Primary Science: Sink or Float

I loved this lesson. It would be easy to do as a TTOC or if you found yourself with some extra time and not enough planned. Of course, having the tubs, items and worksheet makes it easier, but students could also write out statements on lined paper.

First, they PREDICT if an item will SINK or FLOAT. 

Then, they put the item in the tub of water to OBSERVE.

Next, they write down their results - did it SINK or FLOAT.

After each student chose an item, the entire group would predict, then observe. Each student had a chance to choose an item to test. At the end, they all wrote sentences to explain why they thought things would SINK or FLOAT.

They were all engaged, it got a bit splashy at times, but they were reminded to be cautious not to get their DATA SHEETS wet and ruin their findings.

What a fun lesson!

Colourful Paragraph Structure

I love this. I have used paragraph diamonds, colour coding writing similar to this, but this is a very clear way to teach students.

Source: spendadayinsecondgrade.blogspot.com via Amanda on Pinterest

But that isn't fair....

One thing I find most challenging about teaching Elementary, in particular primary, is not the the germs (although I've had one too many sneezes at and on me by now) but the constant bickering and blaming and whining, "it's not fairrrrrrrrr"

I saw this on pintrest and then on a few blogs and wanted to share this simple activity with any teachers who face the same whining "it isn't fair" comments on a daily basis.

This post is from  this teacher blog:

When I was student teaching in third grade, there was a major epidemic of claiming that things in the class weren't "fair". As any of you who are teachers or have kids of your own know, the kiddos think that it's just not fair if they don't get the best of everything! I saw this idea in various posts on Pinterest and decided to try it out! I had the students sit in a circle on the rug, close their eyes, and imagine that they had an injury somewhere on their body. I received several "but why?"s and curious glances, but they were good sports and went along with it. I then called each student up to the rocking chair one at a time and asked them where their pretend injury was. After each student answered, I placed a band-aid on the back of their hand without explanation. One student said she had a broken arm...and she got a band-aid on her hand. One boy said he had a "terrible horrible cut" on his leg....he got a band-aid on his hand. The kiddos all whispered to each other about what was happening, but never asked a question.

After the last student received his band-aid and sat down, a little girl said "Miss Hunt, how come I said my knee had a bruise but you didn't put the band-aid there? I wanted it on my knee! This just isn't fair!" DING DING DING! That's exactly what I was hoping for! I responded, "but why isn't it fair? Everyone got a band-aid didn't they?" A boy said, "Well YEAH, but what good is it if it's not where I needed it:?" This activity worked out so much better than I expected! We then launched into a long discussion about what fair truly means. One student summed it up best when she said "So maybe fair isn't when everyone gets the same thing...it's when everyone gets just what they need!"

I love it!

Via this blog

Writing Process: Revising vs. Editing

I like this little chart to differentiate between REVISION and EDITING. My Grade 8s struggled with this before Christmas when we went through the writing process, repeatedly.

Source: skowronskiclass.blogspot.com via Alexis on Pinterest

Writing Prompts and Mini-lessons for June 1

Tomorrow is June 1st... and it is a Friday...

It seems nowadays there is some kind of holiday or celebration every day of the year. June starts the countdown to the end of the school-year (okay, so some started their countdown weeks ago) but as a TTOC it is nice to have some kind of writing prompt of mini-lesson handy, especially during the chaotic month of June.

To kick off June 1st, here are some ideas:

1. National Doughnut Day in the USA is June 1st:

National Doughnut Day is on the first Friday of June each year, succeeding the Doughnut Day event created by The Salvation Army in 1938 to honor the women who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War I.

* Try: The Teachers Corner Writing Prompt to write about donuts as a breakfast food, or a favourite breakfast food. Or Cut out paper donuts and decorate them, or have them write a poem about donuts on the shape.

2. International Children's Day is celebrate June 1 in China, and some other countries:

Children's Day is celebrated on various days in many places around the world, in particular to honor children. Major global variants include a Universal Children's Day on November 20, by United Nations recommendation.^[1] Children's Day is often celebrated on other days as well.

*Try Reading: Barefoot Books: Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush which looks at children around the world and their different ways to do their morning routines.
3. Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street celebrates his birthday:

June 1st is Oscar the Grouch's birthday - the day when he is at his absolute grouchiest. In episode 3866 of Sesame Street, after Oscar reads a birthday card from his mother, and after hearing Oscar tell the viewers that it was his birthday, Telly Monster tried to give Oscar a grouchy birthday party, something that Oscar thought he couldn't do. In the end, however, Oscar was proved wrong. He received many grouchy rotten gifts.

*Try: Writing about what makes you feel grumpy, or how you deal with a bad day.

Short activities to do using a newspaper

I love the idea of using Current Events in the classroom. I really love the "What in the World" series that some schools subscribe to. But, when you don't have access to that, this is a great way to use newspapers for numerous activities.... This website had some great ideas...

Icebreaker:
Before class begins, select an interesting or timely newspaper story or editorial.

•	Make copies of the article and place one on each student's desk.
•	As students arrive, have them read the article.
•	After a few minutes, open a class discussion about the article. Encourage lively conversation, allowing students to interject their own ideas and opinions.
•	After a brief debate, ask students if they read the newspaper each day.
•	Remind students that the newspaper can be an exciting and thought-provoking source of information. Tell them that they can also use the newspaper to practice and review grammar skills, as they will be doing today.

Stress Reliever:
If the class energy level rises too high, give your students an opportunity to relax and read a newspaper for pleasure.

•	Encourage them to select articles or features they find interesting.
•	They can look at advertisements, read advice columns, study editorials, solve puzzles, or skim the day's news.
•	After reading, students can share with the class what they have read.
•	Encourage them to tell why they selected the sections they did and what they learned.

Transition:
If you have a few free minutes, you can challenge students to newspaper grammar searches, such as the following:

•	Copy a sentence and highlight its subject and predicate.
•	Find a sentence in the past perfect tense.
•	Find a sentence that has a subordinate clause. Find the subordinate conjunction.
•	Find a fact and an opinion in one article.

Grammar Hunt:
Materials: newspapers, What's In the News? Activities
Give pairs of students a newspaper or a section of a newspaper.

•	Tell students they will be using the newspaper for a grammar scavenger hunt.
•	Pass out the What's In the News? Activities and read the rules.
•	Review the grammatical elements in the chart and provide examples. You may wish to have students use their grammar textbooks as references.
•	Have pairs search for about 20 minutes. Be sure to assist students when necessary.
•	At the end of the hunt, have pairs total their points. If possible, provide a small reward for the winners.
•	Encourage students to share the examples of each grammatical element they found.
•	You may wish to provide additional rewards for teams that found especially difficult or unique examples.

The Proofers:
Materials: newspapers, highlighting pens
Tell students that the newspaper is carefully proofread before it is printed. Explain, however, that even the best proofreaders occasionally make mistakes.

•	Give each student one or more articles, preferably ones that have grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors.
•	Instruct students to proofread their articles, asking questions such as: – Do all sentences have a subject and a verb? – Do all subjects and verbs agree? – Are possessives used correctly? – Is there an antecedent for every pronoun? – Are there any unnecessary or confusing shifts in tense? – Are all words spelled correctly? – Are all sentences punctuated properly?
•	Have students gather in groups to decide how to correct the mistakes.

Diagramming:
Materials: newspapers
If your students need practice diagramming sentences, direct their attention to the front page of a newspaper.

•	Select the lead sentence in one of the stories.
•	Write the sentence on the board, and model diagramming as appropriate.
•	Have students gather in pairs and select their own sentences from the newspaper to diagram.
•	If necessary, use appropriate pages in a grammar textbook to review diagramming.
•	Walk around the class, guiding and prompting students as needed.

Mixed-Up Articles:
Materials: newspapers
Invite students to play Mixed-Up Articles, a variation of the popular fill-in-the-part-of-speech game.

•	Ask each student to copy the first two paragraphs of a newspaper article on a sheet of lined paper. Be sure they are using pencils.
•	Have students erase a word from each sentence and draw a write-on line in its place. Then have them write the part of speech of the erased word below the write-on line. Encourage students to erase words that represent a variety of parts of speech.
•	Ask students to work in pairs. The first student should read the missing parts of speech and ask the other student to provide words.
•	Once the words are inserted, the first student should read it aloud. Students can then switch places.
•	Encourage students to share their funniest mixed-up articles with the class.

There are many more great ideas, Read more on TeacherVision: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/current-events/curriculum-planning/6215.html#ixzz1wKG3V7LQ