Last week we chatted all about BAT WEEK, so I figured it was only fitting to follow-up with some ideas for Spider Week! As I've said before, teaching foundational concepts and skills using these two creatures as the thematic vehicle for instruction is so very fitting for this time of the year. Especially on campuses where any talk of Halloween is forbidden. Bats and spiders are a little "spooky"...which fits right in with Halloween...but not scary (depending on your phobias ;) I'm always asked about how I'm able to incorporate thematic teaching this time of the year while being sensitive to the understanding that Halloween just isn't … [Read more...] about Spider Week
science
Bat Week
Ahhh. It's October. This time of the year lends itself to SO many themes we can use to teach different skills and concepts. Candy, the skeletal system, pumpkins, and Fall. And SO many more! Two of my most favorite thematic units of study this time of the year are bats and spiders. I typically start the month of October using these two themes the first couple of weeks. Today I wanted to take a minute to share with you what the first couple of weeks of October might look like in my classroom. Today we'll start with bats! Tune-in tomorrow for Spider Week activities and ideas! I always start out bat week using a schema … [Read more...] about Bat Week
End of Year Science
As the end-of-the-year quickly approaches, we often find ourselves looking for exciting ways to engage our kids, keep their interest, and teach them all the way until the last day. Okay, okay....the last week(ish), LOL. So often Science and Social Studies take a backseat to the daily demands of math and literacy, but there are SO many ways to incorporate science on a cross-curricular level. Why not end the year with a BANG and incorporate hands-on science activities that include a literacy and math component as well?! Abby and I created a year's worth of The Science Of...resources to meet the needs of science, … [Read more...] about End of Year Science
Learning About Oviparous Animals
If you're anything like me, as a teacher you love teaching thematically. SO much content can be covered on a cross-curricular level...so many connections can be made... when taking this approach to instruction. And because most public schools don't support teaching about Easter, this is a great time of the year for teaching all about oviparous and viviparous animals! Today I wanted to share with you a few activities and read alouds I love incorporating in my plans this time of the year. No thematic unit of learning is complete without a good set of read alouds! These are a few of my favorite oviparous animal books … [Read more...] about Learning About Oviparous Animals
All About the Weather – Ideas & Freebies!
Happy first day of Spring to you!!! To be completely honest, I'm not sure Texas even had a winter. Well, not much of one anyway. A few chilly days, but nothing to write home about. I'm definitely NOT complaining....I'm cold when the temps dip below 80 degrees...but it's crazy to think it's already SPRING!!!! And you know what that means?! Summer break is only 48 short days away...but who's counting?! #andalltheteacherssaidAMEN Now let's get on with the reason we're here! WEATHER. Y'all. Have I told you before that this is one of my most favorite thematic units to teach?!?! I love … [Read more...] about All About the Weather – Ideas & Freebies!
Science of September
Hello friends! Happy Monday! I'm heading out for mentoring in just a minute, but before I leave I just wanted to pop in and let y'all know that The Science of September has been posted...just in time for September, HA! It's jam-packed and chock full of 4 weeks worth of science lesson plans, vocabulary, read alouds, anchor chart suggestions, experiments, and cross-curricular activities. Whew! September's resource will cover various science skills and concepts using the themes of Five Senses, Farm, Apples, and Fall. Some of the skills covered included observable changes, organisms & their … [Read more...] about Science of September
Visual Lesson Plans – How I Fit It All In
I often get asked how I'm able to fit things into my day and I'm hoping this helps give you an idea of how that looks. Let's go ahead and start with the plans. I'm fortunate enough to be able to help teachers plan for their days while pushing in to assist and mentor. We talk a lot about "fitting it all in" and I hope this helps you to see what that looks like. I tend to OVERplan because I'd rather have more than enough to get through the day(s). You can download them HERE for a closer look. Whew. Now let's break it all down. MORNING WARM-UP Most kids are still filtering in during this time, … [Read more...] about Visual Lesson Plans – How I Fit It All In
Science for Beginners…Setting The Stage for a Year of Science FUN!
How many of you feel like this when it comes to teaching science? When I visit schools and talk to teachers in between sessions at conferences, I always hear something along the lines of, "there's just note enough time for science & social studies!!!!" Teachers. I feel you. I really do. There's barely enough time in our day to teach the skills we need to teach in the first place! And then every teacher on Earth said... So often, we as teachers look at our curriculum and see everything through compartmentalized lenses. If we're teaching literacy skills, it must be done during our ELA block. If we're … [Read more...] about Science for Beginners…Setting The Stage for a Year of Science FUN!
Yearlong Pacing Calendar & Science of the Month Questions Answered
Our resources are targeted for the K-2 grade levels. The vocabulary and science experiments, investigations, and activities are perfect for K-2. While they would also be great to modify for Pre-K, the cross curricular activities included are not developmentally appropriate for four-year-olds. The cross-curricular games and activities included target K-2 literacy and math skills. Many of the skills included can be modified and adapted to meet the needs of both struggling and excelling students. With many of the cross curricular activities included, we both try to included ideas for modification in the … [Read more...] about Yearlong Pacing Calendar & Science of the Month Questions Answered
The Science of May
Hello friends! How many of you are celebrating 5 more Mondays left in the school year?! I know some teachers who are counting down the days! My boys though?!?! Notsomuch....and if I'm being honest, neither am I. I'm SO grateful they LOVE school as much as they do...and I can attribute that directly to their amazing teachers. They've instilled a love of learning in my boys and that's a debt I'll never be able to repay. But me?!?! Well...I'm not ready to say goodbye to those teachers. God has truly placed the boys exactly where they needed to be. He's given them teachers who not only teach them, but love them, … [Read more...] about The Science of May
Science of April…It’s Here!
I've got a busy day ahead of me...Easter parties and spring cleaning...but I wanted to pop in real quick and let y'all know that Abby & I finished up our newest cross-curricular science resource, The Science of April, and released it yesterday (after many a technical difficulty..oof). Here's just a tiny sample... And here's April's pacing calendar if you're interested! Love having an entire month's view in one organized little space. Definitely helps keep me on track!! If you're interested in adding this to your science resources, just click on the pic below. Four weeks of detailed science lesson plans … [Read more...] about Science of April…It’s Here!
Science of March FREEBIES!
Last week I popped in to tell y'all all about the books Abby and I are using for our Science of March resource. We just released it yesterday! WOO HOO!!! Here's a little sample.. Rainbows/Color Science, Clouds, Weather in Spring, and Sun/Moon Stars. That's a mouthful! Here's the pacing calendar for those of you who asked... If you're interested in adding this to your science resources, just click on the pic. Four weeks of detailed science lesson plans plus additional cross-curricular activities, too! We always put our science resources on sale (20%) off for the first 24 hours, so you can … [Read more...] about Science of March FREEBIES!
The Science of March Book List
Hello all! March is quickly approaching and if y'all are anything like me then I'm sure you like to get a head start on planning. Abby and I have been furiously working on our latest resource...The Science of March...and plan on releasing it it this Sunday, February 21st! We are really excited about this one because Spring themes have us excited about the change in weather and well...the end of the school year, too ;) Last week Abby posted a few of the books we'll be using for our lesson plans and I wanted to quickly pop-in and follow up with the rest of the titles in case you're interested in grabbing them! … [Read more...] about The Science of March Book List
February Science!
Last week I got to travel to Columbus for a quick day of fun and learning. Of course, it was FREEZING in Ohio and this Texas girl forgot her jacket at home. Praise God for heaters. I'd say it was a nice change of pace compared to what we're experiencing in these parts, but NO. It was not. I'm convinced it shouldn't be that cold anywhere!! Ha!!! My husband has decided that we need to take the boys skiing over Spring Break (I've never been!) and so I fully plan on sitting by the fire sipping a hot chocolate cocktail while the boys tough it out in the cold. That's something I can handle. … [Read more...] about February Science!
Lots to Cover
Happy Sunday, friends! I just wanted to pop-in real quick to say "hello!" and give y'all a quick update because I've had several questions about a few resources and I figured this was the easiest and most efficient way to give y'all the details :) First up, I'm hoping to see some of my Ohio friends this week at the SDE Ohio K Conference. This will be a quick trip for me...less than 24 hours in Columbus!...but I'm really excited about getting to share with teachers some of the things I'm most passionate about. Vocabulary, Behavior Management, Math, and Anchor Activities!! It'll definitely be a BUSY, but fun!!!, … [Read more...] about Lots to Cover
January Science…with Math & ELA, too!
One of the common things I hear almost in every state I visit with every set of teachers who come to my sessions is that teachers are in need of more science resources. Not just an experiment to do here and there, but science with "meat". Science activities that have cross-curricular connections and can be fit in at any time during the day. Science lessons and activities that not only reach specific standards for a set amount of time, but lessons and activities that span a variety of concepts and skills so that instruction and practice can be reinforced through spiral review all year long. I get it! I do!!! … [Read more...] about January Science…with Math & ELA, too!
Apples Aplenty & A Meaningful Christmas
Did y’all hear me say Christmas? I’m sure you’re thinking, “Is she for real? CHRISTMAS? It’s not even OCTOBER yet!!” But bear with me. Y’all might remember reading THIS POST last year. I’m telling y’all all about this now so that y’all can get a move on it and start planning. My precious friend Brittney introduced me to our favorite Christmas tradition back when my boys were really itty and now I want to share it with YOU! A Meaningful Christmas is a simple, child centered devotional for families to use as they countdown to Christmas. Honestly…it’s our FAVORITE tradition. It all starts with a … [Read more...] about Apples Aplenty & A Meaningful Christmas
The Week in Rewind, A Peek At My Week, and Fall is Here!
This past week seemed so fast and furious. The weekend went by even faster. It’s 6:00 on Sunday night and in a few hours I’ll be starting another week with my littles. Why does it take so long to get to Friday, but Monday gets here so darn quick?! I spent my weekend decorating for Halloween. Yes. It’s early. But I LOVE Halloween and decorating isn’t hurting anybody so that’s just what I did. If you wanna see it all, you can take a little Halloween house tour on my other blog HERE. I have another full week planned…parent/teacher conferences included…and I’m excited to take you back through our week … [Read more...] about The Week in Rewind, A Peek At My Week, and Fall is Here!
Well…Color Me Happy! And a FREEBIE!
One of my most favorite “themes” to teach at the beginning of the year is COLORS! Not necessarily color identification…although yes, that’s VERY important…but I love teaching color WORDS. I think it’s SO important for our kids to know these words early because they’re used SO much throughout the year and we see them in print ALL.THE.TIME. When I say “theme”, I’m more or less talking about the books I read and the hands on activities I include in my station work. Here are some of my most favorite color themed books to read during our unit on color words… Throughout our study on color words, I like to keep adding to … [Read more...] about Well…Color Me Happy! And a FREEBIE!
Groundhogs & Their Burrows
The kids have loved learning about burrows and how groundhogs dig tunnels. Did you know they dig up to 700 lbs. of dirt when digging their burrows?! WHOA! We talked about burrows and other places animals calls home…dens, lairs, nests, caves, etc. Then I had the kids pretend like they were groundhogs and do a little descriptive writing. First they had to draw their little burrows. CRACKING up that this one has a TV & a bed! HA! Then they had to write a few sentences describing their burrow as if they were a groundhog. Finally, they made a little groundhog. I LOVE this little art piece. It takes all of about 5 seconds to put … [Read more...] about Groundhogs & Their Burrows
Inventors & Inventions
This past week we started wrapping up our study on Inventors & Inventions in Science/Social Studies. I guess I underestimated the interest my kids would have in the subject because they were SO into it!! We started by learning about a few very important inventors…Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and The Wright Brothers. We made a little anchor chart for the kids to refer to throughout our little unit of study. After we learned about each inventor, I had the kids add to their “Inventors and their Inventions” notebook. {click the pic to download} I forgot to take pics, but after we studied Alexander Graham Bell, we made tin can … [Read more...] about Inventors & Inventions
Pumpkin Day!
Pumpkin Day! What a fun end to a week filled of learning about pumpkins! Luckily, I’m blessed to teach at a school where the parents are really involved and eager to help, and that made our Pumpkin Day run SO smoothly!! I had 4 parent volunteers come in and each parent brought in a pumpkin, spoons, carving knives, a bowl, and paper towels. We covered the tables with orange butcher paper and each parent took a group of 4 kids {which is why I got to walk around and take pics of our fun day!} Each of the kids was given a Pumpkin Math & Science Booklet to complete and the parents did an AWESOME job of working … [Read more...] about Pumpkin Day!
I See The Moon & The Moon Sees Me!
We’ve been learning a little about the moon and the kids are loving it! One of our objectives is to observe changes over a period of time, so we thought this would be the perfect opportunity for the kids to observe the changes in the appearance of the moon! We made this a class project and the kids are just TOO excited! Each night, a different kiddo gets to take home the class “Moon Bag”. {I used yellow fabric & stitch witchery for the moon, a fabric marker for the lettering, and glittery puff paint to outline the moon and make the stars :)} Inside the bag is a book about the moon {from the library}, our class moon log, white crayons, … [Read more...] about I See The Moon & The Moon Sees Me!
What’s The Weather?!
We’ve been studying the weather the last few weeks in Science and it’s been FUN to say the least! I love hearing the kids talk about the clouds when we’re outside… “Look Mrs. Carroll! That’s a stratus cloud!!” They’ve become such awesome little weather watchers, SO very interested in anything and everything weather!! Here are a few little things we did for this fun little unit! We watched a really neat video about the different types of weather and read some pretty cool non-fiction books, too! We made a little word web to show what we learned… We added weather poems to our poetry journals {no pics, but you can download them below.} We … [Read more...] about What’s The Weather?!
