QR Code Investigation: Penguins

During the winter season, my class did a penguins unit--we studied penguins, but we also learned about finding the main idea, inferencing, informational text, research, etc. I posted about it back in January.

My entire class was involved in the penguin study; I also made a special investigation activity for my GT students to complete. I briefly mentioned the project back when I posted about our penguin unit. Now, I am ready to share it with the world!

I created this QR Code activity to use as an extension for my GT students. My students completed it in partners, though it could also be an independent activity. In the activity, students have a booklet with questions to answer about penguins:

To answer the questions, students must scan a corresponding QR code:

The QR code takes them to a website with text or video for them to read/view, so students must be readers to complete the activity (OR have a partner or teacher for reading assistance).

Here is a sneak peek of some of the pages:

My kids had such a blast with this activity!! So much so, that I had to make another one for them! I'll be posting that one later on in the week. Here is a little hint what the topic is:

Enjoy this product for 20% off, today only!

Happy Sunday to you! :)

SUMMAHHH + a New QR Code Adventure

I can't believe June is already over! I hope July really slows down because I still have SO much that I want to do!

The highlight of my summer so far is definitely the 5 days I spent at one of the Texas beaches! Now, I have been to Hawaii before so I KNEW the beach experience wouldn't be the exact same. For instance, Texas has A LOT of seaweed in the water and on the beach. Still fun, nonetheless!

There's the seaweed--not even the worst of it.

The Gulf of Mexico (with my mini soaking it up)

Beautiful weather!

One of our MANY awesome castles we built!

We did do some sightseeing, but mostly spent EVERY DAY at the beach! And I am SO glad to be back in my own home. :)

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Also, last night I finished up my newest QR Code Adventure, which is just like the Animal one I posted a few weeks ago.

In this pack, students will read a description of an insect and use prior knowledge/evidence to make an inference about what insect they think it is. Here is a sample page (see if you can figure them out!):

And here is one of the recording sheets:

Check out a preview and the product itself in my store:

Have a great one!

Technology Camp 2014!

Howdy!! For the past two weeks, I have been teaching at a summer technology camp, which is something I commit to doing every summer. It is always a great time because I get to write the curriculum, I have a small class (usually less than 13), snacks are provided ANNNNDDD I have oodles of technology tools at my fingertips, such as iPads, digital cameras, laptops, software, and online programs. Click here to read about Technology Camp from the past few years.

**WARNING! ICK FACTOR ALERT!!!**

For the past two years, I have taught the "Germs, Mold and Other Gross Stuff" camp to entering 4th and 5th graders. This year, the camp moved down to entering 2nd and 3rd graders. We do several awesome/yucky/disgusting/fun activities. Now, I am NOT one that actually enjoys gross and icky things; I am a germophobe and get grossed out VERY easily. However, there is something about teaching it that makes it tolerable! I cannot even explain it. So, here are our yucky activities:

Bird Poop Painting
Probably my most favorite activity! We do a little bird diet research, make a goopy model of the bird poop, and then paint with it.

The BEST part is that they learn how to make a QR code. The QR code is attached to the painting and reveals what the bird's diet is.

Drinkable Blood

Enough said. ;)

The Best Diaper Brand

We tested the two most popular brands of diapers to see which one would hold the most liquid. The result?? You'll have to scroll down to find out!

Couldn't fill up the diapers with just plain water..........we added yellow food coloring. ;)

We poured water in the diapers, 5oz at a time, until it couldn't hold anymore liquid.

That is one FULL diaper!

Huggies on the left, Pampers on the right.

And just for fun--this is what the polymer beads on the inside of a diaper look like. The kids were pretty fascinated with the texture of the beads.

And the winner--

Both diaper brands held about 50 ounces of liquid, but Pampers consistently held a little bit more each round. So, good to know--your baby can have about 50 ounces of pee in his/her diaper before you need to change it! I do not recommend this, however, because the diaper then weighs about 20 pounds!! (among a few other reasons, haha)

Booger Model
Ew. This one was a gross one. I'll just leave you with some pictures and move on.

I warned you about the grossness. ;)

Finally, we make a science journal and several little foldables about all of our activities on the computer. Those items are printed, folded and added to our "Germs" lapbook:

Inside the folder:

And I would be remiss if I didn't include pictures of my camp classroom! It is held at a local tech high school/college so I have no control over the set up. However, it was the right amount of space for the number of campers I had.

Also, this is in the makes:

Be excited. ;)

QR Code Adventure: Animals

Happy summer! Hopefully, all of you are out of school by now!

So I made this product a loooooooong time ago and it just sat on my hard drive. And sat. And sat. Annnnddd sat. A few months ago I came across it and updated it. And then it sat some more. Then I came across it a few weeks ago and actually used it in my classroom. And then it sat some more. Well, I am proud to announce that I FINALLY posted the product!! :D Here it is:

Now, I originally made this with 4th graders in mind (back in 2012 when I was teaching 4th grade--told you it was old!). The product has evolved since then and I believe that it is now appropriate for 1-5th grade. (I can attest to using it in 1st because I successfully used it with my 1st graders!)

In this pack, students will read a description of an animal and use prior knowledge/evidence to make an inference about what animal they think it is. The animal descriptions include information about the animal's body and/or habitat, so you can also discuss what kinds of things the animal has in order to survive in its environment--perfect science connection. Here is a sample page (see if you can figure them out!):

And here is one of the recording sheets:

Looks like fun, right?! It is! Check out a preview and the product itself in my store:

Have a great Tuesday! :)

This Week in 1st Grade

So 2 weeks ago was NUTS and this past week was NOT much better!

Monday: Regular school day, though it became icy throughout the day and was slightly dangerous by the time we got out of school and on the roads.
Tuesday: Ice day! NO school!
Wednesday: Regular school day (and recess--FINALLY!)
Thursday: Regular school day, but I had a workshop and was out--sub day!
Friday: LOVELY (but windy) weather for Valentine's Day

So last week, I actually only taught on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That is somewhat awesome.

Well, what does this next week bring?? A lot of the same things from last week since we didn't get everything finished!

MONDAY
Phonics/Spelling: Introduce trigraphs -dge and -tch with a whole group picture sort. We will sort the pictures by sound into two hoops (which I don't have at home, so I will show you on construction paper...).

Then, we will add the words for each picture.

Throughout the week, we will keep a flipbook of words we come across that have -tch and -dge in them. We will spend some time searching through books for them and will also keep a class list of the words. Here is a simple (at home!) example:

Handwriting: We will focus on ABC order, specifically on using the second letter when words have the same initial letter. Our sight words of the week have 2 sets of same letter words so this is a PERFECT time to review that concept. This is the very boring but colorful flipchart we will use. We don't have fun fonts at school (and aren't allowed to download them!) so Century Gothic it is! :P

The students will decide and write the order of the words on their dry erase boards. Then, together we will drag the words over in order to confirm their answers.

Handwriting (all 10 minutes of it) for the rest of the week will consist of lots of skywriting, some pencil and paper practice, and using our tactile handwriting boards.

Check out my post about these boards by clicking here!

Reading/Writing: Penguins research project--we have been researching penguins for the past four weeks. We didn't do much last week at all (only 1 day of penguin study), so this week will pretty much be the same activities I planned for last week. We will learn about main idea and informational text features. We will use the text features to answer specific questions. My GT students will be starting a mini-research project on penguins as the class continues research together. I whipped this up for them (and will share with you very soon):

We will also begin our own informational text book about penguins--fun stuff!

Math: We will finish up numeration on Monday and move on to learning about time on Tuesday! Our time unit always begins by reading The Grouchy Ladybug by one of my favorite authors, Eric Carle. Here is a great YouTube video of it:

We will then discuss a brief history of the clock (riveting, really) and the difference between analog and digital clocks. We'll discuss a sundial first and I'll show this quick video to demonstrate how it works:

After the sundial, we view/discuss how people used to use hourglasses to keep time and the difficulties that may have come with using one. We will then have a discussion about using a standardized format for keeping time and a tool that is not solely reliant on good weather days or people. Then it is time to explore the clock tools!

I give them about 10 minutes to just play with our little clock buddies. Exploring tools before using them as tools under your instruction will allow the kids' curiosity about the tool to be satisfied and get the play out of their system. They will then be ready to use them as properly!

We will use these videos to reinforce what we are learning about time:

We have already watched these videos a jazillion times this school year already, so the kids are very familiar with them! I give them a clock to use during the video since the videos are very interactive.

We will also build our own paper clocks in order to learn more about them, as well as build a clock number line to learn how a clock is actually a number line!

Since it is still February (and we only did stations once last week!), stations will still be from my Cross My Heart pack:

And here is a SUPER time game that I will add to the Math with Technology station:

Science: This week we will finish up learning about what makes seasons since we didn't get to finish last week. Here is a GREAT video we will watch that shows one year in 120 seconds, specifically how the trees look during each season.

And instead of making these season trees like I planned for last week...

...we are making a circle book about seasons instead. I will share it with you after we make them!

Social Studies: This week is all about presidents! Monday is Presidents' Day, so we will learn about the great contributions of some of our great presidents, specifically Washington and Lincoln. We are doing a little craftivity to house the information we have learned about these great men. My GT kids will be doing their own research on a great president and will make an informational book about it to share with the class. Fun fun!

Well, I hope you have a GREAT (and snow day-less) week!! :)