Can we watch it againnnnnn???

Time seems to be flying!! I can't believe how fast the end of the semester is approaching! The kids seemed to LOVEEEEEEEEE the video we showed them on solids, liquids, and gases! Jill brought her computer and introduced the video, which was great! They were laughing the whole time but they showed that they were actually listening to it as I asked them to name a few solids, liquids, and gases afterward. They all responded correctly and I was very excited. I than called them back to their seats by color. I made a mistake and said everyone who is wearing blue(not thinking BLUE was a POPULAR color) and many kids got up to go back to their seats. I now know next time to call something not as common like orange, yellow, purple, etc. 

Jillian introduced what we were doing for the lesson and reminded students about process skills and important vocabulary we were going to talk about. We than had one person from each group(a designated person) to WALK up and get the materials from the table which were all laid out for them. We than had them review the cups and see if the cups look any different than they did last time. We discussed their observations with the class and Jill wrote them on the board. Jill did a great job of after recording the information, than made sure to go over it with the students. What a partner! :)

It was important to us to keep everyone on task with the amount of materials and steps so we made sure to go step by step(even as basic as "everyone take your cups off your mat") We gave them an allotted time to do each step so they knew to stay on task.  We went through every direction with them so they knew what they were doing and things went very smoothly throughout the lesson.

The kids seemed really excited for this lesson and really worked great in their groups. We had some groups as big as six but they all worked really well together and were asking each other great questions that Jill and I were able to hear as we walked around. 


The kids all seemed to really understand that the gravel and the toilet tissue did not change. A few students pointed out that the water rose because as the rocks settled, it made the water higher. (How smart are they!!) Another student said that the toilet tissue become soggy because of the water which made it heavier which is the reason it sunk to the bottom of the cup. They did a great job of separating the solids and liquids as well. They seemed to love the funnels and they thought they were so cool!

Overall, the lesson was a great success and our teacher was really happy with us. She was glad to see that we were using all of her recommendations from earlier lessons (and from our professors) and using them to further the education of her students! I don't want to leave these kids!! :(

YAYYY.. SCIENCE TIMEEEEEEEEEE!!

YAYYY..SCIENCE TIME!!  Boy does that feel good to hear!! The kids seemed so excited when we walked in and it really makes all of the extra work and time SO SO worth it :)


As for our lesson, I felt that it went pretty well! Jill made great signs that we put up on the board with process skills such as OBSERVE.. and Make INFERENCES.. We also included vocabulary words and our objectives for the week and added them up their as well. We reviewed our process skills, vocabulary words, and objectives in the beginning of the class which I think helped keep the students on task and give them a better idea of what we were expecting of them!


There was a lot of materials this time and anytime there is water in the classroom, we as teachers have to be extra careful, so we designated one person from each group to walk carefully to the materials table and to get the tray that was laid out for them.  This helped with our classroom management a lot and we also used stickers (Deb and Megan gave us this idea! :) ) and put them on the hand of each child as it was their turn to, for example, stir. This allowed every student to get a chance to be involved in the activity and we thought this was especially important since this week it was bigger groups of students than last week. I really feel that we are getting a better idea of how to manage a classroom which I think is so important in order to have a successful learning environment.

We went through each step very slowly which was recommended by our teacher and it really helped all of the students stay on task. (and us as teachers too! :) We are really learning some great teaching strategies from this experience! 

The students really seemed to understand the idea of dissolving. We talked about a solution and when we mix lemonade at home we add a solid into a liquid and it turns into lemonade. It was like LIGHTBULBS.. "ohhhh yaaa" they all said. It is such an amazing feeling when the students make connections and really seem to understand things!

Overall, I felt that we had a successful lesson and am looking forward to what is going to happen next week! :)

It's kind of like.... HOCKEY!

Our lesson plan went fairly well overall. The kids seemed to understand what we were expecting of them(even though we need to write the objectives on the board next time to be sure!) We took a lot of the feedback from our classroom teacher last time and worked on things that needed to change, mostly with classroom management. This included simple suggestions such as call each row over to the rug instead of all at once or have one partner get the materials from the table instead of both going over, etc. Jill and I made some adjustments and think we did a fairly decent job with the management aspect. 

We were talking about a sieve and the children were not quite sure exactly what it was. One of the things we've been talking about in our classes is how important it is to relate material to real life situations of the students and I know a lot of the kids in the classroom played hockey. I than said, "Why do they call a hockey goalie a sieve?"  I than suggested what happens when they call a goalie a sieve and one of the boys said, "because he lets the puck go through him into the net." I was so pleased he understood! I than went back and explained to the class that a sieve is something that let's things through it. After that we talked about other times they've used sieves and they really seemed to understand it!
(The picture is of one of my best friends. He played here for 4 years and now is playing Pro Hockey! He is the reason I was able to explain that.. but he is NOT a sieve!!  :)





I feel that the students are really learning and understanding what we are trying to teach them. Even though at times I feel like the classroom may feel a little chaotic, I just need to keep reminding myself that chaos when they are learning and understanding is good!! :)  We were given a few additional suggestions that we will include in our next lesson plan and hopefully will continue to grow as teachers!

Andddd my partner was great once again! Go Jill!

Science Lesson # 2.. !

The second science lesson that Jillian and I did went fairly well but was a little chaotic. First and foremost I would like to thank DEBI FOR COMING TO OUR RESCUE and bringing extra ice!! Seems as if someone in the teacher lounge needed their refreshment a little colder and used our ice!! Anyways.... :)  After we got our ice we put it into bags and laid the materials out on the table all labeled. Last time the teacher really liked that we allowed for the students to have a transition and get out of their seats so we did it this time as well. We brought the students over to the rug and reviewed what we learned last time to ensure that students were understanding what they were being taught. After our review they went back to their seats and we began our experiment with melting the ice cube as quickly as possible. 

As I walked around I was pleased with almost all of the students' methods and reasons why they were doing what they were doing. Many said comments such as,"I am rubbing my hands together because it will warm my hands up and the heat will cause the ice to melt." One child was even clever enough to put it on the back of his neck! One thing we did not do was make clear rules for students such as telling them that pounding the ice bag with their fist was not allowed. We now know this for next time though!


Many of the students had melted their ice within a time frame of about 2 minutes to about 6 minutes. The longest was about 11 minutes. We brought the students over to the rug and talked to them about what they learned and reviewed solids and liquids once again.

On the first day students thought that solids could not be ripped and put that as one of its properties. I asked them and they said no it can't be ripped(I think they were thinking a solid was always hard) so I took a piece of paper and ripped it up in front of them. I than asked them if it was still a solid and some said yes and some said no. So we than discussed what exactly a solid was(takes a shape) and than they all decided that the paper, ripped and all was indeed a solid!


Overall, the lesson went fairly well. It seemed a little chaotic because we had less control than last time but I think it is important for students to be in charge at times as well. I think it would of went a little smoother if we laid out specific rules and allowed students to go to the rug in groups instead of all at once. We learned a lot from this lesson and I am looking forward to the next one! :)

Moonlit Meteor Shower VISIBLE this week!

Moonlit-meteor-shower-visible-this-week

This would be so cool to see! :)

Can I drink the sprite?

The first lesson was AWESOME! My partner Jillian did a GREAT job and I am so lucky to have her :) We worked really well together and things seemed to go fairly smoothly. Jillian and I took turns explaining things and writing on the board so we were equally involved in the lesson. I felt that we both had a fair amount of time to talk and we would jump in and help one another out if needed. We stuck with the lesson plan for almost the entire time yet did not have a chance to go over the poem but will do that next time! For the most part everything was on task and it really seemed to go well!

The children seemed interested throughout the entire lesson and I feel that this was because they normally do not have science very often and knew we were doing a fun experiment. It was apparent that they had a great amount of background knowledge because some of their answers such as,"The water will go through the process of freezing and turn into ice cubes!"  were awesome!

One of my favorite parts about the lesson was when they actually put the Alka-seltzer tablets into the water and they dissolved. There was a unanimous "WOWWWWW!" and it was hard to stop smiling after that!

The students understood our safety rules that we mentioned to them such as the proper way to smell things, not to drink it(even though once the tablets were in the cups, many thought it was sprite!)and not to run in the classroom just to name a few! The students were extremely respectful to us and one another which really led to a positive learning experience for all!

RAINBOW!!!!!!!!!!!

Becky and I were at my boyfriend's game and we saw this beautiful rainbow.

We were talking about how beautiful it was and than we mentioned how we never saw a double rainbow! SECONDS later we looked up and saw this!

The second one is a little difficult to see because I took it on my phone camera but it was MAGNIFICENT!