Setting up your Science Notebook

I am linking up with the Clutter Free Classroom to share how we set up our notebooks this week in my classroom!




Do you teach your children what goes in your science notebook?  This year we added a page to our journal to show what it would look like to set up our notebook. 

First...we all glued down our table of contents.  This is a form that shows what we are teaching during the year with a blank space for writing down page numbers.

I printed it out on a half sheet so they could glue it into their notebook on the first page as a place to start.

Next, we made a title for the first unit: Science Inquiry.

The students were able to personalize the page (and will continue to do this throughout the year as we explore new topics.) 

This is an example of Emma's page:

Okay...so once we have done this it's time to get down to business.  I wanted a page that shows the set up of a notebook entry.  First, we discussed it as a class and I wrote it on an anchor chart. 

 

Q= Focus Question

P = Prediction

H = Hypothesis (If...then...statements)

Data= Data in many forms

C = Conclusion

R = Reflection

 

Here is what it looks like in Craig's notebook...

By the way, the sentence starters I found online through pinterest and were free from Frogs and Cupcakes.

 

Now we are ready to begin...stay tuned for how we start the year with a Mentos Exploration!

 

 

Setting Expectations for Group Work

I know...I know...you have heard me say this a million times.  It is important to have groups in science and to have individual jobs while you are working together!

So how do you introduce it the first time????

We begin by Introducing our science groups. Each group has 4 people in it (as best as possible - because I have 22 students I do have two groups with 5 in them).

Each child is assigned a color as you see.  Then I have a chart that shows the jobs. I can easily rotate the tiles daily to switch jobs.

We began working as groups by setting expectations.  If you are going to work as a group on a task, what do you need to do in order to be successful? And what do the jobs mean?

Then we worked on two simple tasks. The first was to work as a team to build a house of cards.
The next was to work as a team to solve a cup challenge. I love this second challenge! It is one I learned from FOSS several years ago and truly involves team work.  You will need 6 solo cups,1 rubber band and 4 strings (cut about 24 inches) for each team. To prep for the activity you will need to tie the string to the rubber band in four spots...like this...

Why?  It becomes your cup challenge tool.  Each person will hold on to one piece of the string and working together will manipulate the rubber band to grasp and move a solo cup.  Intrigued????

Get your students into their groups of four and send your Getter 1 to the materials spot to get 6 solo cups and one rubber band tool.

Students will need to make a structure that looks like this:

Have your Starter create this structure.

Then as a team, they will need to move the cups from this structure to a pyramid with three cups on bottom, then two cups then one on top.

These guys are showing you how to manipulate the tool and you can also see the finished product at the side.

When you are finished, have Getter 2 clean up the materials and return them to the materials spot.

And then, once everyone has returned to their seats, the Reporter from each group will share out what they did in their group that day (or in the future read their notebook entry.)

What do you think???

Team Building Activity - building structures

 

The beginning of school is all about creating a classroom community. What better way then to work in small groups to build a structure?

 

Here's what we did.  First, I created 5 bags with spoons, plastic cups (Dixie size), paper clips, wire, straws, paper plates and tape.

Then I pulled sticks to create random grouping....after all, we are supposed to learn to work together with ALL of our classmates. I did work it out so there were two girls and two boys in each group. 

 

Students were asked to work together to create the tallest structure possible. They had to work together and had a time limit of about 15 minutes. We stressed that this was a challenge, not a competition and at the end of it, we would congratulate the winners of this challenge.  Bad sportsmanship in my classroom is NOT tolerated.

 

Enjoy the photos and see how simple this would be to recreate in your classroom this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A peek into my classroom....

Well, I'm officially back at work.  This work week was a whirl wind of meetings, setting up my room, writing names...names...names..., planning with my team, back to school night, meeting the kids and the parents, visiting with old students, and prepping for the first week... Phew, I am exhausted and it hasn't even started!  It is a good exhausted, though...you know what it feels like!

I thought I would simply share some photo's of my classroom for those of you who may be curious.

Class door sets the tone...

 

 

This is my classroom library and meeting area.  This year I have three area rugs for my students to sit on so they won't be on the tile.  I have my seat crates there, my question of the day, my smartboard, my schedule and small whiteboard, my rocking chair and cute space curtains!  My desk is next to this area (no photo).

Continuing along this wall is my Va. Studies bulletin board and clipboard collection spot.  I also have a writing area where I will post anchor charts (thanks ClutterFreeClassroom!) and materials spot.

 

Next you can see the small group area as well as bulletin board where I will keep reading ancho charts.  There is also a student computer and poster cabinet where I keep cubbies on top of it.

Along the back wall are my cabinets.  That is where I store my stuff!  I also have a spot for the kids to sign in for lunch, get nurse notes and bandaids, post pocket charts with science words and sentence starters and homework.  And of course, there is my turtle!

 

Kiddos come on Monday...hope I am ready!

 

 

 

 

Sentence starters....

Sentence starters are an important part of helping students learn how to write in science notebooks.  I use them in my science notebooks everyday. I have always written them on a chart or put them on cards in my pocket chart so I could carry them around the room when I am talking about the words.

I was going to type these up this year with a "cute font", but while searching Pinterest I found that

Frogs and Cupcakes had created a great resource for FREE already!  So why recreate the wheel at this point in the summer?  Instead, why not use what she alread created? So I decided to share this resource with you all today....and go outside and enjoy one of the last days of summer!

 

Thanks Frogs and Cupcakes!

 

 

Children's literature that connects to science...

In keeping with thinking about the start of the year, I thought I'd post a few of my favorite science books as well.

Here are a few of my favorite books to start off the year -

• Monday with a Mad Genius by Mary Pope Osburn is a Jack and Annie tale where they travel back in time to meet Leonardo Da Vinci. That in itself is a cool idea - but what makes this book special is that they follow him throughout his day and see his ups and downs. The book shows that even Leonardo made mistakes and yet he kept on investigating and learning. The book also talks about combining drawing with science and even talks about his SCIENCE NOTEBOOKS. It is a wonderful story and a great start to the year.

• Boy Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs: This is another great book for the start of the year because it talks about how scientists have changed their thinking over the years. It talks about theories that were once univerally accepted that are no longer true! Great book!

• I love just about any book from Seeds of Science Roots of Reading...but my favorite is definately Why Do Scientists Diagree? I love this book on so many levels - first, it shows scientists in all forms - old, young, women, men, African American, Indian, Caucasian, Hispanic and Asian...second, it talks about how scientists must talk through their ideas together. Sometimes they disagree and sometimes they even get mad. I also love this books because it is a story within a story - on one side it shows the historical conflict between Galileo and his colleagues and on the other side it shows modern scientists disagreeing.

Another great Seeds book is Drinking Cleopatra's Tears. This book explains the Water Cycle in a question and answer format that is fun to read and informative too. It is also a little gross - like the part where we may be drinking a dinosaur's sweat. Kids love it!

Oh I could go on and on with this post...but will stop for now. I like the idea of showcasing books used in a unit. Our next unit is on Ecosystems: Plants and Animal Adaptations. If you would like, I can try to highlight the books we are using in class.

Exit Cards

Today I am posting a little resource I put together on Exit cards. I am calling it "Exit Cards 101" and it is geared to science classrooms...although it can be adapted for any subject.   This is not a new resource, some of you may have already seen it.  But for those of you who have not seen it...here it is.

Why use exit cards?

One of the biggest indicators as to whether students actually "got" what we taught can be determined by using a reflective piece at the end of a lesson.  Exit cards allow you to see if the students have any questions, misconceptions or have a solid understanding.  They allow you to spot teach, review or go on with no worries! 


It is available for FREE for all you guys out there to use and share with your colleagues.


Thanks guys!