What better way to study a major element in spooky stories than to assign a moon-gazing activity? The First Grade Parade created this activity that is apropos of Halloween or any space unit. It highlights the phases of the moon while giving students the opportunity to work on their observational skills.
Students take home a cute little notebook in which they draw the moon they see at night, bring the notebook back to class and send it home with the next student to observe and draw. Soon the moon notebook will be full of students' rendering of transitional moon phases.
The moon notebook is stored in a "moon bag" which also includes a moon book selected from the library, chalk to draw the moon pictures on the black notebook paper, hairspray to seal the chalk on the drawings, white crayons, and a moon log.
First Grade Parade provided all of the instructions and the downloadable moon log so you can try this activity with your students as well.
Halloween is the perfect time of year to make candy the focal point of fun science experiments.
The creative people at CandyExperiments.com have been working to bringing the science out of some of our favorite candies. Why not try some of their experiments in your classroom as we approach one of the year's biggest candy holidays?
The site lists some great activities such as testing candy for acid by mixing it with water and baking soda (ask students to predict which candies are more acidic, and then test their theories by seeing which candies produce the most bubbles), testing for oil by mixing the candy in hot water (ask students why the oil that forms when the water cools is able to float at the top), and separating colors from candy by dissolving the candies in water.
M&Ms, Skittles, Warheads, Lemonheads, chocolate candies, PopRocks and all sorts of candy can be the basis of cool, thought-provoking experiments for kids.
Students can learn about density and how to make a rainbow of colors by layering the dyes by pouring melted Skittles in a cup. They can also witness the edible ink on candies like M&Ms float in water.
Remember to check out their Youtube channel for some video examples of their experiments.
Sunny Days has created a great game for math centers with her Multiplication Boo Bump. She adapted a popular math game called "Bump" specifically for Halloween.
All students need are colored pieces in a color of their choice (which could be paper, counters, Unifix cubes, or whatever you have) and a pair of dice. Students roll the dice, multiply their numbers and cover the answer with their colored piece on the game board. If someone already has their colored piece their, they can "bump" it away. If a person lands on the same answer twice, they can put two pieces on that answer, which cannot be "bumped." The first person to use up all of their colored pieces is the winner.
A cute, simple game all available for download. Sunny's Days' download includes the game board and instructions. All you have to do is register at TeachersPayTeachers.com and download this free activity.
Be sure to visit the Sunny Days blog for other great ideas and activities.
image: microsoft
Dragonfly TV can show you how videos can enhance your science units, and help students discover how science is an integral part of their areas of interest. The site is full of short, informative videos hosted by kids investigating scientific principles.
Your students can spend a few minutes watching the kid hosts perform scientific discoveries in a wide range of exciting topics such as sports, kites, water slides, rollercoasters, weather, animals, motorcross racing, tug-of-war, etc. The kid hosts ask questions about these topics, and work to find the answers. Where can you find the best ocean waves for surfing? Which is a better navigation tool: GPS or a map and compass? How can you make your own lip gloss and lotion? These are the sorts of questions tackled in each video.
If you have a weather unit, or one on force and motion, ecology, biology, and others, consider adding a few of these videos to a computer center, or display them for a whole-class viewing. Each video helpfully provides a springboard of other areas of study related to the topic, areas worth further investigation by your students.
There are also tons of experiments performed on Dragonfly TV, all of which could be integrated into your lessons or used as inspiration for a science project.
There are even interviews with actual scientists, people who do everything from design space suits, research chimpanzees, design Nascar vehicles, and tons of other things.
Several games are on the site, like one that allows children to breed dogs for specific genetic traits.
Don't forget to check out the printable 'zines, which are filled with activities and fun experiments.
Dragonfly TV is part of PBSKids, which is always a good thing in my book. Visit the site and tell me what you think!
Want a way to squeeze a bit of social studies into your daily plans? GoGoNews is a website designed with this very goal in mind. Dubbing itself as the website with "big news for little people," GoGoNews presents bite-size articles on current events and historical information. It's the ideal website for keeping up with what's going on in the world, or reading "this day in history" entries, all in a kid-friendly, one-paragraph length format.
The site includes articles that can be played audibly, and there is also a comment feature. Have students visit the site for a daily for weekly social studies center, and have them leave comments and feedback on the articles. You can also use the site as a quick current events discussion to cool down after recess or PE.
How long will it take you to find words made of only 4 letters? 4 letters sounds simple enough, but this word game still provides a good way to challenge your linguistic skills. The words are formed by sliding the "strips" up and down and making the letters selected form actual words. You can choose either a normal or relaxed pace while playing.
If students are looking for a fun game online, or need a word work center, try this game and see how well they know some of our language's shortest words.
image: microsoft
Mr. Meyer has a great idea for an interesting social studies activity: "reverse engineering" bank notes and license plates.
Basically, he recommends collecting pictures of currency and license plates, using Photoshop to edit out explicit references to their origin, and challenging students to examine the clues on the pictures to figure out which countries/states use those items. This is a good activity for analysis: think of all the historical figures, symbols and other visual elements used on money and license plates. Why were those features chosen to represent the nation or state of origin? That's a good question for your students!
Mr. Meyer also posted sources on where to find pictures of bank notes and license plates. Check out his blog for more details!
image: microsoft
