Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Some of my favorite science resources

One of my very good friends just got a 6th grade science job!!! I told her I would share with her some of the resources I use when planning for science.

One of my absolute favorite science resources is Science A-Z (our school has a membership-we've had it for years and NO ONE knew about it!!!). I am unsure about how much it costs but check with other teachers at your school to see if your school already has a membership OR checkout the website for some free samples. I use Science A-Z to get reading material for my reading AND science stations/centers (I will be blogging about what stations I do a bit later on this month). They publish monthly science-related magazines, offer short and long science leveled readings and MUCH, MUCH more. One of my favorite things on the site is the Scientist and Inventor packs. There are several collections of various scientist and inventors. We used them in my class last year to springboard into an end-of-year science research project. You just have to check out Science A-Z (there is also a Reading A-Z equally great!!!).

Another science resource I love to use is Discovery Education.  Your school will need a membership but let me tell you it is well worth the $$$. There are videos on science, social studies, math, and any other topic you can think of. I use it daily in my technology center as a way to teach my kids to take notes from media.

Who does not LOVE Study Jams?! A free site from Scholastic with an abundance of science and math short videos. My kids LOVE them!! The videos usually offer a karaoke song and a quiz at the end. This would be great as a supplement to a lesson.

Lastly, I use a lot of technology in my classroom so I provide links for my students to log on to, take notes, and report back on their learning. This NASA one is a great example of free resources on the web (I always preview the content). The link is one I use to review the solar system.

These are some of my favorite resources I use to supplement my science lessons. What are your favorite resources?

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Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Back 2 School Bulletin Board

I'm already busy thinking about back to school. I'm undecided about having a theme in my class, but I definitely know what my welcome back bulletin board will be.


I'm going to have a "Rock Stars" welcome board.

I've created several options for the students to fill out with their information.

We are going to make this into mini guitars. 






















If you like this bulletin board idea, check out my store. You may also want to look @ Pinterest for some awesome classroom themes and bulletin board ideas.

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New Math Teks


Hold on tight Texas teachers!!! TEA is rolling out new math TEKS for the 2014-15 school year. 
Some teachers are already being asked to implement the new TEKS in their classroom (YIKES!!!). I attended a Lead4Ward (I LOVE their snapshots!!!) training and left a little dizzy and overwhelmed by all the information, but after having some time to think it over, I think anything is possible!!! In my school, we are being asked to use the current TEKS to guide our instruction for the 2013/14 school year (since those are the ones that students will be tested on) AND integrate the new TEKS where we feel they fit in order to minimize gaps for the following year (there's also a team of teachers working on a document to help teachers close gaps due to students 'missing' instruction on new s.e's). 
At the moment I plan to analyze the new TEKS at my grade level and find places where I can introduce some of the new TEKS into my lessons for this coming year. I think if we all take the time to analyze the new teks and fully understand them, then we will feel empowered and be able to breath!!! I came across this fantastic resource that provides information on the new teks using a side by side comparison with the old teks.  post signature

Thursday, July 4, 2013

blogloving

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5799415/?claim=2sudpv4vh9y">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Check them out!

I dedicated a couple of hours today to make a banner for my blog and a couple of cute pictures for my TpT and Pinterest links. I had TONS of help doing this!! First of all, my chevron background on the banner is from Fun For Learning, the cute hearts I used to make the links and on the banner are from Graphics From The Pond (FREE!!!), and the striped pencils are from Ashley Hughes.  All of these are FREE!!! If you are looking for great frames and art visit these awesome TpTers! Also, don't forget Camping Teacher has created 2 tools to help bloggers TpTers jazz-up their stuff. Check out The Cutest Blog On The Block for many tips and tutorials for bloggers. Another site you simply must visit is Mycutegraphics.com (adorable clip art for free!!! Lots and lots of content area clip art).

TWH :)

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Thank you Camping Teacher!

Just wanted to say a big, big thank you to Lynn over at Camping Teacher. She is a fellow blogger and TpTer and has created 2 great templates: banner for blogs and banner for tpt stores. Check out her cute blog and adorable tpt store.

TWH

Monday, July 1, 2013

Math Journals

I wanted to blog about my love of math journals. I have implemented math journals for 5 years now and I still continue to learn new tips and strategies to use them. I firmly believe that math journals are very beneficial to students because they offer opportunities for students to think critically and reflect on their math learning journey. I have created "Getting started with Math Journals" to help those are just getting started or are looking for new ideas to add to their math toolbox. Check out the pictures and start implementing math journals today!
I've included some ideas for input and output. It is very important for students to reflect on their learning.
These are some of my math journal entries for this. I treasure my old journals because they help me reflect on what works and what can be improved for the coming year.

A sample interactive graphic organizer.