Differentiation in Science. And Volume!

As educators, we know how important it is to differentiate our instruction in order to make sure that every student reaches the learning goals that we set together. Sometimes, a class discussion reaches all students, but very rarely is that the case. Students need to be engaged in what they are doing - not just told what they should know.

This makes for a very challenging dilemma for us as teachers! How do we do this? How do we teach so that every child learns the same thing - but present it to them in a different, tailored, individualized way? The answer is just as complex as the question itself. And there isn't just one "right" way to do it.

For me, it looks a lot of different ways. I typically have a class discussion to review what we've learned and to also talk about what's coming up. I offer a time to ask questions about what we've learned and that can actually take up more time than I ever plan for!! I love that because it lets me know that the students are thinking like scientists and becoming increasingly curious about the world around them and how to fit what they are learning into their own lives.

We ALWAYS do hands-on activities. ALWAYS. We always get up and move around and go outside and look at things and explore. So that's usually the next part of my science workshop. Actually working. We just wrapped up the volume portion of my properties of matter unit. It's a lot of math. A LOT. And they didn't even complain about it! Instead of just having the students work out problems on a worksheet, we measured the volume things that we might use in science. For example, how much water would I need to completely fill up our class fish tank?  Then we talked about the science cabinets in our classroom. How much stuff could we fit in there? We measured and measured and measured some more. Then we got really ambitious and we wanted to know how much stuff we could fit into our classroom. We first reviewed that volume is the amount of space that an object takes up, but that it also tells us - if packed tightly with no spaces - how many cubic units could fit inside. {We also talked about what a unit is and we agreed to use feet - or cubic feet - to measure our classroom.} This was very challenging for us because my classroom isn't a perfect rectangle or square. So we had to break up the room. I had the students work in groups so that I could walk around and help with strategies to solve the problem.

This is very typical. I assess the students before I group them so that I know which groups need a little extra help, the ones who get it and need more, and the students that are right where they need to be and can complete the task on hand.

I got carried away. Back to differentiation. So the idea is that you have assess what students already know, give a lesson, demonstration, or a class discussion and then you break the students up so that they can practice with the concept and hopefully even take it a step (or two) further. Taking it a step further is only possible through teaching students how to think critically, which is a whole other ball game altogether. {More on critical questioning later!}

Overall, the main point of this post is just to demonstrate one way to differentiate instruction. I  love the workshop model in all subjects  - yes, even science. No, it is not easy, but if it were easy, it wouldn't be challenging for me - which is one thing that I love about my job. It keeps me on my toes.

How do you differentiate your instruction in science? PLEASE leave me comment and let me know - one main reason I started this blog is to collaborate with other teachers to gain insight so that I can continue to grow as an educator! I heart comments!!

Monday Made It! {Wednesday Edition}

I'm way overdue for this post! Just had a lot going on...but here I am! I'm linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics again for my favorite linky - The Monday Made It linky!

I have a Home Made It that I am super proud of. The mister and I are expecting our first baby here any week now and I really wanted to get those super fantastic professional maternity photos done. That is, before I found out how much daycare, diapers, and just having a baby in general was going to cost us. And don't get me wrong, photographers charge a heavy price because their work is so great and I definitely think that they have every right to do so. But, I just can't afford that on top of everything else. Soooo....I did a little maternity photo DIY! After all, I do have photo editing software and I can edit the fool out of some pictures (since I was a Graphic Designer in my previous life) AND since my husband bought be a killer Sony DSLR camera last Christmas.  So, here are a few of the before and after pics that we did! For FREE! I love free.

BEFORE:

 

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER: 

And of course, what family photo would be complete without the family dog? 

Our baby girl, Lalya,  is very excited to be a big sister. {Or so I keep telling her that...she has no idea what's coming to her. Poor thing.}

BEFORE:

AFTER:

We took a lot more, but I just wanted to share a few since this is a teaching blog and all. :)  I'm actually in the process of creating a mommy blog...I'll include that in my next Monday Made It post. I just like the idea of making a blog to track all the cool stuff Miss O and I do together and then be able to have it printed. Did you know you could have blogs printed?! I'm so excited. More on that later.

Next, I am SO EXCITED and proud of my newest addition to my TpT store. I spent several weeks - like 6 total to be exact - creating my Properties of Matter Unit packet. I love it and I cannot wait to use it again next year. Hands down, best unit of study I taught all year. Super fun!! This monster of a packet is 77 pages long and has at least 15 different experiment or demo ideas, including the Elephant Toothpaste experiment I talked about last week. Please check it out if you are getting ready to teach Properties of Matter! I would love for you to use it in your classroom. It's a COMPLETE 5 to 6-week unit from start to finish. All you'll need to do is get yourself the materials required to do the experiments and make some copies for your kiddos. Click here for more exciting details. Here's a peek:

Ok, folks! That's all I've got for right now. I'm looking forward to posting a new Human Body packet  AND a new Light packet soon - maybe within the next few weeks. I'm already looking forward to and planning for next year! I can't believe how fast the time goes. 

Link up with Tara! {It's never too late!!}

Five for Friday!

I'm linking up again with Kacey from Doodle Bugs for her awesome Five for Friday linky! I love randomness more than the average person, so I am all in on this linky!

1. We are wrapping up some excitin' experimentin' in science class this week. We started off the week with a BANG! We made Elephant Toothpaste!! Check out the pics and then click here for the recipe and simple directions for this perfect hands-on example of a chemical reaction.

2. I found a new love this week. It's in the form of Pad Thai. If you live in or around the Birmingham area, please take your little fanny to Tin Drum and get you a bowlful of heaven. Tin Drum is located in the Summit Shopping Center right off of good ole' 280. If you don't live in or around the Birmingham area, well, I'm just as sorry as I can be.

3. This week was the Writer's Festival at my school, and to celebrate, we had three fantastic authors come in and talk to our kids. They were SO GREAT!! Here are a list of the authors that came to visit and some of their most popular works:

Kimberly Willis Holt, author of My Louisiana Sky and When Zachary Beaver Came to Town.

          

Eric Berlin, author of The Puzzler's Mansion, The Potato Chip Puzzles, and The Puzzling World of Winston Breen. 

      

Nick Bruel, author of the Bad Kitty series.

Each author had their own unique activity for the students to do or participate in. I especially loved hearing how these authors get their ideas. It is so very inspiring to listen to them discuss how their ideas began as something so small and blossomed into something so fantastic. I think it really gives students encouragement and hope to want to pursue their dreams. {CORNY!! But oh-so-true.} I think meeting an author is a truly encouraging experience and I hope all students - or all people for that matter - get a chance to meet and talk to a successful author one day.

4. It's supposed to snow this weekend. I know that isn't a big deal to most folks in the country, but in Alabama, it's mad chaos. EVERYBODY PANIC. And buy out all of the bread and milk. Why do people buy bread and milk if they're going to be cooped up all day?! I don't get it. I'd be buying pizza and steaks. 

Geez, this pregnancy makes me sound {and look and feel} like such a piggie.

5. My unborn daughter FINALLY has a full name: Olivia Reese. I am so excited about it!! I love it. I cannot wait to meet this little creature and snuggle her in my arms and smell her. I love the smell of babies. Especially freshly bathed babies. Olivia will be taking LOTS of baths. 5 weeks and counting!!

Please link up with Doodle Bugs and share your random thoughts for the week!!

Dontcha Love Density?!

We are right smack in the middle of the best unit EVER, both to teach AND to learn about - Properties of Matter! Love.

I've been working hard on getting a really nice packet together for TpT. It's gonna be HUGE - jam-packed with experiments, record sheets, teacher notes, slides for student notes, quizzes, informal assessment ideas, and learning targets. Fun stuff! Should be about 50 pages once I'm done and I CANNOT WAIT to share it. I am SUPER excited about next week because we are diving right into chemical reactions - and I have some really good stuff to share. For now - I wanted to offer a sneak peek FREEBIE from my Properties of Matter packet.

We made density columns this week and I did not anticipate it being as popular as it was! The kids LOVED it and were so excited that it actually worked. There are all kinds of "recipes" out there for density columns. But the main point to creating density columns is so students get a sense of what density is. Instead of just giving kids the densities for each of the liquids, I had them calculate it for each of the 4 liquids that we used. In our density columns, we used:

Water (with food coloring)
Alcohol (with food coloring)
Dawn dish soap
Corn syrup

And the students ACTUALLY calculated the density for each. It's simple! Just ask my students. All we needed was a beaker, a balance, and our brains. To calculate density of a liquid, all you need is the volume and the mass. You place the beaker (with the liquid) on the balance and record the mass. Then, empty the beaker and find the mass of JUST the beaker. Subtract that number from the mass of the liquid and the beaker combined and you have the volume of the liquid. Find the mass of the liquid by simply looking at the beaker! Then it's easy:

Density = Mass {DIVIDED BY} Volume

Viola! You have the density.

We used this simple sheet to record the density of each liquid before we started building our columns. Click the pic to download this FREEBIE!!

Here are a few fun pics of our density columns. So much fun!! 

Alright! That's it for me this week. Looking forward to getting my MATERNITY LEAVE PLANS DONE this weekend and sharing a few tricks and tips for taking standardized tests. 

6 weeks and counting for my little Olive's arrival!

Link up your freebie with TBA's Freebie Friday!!

Human Body is Over, A Kid Fainted, and An AWESOME Resource

I have officially finished teaching my Human Body Systems Unit and I was so sad to see it go. We went out with a BANG and dissected frogs last week to wrap up the Human Body study. I have four classes so we separated our dissection into two days. My first day was FANTASTIC - all of the kids joined in, they were engaged, no one got sick, and we truly worked as scientists in a science lab. Even big ole' preggo Mrs. Brown had no problems dissecting those little suckers! I had never dissected a frog, so I was a little worried about it, but ended up being okay with it.

I wish, wish, wish I could say the same thing for my 2nd day of dissection. Poor little buddy. Had one bite the dust, I'm afraid to say. And it was so weird how it happened. Let me lay it out for you, my dear reader. My little friend (who was a male) came to me and asked to go to the bathroom. Of course, the first thing I asked was "Are you going to get sick?" When he replied yes, I had him immediately take off his gloves and I told him, all in one word to "HURRYANDTAKEYOURGLOVESOFFANDRUNTOTHEBATHROOM!!!" Because I cannot deal with vomit in my classroom. Can't do it. Especially not with 18 other students and 9 dead, open frogs in the same room. It'd be like a domino effect, I just know it. It never even once occurred to me that he was feeling faint. I mean this is a kid that I picture going on hunting trips with his dad on weekends. He's just not a "fainting" type of kid, you know? So when I was trying to hurry and shew him out of the room so he wouldn't barf all over me or my room, I was perplexed as to why he was moving so slowly! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, KID?! I mean seriously. I kept telling him "GO! GO! GO!", as if he were in some relay race and needed motivation. "GO!!" So, he's making his way out of the room and the next thing I know, he is stumbling back in the room. Now this is when I finally realize that this kid is going to pass out. I am trying my damnedest to get to this kid so he doesn't bust his face and it's too late. The last thing he says is "Mrs. Brown...." and then SPLAT. Down he goes. Right in front of me. The only thing separating me from him was a stupid little chair. The only thing keeping me from leaping over that dang chair was my sweet, unborn daughter. Had I not been pregnant, I know I would have been able to catch him. But I didn't. And because I didn't, this sweet boy had to get 5 stitches in his chin.

I sobbed the entire way home. I have never felt so bad about anything as a teacher. I called his momma later that night, who was so sweet and understanding about the whole thing. He was fine -  up and playing around by the time they got home. It did make me feel better to know that, but I just couldn't shake the thought that I could have prevented the whole stitches thing. It's one of those moments that I will always look back and say "if only I could've...." and I am just going to have to learn to deal with it. The next morning, I grabbed this little guy, squeezed his neck, and profusely apologized to him. He looked at me like I was nutso and laughed at me, saying "Mrs. Brown, I was never mad at YOU." Ha! What a sweet kid.

The fainting incident triggered a whole line of other students getting "sick"....meaning they stopped the dissection. But interestingly enough, it was the BOYS that stopped!! All of my girls were TROOPERS and not one single girl bowed out or got sick. Ha! Take that, boys.

So anyway, there's that. I'm trying to put it behind me and move forward. I have A LOT to do over the next few weeks, so my posts may be few and far between. I'm gearing up for this little thing...um..no big deal. Just giving birth to a human is all. I've been planning my maternity leave lessons and it's no easy feat. But at the end of it, I will have at least 2 big packets, complete with FULL lesson plans and activities to share with the world. One will cover Properties of Matter, which is quickly becoming my favorite unit thus far, and the next will be Energy. I MIGHT have a little packet for Newton's Laws and Levers and Pulleys, but I don't know how that will turn out yet. We'll see.

Finally, I just want to share a really fantastic resource that has been my saving grace while I am planning my Properties of Matter unit. While I am taking some of the ideas from here, I am mostly using the site to teach myself about this stuff. It's awesome. Click on the pic to check it out:

Hope this helps. Be back soon!