May 2013

Phases of the Moon... With Cookies!

I love to keep my students on their toes and keep them guessing as to what I'm going to do next in my classroom! I try to use hands-on activities whenever possible with my high-school science class and if I can incorporate food into a lesson... I usually am a hit with my students.

I've seen this idea floating around Pinterest, but hadn't seen one geared towards my older students, so I decided to create a lesson myself. I'm not sure whose brilliant it idea it was to use Oreo cookies to model moon phases, but I think it's a such a fabulous activity!

I do this activity towards the end of the year when my students have hopefully learned some independence. Furthermore, I do it BEFORE I do any teaching about the phases of the moon as I think there's more power in having them figure it all out. My students can find the information in their textbooks, but it's not laid out for them as clearly as they'd like... so there's an extra challenge for them. I love listening to the students working in groups of 2-3 discussing how they're going to "carve" the icing and figuring out how the moon phases work.

This activity requires 7 cookies per group, which can get expensive depending on the size of your class or how many periods you teach, so I use cookies from the Dollar Store. (Students can use one cookie to represent both a new moon and a full moon - just pull one cookie apart and the icing side is a full moon and the empty side is a new moon.) I also supply paper napkins and some plastic cutlery for students to use as "carving tools".

As the students are working I have an opportunity to wander through the classroom and meet with each group to see how they're doing. I like to ask each group member a different question about the moon phases and see if they're able to answer orally using the cookies as props. It makes for some great discussions!

I encourage my students to use their labeled moon cookies to help them answer the questions I've included in the activity. Once they have completed everything I allow them to eat the cookies... their favorite part of the day!!

Download a FREE copy of my Moon Phases Lesson by clicking the image below... have fun!!!

~Addie

17 Secondary Teachers to Follow on Pinterest

I am totally addicted to Pinterest - from recipes, to design ideas, funny quotes and fabulous teaching tips it seems that I could spend hours on the site! Here are some Middle / Secondary school teachers who are also using Pinterest - be sure to check them all out! Oh... and if you want to see what I'm pinning... you can have a look HERE.

Bio: Hi! I'm Adrianne from The Tutor House. I love tutoring and creating engaging lessons for math in reading for grades 3-8! If you've ever thought about starting your own tutoring business, you should come on over to The Tutor House!

Follow Adrianne of The Tutor House on Pinterest.

Bio: Welcome! I am Connie from Teach it Write. I am a retired English teacher and I’m thrilled to now write curriculum full time that I love to share on my site http://teachitwrite.blogspot.com. My book, The House of Comprehension, shows how the elements of literature form the structure of any fiction or non-fiction text. Check it out on my blog site or on www.teachitwrite.com.

Follow Connie of Teach it Write on Pinterest.

Bio: Hi Everyone! It's Kristy from 2 Peas and a Dog. I am a Canadian middle school teacher who loves to pin and blog about things related to Grades 6 and up.

Follow Kristy of 2 Peas and a Dog on Pinterest.

Bio: Hiya there! I'm Jamie but you may know me as MissMathDork! I am a lover of all things mathematical! Patterns, sequences, geometric shapes, if it's mathematical, I'll find a way to make it fun! Want to see some of my ideas? Check out my ideas and pictures at www.missmathdork.com! You won't be disappointed!

Follow Jaime of Miss Math Dork on Pinterest.

Bio: Hello, there. I’m Charlene Tess from Simple Steps to Sentence Sense. Grammar is my specialty. I have always loved taking sentences apart and putting them back together, and I successfully taught my students using the simple steps method for over three decades. Visit my blog to get helpful tips on grammar, usage, and writing.

Follow Charlene of Simple Steps to Sentence Sense on Pinterest.

Bio: Hi my name is Tammy and I've been teaching high school English for 13 years now. I know that teaching can be very stressful. My school is constantly changing the book list and I've taught every grade 6-12 as well. As a result I have unit plans for a large variety of novels, plays and memoirs. Come check out my store on TpT for a variety of ELA materials. Follow my blog for teaching related posts.

Follow Tammy on Pinterest.

Bio: Meet Sabrina, author of A Space to Create. Find teaching resources for art teachers and classroom teachers alike. My art lessons teach students the creative process enabling them to build confidence and have amazing results. Come visit my blog A Space to Create! (K-12)

Follow Sabrina of A Space to Create on Pinterest.

Bio: Hi there! I'm Gina from All Things Algebra. I have taught Algebra and Pre-Algebra for seven years and have a passion for creating activites and games that engage my students. If you are interested in finding ways to have more fun in math class, head on over and check out my blog!

Follow Gina of All Things Algebra on Pinterest.

Bio: Hi there! My name is Amy Brown and I write a blog called "Science Stuff." I am a 29-year teaching veteran of biology, chemistry and AP biology. I love science and I love kids, so I have the best job in the world! Hopefully, I have passed my love of nature and the environment on to many students. My blog has tips and tricks for teaching science as well as a lot of free science teaching materials. I hope to see you there!

Follow Amy of Science Stuff on Pinterest.

Bio: Hi! I’m Krystina from Numbers Rule My World. I love incorporating hands-on activities and technology into the classroom for Math: grades 7-9. If you’re looking for great ideas about math then you should come on over and check it out at Numbers Rule My World!

Follow Krystina of Numbers Rule My World on Pinterest.

Bio: Hello, my name is Jennifer Smith-Sloane. I am a Middle School Math and Special Education teacher. I have a strong passion for differentiated instruction to meet the needs of each learner in and out of my classroom. I love seeing the light in a student's eyes when something finally clicks and I do everything that I can to make that happen as often as it can. Visit my blog 4mulaFun!

Follow Jennifer of 4mulaFun on Pinterest.

Bio: Hey! I am Ann Marie from Innovative Connections. I enjoy blogging about various topics: Projects and lessons going on in my classroom, ideas I've learned or ideas I've thought of at the most random of moments (At 2 a.m. when I can't sleep, I can come up with some stellar ideas), teaching resources I find beneficial to fellow teachers and/or bloggers. Due to the wide range of grades I've had the pleasure of teaching, Innovative Connections caters mostly to language arts but loves to share and collaborate with teachers/bloggers of various grade levels.

Follow Ann Marie of Innovative Connections on Pinterest.

Bio: This is Madame Aiello, author of Teaching FSL. Although I've taught other subjects as well, French as a Second Language has always been my passion. My focus is the higher grades, since I taught high school originally but teach grade 7 & 8 since six years ago. I share lots of resources, blog about second language teacher specific topics as well as those that apply to all teachers.

Follow Madame Aiello of Teaching FSL on Pinterest.

Bio: Bonjour! Hola! I'm Liz from Liz's Lessons. Languages are one of my passions, and I love teaching with technology. I create fun lessons for teaching secondary French, and Spanish. I also make formative assessments and technology activities in English, that can be used in any secondary classroom. If you are looking for some engaging activities for your classes, be sure to stop by Liz's Lessons!

Follow Liz of Liz's Lessons on Pinterest.

Bio: I'm Andrea Kerr from For the Love of Teaching Math. It is my mission to change traditional math classrooms one game and activity at a time. If you like to incorporate hands-on, group activities and games into your classroom, check out For the Love of Teaching Math!

Follow Andrea of For the Love of Teaching Math on Pinterest.

Bio: I'm a high school English teacher in a 1:1 school who loves books and fostering creativity. My blogs are Mrs. Orman's Classroom and Hunger Games Lessons. I share my teaching resources on TeachersPayTeachers.

Follow Tracee Orman on Pinterest.

Bio: Hi! I'm Kim from Teaching Math by Hart. I am forever planning and thinking of new and innovative ways to teach math to my students. Why, you ask? Believe it or not, I think learning Math should be FUN and it should be REAL! If you are looking for some ideas to engage your students in math class, come check out Teaching Math by Hart - in the middle years classroom! Follow Kim of Teaching Math by Hart on Pinterest.

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Calming the Chaos Blog Hop

Welcome to the Calming the Chaos Blog Hop hosted by 2peasandadog.

All of us bloggers have come together to share our top tips for making the last month of school run smoothly. Visit each of our blogs to learn something new and catch a freebie or two! Happy Hopping!

Be sure to scroll down to the bottom to hop to the other blogs.

At the end of the year I think we're all feeling a little frazzled - the students, parents, staff and teachers all feel the rush to the end of the year. The sunny skies and warm temperatures don't help either... none of us want to be inside a warm stuffy classroom on a beautiful day, and the students drag their heels.

One of the things that I like to do at the end of the year is to hold a little classroom chit-chat to get a sense of how the year went for my students. I think it's important to have the chit-chat in a different venue from my classroom, so I book into our Library and hold my class there instead. (We're lucky enough to have a wonderful comfy lounge area we can hang out in.) I find when I combine comfy couches and snacks the students open up a little more. I like to give my students an opportunity to provide me with some feedback and I have learned some really great things about what works and what doesn't work for them in the way that I teach.

I also give them a few Top 10 Lists to work on - they love to share their lists with each other and the class. Here's a set of 6 different Top 10 List activities that work at the end of the year. Use one or use them all! Click on the image below to grab a FREE copy!