It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like....School Time!

I am only making a few minor changes to the classroom decor this year.  Overall I have been satisfied with the look of my classroom.

I love the pre-made awnings I found at a local teacher store.  In the past, I have tried to figure out a way to make one but never had the time or energy to make it happen.  So when I stumbled upon these items I had to snatch them up!  They are a little flimsy so be sure to place them in an area where students won't be tempted to mess with them.

The entry to my classroom has looked the same for about two years now.  I decided to move the framed quotes to a small table.  In their place I hung four white boards.  My plan is to use these as homework reminders for each of my four classes.

The assignment section of the white board looked so messy last year.  So this year I am trying to organize it a little better.  

Other pics....

More to come! 

Science Notebooking Ideas

A few things I am learning about science notebooking:

1. Students take pride in making their notebook neat and usable.  
2. Students want to use their notebooks daily.  
3. Students appreciate how their notebooks take the place of a textbook.  
4. Students want and need to be encouraged to keep their notebooks organized.  
5. Although it is a great strategy, using left side/right side doesn't work for everyone.  There are many ways to get the most out of notebooking.  Customize your own strategies for each of your classes.
6. Teachers should keep a model notebook.  This helps students with learning creative ways to glue in foldables or activity sheets.  
7. Make copies or photos of student notebook pages of notes, drawings, etc. and add them to your own teacher notebook.  This will save time from having to write your own notes in your notebook and it showcases student work.  Students will take pride in making their drawings extra neat in hopes that their teacher will choose their page to be showcased!  
8. Make notebooking enjoyable for all!  The best way to do this is by using creative activities with notebooking.  Allow the students to get creative as long as they don't lose focus of their learning target.  

A few pictures from student notebooks... 

A very simple Table of Contents:
There are some wonderful pre-made ToC available online.  But this year I allowed my students to create their own and so far so good!  

This is an example from last year when I still used left side/right side notebooking.  This looks great and works very well with left/ride side notebooking.  

A simple circle map after an introduction of the Periodic Table: 

Density Cube Lab:  I decreased the size of the lab sheets to 64%.  This made it possible for students to fit both forms on one page of their notebook which allowed room on another page for reflection.  

Write it out:  Sometimes, at the end of class, I'll have the students write our their thoughts from the day's lesson.  I give them about 10 minutes to write in their notebooks.  Then I begin the next class by looking over what they wrote.  This gives me a pretty good gauge of whether or not they met the learning target.  

Foldables!  Glue them in so they won't get lost.  

 Diagrams:  Students love to draw and color.  Make it meaningful and it is a win-win lesson.  

Q & A:  I like to give my students some essential questions for the day's lesson.  Instead of making them feel it's just another worksheet, we incorporate it into their notebooks.  This can even serve as a study guide later on.  Another plus is that students aren't spending 20 minutes copying down questions.  

Another Thinking Map: 

 Amazing foldable!  

Color Coding the Periodic Table: 

Best phase change foldable I've ever seen!  

Adding extra notes to an already filled foldable:  We wanted to add notes from the "Properties Song."

Another example of a "Write it Out" 

Wild About Following Rules!

I sure hope my students don't get sick of seeing zebra print!  My classroom rules will be posted within a zebra frame and on animal print background paper.

Click the link to download and print your own copy of the zebra rules! 

Zebra Rules

Formative Assessment Project

Formative assessment is so important in understanding what our students get or don't get.  As I've researched new assessment ideas, I came across yet another idea....yup, on Pinterest!  The original idea was used by an elementary teacher to keep up with her students' afternoon transportation home.  She created three posters each one titled with a different way of getting home; car rider, bus...  Then students were assigned their own personalized clothes pin and would pin their clothes pin on a ribbon connected to the correct poster.

I liked the idea for classroom organization but decided to take it in a different direction.  I created three posters depicting three different levels of understanding.  My goal is to assign all of my students a personal number and write that number on a clothes pin for them to use throughout the school year.  As I need to check the understanding of certain concepts, I'll have the students to pin their numbers onto a ribbon that will be attached to each sign. This is will give me an immediate visual of whole class understanding levels and also I can match up the individual numbers with student names.  This will help me to focus questioning and reteaching strategies.

This is a work in progress.  I know I will end up changing colors and possibly editing the signs later!  But this is what I have so far...

Formative Assessment "3-2-1" template

Science Pennant Banner

Another idea from Pinterest....

I absolutely love colorful pennant banners!  After seeing so many teachers creating their own, I had to give it a try.  It was a very easy crafting activity and I can see myself making lots of these.

1.  My first step was to purchase some colorful paper.  Michael's crafting store had a great sale on their scrapbook paper.  I bought a lot of prints and colors that I plan on using in my classroom.

2.  Next, I created a pennant template on Open Office (drawings).  Since I was using paper that already had a print on it I only used a pennant outline.  There are lots of amazing and colorful templates available as free downloads on sites like TpT and TN just in case you don't want to make your own.

3.  Then I carefully chose the patterns and colors for my banner.  I went with a zebra theme...no surprise to those who know me well!  I then printed the pennant outline on the chosen paper.

4.  I knew I wanted my sign to spell out the word science.  So I played around with a circular, 2.5 inch punch.  I then printed out the letters and cut them out using the punch. I used Action Is JL font in size 225 from Open Office.  This may not work for you or may not be your preferable font.  Just be sure and measure the pennant size and match it up with a good font.  You can also take the easier way out and just print your letters directly onto each pennant.  I was wanting a little more depth in my banner which is why I used the punch instead.

5.  Next step was to cut out the pennants and glue on the letters.

6.  Lastly, I needed to put the pennants together in order to create the banner.  I used a single-hole punch and punched the holes in both corners of each pennant.  I then used tulle ribbon and threaded it through the holes, tied the ends in a bow and voila!...and science pennant banner for my classroom!

Template for pennants (small)

Template for pennant (large-one per page)

Why does all this paper make me so happy???

2.5 inch circular punch

Example of tulle ribbon used to hold pennants together. 

Presentation on Science Notebooking

Interactive Science Notebook Full Version

View more PowerPoint from arholder

End of Year- Vocabulary Photo Album

My students participated in a vocabulary activity that will be used with future students. They helped create vocabulary photo albums based on the terms they've studied throughout the school year. When the next school year begins I'll have a photo album for each table group to use as a science glossary.

What we did...
First, I created a simple template for my students to use.

I cut out each section and handed them out randomly. Students had multiple cards to complete and a letter of the alphabet was assigned to each card. From there, students decided which vocabulary word they wanted to use, added the definition and illustrated the word.

As students completed a card they placed them in stacks alphabetically. That made it easier to see which words we were missing.

I had purchased photo albums/brag books from a local dollar store. We used the photo albums to store the completed vocabulary cards. So next school year I have a visual glossary for my students to use and the best part is that it is chocked full of the vocabulary words for 8th grade science!

The Basics of Hydrology