Good Monday morning teacher friends! We have about 23 days left until summer break…but who’s counting?!!
I happened to go to the Dollar Store by my school one day and I found several items for $1 that can totally be used in the science classroom! I am going to discuss five today on this marvelous Monday…
Monday Musings #2
Plastic coupon holders! The Dollar Store has them in solid colors! The colors are bright and oh so pretty for the classroom. I bought a lime green one, a sunny yellow one, a royal blue one, and a fire engine red one! They have little plastic accordion files in them and make them PERFECT for task cards! I love color coding everything. The lime green one is for Organisms and Environments. You can organize each tab by TEKS, Cognitive Verbs, Academic Language, or by TEKS mastered!
Mirrors! The mirrors at the Dollar Store are only $1! As soon as I saw the mirrors, my brain went into full throttle and I thought…a demonstration lab for TEKS 5.6C! I will be adding that lab in both English and Spanish later this week. Basically, you need a set of 4 to 6 mirrors, a flashlight, and a target. The students work together and discuss how they will demonstrate that light moves in a straight line. Can just I tell you how ENGAGED the students are during this lesson….VERY ENGAGED!
Balloons and Straws! Okay, this is technically two items, but they are $1 for each package! I have another lesson that I do with my students in which they test the force. This aligns very well with TEKS 5.6D! The students design an experiment using these materials along with tape, string, and an assortment of small items to attach to the balloons. This is also another winner in my classroom!
Colored Gift Bags! These have many uses, however, I would like to talk about grouping and differentiating. I have always taught ELLs and as you may know, some students are further along in their learning of English than others. I purposefully and discreetly, make groups of students and put prompts in the perspective colored bags based on their level of English comprehension. That way, they are all doing the same lesson, and not a single student is singled out. They have a choice of prompts in their colored bags that that may select from.
I could probably write ten pages on each of these items BUT one, I do not want to bore you AND two, I want to keep it easy to follow.
Have a Marvelous Monday!
Liz 🙂
Creando Einsteins 