Build a Fence, but Don't Get Over It!

I was super excited to do this activity with my kinders when I thought about it. I got the idea from doing a similar activity with preschoolers a few years ago during undergrad... sort of. I looked back at my lesson from that time and it doesn't say I did this activity but I remember doing it so I'm sure it happened

... probably.

Anyway right as I was planning this I got an email from some of the district principals that said something to the effect of "If you'd like us to visit at any time let us know." So I responded asking them to come because I knew this would be one of my better lessons.

We started off by reading the story Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candance Fleming.

It's a story about a man who wants to plant a garden. One day he finally decides to but these little bunnies keep getting in and eating his crops. He tries a bunch of outrageous different ways to keep them out.

After reading the story, (and discussing it), we broke off into teams. Luckily I had a teaching assistant for the whole day today, I usually only have one for the morning. The kids worked together to draw a garden on the page provided to them. Before we read we talked about what things can grow in a garden. They drew things like carrots, tomatoes, even watermelons!

Once the gardens were drawn I told the kids they had to build a fence to keep the bunnies out. They were super excited when I told them their building materials were in my "mystery bag". I felt like I was reliving so many of the things I learned in my undergrad days like using a mystery bag as a hook. Inside the mystery bag was:

• marshmallows
• pipe cleaners
• toothpicks

They were only allowed to use those items to create their fence. The real kicker was what we were using for our "bunnies" to test the effectiveness of our fences.

I scored these little monsters at party city. They're these little pop up toys with suction cups on the bottom. When you push them all the way down they stay down and jump up into the air whenever the suction cup releases. The kids get a kick out of them.

Now I did tell them we were going to use them but I did NOT give them to the kids until the fences were built and they were ready to test them. As an added incentive to stay focused I told them they could eat the leftover marshmallows if they didn't eat the ones we were to be working with.

I tried to preset them that this was a teamwork activity and they should talk to each other and work together. Telling each other their ideas and listening to one another. My group did a great job at this but I didn't know until after we were finished that my TA's group had a much harder time with the sharing. I should have paid better attention to the way I grouped them I guess, I grouped them randomly. The only thing I did intentionally was not put the twins in my class in the same group.

Here are a few pix from the building and testing process.

 

 

 

 

They came up with some pretty interesting ideas. One groups even said they built in traps to catch the bunnies 🤣. It was really wonderful to watch them interact and use their minds in a different way. Then I let them take home their "bunnies" so overall it was a great project.

Out With the Old, In With the New

I've still been working as a Teachers Pay Teachers seller for the past few months and it is a lot of work, especially since I don't have my own classroom to test my products in.

However my colleagues have been pretty supportive.

I recently have been embracing the power of social media, not only for marketing my products, but for networking and receiving feedback.

I didn't jump into this thinking it would be easy or that I would just know how to do everything and I still don't think that. I'm learning everyday, particularly on facebook and the TpT forum. I have learned a lot about design and what catches the eye of a potential customer and how to make my story stand out simply by asking for help. While TpT is a very competitive marketplace, I have found that most of the other TpT authors are a very helpful bunch and willing to share their knowledge! Thank you to everyone who has helped me thus far!

Since you're already here, have some exclusive access to my new products, free for the first 48 hours!!

Where The Wind Blows

My second grade after schoolers and I are working on weather, as previously mentioned, so I decided to do a little experiment about wind!

What you'll need:

• a bunch of different items (some heavy, some light)
• 2 copies of photos of each item
• something to provide wind such as a fan or vent
• a chart to record predictions and results
• a sheet for students to record their individual results
• tape or glue

My intended idea was to give each child an item or two, set them on a table, and have a fan blow them as part of the test. Now I could've sworn I've seen some fans in the building before but the day I need one, they're nowhere to be found. I even asked our lovely custodian but no luck. As every teacher knows, we have to have a plan B. Now my plan B was to have us all blow on the items to simulate wind. However by a stroke of luck when I got to our classroom I realized the air vent was blowing and we could use that!

We've recently talked about hurricanes and tornadoes as well as the damage they can do. We started by reviewing that and talking about the power of a strong wind. To prepare for the activity I chose an assortment of household/schoolhold items. (I know schoolhold isn't a word but I think it fits 🤣). I tried to choose enough for each student to have two but I managed to miscount, of course. Then I made and laminated 2 copies of small cards with pictures of each item on them. The items I chose included:

1. a stapler
2. an empty water bottle
3. a paper tower roll
4. a pen
5. a binder clip
6. a glue stick
7. a fish toy (a finding nemo toy I had in my house to be exact. One of my kids goes "you have kids?" and I said "no I just like finding nemo" 🤣)
8. a full water bottle
9. a plastic spoon
10. a master lock
11. headphones
12. a cell phone (wanna get your students engaged? hand one of them your cell phone)

After each kid was randomly given a card or two, they were handed their item so they could gauge the real feel and weight of it. They then wrote predictions, (in complete sentences) with reasons for whether they thought their item could be moved by the wind or not.

After each student had time to get a feel for their item and wrote their sentences, they were called up to the chart to tape their item to the column that reflected their prediction. Then they placed their item on the vent to see if it would move. The children were all so excited to watch each other place their items on the vent and see if they moved. Their predictions were shocking to me. Some of them thought items as heavy as a stapler could be moved by the vent.

After they tested their theories, they placed their second copy of their item card on the results side of the chart. The students then went back to their original recording sheet and wrote down their results. My kiddos had so much fun with this and learned a lot about the power of wind!

Water Cycle!

My after school class of second graders and I have been focusing on weather. We started off with the water cycle

which by the way inspired my first Teachers Pay Teachers item. I made it for after school then just thought what the hey and posted my first freebie.

Here's a look at the anchor chart I used to introduce the water cycle.

As you can see it gives a basic description of the four main parts of the water cycle. We talked in depth about each part. To see the other parts of the lesson you can click here to see the other parts of the lesson!