Magical Potion Test

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The week before Halloween, I downloaded a wonderful freebie on TPT. It was from Rebecca Bettis, and it details an experiment to test if students have magical powers or not. Students choose a pigmenting agent, chemical, and magic word for their potion. As the magical powder is mixed in, the students eagerly watch to see if they were able to create a potion. Some are successful and some are not.

My amazing co-teacher loved the idea, but insisted I make sure it wasn't just fun and games. I need her to keep me in line, or I might just spend an entire day playing four corners with my kids. With her encouragement, I created a lab report and slideshow to help guide the students through the scientific process as they tested their magical powers. The experiment was a huge success. The kids loved it and didn't even mind filling out the lab report.

A few weeks ago, I offered to send Rebecca my slides and lab report to add to her freebie. She suggested I post it on TPT and we cross promote on both our sites. What a great idea! So, if you are looking for a fun experiment to launch a Harry Potter novel study or just want to add a little magic to your study of the scientific process, head on over to TPT and download my freebie and Rebecca's. To check out more of Rebecca's products visit her TPT store.

FREE Minecraft Simple Machines STEAM Activity!

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My Minecraft Natural Resources Activity has been my most popular product on TPT. Since we are wrapping up our study of simple machines, I created a Minecraft Simple Machines product. You can buy the full version for $3.

The rowdy kids in 3 enjoyed this activity so much that I decided to offer a sample as a free product. The free product only includes the compound machine portion. The full product also includes a scavenger hunt in Minecraft to find all six types of simple machines. If you download the free sample with your students, please leave a comment and let me know how it goes. I can't wait to hear! Hope you enjoy the FREEBIE!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am fortunate to spend this Thanksgiving at my in-laws home. Waking up to their beautiful view of the lake is always a treat. Those close to me know that my life has not always been easy, but I have always tried to have an attitude of thankfulness despite my circumstances. Some days it is harder than others. Today it is easy.

As I reflect on the people in my life, I am truly grateful for the most amazing co-teacher. Cathy is one of the most intelligent people I know. She cares deeply for her students and works so hard to make sure she is reaching each one. Cathy keeps me grounded, while giving me the support to fly into any crazy, new idea I may have. I know that seems impossible that one person could do both things, but that is just how incredible she is. Without her wisdom and support, I wouldn't be half the teacher I am.

In an effort to be more efficient with instructional time and increase student engagement, Cathy and I try to design our reading lessons around novel studies. We choose novels that tie into our social studies and science curriculum. For instance, during our study of Ancient Rome in social studies our students learn about Simple Machines in science. We discuss how the Ancient Greeks invented catapults, but the Romans used levers and wheels to improve on the design. The students read either The Time Warp Trio: See You Later, Gladiator, I Survived The Destruction of Pompeii, or Moving Target by Christina Diaz Gonzalez. 

It is difficult to manage three different novel studies at one time. We usually rotate back and forth between a whole class novel study and differentiated groups. After the break, we will all read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. It is so much easier for the teacher to have the whole class reading the same book. It just isn't always best practice for us. Every year, we seem to have a big gap between our readers' abilities. This gap generally closes to some extent by the end of the year. I had an incoming third grader's mother tell me she read the entire Harry Potter series and the Hobbit over the summer. She took the Accelerated Reader test on all of them at the beginning of the year and passed. I can't have that child reading Magic Tree House books all year! 

So Cathy and I are always trying to find a way to differentiate our reading in a way that we can manage. The novel studies offered on TeachersPayTeachers have been a huge help. For more popular books, there are many different ones to choose from. Unfortunately, I fell in love with Moving Target before I realized it was a recently released book.  There were no novel studies available, so I created one for us to use. It is available on TeachersPayTeachers. 

How do you differentiate your novel studies? Has someone figured out a manageable way? Please share! Cathy and I are always looking for a better and more efficient way to reach our rowdy kids.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and are able to take a few moments to reflect on the wonderful people in your life who help you be your best. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

MakerSpace Simple Machines

The Rowdy Kids in 3 love our classroom MakerSpace. Although this type of space for older students might include 3D printers, saws and soldering irons, my third graders have a closet stocked with duct tape, yarn, stickers, paint pens, feathers, legos, blocks and any other craft supply I happen to find on clearance. It also includes trash, lots of trash. Anything destined for the recycling bin is rescued for our MakerSpace closet. My students bring in old boxes, bubble wrap and plastic containers from home, and it isn't uncommon for other adults at the school to drop off interesting packaging.

When I made the move from Kindergarten to third grade, I was struck by how little crafting of any type students are exposed to after Kindergarten or first grade. Besides adding a drawing to a paragraph, their creative expression beyond creative writing was almost nonexistent. I noticed the students loved to draw during free time, so I started gathering other supplies. Soon we had a large pile of odds and ends. Our facilities manager brought me a large Rubbermaid container to keep it in. As the students brought in more items, the container could no longer contain the mess and their current works in progress. Some mornings it was obvious the custodians had been given clear instructions to keep our pile in check. I added a sign that said, "THIS IS NOT TRASH. IT IS A PILE OF POSSIBILITIES!" At the end of the school year, we learned that third grade would move into another building. The new classroom had a closet and much more storage space. I think it was an attempt to give me space to organize the rowdy kids' mess.

My students often ask to "makerspace" during any free time. With pressure to master so many standards, free time is rare. I begin looking for ways to utilize our MakerSpace across our curriculum. Every time we use our MakerSpace it makes a terrible mess. It takes far longer than simply asking students to draw a picture. Parents are often puzzled by the strange creations their students proudly bring home. I believe the benefits of allowing students to plan and create on a regular basis, far outweigh these drawbacks. Makezine has a great article with information on MakerSpaces at MakeZine MakerSpace.

Last week during our unit on simple machines, I assigned student groups a type of simple machine. Each group was tasked with creating an example of a simple machine. It didn't have to be a full scale or working model, it just had to show me that the students understood their assigned type of simple machine. I'm including pictures of my students' creations because I want it to be obvious that these are not professional models of simple machines. I will accept almost anything a student can defend based on the skills being taught. I love nothing better than a noisy, messy classroom full of engaged students.  If you would like to try this in your class, check out my Simple Machines Maker Activity on TeachersPayTeachers. It includes a reading passage, vocabulary, and paragraph writing assignment.

Light Bulb
One student noticed plastic cups
have threads like a screw.

Balloon Car

Seesaw

Minecraft Natural Resources Activity

My students love Minecraft. During Rainy Day Recess, a group of students will sit together in a corner and collaborate as they build together in creative mode. My first year as a third grade teacher one of my students had absolutely no interest in science, and little interest in any other subject. He was an intelligent kid with little motivation. One day his exasperated mother exclaimed, "All the kid cares about is Minecraft!"



I spent that evening getting a lesson in all things Minecraft from my son and daughter. Our class happened to be studying Natural Resources. The next morning, I asked my student to design a Minecraft Natural Resources Museum for extra credit. He worked on it that night and brought his laptop in the next morning. I hooked his laptop up to the projector and he showed the whole class his museum. This was in the early days of Minecraft, and the students were blown away. I was, too. Not only had he built a museum and categorized the resources, he had built a solar powered flying boat to show how he could use an alternative energy source.  His entire attitude about school changed, as did the students' perception of him.  I think it was the first time that I realized that a little extra effort and time to reach a specific child, could really make a difference. Third grade can truly be a turning point in a child's education.  So many children turn a corner during that year, and learn to enjoy learning. I'm constantly striving to find new ways to help facilitate that shift.


The next year, I developed a project around the concept and my entire class worked on it together at school. If you would like to try the same in your own classroom, check out my Minecraft Natural Resources Activity, or find a ten year old to teach you about Minecraft and develop your own activity.

Oh and if you are still wondering if Minecraft and other building games are a worthwhile activity for your students, I would like to introduce you to one of my 3rd graders this year.  He was asked to design a column to print on the school's 3D printer in Technology.  We had been studying Ancient Greece, and the Technology teacher had developed a project to supplement our lesson on Greek architecture.  He proudly told me his was super cool, because he learned how to make modifications in Roblox and did the same thing in the 3D software.  That is so incredibly awesome that I don't even really understand what he is talking about, but he does!  He is using technology that would have been taught only to adults specializing in that field just twenty years ago.