FOSS Solids Task Cards

Currently, I am teaching my students about Solids and Properties of Solids. We use the FOSS Solids and Liquids Kit but this product can be used with any lesson on solids and properties. Recently I've been learning about Task Cards so I thought I'd give them a try with my students this year. 

After cutting and laminating multiple copies, I plan to use the task cards as a small group activity at first. After all groups have completed the cards and recorded their answers, I will project them from my Smart Board and discuss the answers as a whole group activity. 

My science tables can hold up to five students, which I have divided into smaller pairs or triads which are perfect for doing our science investigations. These pairs or triads of students within the small table group will divide one deck of task cards in half. They will then complete half of the cards together with their partners on their answer sheets, then exchange their half deck with the other pair/triad at their table group.  Students can then check their answers against the answer key which is provided. Since there are two groups within a group, I will provide two answer keys.

I'm excited about using these task cards! I will be sure to post pictures to share.
You can get your set of SolidsTask Cards and more of my products at my TpT store. Please be sure to leave your feedback. 

Thanks,
Lori

 

Fall Writing Anchor Chart

Fall is a great time of the year to discuss with children. This anchor chart is a nice way to build schema and vocabulary with students as they prepare for writing about the subject of FALL. You can simply post this anchor chart on your white board or you can post it in your writer's workshop area or on your writing focus wall. 

You can pick up this product as well as other useful products in my store. Please leave your feedback and be sure to check out my freebies as well. You can earn TpT credits towards other TpT products as well.

Enjoy!
Lori

Oak Tree Life Cycle and Craftivity

We study "Trees" in my Kindergarten science classes. To help them understand how an oak tree grows I use this Oak Tree Life Cycle PowerPoint. This file is a converted SMART Notebook file, which is why some files are a little smaller than the slide on the presentation.

I found a great photographic life cycle at Pre-Kinders.com, where I could show students actual photos of an acorn's development into a huge oak tree from start to finish. 

I love the idea on this site to use the life cycle pictures for having students create their own life cycle.

I have students use a paper plate. Ahead of time I mark the plates into four quadrants. Next I have students color each section and number them 1-4. I copy the pictures in grayscale and then have students color the pictures as they see them on the PowerPoint. Students then cut out these pictures and arrange and label them onto the paper plate in the correct order of the acorn's life cycle.

Finally, I have students do a fun craftivity that I found at First-School.ws, where I guide students through making a cut/paste activity of an acorn.

Together, students and I identify the parts of the acorn, and then cut and glue the individual shapes onto a piece of green construction paper, using the small picture on the corner as our guide. Once the pieces are all glued students color their acorn the colors of an acorn, i.e. the "hat" dark brown, and the bottom part a lighter color brown.

I hope you enjoy this idea. You can find this product in my TpT store. I would love to get your feedback and find out how you would use it with your kiddos.

Scientists Notebook Anchor Chart and (Editable) Welcome Bunting Freebie

The first week of school was absolutely exhausting yet exciting. My K-2 kiddos are so adorable and excited about school. They were especially eager to visit the science room to see what they would be doing in science class this year. 

I started off the year with a SMART board discussion on the questions, What is Science? and What do Scientists Do?

This week I will extend the discussion with an anchor chart. I use a color anchor chart as a SMART Board to review with the children what they learned previously about scientists; specifically, what scientists do/are/need. As we discuss each section I fill in the chart as a whole group lesson.

I pass out student copies of the anchor chart for students to engage in the lesson as well. I have them complete their chart as I complete the colored anchor chart on the SMART Board.

After their anchor chart is complete I have my students add it to a new page of their science notebook. This way each student will have their own copy of the anchor which they were involved in completing to refer to during writing.

Welcome Bunting Freebie

To welcome my students to the Science Room this year, I made a colorful WELCOME Bunting which I hung atop my SMART Board. I copied the pages onto construction paper and then cut out each flag of the bunting. You could also copy them onto card stock to make them more firm.

 
Visit my TpT Store to get your Scientist Notebook Anchor Chart and a FREEBIE of my (Editable) WELCOME Bunting and leave me your feedback about these or other products in my store.

Have a fantastic week!

**Lori**

Focus Wall and Welcome Bunting

Today marks the official last day of my summer break. We start back with teacher in-services this week and the kids come next week. So long, summer! Great memories.

I've been working hard in my classroom over the past week and I'm proud to share my focus walls. I teach K-2 Science, so I have one for K, and another for 1st and 2nd grade.

It took some time and planning getting them just right, but I'm pleased to share the results. 

I also tried my hand at creating a welcome bunting. I created it in PowerPoint using just a basic triangle shape and the free PeaAngedawn font by Kevinandamanda.com. 

I have it hanging right over my SMART Board for all to see as soon as they come into the classroom the first few weeks of school. I will probably take it down after that and hang it near the door.

Thank you so much TpT sellers for your ideas, graphics, and creative designs for my focus walls. I could not begin to take credit for any of them. 

**Lori**

 

 

FOSS Science Liquids in Bottles Smartboard

Today was definitely dig in and concentrate on school materials day.  It's so hard to concentrate knowing that there are only a couple more weeks of summer left for me. This next product is one of my favorite things to do with my students in Science class.

This Smartboard is the must-have companion to the FOSS Science Solids and Liquids Investigation 2, Part 1: Liquids in Bottles. It's a 14 pager that is perfect for using as a visual tool while teaching the steps of the investigation. Pages in this Smartboard include:

 1. Liquids in Bottles Essential/Focus Question

2. Liquids in Bottles Liquids Center Materials

3. (Guided) Exploration Questions

4. What We Learned Word Bank (Vocabulary)

5. What We Learned Student Page (Discussion/Completion sentences) w/Answer Sheet

6. Liquids (Properties) Four-Square

7. Home/School Connection (Homework) Project

8. Liquids in Bottles Writing Journal Page

My students' absolutely love this very hands-on, active investigation. They get to investigate different liquids to develop their concept of a liquid. They work at a center to tip, swirl, shake, roll, and spin seven liquids in small plastic bottles. The liquids include plain water, colored water, corn syrup, liquid detergent, liquid hand sanitizer, cooking oil, and fabric softener. 

My students have a ball spinning, shaking, turning, rolling their bottles down a ramp, and finally, seeing if they can swirl their liquids to make a tornado inside their bottles. Many actually do make tornadoes!

Your room will surely explode with outbursts of loud shrills, cheers, laughs, and even a few screams at times by what your students discover about their bottles of liquids.

I use the Smartboard pages as visuals to explain the steps of the investigation to my kiddos, from asking the question, to setting up the center, to explaining the materials, to guiding them through the exploration questions.  To record their observations about their liquids, I've included a Liquids Four-Square where they write and draw the properties of their liquids (fast, slow, bubbles, tornado (swirl)).

For recording what kiddos learn about liquids, I do an oral What We Learned student page with my kiddos, where we discuss and write down our findings and complete the sentences together on the student page. This year I plan to have my students add these pages to their Science Notebook or Journal.

As an extension, I've added a reflective writing component, where students are given an opportunity to respond to a prompt and illustrate a picture. I do this investigation in early October so I realize that my students will not be able to write much. To this end, I provide a page with a large space for a picture at the top and a few lines at the bottom with the prompt, "Some liquids..."

Finally, I include a Home/School Connection culminating activity, where I challenge students to find pictures that include both solids and liquids in them. I copy this activity as a double-sided page, and on one side there is an explanation of the project with an example. On the other side of the page I put the student page for mounting their picture/s. There are two sentences with prompts for writing about their pictures. I have my students bring these to their next science class, where they get to share them with their table partners and/or the class. This year I plan to place these projects on my Focus Wall.

As in past years, I'm really looking forward to this investigation this year. I will be sure to post pictures of this year's students doing the investigation. I'm sure they will be just as great.
 

Happy end of summer days,

**Lori**

NGSS Science Focus Wall Labels *Freebie*

Summer is definitely winding down and August is here. It's the official start of my BTS prep. Something happens when August 1st comes around. My brain actually begins thinking towards the school year and will not shut itself down. I begin to make lots of lists and usually start my shopping for supplies and such. Yay! Up until this time I just window shop and make mental lists of what I want to do or get for my classroom. There are about three more weeks left of my summer vacation until the kiddos arrive. I'm looking forward to my new school year. 

This summer I spent a lot of time learning about blogging and positioning myself as a TpT seller. Hip Hip Hooray! I've really enjoyed getting to know so many bloggers and sellers and look more towards sharing ideas even more as I get more exposure as a seller and blogger. And if I can earn some extra cash doing it that would make my world even more peachy.

Today I finished creating some Next Generation Science Standards labels for my Science Focus Wall and wanted to share them as a "Freebie". 

Putting up a focus wall is one of my goals for the coming school year. I believe it will give my students and me a very good glimpse of what they should be able to accomplish this year through the FOSS Science Solids and Liquids Investigations on Matter.

Each label lists a WE CAN statement which is aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards for Structure and Properties of Matter for primary grades (K-2) and are just as appropriate to use as general science standards statements as well, as they are virtually the same as the Framework for K-12 Science Education standards. 

These simply designed black and white beaded framed labels are a standard 8 1/2" wide and will coordinate well with almost any color pattern. They can be cut apart to serve as individual labels or posted onto your focus wall as two conjoined sheets or pages grouped together on your wall.

Go to my TpT store and pick up your freebie and don't forget to leave a comment or question as feedback.

Enjoy the rest of your summer if you have more of it to enjoy.

Blessings,

**Lori**

 




 

FOSS Science Word Wall Cards and Focus Wall

This FOSS Science Word Wall Pack is the perfect resource for the Solids and Liquids Kit. There are four sets of vocabulary cards included in the pack, one for each of the four Investigations of the module (Solids, Liquids, Bits and Pieces, and Solids and Liquids with Water). 

These colorful card sets are on attractive chevron cards which are designed to be printed on thick paper and then cut apart and posted on either a Science Word Wall or Focus Wall. You can post them all at once or build the wall as you either begin the Investigation or introduce the vocabulary.

These cards are also small enough to make an interactive word wall in an area in the classroom that would allow students to remove the cards and use them while writing in their science notebooks or journals and then return them to the board afterwards. Another idea for the cards is that students can use them in a center as flash cards for practice and reinforcement.

I am anxious for the new school year to begin so I can begin using these word wall cards. This year I am attempting a Science Focus Wall. 

My school has already adopted the common core standards for Reading, but not for the special subjects like Science. I'd like to get a head start preparing for the Next Generation Science Standards by adopting and implementing them into my lessons this year. A Science Focus Wall would be the perfect tool to expose my students to the "big picture" of Solids and Liquids. I've not done one before, but I have seen several great ideas for focus walls on Pinterest that make attempting a focus wall for science possible for me. I will keep you posted on how things work out.

I would love get your feedback, questions or ideas on these word wall cards or on starting my science focus wall. 

Please follow me on my TpT store to get these word wall cards and my other great products and future freebies.

**Lori** 

 

Back To School Daily Lesson Progress Sheet

Happy last days of summer break fellow teachers. It's back to school time for many and I know we are scrambling for those last minute nuggets to help us teach smarter and not harder.

I teach Science to K-2 students at my school. On a daily basis, I teach the same lesson to up to eight classes per day. They come to me for two consecutive days of a six-day cycle. For the past two years, I've been trying to come up with an easy and quick way to keep track of what I had covered in the first class and what I needed to cover for the next class. Needless to say, for moi, it's been a challenge, but I believe I've hit the jackpot with this form here.

With this sheet and on a daily basis, after recording the (cycle) day and date, I can record each class and room # that I will be teaching on that day. Then in the boxes I can make a quick notation of what part of my lesson plan I covered for each individual class and what I need to cover in the next class.

I can use the AM form for the morning classes, and the PM form for my afternoon classes.

I intend to make lots of copies of each form, front to back, with AM as the front and PM as the back of the form and attach it to my lesson plan daily. Voila! There I have it. A great idea to keep me on track, and hopefully you too if you teach like I do! 

Please visit my TpT store and take a look at my products. I would love it if you'd purchase some and "Follow Me" if you like what you see. 

Thanks,
--Lori

Back To School Science Writing Pack

This is the first product that I'm featuring on my new blog! I have been working hard on getting it looking great for viewing and purchase. I would love your feedback. Please visit my TpT store and consider purchasing it if you like it.

This Back To School Writing Pack will get your students writing about Science right away. The following printables are included:

1. Summer Science--Students can write about their summer science experiences such as planting flower/vegetable seeds, caring for a garden, caring for an animal or pet, collecting rocks, shells or bugs, picking up trash, recycling, etc.

2. What Is A Scientist?--Students write about what a scientist is or does.

3. Science Notebook--This page can be printed and glued to the front of a two-pocket folder to be used as a science notebook. I use them to have my students store class handouts. If you have the folders with pockets and fasteners, you can add multiple pages of the Science Journal Writing Paper printable I talk about below.

4. Science Journal Writing Paper--This printable can be used as experience paper for students to do reflective writing on their science investigations, record findings, or draw diagrams or models. Since this is a Back To School printable there are only a few lines for students to write on to reduce beginning of the year anxiety or frustration towards writing. A larger section is provided for the picture instead.