Groundhog Day!

Hey Science Friends,

Well, it is about a week until February 2. It is hard to believe that time has passed this quickly. So this week is the prime time to talk about the weather in class. If I could wish I would wish for some spring weather if we are not going to get any snow. I guess we will have to see what the groundhog has to say on the big day.

This coming week we are going to have a little fun before we hear if the groundhog sees his shadow or not. Either way, we are sure going to have a little groundhog fun before the day.

Part of the fun of the week will be reading all of the books that go along with it. Much to my surprise I have found quite a few books on the subject. And when you mix these books in with books about the weather, you have a lot of books to add to any Science center.

Our Science objectives include observing and describing the daily weather. We do that each day and on Wednesday we have Weather Wednesday. So, this will make a welcome little addition to spice up what we already do each day. Not only are we going to observe and describe the weather, we are going to predict, report and graph the weather too. We are making some weather headbands to get us geared up for these special reports.

We will be taking some surveys and asking...

Will we have six more weeks of winter weather?

Some of us want a little more winter but not all of us! I guess we will find out what kind of weather we want to see. It will give us a chance to look at the results, discuss the results of the surveys and find out what kind of weather we want the most or least.

We are going to sort seasonal things into the categories of spring and winter. My class loves sorting especially if it is a cut and paste sort that goes in our notebooks. And because they love sorting, I made them another sort to review living and non living. During this unit we also review basic needs.

 

The kids will also be excited to add illustrations to their new weather book. We are even going to do some labeling because we love labeling just about anything. We are labeling animal parts of the groundhog. When we finish reading and researching groundhogs we will be ready to write some groundhog reports. The kids are always amazed that when we put our research projects together and finally display them. All in all, I think we are ready for some groundhog fun but I couldn't leave it at that...

Because anybody knows that any good Scientist is good in math so I had to make some printables to go in our math boxes to support our current math focus. I know the kids will be excited to dig in to these printables and games. And I can't wait for some number talks with Ten Grouchy Groundhogs!

For more information click on the image above!

 



Snow Clips!



Hey Science Friends,

I can't stop thinking about snow even though it is more like spring here today. No worries, the weather in Texas can change pretty quick so there is no need to put our coats away just yet. My class has been carefully looking at the weather reports trying to figure out if we will have recess each day. And we were beginning to question if we would even see the sun. Oh, the stories we could wtite about missing the sun shine on our faces. Sometimes we can't decide if we want to see the snow or sun but what we do know is that we want the gray skies to clear! I figures that I needed to gather a few snowy things in case we have a cold front move in and we are stuck indoors just dreaming of...snow! Because if we get it by golly we are going to celebrate! So, this is my snowy video post so that I can be ready when the cold wind blows!

Here we go...let it snow!

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

For a little Number Talking snow fun click on the image above!

 

 

All You Need For A Snowman!



Hey Science Friends,

Over here we have been talking about the weather. And we were wishing for snow and checking the forecast and hoping for a little miracle and when it didn't happen we had to create a little snow fun on our own. All this snow talk really had us wanting to make a snowman especially during those gloomy days of indoor recess.

After we worked in our Weather Notebooks and recorded and graphed the weather we had a few minutes to make a snowman of our own. And the best part is that this took no time at all to prep and prepare. I was able to order these lanterns on Amazon which is my favorite online shopping store for any busy teacher. I shop, click and they deliver. I swear it could not be easier. I was able to cut most of the pieces for the eyes, nose and mouth out of construction paper scraps I had on hand.

The kids finished their work and went over to a back table and put it together independently. Even with precut pieces you could see different personalities emerge when the snowmen were finished.

With these hanging around from the ceiling it kind of made us fell like it was snowing even if it wasn't!  

 

 



YoWindow App!



Hey Science Friends,

What is the weather like today? In my neighborhood we have had the most beautiful beginning of the fall season day. And because of this nice shift of weather it had me thinking about reporting the weather in Science class this week. But first I have to tell you about a nifty little science app called YoWindow! I was given this tip by a teacher friend who was searching on Apps Gone Free! It has been free for several days so you might have to act fast but if you miss it I swear this is a great app to use when reporting the weather and I would actually pay for it!

You get actual live weather for your area. This would be perfect for young scientists that are just starting out because you can focus on finding the icon and just reporting the weather in the beginning.

Later you can investigate weather at different locations.

And with just a click of a button you can preview the weather for the rest of the week and at different times of the day. With a little swipe of your finger you can see the sun set and objects in the night sky appear. It seems like a great app for your budding meteorologists. And a super easy way to squeeze a little technology into a daily weather watching routine.

Right now we are still learning our weather routine and learning how to record the information independently. As we learn and ease into this routine I model the recording of the weather and the children follow along and we focus on building a Science community and learning how to communicate like Scientists do. I am excited about taking this app into the classroom and using it with our weather reports!

 

 



The Weather Report!



Hey Science Friends,

You have to try out the free app Sock Puppets! This one is sure to make you smile. Although not an official weather report, it sure was fun to be able to play around with this app and have a good time getting used to it. Honestly the kids will have a great time with this one and it will be easy to teach them to use this independently. It is perfect for reporting the weather. I love this app so much I keep thinking of ways to use it in the classroom.

The Sock Puppet App would be perfect to use as a variation to the weather report. And if you are in my neck of the woods you know we are reporting the weather daily so this sure could add some fun to it! And the free trial version will give you enough time to report the weather for sure. If you need resources to get daily weather observations going in your class just click on the image above for more information.

 



Summer Lovin' Sale!

Hey Science Friends!

Just stopping by to let you know I am having a sale in my TeacherspayTeachers store this weekend! Summer is the perfect time to pick up some great deals and get everything ready before the back to school rush. Just take a look at the picture below so you can get crafty too! Maybe your weather reporter needs an outfit too!

And if you are looking for a little weather fun I have just posted my I Can Be A Scientist Observing and Recording The Weather Packet. It's a print and go resource that can be used all year long.

Table of Contents:
6 Colored Printable Weather Songs/Chants
38 Colored Printable Graphs For Tracking Monthly Weather-Different Graph Options’
8 Blackline Printable Notebook/Journal Cover Pages
21 Blackline Notebook/Journal Inserts For Recording Weather/Seasons
1 Blackline Printable My Weather Report
12 Blackline Monthly Weather Total Reports
2 Blackline Label The Scientist Printables
2 Colored Printables The Weather Report/The Weekend Weather Report
2 Blackline Printable Student Weather Readers- The Weather Is…/This is…

And if you are feeling real crafty you can get this ready to go before summer ends. All you need is a vest, hat and glasses for some great weather fun. Add a Sharpie and some words and you are good to go!



What's Up With The Weather?

Hey Science Friends,

I have been out and about watching the weather! And as I was running around I cam across a few cute things that I had to have for some weather watching fun this coming year. You know reporting the weather is always a lot more fun if you have a cute outfit to wear, right? I knew it! I found this Backyard Explorer vest at Dollar Tree right along with the hat and glasses and before you knew it a Weather Reporter outfit was born. Just a Sharpie and a few little embellishments and we are ready to go! It was super easy and didn't take long! Now we are ready for a year of observing, recording and describing the weather!

 



What's Up With The Weather?

Hey Science Friends,

You know for most of the year we have had the same old weather and we tracked it and graphed it day by sunny day. It seemed as if the weather would never change and if it did it was sure to be on the weekend! Early last week we had over three days of rain! And considering we could not go outside, we had plenty of time for some special weather reports and some fun weather reporting. We had fun talking about rain, wearing rain clothes, reading about rain and reporting about rain. 

And we found some new favorite rain books along the way! 

And wouldn't you know after our huge big deal about rain...it snowed!!!