Making it Rain and FETC 2015!

Thanks for a day off from school, I finally have a chance to blog and catch up on work a little.  It is pretty sad that I am excited for a day off because it gives me time to work.  There has been so many great things happening in the class, I have so many blog post ideas.  However, I just can't find the time to write them.

Last week was a 3 day week for the students.  (We had a workday and PD day Thursday and Friday.)  Because of this, we didn't have our normal reading curriculum to follow or test to give.  So instead, we did Science all week.  The kids LOVED it!!!

Make it Rain!

We were studying about water.  One of the investigations we did was the standard shaving cream cloud on top of the water in the jar.  Then I dropped blue food coloring on the "cloud" to show when it is full of water droplets it begins to rain.  My little scientist were all recording their observations.  I loved that one student observed that "clouds smell really good!  They smell handsome."  (Of course, I had to explain real clouds don't smell this way.)  After the discussion, students wrote about the final results and what they learned.

Just as the first of our blue drops began to fall from our "cloud",  the sky outside also opened up and it began to pour!  My students were amazed that "Mrs. Phillips' really can make it rain!"  My timing could not have been better.  

This is why I love teaching K/1!  My students think I can make it rain and that clouds smell handsome!

I am so excited that the week of FETC (Florida Educational Technology Conference) is here!  This is my first year going.  Is anyone else going???  I have 2 poster presentations and would love for you to stop by and say hello.  

Thursday, January 22nd from 2:30-3:30p.m. I will be presenting "Maximum Exposure with Minimal Devices."  I will be on aisle 600 in the Exhibit Hall Poster Area 1.  

Friday, January 23rd from 11:00-noon I will be presenting "And the Emma Goes to... Educational Multi-Medi Awards Night."  I will be on aisle 1500 of Exhibit Hall Poster Area 2.

I would love to personally meet my blogging buddies.  Let's meet up at #FETC 

Freebie and a Friday Five

I have to admit I was having mixed feelings about this Friday.  Friday is always my favorite day of the week, but a Friday after Halloween and candy for breakfast????  I have to admit my expectations were not good for a day of testing, but I was pleasantly surprised!  It was a great day!

I am happy to finally have time to sit down to blog! (Yes, I lead a thrilling life that the highlight of my Friday night is blogging!)

I am kinking up at doodlebugs to share my five this Friday.  Then I will head back over to discover a few new blogs and see what is up with a few of my favorites!

We had pumpkin fun!  Unfortunately we can't take a field trip to the pumpkin patch because of budget cuts, so we brought the pumpkin patch to us!  We brought in little pie pumpkins for our first graders and even hay to make it more Fallish!  (Granted is was 86 degrees outside in Florida, we haven't quite made it to Fall yet!)

Then we investigated our little pumpkins.  We measured with links and cubes, weighed them with teddy bears, counted lines and tested to see if they sink or float.  This is one of my favorite days!  We learn so much this day, even without a test!

We decorate out doors every Fall.  This year I stuck with my Lego theme.  Check out my mini-fig maxi-fig.   Today I added a vest and Indian headdress and viola Thanksgiving!  (I take pix next week.)

I found an amazing book this week at our book fair.  It is packed with fun experiments that are so simple and the kids love!  I highly recommend this book if you ever come across it.  

Today we did a few sink or float experiments.  The kids brought in 3 different pieces of candy from their night of trick-or-treating (3 they didn't want to eat).  Then we did an investigation to see if our candy would sink or float.

I have a cute "why I love seeing the world through a first grader's eyes" story.  Today at lunch in the cafeteria a very handsome Marine in his dress blues came in to see a former teacher.  While he was waiting I was chatting with him and the kids were in awe!  Several kids were asking what he was, one boy asked if he was police.  Then this little girl asked "Is he a prince?"...  I loved it, I said no, he is even better, he is a Marine!  Then I told the Marine and it made his day!

I have become addicted to the sparkle backgrounds,  so I tried making my own.  I want to share a sample to what you think.  Click here to download it for free from my TpT store.

Check out TBA's Friday Freebies for more great freebies!

Magnets

Everyone loves magnets and exploring with magnets.  I was uber excited with this great find at Michael's today, a HUGE magnet! 

They were on the $1 toy aisle, but it was $3.  Still I think it was a great find.  My girls (9 and 11 years old) were with me when I found them and started exploring as soon as we left the store.  I will admit it drove me nuts while I was driving and they were testing everything in the car. 

I can't wait for the students to use these in my S.T.E.M. center next week.  I made a Scientific Observation form for them to use and thought I would share.  Click here to grab it.

I am also very excited to be hosting my first ever blog hop tomorrow!  Make sure you come back by Thursday, March 28th after 8:00 p.m. to see what all of the excitement is about.  We have 22 blogs each giving away a fabulous freebie just for you!

What's in the Sky?

Happy Saturday!  I am so excited that my blog has had over 100,000 page views!  It is hard to believe that people have checked out my page over 100,000 times.  Thank you!  To celebrate this and the last day in my birthday week of freebies, I have a fun Science freebie pack for you.

Click here to get your copy!  I copied the observation pages front to back.  We did the daytime sky observation at school and I sent it home for them to finish as homework and bring back.  Then we did a class Venn diagram comparing the day and night sky.

I can't wait to see who the winners are of the giveaway are!  You have a few more hours to enter and shop my $1 sale.

STEM Center Activity Freebie

Most students love S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) activities.  They don't even realize they are learning as they explore and problem solve.  I am not sure how it is at your school, but I always feel we focus so much on reading that S.T.E.M. gets put on the back burner.  Then everyone wonders why Math and Science scores are so low.

I am also a big proponent of including S.T.E.M. (especially in K/1) because usually students who struggle with reading do well with S.T.E.M. projects.  I like them to feel successful and boost their confidence. 

This is why I added S.T.E.M. as part of my Daily 5 Centers, making it the Super 6.  Some days my kids do all 6 centers and other days we do 3 centers and 3 the next day.  It seems to work well for me.  You can read more about the Super 6 in previous posts.

This is a fun Science activity the kids love.  Click here to grab it!

Tip:  When I have kids make a prediction, I always have them use a marker to make them with first.  This way they can't erase and change them if their findings are not the same.

Today I was lucky enough to chaperone my daughter and her class on a field trip to the Kennedy Space Center.  They loved it and had a great time.  It was her first field trip in years (her wonderful teachers worked hard for a grant) and my youngest daughter has never gone on a field trip.  Our county cut all field trips as a part of budget cuts.  My poor firsties would just love to ride on a bus anywhere.  I will have to look for grants next year.  Do you get to do field trips?  Where do you take your kids?