What a super fun way to integrate Science and Health and incorporate observation with tools and notebooking.
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Showing posts with label Science. Show all posts
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Over the summer I saw an idea online about a growing brain that you could put in water and it would increase in size and once you remove the brain it would shrink. I have heard of some fun activities to do with the growing brain and I really wanted to get my hands on one. I found an online science mall that carried them and they were $5 plus shipping. As I was preparing to present for our district Science Back to School presentation, I thought of using the brain as an ice breaker activity for the training and as a notebooking activity in my kindergarten classroom. I contacted the company to see if they could give me a discount if I were to buy multiple brains. They were intrigued as to why I would want so darn many brains... The company originally wrote me back and asked some questions. A few days later I had not heard the final word and I went online to look at the brains I was now becoming obsessed with. Get ready for this part friends... The company had INCREASED the price from $5 per brain to $14 (plus shipping) per brain and never got back to me. Now I knew I could not afford to buy my growing brain.
I searched over the summer for an alternative and I came up with Grow Me's that are sold at the store I now LOVE called Dollar Tree. I know the Grow Me line has a brain but I have never found it. Through my quest for my little brain I have come to love GROW Me's because they come in all sorts of funny versions from animals to pirates and from cupcakes to entire farm scenes. At first, I was still disappointed about never getting a brain but I was happy to find Grow Me's with objects that could really grow. I kind of fell in love when I discovered Larry the Growing Lettuce Head. Larry has been everywhere this summer and he is the best companion because he always smiles and does not say a word. He does his job and grows and I do my job and observe him. So after a summer of just me and my favorite pal Larry I decided it was time to take him on the road.
Larry the Growing Lettuce was revealed at the district Science staff development and he was pretty popular with that never ending smile. He did his job well and broke the ice and gave us some laughs because he didn't want to come out of his jar. And truth be told, I have searched the world over for a proper container for little Larry and all I had at the time was a Mason jar so that was his home. During the training several teachers said they had bought the Grow Me's for their children and someone gently suggested that I had stunted little ol Larry's growth because his habitat was not large enough. Someone even suggested to put Larry in the bathtub and see how big he gets. The thought of seeing my dear friend Larry floating around in the stagnant bath water at 5am each morning just wasn't what I had in mind.
Since the training I have had lots of emails and pictures sent to me by text of all the different versions of Grow Me's and I have laughed because I guess the ice breaker activity worked and got people excited about Notebooking in Kindergarten. I have been so busy talking about Larry that I never had time to think of the growing brain. Two days after the Science training I was in Michael's shopping for materials for my classroom. I decided to circle the store before leaving. Much to my surprise I ran right into a... GROWING BRAIN! You really would have thought I had won the Kindergarten Lottery. I had to stop myself from squealing in delight. Not only did they have growing brains but they had growing body parts in the Halloween section. Friends, I grabbed them and I grabbed them quick. And since I was feeling so darn chipper I grabbed a growing spider too. Now as you can imagine, I have quite the collection of growing things for my self created Science center. And if you thought my luck was over, it wasn't! I turned the corner and found the perfect container for Grow Me's. The container is about as big as a paint can and it is totally clear. I am still on the look out for something larger but right now who is complaining?
Now, I am sure you are asking yourself what in the world does this really have to do with Science? You will have to come back and see. I will give you time to capture some of your own brains and Larry's. If you find something good you have to email me and promise you will!
Until then... Kiss your brain!
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I have had some emails asking what kind of pet I ended up with. Well, I had some things change and I had to reschedule my meeting with Petsmart. So, I am still waiting to go to Petsmart and pick out a class pet and I am still super excited! I have cleared some space in my room and plan to set up a Science area and provide my new friends a new home. I have not totally decided what kind of pet I am going to get. Soooo, to help me get by until I have my new class pet I got these!
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Super excited to be teamed up with Mrs. Parker for Learning with Mrs. Parker this year for tons of Alphabet fun. I am hosting letter Rr and when I think of R I think of rainbows and when I think of rainbows, I think of color. So, you will have to join us for Tearning the Alphabet with some super integrated activities. Mrs. Parker, we are going to have some fun. Our Science kits are shipping soon! I am so darn excited!
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I am super excited.
I am on my way.
It's going to be a super fantastic day.
I am picking my classroom pet.
Wonder what it will be?
You'll have to check back!
You'll have to see.
What in the world my new pet will be!
Thank You PETSMART
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So you are wondering what to do with all those composition books you just bought at Staples? So you are not ready for Science? I have the answer... Science Notebooks! This is just the perfect size for little hands to observe and record all of their Scientific findings. First, you need a label to make it look like something a Kindergarten Scientist would carry. If you need labels I have them here for a small fee and the best part is you can save and print these year after year. Second, you need a Science Contract to keep everybody safe. You can get that here for FREE. If you are using spirals you can just staple it inside the cover after the children get it signed. If you are using composition books, you will trim on the dotted line and glue or staple inside. Third, if you would like to add ribbon so your little Scientist can keep his place, you simply hot glue ribbon inside the back cover. I believe I saw this great idea on faithfulinfirst.blogspot.com and I thought this was perfect for keeping your place. And last, you staple in some stickers so that each time you are conferencing with a student and notice something fantastic, you will have them right where you need them even if you are outside in the school garden. So that's a Science tip in a snap, so how bout that?
PS
Staples has composition books right now through Wednesday for .10 cents with a $5 purchase! The labels you see above were purchased at Staples and what you are looking for is half sheet labels and sometimes they are called shipping labels. And if you are looking for spirals you can get them now at Wal Mart for .20 cents with lots of color options.
If you need some inspiration...
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I have to admit, after all of the emails I probably should not hold on to this post. I am starting to feel guilty that I have found these aprons and that people are running around trying to find stuff posted. And just like you I am starting to think of different ways to tell the family where I am going instead of saying Dollar Tree again. To make matters worse, nobody will endure this trip with me again.
If you are going to my Back to School Science training, I just hope you act like this is the best idea around and you have never in your life seen this post. And if a facilitator is in the room or walks by, just shout out what a brilliant idea this is and how affordable! I am planning on some messy things this year and I need smocks. Sure I could ask the children to bring in an old shirt but from my experience, that has not always been the best idea... You can figure that one out. Anyway, for a dollar I am using these. Yep, they are thin and I do not care because they will be covered in paint before you know it and that just might make the fibers a little stronger... Now if you get to Dollar Tree and these are gone this is what you do. You grab about five or six of your best teaching friends and you order a case and have it sent to the store for free! If they are on back order this is what you do... You save the messy stuff until they come in!
As far as what to tell your family? I am not sure. I am brainstorming different ways to tell my family that I am on my way to Dollar Tree again!
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Visit my TpT store for your free recipe and activity mat download and get busy with all that peanut buttery fun! If you are feeling real Kinder friendly, leave some feedback and then get to cookin up some fun!
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Help me welcome Little Miss Hypothesis and celebrate her Fourth of July birthday by getting ready for Science fun this year! Hop on over to my TpT store and grab your fantastically free goodie birthday prize!
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I have been asked this question a lot lately... What is a Fairy Godmother? Take for example my new fairy godmother, my Science Fairy Godmother. A fairy godmother is a person in your teaching life who takes you under their wing and teaches you every hot new teaching technique, keeps you updated on the latest hot topic and gives you tools to make your teaching more effective and fun. A fairy godmother ALWAYS has the answers to your questions and you are ALWAYS amazed at what they carry in their bag of tricks. And no matter where you are or what you are doing, they can just magically whip up something so fantastic out of their magic trick bag, that it makes your head spin. You probably have a fairy godmother you just haven't told her yet. And if by chance you don't, just look around and I am sure you will find one. So look what mine brought today.
A handmade pocket chart in 120 seconds flat! I told you she was magic! This is brilliant because it is made out of poster board, sentence strips and staples. Best part is, you can crop or cut this and make it any size AND it is made out of the cheapest materials around. All it is is folded and stapled sentence strips on poster board. What about all the different colors of poster board and sentence strips...OPTIONS! What about small individual ones for children working on Mix it and Fix it? What about that odd space on your wall that nothing fits? What about the new teacher who has nothing? I bet she would think YOU were a fairy godmother if you whipped this little bit of happiness out the day before school starts! As you can see this idea has TONS of options and it is worth sharing.
OM~gosh, if you don't have a fairy godmother you just have to go and get one!
OM~gosh, if you don't have a fairy godmother you just have to go and get one!
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Ok, just had to post something to literally make me HAPPY! I finally got back to Michael's to grab my bee masks and wouldn't you know...I happened to see some COMPOUND EYEGLASSES! If this does not make a stressed out Kindergarten teacher HAPPY, I just do not know what to say!
WHEW, feelin a little better now!
PS Don't forget to join the Math Linky Party below!
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I really have had so much fun joining in on the Math Linky Party at love2learn2day that I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a weekly Science Linky Party each week. If you are interested shoot me a a line and let's get it going and have some fun this summer!
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Looking ahead to next year! I had so very much fun with Science Notebooking that I am thinking about what exactly my notebooks would look like this year. I tried simple old colored spiral notebooks this year because I was able to purchase them for about .05 each and they come in lots of colors for grouping! This year I am sure looking for the spirals with more than 70 pages because we sure needed more than 70! OM~gosh what about one for Science AND one for Math! So that is Science in a snap, so how bout that?
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To read the content of this post, please click on Melissa's new blog:
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