Sunflowers!

Hey Science Friends,

It is that time of year that has us dreaming of sunny summer days as we learn about plant parts and life cycles. No unit could be complete without taking a closer look at sunflowers. What is it about sunflowers that we all love so much? My class thinks it is the color that we love so much and it makes us feel happy. Another thing my class has loved this year has been notebooking. They ask me before going to PE if we are going to use our Science Notebooks in science each afternoon. They love it if we cut and glue something in but also love illustrating what we have learned.

Our notebooks are simple...just spiral notebooks. After trying out different notebooks over the years I always come back to simple spiral notebooks. I buy them in the summer when they are on sale. I used to worry if I would have enough to fill them up for the year but now I worry that I will have a second one for each child within a year!

With so many great books to read about sunflowers it is easy to keep the interest going. Our favorite this year was Sunflower House by Eve Bunting. I think it's my favorite every year because I just love her books so much. As I read the book this year, I got a little misty. I asked the kids if when I was reading it made them feel a little misty too. I really enjoyed hearing their responses. I wished I had had a text to self response sheet with me ready to go. Instead we all listened to each other and had a rich discussion. So many great connections were made with this story.

We still have some fun stuff to do with sunflowers before the year is over. We are gearing up to go to visit a farm and we are preparing for that. We are hoping to see some sunflowers along the way.

For more life cycle fun click here!

Sunny Sunflowers!

Hey Science Friends,

Well nothing really says summer like a sunflower! This week we ended our day putting together our sunny sunflowers. As we were working, I could hear a lot of science talk around the room. My pieces for the project were precut to save a little time.

Here are some of my favorite books about sunflowers that I have collected over the years. Any Eve Bunting book would surely be on my list.

When reading, This Is The Sunflower, we talked a lot about seeds. My class was really interested in seed dispersal this year.

I found this book two years ago and have used it each year since I discovered it, This is a good one to integrate some process art into a plant unit. We read the book and do a little internet research and look at some of the paintings. Once we have seen some of the artwork we begin talking about the different elements in the paintings that we have viewed. We will end up with artist inspired sunflower paintings before it is all said and done.

Everyone is always surprised at how easy these actually are to create. Just a little paper, pencil, crayon and watercolors are all you need. These are the "go to" projects we work on when we finish our other work.

Once the dry, a quick trip to the laminator makes the colors come alive and they are so beautiful we can't take our eyes off of them. They are so worth the time and effort. I can't wait to get these started this week!



Just Added Sunflowers!

Hey Science Friends,

I am super excited to let you know that my I Can Be A Scientist Exploring Life Cycles Print and Go unit now includes the sunflower life cycle and patterns for this craftivity! The best part is that if you have previously purchased this item all you have to do is re download the file to get the new updates! The file has now grown from 160 pages to 214! And if you are thinking about next year I bet you are going to be printing the apple life cycle printables to kick off your science for next year!



Feeling Froggy!



 

Hey Science Friends,

We are feeling a little froggy lately. We can't help it. We just can't! After investigating pond water and school water we just could not resist talking about frogs. We just love them. I found this picture on Sense of Wonder and it just made me want to make a light table for some fun investigations. My mind keeps coming up with all the wonderful investigative ideas we could do with a light investigation table. It is on my spring "to do" list for sure.

 

I was able to find these plastic life cycle models for my classroom on Amazon for a pretty decent price. These would go well on a light table or in a water table for some fun investigations. And if you are near a Dollar Tree they have plastic colored frogs and bags of rocks that would work well in a water table. I know my kids would love those too because we now know frogs are not always green!

 

 

We naturally were curious about the life cycle of frogs since we are working on some writing research in Language Arts and many children decided on the topic of frogs after we did some pond investigations about water clarity! So I created this for my class to help with their research writing that we are still working on.

 

A few water samples from around town and we are well on our way to observing and describing natural sources of water. And I knew just a soon as we were well on our way to taking a real close look at pond water that it would make us just want to know more about ponds and the life we see living inside a pond. So, I headed to my go-to place for books...Amazon!

  

 

Life in the Pond is one of the best books that I have found and it is perfect for some pond research for a budding scientist.  

 

 

I am waiting on the arrival of Pond Circle. I was drawn to this book because a young girl investigates a simple backyard pond and discovers a world of activity!

 

 

Turtle Splash is a new favorite of mine because it is a pond countdown book and it is a wonderful book to use with Number Talks in Kindergarten. This book really inspired us and made us want to create some pond counting books of our own. So, we are working on that this coming week. 

 

 

I am waiting on Pond Babies to arrive. I am a huge fan of Cathryn Falwell books so I had to add this to our collection. I love the theme of exploring the natural world that this book portrays. You know there is a scientist in all of us as we explore, discover and investigate the world around us. So, if you are looking around for some books you might want to consider Scoot by Cathryn Falwell too!

  

 

 And since we are looking at ponds you know we need to label one!

 

 

 

All my favorite Kindergarten teachers tell me A Frog Thing is a must have book. Who doesn't love frogs? And I just can't wait to read A Frog Thing... I am looking forward to ending the week with this inspiring book!

 

Hoppy Days Science Friends! 

 

 



Spring is Here!

 

Hey Science Friends,

I think spring has sprung around my neck of the woods! I am so excited to finally see the end of winter. I love all things spring. And as I was doing some spring cleaning I thought of Life Cycles. Kids naturally have questions about Life Cycles. You can't avoid it especially when they see it in nature. I am fortunate to have a school garden right next to the playground. We do see the stages of a caterpillar right before our eyes in nature. We have also been known to find lots of other interesting creatures in the playground too. And since I was thinking about Life Cycles and spring it got me a little creative and led me to to create I Can Be A Scientist Exploring Life Cycles. All the things you will need for the Life Cycle of the Apple Tree, Frog, Chicken and Butterfly. But if you know me personally, I guess you are wondering if I am straying from my state objectives...no way! I am using this unit as non fiction readers with some vocabulary development and some integration for the reading of some visuals which is covered in our Language Arts and Social Studies. You see, sometimes you have to just HIDE the Science... So in my neck of the woods what Life Cycles do we actually get to teach? Plants, good old plants. I love plants but it is hard to compete with a frog, butterfly and a chicken! So, plants will be it's own Science Unit! All in all, both are perfect for spring and some great outdoor investigations! If you are interested in the Life Cycles mentioned above this is what is included:

 

Life Cycles Included
-Apple Tree
-Frog
-Chicken
-Butterfly
4 Colored Printable Basic Needs Posters
4 Colored Printable Life Cycle Posters
4 Blackline Printable Life Cycle Pages
11 Blackline Printable Label It Life Cycle Pages
4 Blackline Printable Order The Life Cycle Pages
4 Colored Printable Teacher Big Books
12 Blackline Printable Student Readers
3 Alternate Versions For Each Life Cycle
3 Alternate Vocabulary Student Book Pages
8 Colored Printable Life Cycle Sequencing Cards
4 Colored Printable Life Cycle Model Making Mats
9 Blackline Printables For Notebook/Journal Making
Day By Day Lesson Plan Format Included!
Student Readers are perfect for non fiction independent reading!
Tons of Print and Go Science Fun!