Science Podcast Episode Guide

So as many of you may already know, I made the switch this year to teaching middle school science and I absolutely LOVE it! I don't know why I spent so many years teaching elementary. I won't go on and on about the many reasons WHY, but just take my word for it.

Podcasts have become a big thing in education in the last couple of years. I know personally, I love listening to podcasts on my way to work every morning. True Crime is my favorite genre! My Favorite Murder and Sword and Scale are my two go to podcasts that I listen to on my daily commute.

When I taught third grade, we listened to a podcast called Six Minutes each day when we came in from recess and the students loved that time. You could hear a pin drop....It was a daily story that kept their attention and left them wanting more each day!

As a science teacher now, I've been looking for a way to incorporate podcasts into my science classroom, but just hadn't found the time to really look into all the science podcasts out there and what they have to offer. There are so many wonderful science podcasts with SOOOO many episodes.

I had a thought that I just needed to comb through each podcast and come up with guide broken down by podcast, topic, title, episode, and length so that when I want to use one, I can just go to my guide and pick one. I know this is going to make it less daunting for me to use a podcast in one of my lessons instead of spending hours (which is literally what I did creating this guide) looking for just the right episode to correspond to my lesson.

I created a Google Sheet and added tabs across the bottom for different scientific topics. At the top, I listed the title of the Podcast, the topic that the episode covers, the title of the episode, the episode date, and the length of the episode. You can see in the example below how it is set up.

Science genres included are:

• Earth and Space
• Biology
• Earth (plate tectonics, oceans, atmosphere, volcanoes, earthquakes)
• Earth's History (fossils, dinosaurs, evolution)
• Ecology
• Light and Sound
• Environment
• Weather
• Health
• Scientific Method
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Geology
• Genetics

The podcasts that I used are:

• Science Weekly
• 60 Second Science
• Brains On Science
• Science Friday
• Tumble
• Fun Kids Science Weekly
• But Why
• Wow in the World
• The Show About Science

As new episodes are added to each podcast, I plan on updating the list each month. I hope you all find this document helpful for your science classrooms. If you would like to make a copy, please download it HERE. 

For future updates, you will need to come back and make a copy again. If you know of any other great science podcasts for kids, let me know and I will check them out and consider adding them to the guide!

The South Carolina Colony {Unit 4}

I posted the South Carolina Colony unit last night! I have been working feverishly to get this one done and posted for you by the end of the month.

Next up, I will begin working on The American Revolution in South Carolina. This is one of my favorite Social Studies units! 

I also plan on adding the growing bundle by the end of the week! 

Once I have finished up all of the Social Studies units, I will work on Science! 

Head on over to my TPT shop to grab a copy of the unit! Just click the blog button below.

Native Americans Unit

I know I should have been working on this already because some of you may already be past this point, but I have the Native Americans unit completed!

I was going to do one large unit, but I started thinking since we alternate between science and social studies every couple of weeks, it would be better for me to break the units up into smaller chunks so I can get major grades easier.

I already have part of the next unit on Explorers completed and hope to have that done by the end of the month!

Head over to my TPT shop to grab yourself this unit!

Lesson Plan Guide

We were recently challenged by our administration to make sure were fully engaging our students during every part of our lesson. I often find myself just stating the objective at the beginning of my lesson and calling it my "hook." Come on...I know you've all done it. I must say, I've done it way more often than I'd like to admit, but it got me really wanting to set the bar higher for myself and my students.

However, when I began to sit down and plan these engaging hooks and lessons activities, I was having a hard time coming up with ideas. I would scour through Pinterest or through old plans to find the perfect way to begin or end my lesson for the most engaging activity to teach my students the concept they needed to know. It was taking me FOREVER to get through my planning. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE me some planning, but I have a kid, I have a husband, a life...and I don't want to spend my whole afternoon or my kid's naptime doing my plans. I have Netflix to watch! There had to be another solution!

I decided that I would create a guide full of hooks, teaching strategies, lesson closures, and websites teachers could pull from while they are planning so they don't have to try so hard to make their lessons engaging.

Yes, there are things similar out there, but I wanted this guide to be the BEST, the BIGGEST, the most COMPREHENSIVE list there is out there. Teachers deserve the best! I scoured the internet to find every hook, strategy, and closure I could find to add to my guide. There may still be some great ideas out there and this guide can still be a growing document.

I would love to give a copy away! Please comment with 1) your email and 2) what your favorite hook, teaching strategy, or lesson closure is.

I will choose a winner by Friday!

You can also purchase a copy in my TPT shop! Just click my blog button below and it will take you directly to the link to purchase.

First Week Visual Plans and a Sneak Peek Assessment Strategy

Hey everyone! I have been super busy this last week getting my classroom ready for students next week. I wanted to take a minute a share my first week plans. 

You can download the PDF version with clickable links HERE!

On another note, I got the opportunity to observe another teacher last year and she just so happened to be moved to my 3rd grade team this year! Anyway, she used a really cool assessment strategy in her classroom and I fell in love with it! 

Here is a sneak peek! 

I will be posting more on this later on when I have live action shots from my students next week! Check back! You don't want to miss it!