Setting the Stage for Science

Whether you use notebooks, journals, or binders, preparing ahead of time can help students stay organized and keep things moving smoothly in those first few days.  This week I am preparing my own science journals. 

I prefer to color code things in my classroom for my sanity and the students'!  If everything related to literacy is red it is much easier for me to help my "lost Lucy" find her missing folder or notebook without missing a beat.  Color coding = happy teacher!! 

The biggest challenge I have had with my system has been those darn spiral notebooks. The covers can get ripped off easily, the mangled up metal becomes a booby-trap for unsuspecting hands  - all this in a matter of a few weeks. So, the alternative? Composition books, of course.  Colored composition books are usually more expensive and MY colors are not always easy to come by.  Also, I hate to be that teacher that all the parents are complaining about in the school supply aisle.  I know you have heard them grumbling about sizes of binders and colors of folders too! Occasionally I will take up the cause and try to explain gently that organizing allows us more time to teach, but I am mostly sure they are not in the mood for my pearls of wisdom. :) As a mom I understand their frustration, and without walking in a teacher's shoes it can be hard to see why it is so important to some of us. So instead of adding another hurdle for parents, I buy the traditional black and white composition books and add a cute cover label.  Last year a super smart teacher wrote about (or pinned about??) adding tape to the spine.  I loved the idea!! That way the students no longer had to look at the top cover to see if they had the right journal.  Here is a peek at my mock up journal. 

                     

Journals with (cute) form and function - a dream!

I'm starting with science journals.  I have put together 6 options for the cover label (2 with a boy and girl, 2 with just a boy, and 2 with just a girl).  The kids can choose their cover based on a scientist that looks like them or by the cool tools or animals the scientists are holding.  
 Our district has some changes in store for science this year, and while I don't have all the details I have seen one new item that will need to be included in each unit.  It is a half-page sized booklet, and they suggest gluing it into the notebook.  Well... I have nightmares about mostly complete, lost booklets and third graders in tears.  So, here is my solution...

A pocket!

                                   

   

A pocket that the booklet can be kept in when not in use! I hope this goes as well as I envision... I will get back to you on that! I created this pocket with my scrapbooking tools.  There are also pockets available from Post-It or you can fold and staple a page in the notebook as well (probably the best for time management, but I think the added goodies get the kids excited).  I liked the scrapbooking tools idea because I can use cardstock to make a sturdier pocket, size it to exactly what I need, and choose to make it thematic -- we are working on Plants in the Life Science Unit first, can you tell?

Other features that I have used and loved in the past are:

Tabs

Tabs for each workshop. I like the sturdy, sticky tabs and I really haven't had a problem with students removing them.  (I set up the next workshop when I collect to grade.  Students do not have to worry about using an exact number of pages.) I put three tabs on this mock up so I could see how the size will work out.  These tabs are large, but my students definitely won't have the ripping/falling off problems of the past - they are double sided and made on cardstock.  I added the unit this time, I usually only have the workshop name, but I think it will be helpful for getting to the correct section.  I anticipate making the next unit a different color.

Helper Resources

The helper resources include a couple of pages - one is pictured here.  I glue these citation aids on the covers of the journals so students have them as a handy reference.  One provides a guide of sentence starters based upon the lesson or activity done that day while the other offers additional phrasing. (This isn't the greatest picture - I will ask Santa for a new camera! ;)  )

Finally, rubrics. They are not pictured because our district provides specific rubrics for each workshop.  When I use additional resources they usually fit within one of the criteria on their rubric, if not I create a separate grade. I really like the idea of the visual rubric mentioned by the Science Penguin (see the link below); I will determine how to merge the two (district + visual) once I have the information from the district. 

My other goal this year is to implement a Table of Contents and to cut the top right corners to help students flip to the next page quickly.  I have done ribbon bookmarks in the past, they were pretty successful, but could be a distraction for a few student.

So, there you have it! My science journals are ready for some brilliant revelations as we investigate plants in the next couple of weeks. I am excited to try some of the great interactive resources I have seen from people like The Science Penguin!  Check out her information about interactive notebooking if you are thinking about trying it out by clicking here . 

If you would like the cute covers and sentence starter/citation starter pages you can pick up my Science Journal Resources at my TpT store.

 

It's ALMOST here!

You cannot leave home without knowing that our summer is nearly over!  Every store, everywhere has school supply sales.  I LOVE it!  My kids (now 19 and 17) have had a lifetime of eye-rolling.  They've told me that the commercial with the Christmas song playing... "the most wonderful time of the year"... was made after the advertisers saw me walking down the aisles. :) My kids are a hoot!  They are probably not wrong.

I would like to say that I am prepared, but there is sooo much to do!  I have enjoyed all of the organizing posts I have been reading. Inspired by the brilliant ideas I decided to start with the drawers a couple of weeks ago and created some cute labels.  I brought it to my classroom to fill, but my building is getting a new roof and I didn't get to stay too long.
A few days later, I found a great set of three larger drawers at a yard sale, and  I am working on labels for that this weekend. Stay tuned for pictures!

 Right now?  Right now I must go out and get some composition books.(I probably should be at the beach!) I was up really late planning and creating new resources for my students' science journals.  I will post with pictures as soon as I have one assembled.

Have a super Saturday!  Check back soon to see my journal resources. :)

A Fresh Start

Well, it has been a while! Although the school year is over and I am enjoying some down time with my family, I really have been wanting to get back to blogging about all of the plans I have for the upcoming school year.
 I decided the best way to start would be to update my page and to get a few things loaded on Teachers Pay Teachers.
I hope you like the new look, it is from The Cutest Blog on the Block.  I am new to blogging and their templates are so easy to use.  I love the colorful details and of course the dots!
My store on TpT is http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Thoughtfully-Third . Take a look at my products and try out the freebie.  I chose Text Structure Task Cards as a freebie because my kiddos really struggled with identifying text structure this year.  Taking it down to the sentence level helped them focus on signal words and context and build the skill needed to tackle the longer passages.   I hope you enjoy them!

Test Prep: Types of Questions

Happy Easter!  I hope you all had a wonderful day with family and friends.  The meal has been served, the clean up is done, and now I am thinking about the importance of the next two weeks (before state testing)! 
I have created a SMART board unit for how to approach a test, but I like to start earlier in the year thinking about the types of questions, how they relate to the REAL reading work we do and what they look like.  We have been using the anchor posters introduced earlier in the year to review what we have learned.  

We spent time learning many vocabulary strategies this year.  Our biggest hurdle has been to remember that last tip -- the word has to make sense AND cannot change the meaning of the sentence. 

 

This poster will be changing.  Our district has been calling these questions "general" questions this year.  We talk a lot about inferring to answer these types of questions and some general questions do not necessarily need inference.  Time to get back to the drawing board!

This poster was the beginning of sequencing questions.  Now we are learning about sandwich style questions and what we can do to be sure we are not tricked be distractors.

 

Detail questions or Right There questions, whatever you call them these are plentiful! 

Looking for the repetition!  This falls under our "general" questions now, but main idea is such a challenge for some of my kiddos over the years I will keep this poster on.

 

Again, the final tip is the one we need to spend the most time looking at.

 

What have you been using to prep for state testing?  When do you test?  What are you looking forward to doing to get back to normal?

(Sorry about the shadows in the pics! My camera died - I had to rely on the phone!)

Scientifically Thinking...

Last week was Spring Break for our district -- a much needed rest.  I am sure you can all relate!  Of course, relaxing or not, my teacher brain never turns off.  Unfortunately this is one of those times that I thought of an ingenious plan a little too late.  Does that ever happen to you? 

My kiddos are learning about plant structures in science currently and one of the activities planned was the sprouting of a lima bean.  Well, the unit directions had a specific amount of water to place in our baggies.  I have always wet a paper towel, but I thought this way would be better since there would be no obstruction to the students seeing the sprout and the roots.  Like an obedient soldier I carried on with the plans. Well.... shall we say bean soup?  Ick! (I wish I had a picture, but this was prior to my brave attempt at blogging.)  My teammate called me over to track down a smell, and you guessed it -- the beans.  It was a valid lesson for the kids, science is trial and error and things do not always work out the way we anticipate, right?

This brings me to my brilliant plan.  I want to redo the investigation.  The kids are going to diagram what they are seeing at various points in the plant growth, but time is not on our side!  Had I thought of this a few days ago we would be all set.  I could have taken the beans home and set them up in bags so that Monday we had a bean 1 day in its growth cycle, 3 days, etc.  Not the same as them doing the work themselves, but we could have continued from there.  Ah well, hopefully next year I will have the perfect amount of water and will not need my "plan B". 

Do any of you do the bean sprouting in just water?  How much is the right amount?

A New Beginning

This is what happens when Spring Break is cold!  I have cleaned the house, I have bathed the dogs, I have prepped for the week we return from break, and I cannot sit still. So... I have decided to start a blog of my own.  I am new to this world and I have limited knowledge about how these things work, so please be patient and kind!

When we return from break we have two weeks until state testing starts.  No matter how many years I have been doing this these two weeks create PANIC in my heart.  I know they are ready. We have worked hard, but this is the time I start having dreams about realizing on the day of the test that I skipped over something entirely - like multiplication. Ridiculous I know, but it is my crazy worrisome subconscious mind.

Any way, I will come to accept the idea that things will be OK.  In the meantime, I want to do something entertaining with the kiddos to relieve their anxiety.  I have decided to start collecting shoe boxes now because I really like the idea of Rachel Lynette's Book in a Box project.  It will keep them thinking, it is easy to differentiate, and it is FUN - something we need more of!
I will post pictures and let you know how it goes in the next few weeks! 

Meanwhile, any tips from the experienced bloggers would be greatly appreciated!