Are You Living?



Hey Science friends,

I am so excited to finally finish my I Can Be A Scientist~Learning About Living Things. In the previous years my students have really enjoyed slide presentations mainly because of the images. I don't blame them because I do to. Real images of living and non living things in our world can be breathtaking. As I have spent the summer camping in state parks in Texas, I am amazed at the beauty of nature that often we simply ignore. But when you have time to really look around there are beautiful shapes, colors and textures all around us but sometimes we are just too busy to notice. Considering I have spent the summer really observing living and nonliving things I was really excited to work on this project.  

This PowerPoint Presentation is full of slides and guided questions to help aid in discussions of living and nonliving and basic needs. When I am teaching Science, I love to have real life images and books that support what we are learning but that has been a challenge to find over the years. And because of that, I began to collect images.

The presentation has several rounds of high quality images that will go along with what we are learning and discussing in class. The guided questions are there to help scaffold the learning of new concepts. After a few rounds, the children are encouraged to justify their responses.

I know a plant is living because...

After we have spent three days of learning, discussing and notebooking about living and nonliving things and basic needs we move on to sorts. These can be printed, laminated and stored in Science centers or take home bags. We discuss and sort. When the children are using these independently or in small groups I get a chance to observe and listen and make note of any misconceptions. So while they are busy, I am busy assessing as I roam around. It is pretty simple. To conclude the unit I have enclosed printables that the children will use to record their thinking about living and nonliving things and basic needs. These printables serve as their documentation of learning.

And if you are anything like me and you love the ease of PowerPoint, you can add, delete or multiply slides. You can create more rounds of each series of slides because the kids will always ask for another round. If you need more information just click on the images above! Have fun investigating friends!

 



It's A Deal!

Hey Science Friends,

I know it is silly but I still love school supply shopping. Let's be honest, a good school supply deal actually only comes around once a year and it is hard for a teacher not to get excited. And I sure love a sneak a peak add to help me plan for my trip and get all organized so I can get my game face on and hit the stores! This coming week Office Max has poly snap envelopes on sale for a quarter each. I have to admit I got a little excited about this deal. Friends, think of the possibilities! These are way better than baggies to store stuff in. Think of the games and pieces that can go in these little gems and a snap to keep it all together. And what about the color coding possibilities too? It makes me want to go and grab these up right now. The Office Max says that there is a limit of three. But I have always had 100% luck with showing my badge and getting 25 for the same price. I have even called ahead and talked to the manager before my shopping trip just to make sure I was not disappointed when I got there. Honestly to me these are worth the effort. I have no idea why I never thought of these before. I guess putting them in a B2S add helped to get my mind going in the right direction. What ideas do you have for them? 

Sale!



In honor of the fourth of July I am having a sale in my Teachers pay Teachers store! I hope everyone has a wonderful fourth with family and friends and loads of fun! Just click on the link if you take a break from all of the festivities and need a little shopping downtime. I have my cart full and can't wait to do the same! God bless friends!