February Science!

Last week I got to travel to Columbus for a quick day of fun and learning.  Of course, it was FREEZING in Ohio and this Texas girl forgot her jacket at home.  Praise God for heaters.  I'd say it was a nice change of pace compared to what we're experiencing in these parts, but NO.  It was not.  I'm convinced it shouldn't be that cold anywhere!!  Ha!!!  My husband has decided that we need to take the boys skiing over Spring Break (I've never been!) and so I fully plan on sitting by the fire sipping a hot chocolate cocktail while the boys tough it out in the cold.  That's something I  can handle.  And I won't forget my jacket (fingers crossed).

This week I'm planning for the Texas 1st conference set for next week and I'm really excited about traveling to Austin!  My favorite Texas city :)  I'm even more excited about meeting lots of new faces and sharing what I love best!!  We're gearing up to talk about writing interventions, guided reading, behavior management, and vocabulary.  EXCITED!!!!  

Speaking of vocabulary, I wanted to share with y'all the latest project that my dear friend, Abby, and I just finished up.  The Science of February!!  After lots of great feedback from our Science of January activities, we decided we'd keep the project ongoing until we have a year's worth of detailed science plans with cross curricular connections to math and ela.  They're a labor of love and we're so excited y'all have been able to use these lessons and activities in your classrooms!

We're all ready for February and next month's themes include light, the human heart, candy,and dental health.  Eeek!!!  Here's an idea of what's included...

Lots of vocabulary.  Lots.  Four weeks worth of vocabulary words, cards, games, activities, and comprehension checks.  It's been so much fun to put an emphasis on words and we have the best time coming up with hands-on ideas to make the most of learning.   

The organization of these resources is one of my favorite things about it.  At the start of each week we provided a recommended book list corresponding with the activities planned.  By NO means are the books necessary for the activities because the activities can definitely stand on their own!!!  We just like to include books based on our experience and texts that we feel would be perfect paired with the lessons.  We also included two non-fiction texts that we wrote to correspond with two of the themes that were lacking in the non-fiction department.  

Of course, the main theme of this resource is science and we LOVE this month's science experiments and activities!!!!  Fizzing hearts, shadows, dissolving candy, and tooth enamel testing...it's all included!!  We worked really hard to provide observation logs that follow the scientific process as well.  These are perfect to pop into your science notebooks.  My boys were THRILLED to test out all of the experiments here at home!!!  

In addition to the science and vocabulary, we also included math and ela activities that compliment each day's science lesson pretty well, if I do say so myself ;)  These activities are more than just a paper/pencil kind of thing...they're hands-on, engaging, and meaningful!!  And they'll definitely leave your kids with a lasting impression.  Our main goal in creating these resources is to help you integrate science skills and objectives throughout the day and not limited solely to your science block.

We made sure to include activities and games that would span grades K-2 and can be differentiated or modified as needed.  Again, more than paper/pencil...hands-on and FUN!!!!  And of course, learning a lot in the process :)

If your'e familiar with the Science of January, it can seem a little overwhelming.  I mean, we really get carried away and tend to OVERplan and include more than necessary.  But that's really just a bonus for you because it allows you to pick and choose what will work best for the needs of your classroom.  

I'm not biased or anything, but these monthly science resources might be my favorite thing!!!  Maybe because they were such a labor of love.  I mean, we really try to pour everything we can into creating the most comprehensive and meaningful activities we can...and then plan it all out so that you don't have to!!!!  

Here's what the month looks like at a glance (also included in the resource)....

If you're interested, check out what people are saying about our Science of January resource....

and if you're wanting science planned for you for the month of February, just click on the pic to grab a copy for yourself!