Mad Science Workshops in Action!

 

Our school has been offering students the opportunity to participate in Mad Science workshops. Mad Science is the leader in STEM and science enrichment and has been around for over 35 years. All their programs are created by a team of in-house scientists and then tested by their Kid Advisory Board to ensure the content is both fun and educational. They offer teachers workshops for students during the school day. Workshops cover a wide variety of different topics (depending on location) such as coding, the study of dinosaurs and understanding ecosystems. Some of the experiments kids do in the workshops include cleaning up a simulated oil spill, playing a circuit game, making a cast of a T-Rex tooth, and so much more! 

In this ever-changing Covid era, Mad Science has shifted to offer many of their services online. All of their programs - from birthday parties and after-school programs to workshops and assemblies - can be done virtually. This is especially great for teachers who may be seeing their students mostly online and require extra support for science education. Mad Science workshops can be taught virtually - to each student at home or to a screen(s) within a classroom. Contact your local Mad Science and they will work with you to create a customized science curriculum plan, to be executed based on your local restrictions.  I highly recommend you check them out here! 

I was thrilled when I got to see a Mad Science workshop in action!  All the materials were laid out so nicely to capture the students’ attention and activate their engagement.  It was the perfect balance of science materials, primary play and tools to ignite curiosity. Based on the supplies, it was evident we were about to enter the world of bugs!

To kick off the workshop, the Mad Science instructor started by introducing the topic and giving some important background information, as well as the learning objectives. She shared about insects’ fabulous flying abilities, their unique eyesight, and the way they defend themselves against predators. 

The kids and I were blown away by the instructor’s passion, knowledge and instructional delivery! I also commend the instructor for her classroom management techniques, and the way she encouraged students to help her set up and clean up materials. This promoted a student-centered classroom! After giving some facts, she allowed the students to explore bugs through hands-on primary play (with toy insects) and scientific observation (using microscopes and real insect exoskeletons). 

One of my favorite aspects of a Mad Science workshop is that students actually feel like real scientists. In many instances, this is the first time they get to use actual scientific tools and gadgets, like microscopes, lab coats, goggles and more! Not only did I hear them oohing and ahhing over what they could see through the lens, but also about their findings and noticings as they spun the magnification towards and away from the subject. 

After exploring insects’ body structures, the Mad Science instructor gave some important facts about their habitats. In order to bring the concept to life, she brought out wasp nests and real larvae cocoons for the students to touch and feel. Some students were eager to give it a try, while others were more hesitant. I love the way she made the students feel comfortable enough to give it a try together. 

The Mad Science instructor ended the workshop with a real showstopper! Students got the opportunity to see how camouflage works and see how chemicals combine to create the same reaction that makes fireflies glow in the dark! The students just couldn’t get enough! 

It amazed me how perfectly this workshop aligned with our school’s Plants and Animals Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) unit. It provided engaging ways to support how animals have structures and behaviors that help them to grow and survive! 

As if the workshop wasn’t enough, students even got a takeaway activity and experiment/exploration, which continues their excitement and bridges a family-to-workshop connection! 

Want to learn more about Mad Science Elementary workshops, virtual or on-person, that cover a broad range of subjects from engineering and physics to chemistry and biology? Check out this website! They’re designed for kids ages 5-12 and are perfect for every budding scientist!

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November Read Alouds

Turkeys have finally made an appearance in our classroom and I am excited to stretch them for all they're worth! ;) Thanksgiving holds a special place in my heart. It's the holiday that is celebrated at my house every year. Traditions are everything in my family and it seems that as a teacher, I have a few special traditions in my classroom too- some of the Thanksgiving read alouds are just to name a few!

There are great discussions to be had around the idea of giving and taking the extra time to think about all the we are thankful for. I find picture books are a great way to spark meaningful discussions around these topics... and of course to throw in a little fiction fun into the mix! I am excited to share with you some of my classroom Thanksgiving favorites and how we will be using them in the classroom during our shared reading/writing block.




I have included affiliate links to these books for your shopping convenience.

The Thankful Book by Todd Parr and Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes are perfect for your classic "I am thankful for..." activities. Each year after a few meaningful discussions on the spirit of the holiday, we list what we are most thankful for. This year I found an "I am Thankful" wreath at Target. I plan to use these read alouds as the inspiration for our responses for what we are thankful for.

  

Our reader's workshop unit in November focuses heavily on story elements, which works perfectly for Thanksgiving shared reading and writing activities. Last year my class absolutely fell in love with The Littlest Pilgrim. We read it for shared reading and worked together to identify and write the title, setting, characters, beginning, middle and end. My friends took the information on the shared anchor chart to put it in their own words in this pilgrim flip book craftivity. Can you even handle the cuteness with those little pilgrim heads?! I know I can't... freckles and all! And we think they aren't listening or noticing the small details...

While I whole heartedly believe in the power of writer's workshop, I often find a few rare instances in the year to do some creative writing! Thinking out of the box and writing something silly can often be a tough skill for our littles. I think this is the perfect way to engage writers and get them comfortable taking a chance with their creativity!

After reading The Great Thanksgiving Escape and Turkey Trouble, we wrote shared class books about what happened if the turkey escaped on Thanksgiving and what our turkey disguised themselves as. We came up with good "hooks." "I opened the oven and...." or "We sat down to eat dinner when....." Students had to fill in the sentence stem and add all their story elements. Which perfectly ties into our reader's curriculum. Run, Turkey Run! would also be a good fit for this lesson and is the perfect opportunity to tie in some procedural writing (I.e. How to catch a Turkey or How to escape a Thanksgiving Dinner)

A Plump and Perky Turkey and A Very Stuffed Turkey are perfect for teaching into adjectives. We will make our very own turkeys and list adjectives to come up with a turkey name. I am anticipating some of my kiddos will need a stretch, in which I will teach into alliteration and rhyme. I also built this anchor chart and ask students to turn and talk about different "adjectives" they heard in the stories. I added their responses to the chart on post it notes.

I have noticed my kiddos could use some help with identifying and remembering to capitalize proper nouns. I have seen "Proper Pete" anchor charts buzzing around Pinterest which is absolutely genius! Kudos to whoever came up with that genius idea! My kiddos absolutely adore Pete the Cat and I will use Pete the Cat's The First Thanksgiving to build a "Proper Pete" anchor chart to list examples of proper nouns.





Our science curriclum focuses on air and weather. We have been making all kinds of air and weather tools to explore it's properties and what we are noticing. One of mine and the kiddo's favorites is balloon rockets! In full disclosure, I have a super competitive side... it often comes out during this activity. The Great Turkey Race inspired me to have some turkey balloon races of our own. Last year, the kiddos worked in their tables to decorate and name their team turkey. Then we took turns racing each table's turkey. We made predictions on whether we thought if there was more air in the balloon, would it travel any faster? This was the perfect day before Thanksgiving break event. It's the perfect hands on STEM integration.

If you're wondering what a turkey balloon rocket is... it's teacher language for you take two strings, each with a straw on them and attach them to chairs. Then you take a balloon, blow it up, tape it to the straw and add any turkey decoration. Have the kiddos hold the air in the balloon until the class counts down and you let go! Its AWESOME!!!

In addition to this STEM integration, we used this text to complete this adorable craftivity from Cara Caroll over at The First Grade Parade. You can find her freebie here! Before the students completed this independently, we completed the anchor chart below as a shared literacy actIvity!

Another great read aloud for a STEM opportunity is Balloons Over Broadway. It's the true story of the puppeteer of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Since we are located so close to New York City, watching or attending this parade is a tradition for many families. It's incredible for our students to think about the math and science behind this yearly event!

I am always looking for new ideas to add to the ever growing collection. This year I am excited to do this darling craftivity I found over at First Grade WOW . Nancy had the amazing idea of reading 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving with her kiddos and doing a little reader's response. "Save the Turkeys! Eat more..." I am hoping to teach into some persuasive writing with this little number. And of course the stuffed turkey character to go along with it seals the deal. The picture below is featured on Nancy's post.

Follow my Instagram page Firstgrade_made for posts on anchor charts, complete craft displays and more through this wonderful turkey time! 

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Ending the year with a BANG!

PHEW! These past two weeks have been crAzy... the good kind of crazy of course! We have been working on ending the year with a bang. :) I'm sure were all aware of the end of the year jitters our kiddos get as the days get longer, the pools begin to open and the homework comes to an end. Well, in attempt to keep interest and engagement high, we have kept our learning and thinking going strong with STEM challenges, memory book reflections and fun and engaging ways to review all that we learned in math. 

First up... STEM! I had seen people throw the idea of STEM around and always thought it sounded great. Science, technology, engineering and math... can't get much better than that, right? Well... IT CAN! This week BLEW me off my chair and out the window *as I say to my kiddos when shock me with their greatness. :) I was so lucky to have found this amazing STEM Engineering Starter Kit freebie from Ivy Taul on TPT. It has everything from sample lesson plans, family letters, anchor charts and goes into a deeper explanation of STEM. It REALLY got me thinking about how I can meaningfully and effectively integrate STEM into our curriculum for next year. 

 This past week we did 3 challenges, all of which built on itself in terms of difficulty and the purpose/design of the challenge. The first day we spent discussing "What is STEM?" and "Why STEM?" I loved hearing their new found interest and thinking on the career opportunities that associate with STEM. For each challenge, we broke up into teams but choosing a numbered role card out of a bin. This allowed each kiddo accountability in the group. The first challenge was a Marshmallow Tower challenge, in which they had to build a structure that could stand on its own. Each group presented their structure and when we were done, we discussed the similarities and differences between the structures in the class and the structures known in real life. One group even modeled their structure of the Eiffel Tower.... AWESOME! This challenge focused more on the engineering design process.

 The second challenge incorporated more math. The students had to "purchase" materials to build a boat that can withstand the most weight. After each group presented, we focused on the challenges we faced during the design process and how/what we did to work through the challenges. 

The last challenge was the most abstract. Students had to build the tallest tower possible. Students were given tape measures to measure the height of their towers. During this challenge, students were able to take a gallery walk around the room to see if there was anything they wanted to fix or change about their tower. This was by far my favorite part of the week!!! We are also encouraging our students to revise our thinking to make it better. OH WHAT FUN!

We all know that the end of the year naturally brings all types assessments. My goal was to incorporate as many fun and engaging lessons to review for the assessments and keep their stamina high.  I'm sure you know by now that I L O V E love MATH and books. WELL my absolute favorite is when I have the opportunity to have both in one. :) Math literacy is a passion of mine. There are so many great books that incorporate math. We took some time to really "dive" into these books and held great discussions about their conceptual understanding of math.  Next week we will explore digital math books on Greg Tang's math website. It is a MUST to check out all the free goodies! There are interactive games and books. He is my idol! 

We have also been pulling out some of our favorite math centers and games. If you're looking for a great math bundle that includes no prep printables, games and centers... me and my kiddos both LOVE Latoya Reed's Common Core Math Bundle.  It is very organized and easy to use!!

Some other favorites are the Number Line Races and 10 More, 10 Less Spin for free from TPT.  I print them on colored card stock, laminate them and keep them in a bin that is accessible to the students. I hold them responsible to getting the necessary materials and returning/cleaning them up when they are done. They are a great early finisher center as well! I plan to create some that can be differentiated for higher learners as well. 

One of my many favorite things about first grade is all the growth that we get to see since the start of the year. This year I had a little enter first grade not even being able to read a Buiscut book and now they are leaving first grade independently reading and comprehending Junie B. :) It is important to remember that we see the growth but our littles ones may not. I thought it would be cool to integrate my student's reflections on the year so they could realize on their own just how much they learned this year. We used our shared writing block to create anchor charts around the room to record things we learned, our favorite memories and something we did for the first time. This lead to such great discussions and even helped me notice which lessons did they remember/enjoy the most. It was a great take-away for everyone!

Then we transfered our thinking to our memory books. This was a great way to meaningfully integrate memory books into the classroom. The memory books are from A Year of Many Firsts on TPT.  It is such a fabulous product!!

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