St. Patrick's Day STEM Lesson

St. Patrick's Day is almost here, so we thought why not turn one of our FUN activities into a STEM lesson! Our county  has put a HUGE emphasis on creating lessons that meet the STEM requirements.  (Lessons that integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).  We have even seen STEAM lessons that add the ARTS to that list of requirements.

SOOO...we have been looking at some of our science lessons that we have been tweaking over the years, and many of them fit 3 of the STEM requirements.  All we needed to do was add a component here or there and we had a TON of STEM lessons on our hands.

So here's our St. Patrick's Day plan.  We always have the kiddos work with a partner to create a Leprechaun Trap.  We either set the traps the night before St. Patrick's Day or we set them after the little guy has come and done some mischief in our room.  Since St. Patrick's Day is on a Monday this year, we plan on setting them once we see he has crashed our room.

So...the plan!

Step 1:  The kiddos will work with a partner to plan, design, and build their Leprechaun Trap using classroom materials.  (This covers the ENGINEERING portion.)  They will record their plan on the sheet below.

Step 2:  We will evaluate each other's traps and talk about what we think may or may not work.  We will use terms such as longer, shorter, heavier, lighter, materials used, 5 senses (will he smell the gold candy coins you left for him...).  This will support the ENGINEERING portion and add in the MATH and SCIENCE portions as well.

Step 3:  We will take pictures of our traps.  (This is the 1st part of the TECHNOLOGY portion.)

Step 4:  We will wait!  Will we catch a Leprechaun?

Step 5:  We will check the traps the following day.  Were some of them sprung?  Did we catch a Leprechaun?  We will discuss our traps and talk about why we think they DID or DID not work.

Step 6:  We will choose 1 or 2 trap photographs to put into an Activboard flipchart.  We will then make notes on the photo of design changes we could make that may have made the trap more effective.  (This will really hit the TECHNOLOGY part right on the money and we will revisit ALL the other components too.)

Here's the Trap Design sheet we will be using!

You can find the trap design sheet and other St. Patrick's Day goodies in our 

St. Patrick's Day Galore: Photo Booth, Games, and More! pack!

And if you need a FUN game for St. Patrick's Day, 

you might want to grab our FREE CCVC Leprechaun Leap Game!

We hope you have a great weekend and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Compose/Decompose Numbers and Place Value

Hi!! We are back!!Wow! We have been missing for a while!!! Crazy times are just beginning!! We can't believe how fast the year is flying!!

Assessment time again for us!! How do you assess Composing/Decomposing Numbers and Understanding Place Value??? Our Kiddos have been playing an awesome game from Envision Math Centers! They are having a blast. You could play it even if you don't have Envision Math.

What do you need??
Each group needs
A 100 chart
2 sets of Number tiles/cards 1-9 in a baggy
Base 10 blocks

How do you play??
Students take turns pulling out 2 number tiles (students can put either tile first unless it is a 0) For example, if a child pulls a "4" and a "1" out of the bag then he/she can work on the number 41 or 14.
Student places the numbers above the 100 chart
Student points to the number on the number chart
Student builds (compose/decompose) that number with the base 10 blocks (using units of 10s and 1s)
Students play until all tiles are gone from the bag.

While we are continuously observing students playing this game and working on place value in other ways, we still love having some documentation as proof that the kiddos really did or did not meet this standard.

So we made these. What do you think?? Grab them if you want.

It's Time to Save! "TPT 3 Million Teachers Strong Sale" is Here!

TPT is throwing a HUGE "3 Million Teachers Strong" SALE TODAY and TOMORROW! - Thursday the 27th and Friday the 28th!

Thanks to Krista Wallden for the adorable button!

We are offering 20% off ALL of our products in our store...and we mean ALL of them...even bundles that are already marked at a 20+% savings off the individual packs!

Enter code TPT3 at checkout and you'll save another 10% off the sale prices courtesy of TPT!

That's a TOTAL of 28% off ALL products and you end up saving about 40%+ on our bundles!  

Here are some items that may be perfect for the upcoming months!

Seasonal Fun!

 Social Studies

 Science

 Math

End of the Year THEME Days FUN!

And be sure and grab these freebies too!

 Happy Shopping!  Our cart already overfloweth! :)

George Washington Carver

Hi Friends!! I've been a little sad this week!! I guess I am just having Post Princess Blues!! Came home Monday from an awesome ALL Princess weekend! Yep just girls, hanging, running, eating, shopping and oh yes don't forget getting some awesome BLING.

Me (Page) on the left and my Aunt Michele on the right!

We are loving our 3 medals! One for the 10k, one for the half marathon, and one for doing both!

The Glass Slipper Challenge!

Well back to business it is!! While February is ending, our study for Black History Month continues!!! This week we will be learning about the fabulous contributions made by George Washington Carver!! I would never have been able to finish a half marathon without fuel from some yummy peanut butter!! Thanks George!!!

 

Have a great week!! Let us know what you think!!! 

Student Teacher Shout Out!!

Happy Winter Break to everyone out for a little bit!! Happy Sunday to our Friends who will be heading back to school sooner than later :).

Cristy and I love stealing from, working with and sharing with other teachers!! We get so excited when we see and learn new things! After all teaching is the only profession where thieves are rewarded!!

Well in December, Cristy and I were fighting over who was going to get a Student Teacher! While I love Student Teachers, I am a CONTROL FREAK!! Just ask my student teacher from last year! I am pretty sure I drove her to MADNESS!!

While Cristy was more than willing to take the Student Teacher, she thought my group of kiddos may provide a student teacher with a somewhat less challenging environment (get my drift??).

So Yay! I was the winner of the Student Teacher. She started in January and well, to be honest!! Cristy and I still fight about her!! I am so happy and Cristy is sooooo sad!! Cristy wishes she would have been the winner of the Student Teacher!!

Anyway to the point!! Ms. White's college is Jacksonville State University in Alabama! When she came to my class we were required to do Pairs Training and learn about the different ways to Co-Teach!!

Now, probably friends, you already had Co-Teaching training and are already awesome working with student teachers, but for some reason, after 18 years of teaching I had never been trained on how to effectively be a mentor teacher and successfully implement Co-Teaching!

This training was awesome!!! It allowed Ms. White and I to develop a great working relationship as well as provided us with a guide for transition from me teaching to her teaching!!

Here are some tips that have made having a student teacher an even more amazing experience than ever!!!

1. 1 Teach/ 1 Observe = Week 1 I taught/ Ms. White observed, took notes and helped when asked or helped when noticed a need
2. Team Teach= After week one,  we taught together! I started the routine/ She started the routine, we took turns asking questions, telling information, giving directions!! AWESOME!!
3. Parallel / Differentiated Teaching = Ms. White and I discussed plans for small groups! We both taught similar content but different ways
4. 1 Teach / 1 observe = Now, when Ms. White takes over, we have slowly changed rolls!! COOL

Less turmoil for the kiddos!! Great practice for Ms. White!!  Ease of giving control over by the CONTROL FREAK!!

Now including my AWESOME assistant, we have 3 teachers working continuously with students!! Lots of one-on-one conferencing with Cafe! Lots of guided reading!! Lots of math and writing conferences!! Best experience ever!!

Thanks Ms. White and Jacksonville State!!

If you have any tips to share, we would love to hear them!!

Part II: Interactive Sight Word Flap Books, Readers, and More!

Part II: Interactive Sight Word Resources:
 Emergent Readers!

This FREE pack is for the sight word COME!  Our littles are having SUCH a hard time remembering this word for some reason.  And I swear, this word is in EVERY stinkin' book that we use to test them on fluency and comprehension.  And if they don't know it....boom!!!  It doesn't matter how well they do on everything else...this one word kills them.

So here is part 2!  You can check out Part I: Flap Books if you missed that post!

Here's the 2nd activity we included... 
Sight Word Emergent Readers---3 Levels!

Click either image to grab the pack for FREE in our TpT store!

 There are 3 versions of each reader so that you can choose the best fit for each of your kiddos. 

Level 1 has simple repetitive text. 

Level 2 has longer sentences, but still relies heavily on picture clues. 

Level 3 is the most challenging with more complex sentences. 

Students should circle the sight word come on pages 2 and 3.  For page 4, they will need to spell the word in the letter shape boxes.  

The books are made by folding in 1/2 and then in 1/2 again.  

Simply print,fold, and go!

We are creating individual packs for each sight word.  Then if your kiddos are having a hard time with any particular word, you can get the pack that works on that word.

If these work well for folks, we will bundle ALL of the sets and sell the set at a BIG discount.

Please tell us what you think of this pack. Can you see it working for your kiddos?  Is there a standard/skill you would like to see included?  We would LOVE any feedback you can give us!

We hope you enjoy the freebie!  We'll post about the last part over the next couple of days!

Rosa Parks for Young Kiddos

Happy Monday!! Hoping for a Second full week of school in a row!! Not looking hopeful because of another round of Wintery Craziness is headed to GA! Yikes!!

Anyway! We love discussing famous people with our Kiddos! They really become so interested and excited about learning! We are so excited that we just finished a mini pack on Rosa Parks! We really needed a recording form for kiddos to take notes, some emergent readers to guide a discussion and a place for students to write what they learned!  Our kiddos did such a great job!! They impress us more and more each day!!

Check out this fun mini pack! FREE today Only!

Let us know what you think!!!