole Shelby. :) LOVE them! Here's a look at our Daily 5 centers... You'll see that we get quite comfortable in my room. Pretty much anything goes as far as where they want to sit to work on what they're doing. These girls are PARTNER READING under my front table. I make sure that they are checking for comprehension after each page. Their discussions are really wonderful...very proud of them! Read to Self...enough said, lol. Tooo cute!! I PROMISE that I didn't make any of them pose for this...I found them like this and of course they wanted to giggle when they saw me with my camera! Love my kids. My girls are a little more serious. :) Word Work...this is done using my Interactive Writing Center. I WILL NEVER not use this! It's working out so well and has really created a great way for my kids to experiment and create so many different kinds of writing! Here's a super small sample of what comes with my center! Word Work... I use our weekly spelling words for this part of the Daily 5. My kids do SOOO much with this one! Three things that we do are use the magnetic letters to spell the words. Another thing that we do is use ABC letter beads to string the letters and create words onto pipe cleaners (this is their favorite...)!! They also have dry erase packs to write one and wipe off their words, while their partner quizzes them. I don't have my Listen to Reading center up and running yet. I'm still working on this one! (I told you it wasn't perfect. oh well! We make it work!!) I'm waiting for my students' stories to be loaded onto a disc and my classroom computers just got fixed this week. This will be coming soon!! Let's interrupt school time with a weekend at the lake... I love my family. I loved my time at the lake...we all know that as teachers, we all need a little R&R! Okay, back to work!! Let's just start by saying that I LOVE technology! There are a couple of things that I can't get enough of...my Smart Board AND my Hovercam! My kids use the Smart Board all the time to do interactive academic games. Learning has become so much fun!! No child should ever say "I don't want to go to school." School is wonderful...here are a couple of my kiddos "playing." Here are some anchor charts that I created during a mean, median, mode, and range lesson. I will be loading a great freebie activity this week that you guys can grab that went along with this. It's SO MUCH FUN!! I also have a great interactive PPT that I did, as well. Tepee TiMe!!!! During our time studying Native American tribes, my kiddos learned about Plains Indians. We talked about the nomadic Plains Indians and their use of tepees for shelter. I create a tepee each year and teach my students about Native American symbols and sign language and how these were forms of communication for each of the tribes. They get to choose a Native American symbol that they feel best represents themselves and then paint it onto the side of the tepee. They LOVE it! I use this as a reward in my classroom. They can't wait to see who gets to go into the tepee each day! We are also working on Native American calendar robes. Here's a peek at my students working on those... PROUD... I spent some time seeing two of my students doing something that they LOVE! One is an avid dirt bike racer and the other is fabulous at 4-H! It was so much fun spending time with them outside of school. I also had a girl from my class travel all the way to the Alamo in Texas to compete in a national shooting competition! Way to go, kids! I think that will be all for now! Be sure to follow me for future posts on what's going on in my classroom. :) I hope you liked my fall "catch up" post! Goodbye for now!! ONE MORE LITTLE THING FOR.....YOU!!! STOP OVER TO MY FRIEND MEG'S BLOG! You can enter an UNBELIEVABLE giveaway that I am thrilled to be a part of! It's five days of amazing opportunities to win some great prizes!

If you are looking for some high-interest activities, try using animated shorts to teach inference. Free handouts focus on student learning.

Domain and range intervention! Teaching domain and range in special education

Be a great social studies teacher with these use-tomorrow, science-backed teaching strategies.

Join the Chemistry Corner Curriculum and Community! In CCC you'll get a yearlong curriculum and a supportive teacher community. Join today!

These ideas of fun ways to teach mitosis are fun for both students and teachers. This list includes some classic ideas and few new modern approaches.

This download contains a single word wall coloring sheet for "Kinetic Energy." You can also purchase this coloring in the "Types of Energy Word Wall Coloring Sheets" set. Coloring pages have recently become a huge hit all over the world. In my new series of word wall coloring pages, you can bring the excitement of coloring into your middle school and high school science classrooms. I used clip-art purchased from Educlips in the design of this set, the rest of each illustration is hand-drawn by me for ease of coloring and photocopying. Word Walls are an instructional tool used primarily in the elementary classroom. While teaching in Texas my administrators decided they wanted secondary teachers to use the tool as well. It was a great success on many levels. Students took time learning about their word and creating a design for it. I always displayed all the words and the students took great pride in seeing their work displayed. The students also enjoyed looking at each other’s work. I noticed over time that my students would frequently look at the wall while we working. Especially during pop quizzes or bell work. The word wall truly helped my students to remember their vocabulary words and seeing them displayed all the time in class made it easier for them to refresh their memory when necessary. I developed word wall coloring pages for my students who struggled with what to draw and write when working on word walls. I always offer a blank template for my self-motivated artists, but the coloring pages allowed my students who struggle with a means for creating a beautiful piece of word wall art as well. My favorite way to use word walls includes after a test, to introduce new vocabulary in a relaxing format, sub work or extra credit. They are also a fun way to revisit words students struggle with. I hand illustrated each image to be coloring and photocopying friendly. The purchase of this resource is for the single use of the purchasing teacher in their classroom only and none of the parts may be posted online for public use. Please feel free to tag me on Instagram (@MizzzFostersClass) to show off your students’ work. Related Resources: Science Posters 290+ Word Wall Coloring Sheets: Biology, Chemistry, Physics Science ESOL / ELL 290+ Word Wall Coloring Sheets: Biology, Chemistry, Physics

Get back to school ready using ten Amazon must haves for the science classroom. Items include science prep, decor, and organization.

data:blog.metaDescription

Below are samples of some DNA replication, transcription and translation projects I have received in the past.