Science Survey

As I prepare for my first year as a middle school science teacher, I felt that it was important to survey my students and get their general feelings on science and assess their science knowledge.

I have always done back to school surveys for students as a way of getting to know them, so I felt like this was a great way of getting to know my students in a more scientific sense.

For a fun twist, you can also use the second version of the survey and do it gallery style! Get students up and moving to answer the questions. This is something that I have always done with my third graders at the beginning of every school year and it is such a fun way to get to know your students.

Grab this free survey by clicking my blog button below!

Student Information At a Glance {Freebie}

As you may already know, I am making the move to middle school this year, and I will have 5 classes to keep up with! I was trying to think of an easy way to have access to their information and so I came up with these information cards that I can color code by class. Self contained classes can certainly use this as well, you just wouldn't print the class tabs.

I recommend laminating the front card and the tabs for durability. Punch a hole in the corner and place on a ring and hang it next to your desk or in a spot that is easily accessible for you.

You can save your self tons of time if you have parents fill them out during Meet the Teacher or you can send them home on the first day of school with students to have parents fill them out. I personally don't want to fill out 80+  informational student cards. HAHA

Grab you FREE copy HERE!

Teaching Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning {Freebie Included}

Hey there friends! I am absolutely terrible about keeping up with this little ole blog, but I wanted to come and share with you all that I will be making the move to middle school this year to teach 8th grade science! (I know, I am a crazy person.) I have taught third grade for so many years that I just needed a change. I am VERY excited about the change and I have tons of ideas rolling around in my head.

After diving into the standards, I knew that students would need to learn to make claims and support them with evidence. This seemed to be a large theme throughout the standards so I scoured Pinterest like any good teacher and found the Claim, Evidence, Reasoning method for teaching argument writing in science.

I developed a set of resources that I think any science teacher would find helpful in teaching students to use this method with their middle level students. I love this also because the method of writing can be used in any content area! 

The unit includes:

• A powerpoint to teach your students about the Claim, Evidence, Reasoning method
• Claim, Evidence, Reasoning posters
• Claim, Evidence, Reasoning doodle notes (filled in, guided, and blank versions)
• Claim, Evidence, Reasoning guided notes mini posters for science notebooks
• Anchor chart pieces
• Claim, Evidence, Reasoning reference wheel
• Claim, Evidence, Reasoning foldable
• 2 different graphic organizers
• Claim, Evidence, Reasoning sorting activity
• Claim, Evidence, Reasoning Song lesson 
• Claim, Evidence, Reasoning Candy lesson
• 2 Claim, Evidence, Reasoning passages with writing prompt to practice the writing method

Below is a preview of all of the resources that are included in the file! I hope you find them useful! I am excited to start my year off teaching students this important skill!

As a way to thank you for sticking around, please download a copy of the doodle notes for free! Just click the image below to grab your free copy!