Solar System and last day for Giveaway!

I am spending parts of my spring break getting ready for my units when we return.   I have had a student teacher the last couple of years at this time, so I haven't taught the solar system myself.  I am using the student-interest model for this unit.  I will teach core lessons/activities 2-3 times per week, but on the other days, students will be able to drive their own learning by exploring what interests them.

I am going to use ClassConnect to post a variety of articles and activities for them to access during this time, plus I will have a lot of books for them to use, too.  All of it will end with in-class projects which have clear guidelines but allow them to focus on the material they found most interesting.

Anyway, I'll give more specifics later.  Today, I wanted to share this awesome resource that I found today. 

KidsAstronomy.com offers games, interactives, teacher resources, and online classes for kids!  It covers all of the material that I am asked to cover (moon phases/constellations/the planets) and more!  It is a great starting point for students and is written in an easy way that they will be able to understand! 

I'll post more as I put together the details of this unit. (in between books and naps.)   :)

Finally, don't forget my Target gift card giveaway ends tomorrow morning.  I plan to pick the winner by 10 am, so get your entries in before then!

Interactives for the SMARTBoard

This site has a great set of resources for the SMARTBoard, but they could also be used individually with students on their own devices.

I am highlighting the US history one, but there are many great ones at this site.  I found that even though many are listed for older children, there were pieces in each one that I could use with my 3rd graders--either as a whole class lesson or as an extension for some of my high-achieving students.

The US history map above has some pretty nice features.  It breaks US history into categories, does a short lesson on it, and then has students participate in an interactive review.  You can skip through the eras if you don't want to do them all.  At the end of the map there is a comprehensive review assessment that students can do and receive their score.

Check out these interactives.  They cover all content areas.  I think they are worth your time!

Using QR codes to share products

We do a fun unit on Earth Science in which we combine all of our Earth science book units.  I teach a lesson from each unit, but the main learning comes when students guide their own learning.  What I mean is, I have a large assortment of books that I provide on the different subjects (weather, erosion, earthquakes, volcanoes, Earth's layers...), and the students choose what it is they want to learn more about and post sticky notes about this learning on a wall in our room.

The wall is divided into the different topics of the unit.  Students are given specific days during science for this investigation, but they are also allowed to work on it during reading workshop if they choose.  Our wall slowly fills up with post it notes.

As we are coming to the end of the unit, students then can look at all of the post-it notes (not just their own) and they must share a new, interesting fact with us about two of the different topics.  Their sharing is pretty much their choice, but they have to provide a few sentences about  their fact (the hard part is IN THEIR OWN WORDS), and provide a visual to accompany it.  The visual can be a chart, diagram, a picture, an artwork, a craft, or a digital product. 

With the digital products, students found websites, created Vokis, or made other online products, we created QR codes for them, and posted the QR codes.  Visitors could use their smartphones to then access what the student wanted to share.  We used QRstuff.com to create the QR codes.

I know that this would have been an even cooler assignment if the kids were older and actually had their own phones to use, but it was a good learning experience for them, and a great way for them to share their information with me!  I just use my Iphone to read the codes and then can grade their product.  I think that I will continue to offer this option for students on other choice assignments.

What Awesome Science Videos!

I want to meet Mr. Parr!  Have you seen his science videos on YouTube?  I was searching for something to "jazz up" my ecosystems/biomes unit, and I came across the one below.  And while this is a great one, he has many more!  It gets me excited to teach new units!  Check out the one below, and then get to YouTube and check out the rest.  How fun will this be for the kids (and me).

KineticCity website

So, I am the first to tell you that science is not my favorite thing to teach.  For that reason, I am always looking for new things that engage and teach ME!  If a website or activity can do that, then I am usually willing to try it with my students.

As I was looking through Richard Byrne's ebook 77 Web Resources for Teachers, I found this site called Kinetic City. Mr. Byrne really highlights the game Shape it Up, and that is where I started, but I found a number of good interactive lessons and ideas in other categories of the website.  This site covers a myriad of science topics through online games, creatable games, writing activities, and short clips.  I think it will be a great tool to use in my room this year.

It is designed as a possible after school science club site, too.  If you are interested in the educators' page that accompanies the site, you can go to it by clicking here.

The picture below will take you to a fun game that reviews the internal organs.

I would be interested to know if any of you have used this site or what you think of it when you explore it.