St. Patrick's Day Celebration

As a proud Irish woman, I love to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with my students.  This year I don't get to celebrate with my students since I'm on maternity leave awaiting my second baby to make her arrival any day now (already 1 week overdue!).  So I figured I'd use the time and share some of the activities I do with my class.

I always make the classroom a disarray as if a leprechaun visited our room (even in 5th grade they get a kick out of it).  I sprinkle their desks with gold glitter, use green paint and create leprechaun foot prints around the room and hide gold coins.  Students who find a gold coin are instructed by a letter that has been left by the leprechaun to trade it in with me for class cash.  I also have Lucky Clover Certificates (FREE download in my TpT store) that I hide throughout the classroom as well.  If students find one of those, they receive a fun St. Patrick's Day pencil or eraser. 

In addition to those extra fun things, I also try to tie the holiday into my other subjects.  In Religion we always discuss why we celebrate St. Patrick's Day and I show them a quick video from YouTube that talks about the history of St. Patrick's Day.  It's interesting and under three minutes.  We also discuss the metaphor that St. Patrick drove "out the snakes" in Ireland and how we think that really relates to our religion. 

In math class, we typically do our usual math lesson but I also give the students my Shamrock Decimal worksheet which can also be found in my TpT store for FREE.  In art class, I love to have my students create a leprechaun of their own for a fun arts and craft project.  I found this one here that I really like and they always turn out super cute!  She includes all the directions needed to create it and the pattern pieces. 

The project that my students usually enjoy most of all on St. Patrick's Day is our Science Lab that we do.  Students create a Silly Putty like substance.  I start by putting my kids into groups of 4 and we cover their desks with paper (green of course!). I hand out all the supplies but I do not tell the kids what substances they are working with.  Instead they need to use their senses of smell, touch and sight to determine what each ingredient is.  As they complete the lab, they work on a three page handout that I give them that correlates with what they are doing.  Students love this project and are even more excited when they find out they get to take it home.  You can download my St. Patrick's Day Science packet for FREE at my TpT store.

I only ask that if you use any of my FREE St. Patrick's Day products that you leave me feedback.  You can see them all here:  St. Patrick's Day products

Do you do anything special with your students for St. Patrick's Day?  Share below.

 

A Pinterest Back to School Project

I know it has been a few weeks since I last posted but I was really trying to enjoy summer as much as I could - especially with my baby girl, who just turned ONE! However, I can no longer put off the inevitable......Back to School is upon us.  And for some of you, you have already started back!  So I thought it was appropriate that I participated in Mrs. Stanford's Magical Product Swap for my first Back to School post.

I had the privilege of being paired up with Liliris over at Fourth Grade Garden blog.  After looking over all of her fabulous ideas at her Teachers Pay Teachers store, I chose her Pinterest Back to School - All About Me Craftivity.  It's a perfect project to get to know your new class a little bit better. 

The templates (& my daughter in the background)

When you download the product, it comes complete with instructions, three templates to suit your needs, as well as a picture of a final product.  What I liked most about it, were the three templates.  You could have students design a project with their favorites, theirs goals, or there is a blank one for you to decided.  When completing my own, I decided to use the blank one and list goals.  In 5th grade, we talk a lot about what we want to accomplish during the school year and since I already do a Student Survey (which you can see here), I wanted them to focus more on what they wanted from 5th grade. So in the first three boxes, I listed three goals I wanted to accomplish professionally at work which were to:

1.  Implement a successful 1:1 iPad program this year.
2.  Make sure by the end of the year, all my students feel confident in math.
3.  Continue to improve upon our video making unit for the year.

Then I did one goal for my home life which was to:

1.  Save money for our first home.

I think with my students, I would have them do three goals for school and one for their personal life. 

***Just a quick note - I did mine in crayon and had to start over to do the writing in marker so it was easier to read.  So when your students ask, "Can we use markers?" my recommendation is say YES. So much neater!!  haha

Additionally, instead of using the file folders, I opted for two pieces of cardstock which I taped together on the backside as seen in the picture. 



Overall, I loved this project.  It was quick, easy and you can learn a lot from your kiddos which is very important the first few weeks of school.  Head on over to Liliris' TpT store and download your own copy today!  And be sure to check out her blog for even more fabulous ideas.  :-)


Also, be sure to check out Mrs. Stanford's page for even more product swap reviews!

Enjoy!

Bringing Music into Science

Today I began one of my favorite lessons which I just started last year. Since we are headed into the end of the year and we have completed all of our Science lessons, I now have my students write and produce their very own Science Song. The only requirements - they must have three verses and have the chorus repeated at least twice.  Oh and of course it HAS TO TEACH A CONCEPT.  :-)

Last year I had kids do songs on the layers of the Earth, the ecosystem, and my personal favorite translucent, transparent and opaque. (Best part about the last song is they recorded their whole song mispronouncing opaque......it just added to the character of their song!)

The students write their own lyrics using their Science book as a guide in groups of two. Each group needs to chose their own Science concept as I don't allow them to repeat. Once they have finished writing their song, they create their music and melody in Garageband (however, you could download the program called Audacity for free online or use Acid Xpress 7). Once they have their music created I send them into the "Recording Studio". 

The "Recording Studio" all set-up. 

Now this is the fun part - I turn my closet into the recording studio. Now....I know what you are thinking. Students together....alone....in a closet.  Yes. BUT I set-up a camera which is linked to my desktop so I can see them in real time.  Works perfectly and I haven't had a problem.  In the closet is a laptop with their music, headphones so they can hear their music while singing and my RockBand microphone stand and mic which is connected to the laptop to record their singing. I have even rigged a light outside that has red paper strategically placed over it near the top of the door for them to switch on so the rest of the class knows when recording is going on. 

The red recording light outside the door.

The kids absolutely adore this lesson and it gives them an opportunity to share what they have learned. As a gift, I record all the songs onto a CD and give it to the kids at the end of the year. 

If interested in checking out last year's creations you can visit my wiki at Science Songs: https://mrslyon.wikispaces.com/Science+Songs

You can also download the lesson plan and forms I created here: http://msjensenclass-teacherresources.wikispaces.com/Science

Let me know any comments or suggestions you have. :)

Socktacular Day

One of my favorite activities that I do with students is coming up - SOCKTACULAR DAY! This day is dedicated solely to socks, feet, toes, shoes, etc! The students love it as do I. First let me give a little background information on this annual festivity I do with my class. The original Sock Day was created by Mrs. Pam Seckinger, who I had the privilege of working with back in Phoenix. This teacher always had great ideas and activities and I'm happy to have borrowed this one. 

Let me give you the basics. First, prior to Socktacular Day I announce the actual date and discuss with students what we'll be doing that day. Additionally, I send home a note to parents to let them know what is going on. Students need to prepare a sock design (I usually give them a week) in the form of a person, creature, object, etc. I've seen some pretty amazing socks over the years. The students are able to enter their sock creations into a contest the day of Socktacular. The categories that I typically have are:

• Original
• Funniest
• Beautiful
• Cute
• Crazy
• Scary

Students can enter their sock into two categories. I then have other classes come in and vote for which they think is best in each category. The winner of each category receives a generous sum of class cash. 

While the voting is going on throughout the day, my class visits a variety of stations throughout the room. The theme of each activity at these stations have to do with socks. Did I mention I decorate the classroom with all of my crazy colored socks? I also invite students to wear their own crazy socks and we spend the day with our shoes off - not too worry....I stock up on air freshener that day.  

Some of the activities my students partake in are: 

1. Sock It To You Math - this station has math problems that have to do with feet. You know like 12 inches = 1 foot and so on. Students practice their measurement skills while keeping with the theme.

2. Wind Sock Art Project - I found an art project online where students create a wind sock. 

3. Big Foot - Students trace and determine the area and perimeter of their foot. After all scores are recorded for the class, they then determine the mean, median and mode of all students' results.

These are just a few of the stations I do and I'm constantly updating and changing them as I come up with new ideas. If you have a great idea for a station, let me know about it below in the comment section!