Solar System Fun!

Hello friends! I wasn't intending to take this long to share with y'all some of the fun things we did for our solar system unit, but this past week I had a crazy messed up schedule, so I fell behind on everything, including blogging! Monday we had a staff development day, Wednesday I had a half day sub so I could complete a component of my ESL requirements, and Friday I had a sub because the third grade teachers had a planning day. Also, Friday evening, my boyfriend hosted a Star Party for my students and their families, and it was a blast! My students loved being able to use the telescopes, and it was awesome to hear the kids "teach" their parents what they'd learned about the planets, the moon, and constellations!

Anyway, here are a few of the fun activities we did during our unit:

Can you see the planet beads?

Planet necklaces! To make our necklaces, I used this search, and the first link (the one for a word document) is where I got my measurements. I didn't have enough black and white seed beads for each student, so instead of using those as spacers, I used the number of beads listed as a basis of measurement in centimeters. Then, after we measured the space between the planets on our string, we tied our planet beads directly onto the string. That definitely made this activity more challenging, but we figured out a few tricks along the way to help get the beads tied in place.

Solar system art is my favorite!

Look at those fabulous orbital lines and the correctly placed asteroid belt!

A close up of how the labels were used.

My students also created a model to show they'd learned the order of the planets as well as their distances from the sun. Students used a long piece of black construction paper to create their "space," and pictures of the planets (found here) to make their models. Then, since they had learned the order of the planets earlier that week, I simply gave them a page that had the names of the planets and 8 distances listed, but the distances were not in order! They had to use their knowledge of the order of the planets to make a connection to the distances, but it didn't take them long to figure out that Mercury, since it is the closest to the sun, must match the shortest distance, and so on. I also told them they had to include a drawing of the asteroid belt, and the only hint I gave them as a reminder of where it should be drawn is that it should separate the inner planets from the outer planets (which we had also learned about earlier that week). Not one student drew it in the wrong spot - yay for students who listen! I found the planet distances here, and you can find the worksheet I created with the planet labels and distances in my TpT store here.

We did several other projects, too, but these are the only ones I have pictures of! I hope you can use these ideas when it comes time for you to teach your class about the solar system! Now it's time for me to finish my lesson plans while watching the Oscars, but before I go, I also wanted to share a few pictures from our 50s Day last Friday - we always have a 50s dance the week of Valentine's, and this year I had more students than ever get into the spirit of things! Since we do this every year, I decided I needed to finally make myself a skirt that I could use again and again. So, the night before 50s Day, I stopped by Goodwill and found the perfect pink skirt - I took it home, sketched a quick drawing of a poodle, transferred it to a block of black felt I had from my craft stash, and then got to hot gluing! It took all of 15 minutes, and I love how it turned out! 

Step aside, Danny Zuko - these third graders are the new T-Birds!

Me and my girls in our pink poodle skirts!

Gotta Share - Primary Graffiti's Awesome Giveaway!

I want to do a giveaway of my own soon, but I know whatever I come up with won't be nearly as awesome as the one that Mrs. Saoud is doing over at Primary Graffiti!

She's teamed up with Learning Resources to give away a $100 gift card that could help you buy this awesome new product called the now!Board. It is just like a Smartboard, but it's portable - no special surface needed! All you have to do download the software, hook up the camera to your computer with a USB cord, and then calibrate your board with the stylus. That's it! Check out this YouTube video to see just how easy it really is: 

If you're interested in winning a now!Board for your classroom, head on over to Primary Graffiti to enter to win a $100 gift card from Learning Resources! I'll be back tomorrow to share what we've been doing to learn about the solar system!

Valentine's Day!

It's time to link up for the Valentine's Exchange, which was put together by the fabulous Caitlin and Sarah from Teacher Blogger Exchange! First, a look at what I made for Colleen from Mrs. Patton's Patch: 

I made her a set of magnets from scrapbook paper and little pictures of ladybugs, since her class team is Ladybugs! I made a little card from a heart stamp I carved, and I also sent her a Valentines frame and a little pink bucket that had Heath bars, book plates, and lotion in it! I'm glad I was paired with her because I didn't know about her blog before the exchange, and she has some really great ideas (like this one - QR codes in the classroom + Xtranormal videos = genius!).

This is what I received from sweet Bonnie from Living a Wonderful Life: 

Nail polish and a Starbucks gift card! The shade she picked out for me is PERFECT - I can't stand bold color on my fingernails, but I like it better when my nails are painted because it keeps me from picking them, so the subtle shade of pink she sent me is something I will definitely use! Same goes for the Starbucks card - looks like I'll be leaving home a little early tomorrow so I can start my day off with a nice, hot chai tea latte! Thanks so much, Bonnie! Your gifts helped make my Valentine's Day much sweeter (and I'm following your blog now, too!). 

We had a great little party this afternoon in my class, but I was so busy running around I didn't take any pictures. Oh well! Today was also made more fun because of the Hey Girl Teacher website (please tell me you know about it!!). Yesterday was my co-worker's birthday, so I printed this one out and gave it to her in lieu of a card. Our principal just so happens to be the coolest, most fun, best principal ever, and when she saw what I'd printed, she took it from there and printed a TON of pictures from the website and scattered them all over the tables in our teacher's lounge today to show us some Ryan Gosling love and appreciation. It. Was. Awesome.

I hope you all had a wonderful day with your students, and are now taking it easy like I am! Glee is on, and my friend Emily is on her way over - my boyfriend is out at the observatory (again!) and her husband is also out of town, so we decided to make dinner together rather than spending the evening alone! It'll be nice to cook something that doesn't involve chocolate - I had enough of that today to last me for the next month! Happy heart day, y'all!

Happy Crafty Things and a Linky Party!

I've been in a crafty mood this weekend, and I wanted to share a few of the things I made!

First, I made myself a little valentines collection box to use at our party next week - my class is the Rockets, and the inspiration for my box came from the cute little wooden rocket a student made me! I made my box after school Friday because I wanted to be sure to have an example to show the kids tomorrow - I told my students a few weeks ago that they'd need to make something at home to collect their valentines in for our party, and on Valentine's Day, we're going to be voting for the collection boxes we think best match each of the 4 categories I created: the best Valentine's Day theme, the best 3rd grade theme, most colorful, and most innovative. It was optional for the kids to make something for our party; obviously any old bag, envelope, or box would work, but this is way more fun! I heard a lot of my students talking about their creations last week during recess, so I can't wait to see what they've come up with!

Then, I made a few things at home: teeny tiny valentines and envelopes to send to my brother and the kids I used to nanny for; Scrabble magnets using the tiles from my grandmother's game; thin mint truffles for my principal, assistant principal, and my friend for her birthday (and there are a few extras that I'll be enjoying sharing at school tomorrow).

 

Now, to link up with Jeannie from Kindergarten Lifestyle - You Know You're a Teacher When... Here's what I came up with: 

There's no other job quite like teaching, is there? The accidental "mommy" calling especially trips me out, because I don't have kids of my own yet! Check out some of the other entries; they're just as true!

Happy Valentine's week, everyone!