Science Notebook Freebie

I wanted to hop on today and share a little science notebook freebie that I made for you all. I thought it would be helpful to create a little science cheat sheet for students to glue onto the inside of their notebooks.

I included the basic metric units, some other scientific units that I thought would be helpful, the steps to the CER and Scientific Method, the types of variables, the equation for force = mass x acceleration and the periodic table!

I hope this helps your science students this year!

Just click the image to download your free copy!

End of the Year Science Freebie

I think we can all agree that this school year didn't end quite like we had imagined or hoped. I always look forward to those final days with students.

This year, since I am teaching 8th grade, it makes me extremely sad because they will be moving on to high school next year and I won't see them again.

I wanted to put together a little something for my students to keep the science going this summer, if only for a moment. I also wanted to find something that wouldn't break the bank!

So, I assembled little bags with the materials to make a balloon rocket at home.

This project cost me less than $20! I might have spent a few hours putting them together, but I think it's worth the time and effort to give students a little science in their summer.

The Materials to Purchase:

• balloons
• string
• straws (I used paper straws from Dollar Tree)
• snack bags
• colored paper to print your freebie on

Download the freebie by clicking the image below.

I only provided students with enough to make one balloon rocket. You could provide them double the materials and allow them to have balloon races. Students will also need tape, but I did not include the tape for them. That would have cost a little more than I wanted to spend and I figured most kids probably had tape at home. 

Here is a little video for assembling your bags!

I am hoping they enjoy this fun little STEM activity! I hope you can use it for your students too!

5 Fun Games for Digital Learning (Free Downloads)

This time has been incredibly difficult for teachers. Being away from our classrooms, our students, our colleagues, and our school communities has taken it's toll on us all. But, as teachers, we do what we do best. We do anything we can to serve our students and make learning online as much like our own classrooms as we can. I have been trying to find that perfect balance between the right amount of work on virtual meeting time to make sure my students are successful.

However, it is SO important to keep those connections with students going and let them know that we miss them and love them. One great way to do that is to play games with them when you meet on Zoom, Google Meet, or WebEx in my case.

I am going to talk about some really fun games that my students and I have played that I also tried to make relevant to my content area. These games could be made relevant for any content area as well.

Some of these games are a culmination of ideas I've seen on Instagram or versions of things I've seen. I will credit teachers where I can.

Scavenger Hunt with a Twist
We have all seen the typical scavenger hunt where you have students race to find items in there house and bring them back. Students LOVE this! But I was watching my IG stories one day and Kimberly from The Science Stalker suggested having students find items that started with specific letters. She had a word in mind that the first letter of each item would spell. For example, if you wanted them to unscramble the word science, you would have students hunt for things that started with each of the letters in that word (sock, clock, etc...) You would have them search for the items out of order and then have them try to unscramble the word.

I did this on Earth Day for each of my science classes. Each class had a different word related to Earth Day because you know middle schoolers like to talk to each other! Anyway, it was a big hit and they loved it! This would be a great way to introduce a lesson topic.

The Points Game

My girl Rachel at the Tattooed Teacher shared this one. This game is just a great way to connect with your students, build relationships, and just have a little fun. You will explain to students that they can earn and lose points for doing the activities that will be presented to students. If they have not done the activity, they do not gain or lose any points. You will want to give them an example like I have not yelled at anyone today so I do not lose 10 points, but I do not earn points either because this is a negative activity.

Then you present slides of different scenarios. (ie. If you have argued with someone -10, If you are wearing shoes or socks +1 per size on one slide) You can come up with as many different scenarios as you like. You can give the winner with the most points at the end a virtual prize!

Simon Says Science 

You can really do this with any subject area, but everyone knows how to play Simon Says. Just call out a statement like Simon Says touch your nose if Alfred Wegener propose the theory of continental drift. Offer some false statements like the following --> Simon Says hop on one foot if the crest is the lowest part of the wave. If students perform the action, they are out of the game.

Guess the Science Gibberish

This is another fun one that I got from Kimberly at the Science Stalker. However, I added the science twist to mine! You can download her free game HERE. For this game, it is a like the game Mad Gab. There are seemingly nonsense phrases, but when said together quickly sound like a word or phrase. I created some of my own based on our science vocabulary. You can download my editable science version by clicking HERE. We played this as a class last week and it was hilarious!

Five Second Rule

This last game is one that I plan on playing with my class this week and I think it will be a blast. You show a student a topic and they will have five seconds to name 3 things that fit the topic. For example, name three brands of shoes. My students and I will be playing this with a science twist. It will be a great way to review what we have learned and have a little bit of fun! Click the image below to download your free copy!

I hope this helps make your virtual teaching a little bit easier and little more fun! I would love to know what fun games you are playing with your students!

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!

Daily 5 Rotation Chart {Freebie}

After I posted on last week's Monday Motivation, I realized I my Daily 5 rotation chart needed a little face lift. You know we like things to be cute and everything is better with fun fonts and clip art!

I do everything in Activ Inspire in my classroom. Students can click and drag things, draw, write...there are just so many reasons why I love using it for presentations more than powerpoint. Powerpoint has its time and place, but Inspire is tailored for allowing students to manipulate.

Any who, here are what the slides look like.

You will just edit the students names in the white boxes to the left and to the right. You want to enter them separately so that when students come up to drag their names, they only drag their names.

I make sure to have students who meet with me already pulled to the box so students know. It usually stays the same each week, until that group changes. I also set a limit to how many students can go to each rotation. I base it on the number of students present and how many students are meeting with me that day. It may be helpful to type that number in the boxes so students know when each rotation is full.

** You will need Activ Inspire software on your computer in order to access the free file! You can download the free software HERE.   

To download the rotation chart freebie, click my blog button below!

Multiplication Freebie

As you may have noticed, my blog has recieved a little makeover! I love it! Thanks to Megan Favre at a A Bird in Hand Designs!

I have just returned from my maternity leave and man did I miss my kiddos!! To help my kids really learn their facts, we always do weekly timed tests starting with 0's and 1's and then moving up each week. As kids pass each test, they color in a section of their multiplication sundae sheets. You can see the example below! 

At the end of the year, we have an ice cream sundae party to celebrate!

Here is the checklist I use to keep track so students don't try to cheat on their coloring sheets. =)

If you wish to download this editable file, please click the image below! You will need the following fonts for it to look like mine: KG What the Teacher Wants and KG When Oceans Rise. These are both free fonts you can download from TPT or Dafont.com

I created my own timed tests to use. The students just fill in what math fact they are on in the first column and then I call out the second factor. When they have done that, they turn their papers over and I set a timer for a given amount of time. I usually give them a minute and a half. You can do what is best for you. I collect all of the papers when the timer goes off. They must correctly answer all 13 questions to pass.

Representing Numbers

Last week we began our math unit with a very basic lesson on different ways to represent and show numbers to review second grade skills. I wanted to share a couple of freebies that I made to accompany our lesson!

The first is a math journal printable that you can use to accompany the flipchart lesson I made {which you can download later in the post.} Just click the image below to download your own copy!

Here is the flipchart I used to accompany the lesson! Just click the image to download!

I know this may seem super simple for a third grader, but I think it's important to build and review the basics before diving into the meat of it!

I know I have been saying for two weeks that I would be posting my classroom reveal. I am making it my number 1 goal to get those pictures taken this week so that I can share my room with you all! I've just been so busy I keep forgetting to take pictures of the full room and all of the little things I've done!

I have been thoroughly enjoying my new school and my new students. I have seriously already had some amazing experiences! 

One kid had his grandmother knit my unborn baby this adorable blanket!

Seriously?! Shut the front door. This is the sweetest, most amazing gift I've ever gotten from a student!

And a parent texted me today this sweet message!

WHAT!? How great are these parents and students!? I love my new school and everything about it. I feel excited and rejuventated about teaching after the difficult time I had last year!

In other news, my belly just keeps getting bigger!

I had to sport my Clemson colors Saturday! Even though they lost badly!

The hubs worked on this project for our little girls nursery and I am IN love with how cute it turned out!

He literally spent ALL weekend carving out those wooden boards to make the letters stand out. Then, we spent most of last night painting them. I cannot wait to hang them and get the nursery done so I can stop stressing about it!

That's about all that's been going on with me lately!

Stay tuned for a classroom reveal...but don't hold your breath...lol

2014 Classroom Sneak Peek

I've been steadily working in my room every day this week and I feel like it's slowly coming together. I'm not ready for the full reveal yet, but I do want to show you some "snapshots" of things I've been working on. 

As you may know, I've doing a Bold and Bright theme in my room this year. Think of the Crayola Bold Markers...that's kinda what I'm going for. =)

 My new room isn't as big as my old room, but I like the space. There is tons more storage space so I can keep the clutter contained to the cabinets! {This could be a bad thing for my inner hoarder...}

I'm going to have to do something about that horribly chipped paint. I just didn't think I would have time to repaint the whole thing this year. It's pretty big.

You can snag yourself a copy of those adorable iRead Labels from The Brown Bag Teacher HERE!

My room didn't have a teacher desk, but honestly...I prefer having a table. I have found there is more space on top for my "things." I just use plastic drawers underneath for my personal supplies. I also used the cabinets behind me for all of my teacher books since there wasn't a spare bookshelf for them.

You can purchase Amy Lemons numbers HERE. Hers are more customizable for your own classroom since they come in chevron and in black and white outline so you can print on whatever color paper you want. 

My numbers are already set in the bright and bold colors.

If you like the look of these word wall labels and numbers and think to yourself you need them for own classroom, you can download them for FREE from my TPT shop by clicking the image below!

I have also been working on a black and white classroom decor set which I hope to be sharing with you sometime this weekend! 

Happy Wednesday!