The Elements

I'm soon to be wrapping up a science unit on matter.

One of the final lessons on elements, compounds and mixtures is more difficult to grasp.

So I turned to finding these catchy songs as a resource:

The Periodic Table Song

My students couldn't get enough of listening to These Are the Elements Song

Study Jams also had a quick video on compounds and mixtures

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Memoir Text

I read a wonderful memoir text to my students this week written by Lester Laminack. It's titled Saturdays and Teacakes which tells the author's memories of his Saturdays spent in the south with his mammaw. The book is filled with vivid vocabulary and descriptions of their "Every Saturday" events:

having hot biscuits with Golden Eagle Syrup, mowing the lawn, picking tomatoes for sandwiches, sitting in the glider that goes criick, crack (great for teaching onomatopoeia), and best of all making tea cakes. After reading and discussing the special relationship between Lester and his mammaw I showed my class this video retelling

A great follow up with this story is to share about the history and background of teacakes.

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In Rememberance

Birthdays Celebrations in the Classroom

Just sharing how I'm recognizing my students' birthdays in a quick but fun way this year.

The past few years my school put into place a No Food treats school birthday policy, which I do like because one year, on the same day, I had 2 sets of cupcakes dropped off unannounced and a whole sheet cake to slice up and serve from 3 separate families. YIKES, talk about sugar overload and interruption of instructional time.

My solution to still giving a bit of attention to birthdays is using this Ice Cream and Cake dance song on each students' birthday. It gets the kids' attention and celebrates the birthday girl/boy in a fun way.

Click picture for  Ice Cream and Cake song

 Happy Birthday Mice (another option)

 I print and label this free birthday calendar graph from Scholastic to keep track of every birthday so we can celebrate it Ice Cream and Cake style.

Now, I'm off to call my mom because it is her birthday today.

~Enjoy

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TPT Newsletter

I hope most of my blog readers already subscribe to TPT's weekly Sunday newsletter which is packed full of freebies, resources and teacher tips.

I was pleasantly surprised to find one of my freebies in today's edition: Swap the Squiggle Writing

If you are not yet signed up for this newsletter go to the TPT homepage and scroll down to the end of the page. Look for a subscribe box that looks like this:

Just enter your email and every Sunday you'll have tons of wonderful resources at your fingertips.

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Brain Break MUST

Happy Saturday!

With my class this year I really need to incorporate quick brain breaks.

I have several students who have sensory input needs and getting up and moving is a MUST.

 This PB & J No Crust song! is sure a hit!

Even if you do like crust on your PB & J you'll still have this song bobbing through your head!

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Dog Gone It

Harley provided some fun entertainment for me this weekend. He was spooked by a deflated balloon floating waywardly in my planters.

He was on alert, barking and not quite sure of the mystery mylar flower balloon.

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Parent Conferences Conferencing Note Freebie

It's the day before the first day of school for me and I've got a running list of a million things to do.

I'm also thinking ahead for later when conferences with parents will occur.

I made this handy reference sheet to document meeting discussions any time you might need to conference about a student. Grab this freebie in my store.

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Backyard Delights

I get to enjoy my yard, work and all, during the summer.

My backyard is a 1/2 acre. Over spring break I cut down some palms that were breaking my planters.

I replaced them with a Crape Myrtle tree which is now blooming.

Look at those pretty watermelon blooms.

I'm still battling the asparagus fern sprouts that keep popping up which I also removed from the planter. I'm avoiding the need to clean up the dead blooms of my Bird of Paradise. I'll wait to do that on a cooler day.

Wild rabbits love my backyard too.

I came back from walking Harley yesterday and saw these two eating steps away from my patio.

Harley isn't fast enough to catch the grown ones, but last summer he did corner and kill a few babies :(

And yuck, Harley loves to eat the rabbit poop all over the lawn when I don't watch him.

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Favorite Read Alouds in the Classroom

Here are my top 5 read alouds for the classroom. I'll share a snippet about each one in the order that I read them to my class this year.

First up is Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry

What a character Gooney Bird Greene is. She's quirky and fun and a master storyteller.

This book lends itself wonderfully to introducing the elements of a good story writing and telling.

This author has several other Gooney books that a well worth the read too.

You can check my original blog post for this book, which includes a video find and my Gooney Unit {HERE}

Next, is Lulu and the Brontosaurs by Judith Viorst.

Lulu is a spoiled brat who demands that she wants a dinosaur for a pet.

This is a quick read, but one my class adored.

I would hear them chanting in line like Lulu, 

" I"m gonna,  I'm gonna, I'm gonna gonna get a bronta, bronta, brontosaurus for a pet."

Then, we read James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.

A classic read about a lonely boy named James raised by his mean aunts.

He escapes his miserable life inside a magical peach with a crew of animated insects.

On to Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, a great tale of friendship between a little girl, a runt pig she raises and a spider.

We watched the video afterwards to compare the book to the movie.

My all time favorite I always end the year with is Dodger and Me by Jordan Sonnenblick

 The main character, Willie Ryan forms a friendship with an invisible, blue chimp in surfer shorts and his life literally changes. Cute, cute read. I originally blogged about this book {HERE}.

What are your favorite read alouds?

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