Homework without Tears

The first three years of teaching, I was told by parents that sometimes the homework made them cry because it was so tough. After having Natalie, I didn't want to make kids cry any more over homework. I wanted the learning process to be fun for the family. 

There are 3 parts to my homework. First, the students read 30 minutes every night. Second, they have 2-3 math problems to do, with lessons we have done that day, or previous days. I find that doing 2-3 problems rather than 10+, where the students who don't get it, give up and just give an answer -without trying. Only doing 2, may take some kids 30 minutes, but 2 is not so scary, and they don't give up.

The last part is the final 5. The final 5 came from a Quantum Learning, and my friend Lindsay Freestone. The idea behind it, is to spend the last 5 minutes in class reviewing what we learned that day. Then, the students take the final 5 to bed with them, and read it the last 5 minutes before going to bed. There is a part of our brain called the hippocampus, which awakens right after people fall asleep. The hippocampus takes what we learned from that day and puts it into long term memory. It takes the last thing we did first, so if the students studies the final 5 before bed they are more likely to remember what they did in class that day! (Cool right?)

We spend the last 5 minutes of the day summarizing what we did. When I first introduced the final 5, I did the whole thing for them, and they copied the final 5. After a week, they started to draw the picture. After a month, they did the vocabulary (based on the topic I wrote). After another month, they do the main points on their own, based on the objective written. Soon, I will have them write the objectives on their own, based on the topics, then eventually they do will do the whole things on their own. It takes time have them do it on their own. 

I have had the most success getting students to turn in homework. I also feel like my students are actually doing the work on their own, and learning more, than when I gave a lot of homework. It's pretty amazing. I also have had many parents tell me that they enjoy homework with their kids, and parents are giving them more work and extending at home- for fun! It is amazing.

Natalie's First Birthday-Minnie Mouse Themed

I have seen many ideas on Pinterest. Some feel very unrealistic to do for a full time working mom, and some are reasonable. I had a lot of fun creating the decor for my daughter's party.

My mom was awesome, and cooked most of the food. My husband cooked the delicious tri-tip and helped where ever needed. I was so thankful to have help! I would definitely recommend getting help!

I had seen many ideas with Minnie Mouse cupcakes, where stick mini-oreos as the ears, and come up with a bow out of fruit roll up, or something. I figured this would be easier because I didn't want to curl many bows. We used black frosting tubes for the Minnie Mouse shapes, and a red sparkly tube for the bow. It took about 45 minutes to do all the cupcakes. I am sure the bow and oreos probably takes the same amount of time, but I already had black frosting tubes, and no mini-oreos or fruit roll up! Just seemed easier!
The gift bags were also fun to make. We found minnie/mickey sippy cups for the younger kids, and minnie/mickey insulated cups for the older kids. I also got crayons and bubbles too. I purchased plain red bags, and labeled the bags with each kids' name that was coming. I added a plain mickey head to add to the decor!

My aunt is awesome. She was shopping at Costco and saw the giant Minnie, and got if for Natalie since she knew she was having a Minnie Mouse birthday party. We used it as gift table decor. My mom also joined in and got Natalie her first set of Minnie ears with her name, and Minnie Mouse shoes (that she would have worn, had they fit, but they turned into good decor).
For the food table we had a bit of fun! The bowl we got were plain black bowls, and we set them up as Mickey heads. The cookie jar you see in the top left corner was already given to me. The plates & napkins we got at Party City.

Then Natalie had a "visit" from Minnie Mouse. She signed the table (meaning I took her signature off the internet and used that to write happy birthday to her! :)

Now, I did get this 1 idea off of Pinterest. We had a photo shoot with my daughter the week before, and used those photos to create the one. I took a poster board and drew out a one, then I realized I could just placed the pictures in a one. I just had to cut down a few photos with my photo cutter I already had. I used double sided to get the pictures to stick. I loved the 1 so much that it is now hung up in my daughters room.

This was another thing I saw on Pinterest. I got the balloons from Party City. They cut the string really long, so I had to figure out how to put these balloons onto the pictures. I decided to tape the pictures to scrap booking paper, then I hole punched (I had a Mickey hole punch, so stinkin' cool) the paper. I strung the string through the two holes and tied them to themselves to get the balloons to the same height. Then the pictures started kind of floating oddly. So, I had to tape the bottom of the scrapbook paper to the table, and the balloons just kept the pictures up.

There were some simple decor ideas. A first birthday is fun! We kept it simple. We had good food, fun decor, cake, and opened presents. Then we just let the kids play in the backyard, and we were able to hang out and chat as parents. It was a fun, fun birthday!

Native American Project

The new school year has begun. This year I am teaching a 4/5 combo. As we all know combination classes are tough. I have been planning all summer to make this class the best possible.

I am integrating a lot of social studies and science into reading to fit both curriculums in. However, those will come later in the year. Thankfully, common core makes it easier to integrate subjects.

In 4th grade students in California focuses on California events, in 5th grade students in California focus on US history. Instead of looking at US history as separate events, we are looking at events on a timeline.

We started with the Native Americans. The students were assigned into groups of ~3-4 students (10 tribes in total from all over the US). They had four things to research: What they ate, what shelter they used, what they did for fun, and what environment they lived in.

Each person had a job: Researcher, writer, illustrator, and assistant (if they had 4 people in their group). The researcher looked up information on the computer, or the social studies books. The writer wrote the information in the sentence frames provided (The __(tribe)____ ate _____, etc.). The illustrator, draws pictures to represent the captions. The assistant helps where ever needed.

Once the posters were completed, I reviewed what the presentations should look like. Each student would present one part of the poster. Then I put them with one other group to practice their presentations. The students then rotated twice to practice at least 3 times. The next day they did their presentations for the whole class. The audience took quick notes on each Native American group, so they were paying attention too, they had to fill in 1-2 words about what they ate, did for fun, their shelters, and environment. It was a good activity. After the students were finished with the Native American presentations, we created our timeline, and added the Native American's flourished in 12,000BC. Next we will move to the different explorers!

4-Day Basketball Unit

At the end of the year, it was fun to do lots of PE. My students loved it, and so did I!
A typical PE lesson would consist of 3 days of skill work, and 1 day of games.

On the skill days, we would typically play different games, that focused on skills the students needed to learn in order to be better at the game we were playing.

Our basketball unit:
Day 1: 30-45 mins
1) I had the students do a short lap around the track we have at our school to warm up (this gave me time to get the basketballs out and ready to use).
2) Then we did a short stretch.
3) Then we played a dribbling game.
    *To play the dribbling game: About 5-8 kids have balls. They are dribbling in a court. The other students are trying to steal the ball away from the students. When they do, they are now the dribbler. It's a pretty simple game, but gets the students' heart rates up like crazy! And they practice dribbling!
4) After the dribbling game, I line the students up and we practice two types of passing, the bounce pass first, and the chest pass second. I emphasize to the students in the bounce pass to pass with their thumbs down, and to aim about half way between yourself and the person. For the chest pass, I have the student catching the ball put their hands at their chests, so the tosser has something to aim for. And I emphasize passing through the finger tips.
5) We then played monkey in the middle, but by using different passes.

Day 2: 30-45 mins.
1) Repeat steps 1-4
2) After the dribbling day we practiced shooting. Before we even get to the baskets, I show them how to shoot the ball properly. We first practice using one hand, flick the wrist, and use the fingers to point where you want the ball to go (follow through). Once they master that, I show them how to balance the ball with their other hand, and we continue to practice small shots (without the basket still). Then we progress to getting the ball higher and higher. Once they seem to master that, I assign them a hoop to shoot at, and they practice on their own.

Day 3: 30-45 mins.
1) Repeat steps 1-4 on day 1, and step 2 on day 2, but before you assign them baskets, show them how to shoot free-throws, and what that means (if they are fouled during the game). Then let them practice free-throws as well as other shots.
**You could also teach them lay-ups if you have advanced basketball players. I went around to hoops individually and taught them if they were ready.

Day 4: 30-45 mins. (including explaining the game inside)
GAME DAY
1) Explain how the game (Basketball) works before you go outside. It is a lot easier to explain the rules BEFORE you go outside, and have to yell.
2) I also like to make two different games, competitive and non-competitive. I have found that some kids like to be rough, and others just don't. Also, the competitive students will only pass to each other, and the non-competitive kids just stop and don't get the work out they really need. For some reason, this worked, and the kids seemed fine with it. Plus, some kids like other sports more than others, and will surprise you by jumping into the competitive group when they are confident. Also, DO THIS BEFORE YOU GO OUTSIDE Too!
3) Walk outside, Repeat steps 1-2 from day 1, then let them start their game!

It was a fun unit!

Easter Baskets for Babies

My Mom and Dad got Natalie an amazing Easter basket, and Caleb and I got her one as well. We bought her a two stuffed animals from Target, a book, a pacifier, a sippy cup and an Easter bib. We kept it simple since we knew it was more for pictures, then for her. However, she loved playing with her new toys and books.

My mom got her a book, three stuffed animals, and a hat!




The bib came in handy too when she ate later that day, as did the pacifier during nap time! She still plays with her toys too. It is good we got her all those fun toys.

Giving her the baskets was very fun! She is quite adorable, and such a fun baby.

Surprise Saturday!

Our neighbors are incredible. We are very lucky to live where we live. We decided to start a new tradition. It is called Surprise Saturday. All of us decide on a dish and side dish to bring, without talking to each other, and the Surprise is whether all the dishes work together!

Our first Surprise Saturday actually worked really well! Some how they all meshed very well. We brought tacos, our across the street neighbors brought an applesauce pork, and guacamole, and our next door neighbors made a polenta shrimp. Oddly, it worked! And we had tons of left overs for the week - which was incredible. It was a fun experiment, that we will recreate!

Just Because

My daughter is quite the explorer. She also loves dogs! And just because I love this photo and find it hilarious, I wanted to share it.

I call it: What is Daddy doing in the Kitchen? 

Our Experiment in Compost Gardening

My husband is amazing. He bought a com-poster last year. We had an amazing garden the year prior by using seeds. This year we wanted to experiment. We put our plants at the end of the season in the com-poster as well as the seeds from our food, and food that could compost well.

We would stir the compost every month or so. Then in early spring, with a shovel, and wheel barrow we moved the compost to our garden area, and spread it out. along the garden area we used last year. 

After a week or so, we had plants budding! It was very exciting. We called it our Mystery Garden. Since we had no idea what would grow. We put a lot of seeds into the compost! 

Then, a few weeks later we had plants growing every where! It was crazy! My husband has thinned it out now, and it looks like we have a three different types of squash plants, and two tomato plants. We are quite proud of our Mystery Garden, and can't wait to eat our left over food! 

Explorers Project, 4th Grade

This was a group project that my students composed last year while I taught fourth grade. It was a fun project that they completed after CST's, and kept the students learning, while having fun!

The students were broken up into groups of 6 for the project, and they each had specific tasks.

Map Expert: This person drew the map for where the explorer sailed.

Timeline Expert: This person made the timeline of the person's life.

Early Life Expert: This person researched the early life of the person, and wrote the paragraph as well.

The Contributions Expert: This person researched and found information on what the explorers did, and where they explored. Then wrote the paragraph about it.

Later Life Expert: This person researched what they did after they were an explorer.

If there was a odd person out, they would write the final draft of the essay, and be the assistant to the researchers.

The students were allowed to research on the computers in the room, or use their social studies book.

The students researched: Vitus Bering, Sebastian Vizcaino, Juan Cabrillo, Gaspar De Portola, Sir Francis Drake, and Hernando Cortez.

After their projects were complete (what is pictured above). The students did a presentation on the person. Each person had to present on a different part of the person's life, so they had to learn from their experts. We invited another class to come watch the presentations, and it was a huge success! The absolutely loved showing off all their hard work!

Transition to the Common Core

Our district is slowly piloting the common core standard by standard. My first focus was this, Reading Standard for literature 5.1: 1. Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.


Something I have already created for my students as a tool to take notes is a playbook. The playbook consists of sentence frames, vocabulary notes, grammar notes, vocabulary/decoding/word work skills. It usually gives room for the students to write while we read our stories. 

What I have pictured to the right is a page from my playbook, that focuses on the comprehension strategy of questioning. The students I had worked in partner groups. After reading a page they were to write a question that could be answered from the story. Then, they would switch pages. They would then answer their partners question, but the catch was that they had to quote accurately the information from the story. 

The frame I gave them to start with was this: ________(answer the question)______, and I know this because on page _____ it says "____(where the answer is in the story)___." 

Now we are starting incorporate the quote into the answer to sound more sophisticated. It is tough at first, but once the students saw a few good examples they did a better answering questions. Now, they are truly getting it down, and we can quote accurately doing any comprehension strategy!

Also, my favorite part about this, is that I had students start doing this with a non-fiction science text automatically, which is the Reading Strategy Informational Text 5.1. And, these were EL students! It was cool to give them this power!

My Homemade Chili

My husband and I made a New Year's Resolution, and it was to cook all our meals on Sunday's rather than throughout the week, when we are tired and exhausted. It has been a huge success!

This week I made my chili.

What you need:
1 16 oz can of kidney beans
1 16 oz can of black beans
1 16 oz can of turkey chili mix
1 20 oz can of tomato sauce
1 4 oz can of tomato paste
1 package of ground turkey or ground beef
1 package of chili seasoning

Brown the turkey or beef, then add 1/2 the chili seasoning.
Drain the kidney beans and black beans of the extra juice, then pour them into the crock pot along with the turkey chili, sauce and tomato paste. Add the browned meat, and pour the other half of the chili seasoning into the crock pot. Stir the yummy goodness.

Cook for ~4-6 hours on low. Then consume! I will usually add cheese after it has been cooked. It is also delicious with corn bread!

9 months to gain it, 9 months to lose it!

The first week of January 2012, I found out I was pregnant. I was overjoyed! I definitely let myself go! I did continue to workout, but I ate whatever I wanted! I loved ice cream a lot. I gained 47 pounds at week 40, and I went till 41 weeks- so I know I gained more. Not the most I have heard of, but still quite a lot. I should preface- I am a working, breast feeding, loving mom, and have still been able to lose the weight! There are a few steps I have taken to help me lose the weight!

2 weeks after labor, I had only lost 15 pounds, which was not a lot! That is when I started paying attention to what I ate. I was breast feeding (and still am), so I had to be cautious of under eating. Before the six week mark I counted calories to make sure I was eating enough, and still able to lose weight. Especially since I couldn't work out.

At six weeks I forced myself back to my crossfit gym. It was tough! After having a baby, you just want to sleep. Also, the first workout back was all running - seriously! But I set my mind to it, and went back! Now, my daughter is incredible the gym because she is used to the routine! I am so thankful I went back when I did.

Starting in January, my husband and I started a goal with each other, to make our weeks meals on Sunday. It has truly saved us so much money, and our waist line! We do not go out and get fast food meals when we are exhausted. It has saved us time as well, we are much more free to cuddle and spend time with our daughter during the week. I could also stop calorie counting because I knew I was eating healthy!

These three simple things have helped so much! I have 7 more pounds to lose, and more than three months left to lose it! I do not have a personal trainer, or a cook. It is just hard work! I know the things I have learned and continue to do will teach my daughter a healthy active lifestyle!

Update: I am now three pounds away from my goal, with less than 2 months left! Here are a few updated pictures from the Schmall's Work out - dedicated to a hero who lost his life in Afghanistan. 

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:
4 Green bell peppers (that can fit a lot when scooped out)
Olive oil
10 white Mushrooms
~2 lbs Ground turkey
Mozzarella cheese
1 cup Wild rice or quinoa

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Scoop out bell peppers, and rub with olive oil
Put bell peppers into 8x8 pan.
Cook for 20 minutes, or until peppers are soft
Cook rice (1 cup rice, 1 cup water).
Brown meat, add spices as you want.
Dice mushrooms, and sauté them.
Combine all ingredients into a bowl and add cheese as you feel necessary
When the peppers are done, put the ingredients into the peppers.
Then, sprinkle cheese on top of the peppers.
Broil the peppers for ~5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Pizza to Drool Over

Recently, I have found out that I am allergic to gluten. Since my daughter was born I break out in hives whenever I eat gluten. It is just nuts!

One of the things I missed the most was pizza. I am an avid crossfitter, and giving up gluten, meant I was closer to being paleo. But, I cannot seem to give up dairy. I cannot get used to coconut or almond milk. You could easily make this recipe paleo if you substitute the cheese. I just love cheese so much!

Ingredients:
Coconut oil
3 eggs
1 cup coconut milk
Small spoonful of minced garlic
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 tbsp baking soda
Sprinkle of garlic powder

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cover a cookie sheet with wax paper.
Spread coconut oil on the wax paper.
In a bowl combine, eggs, coconut milk, and garlic, whisk until the ingredients are combined.
Add coconut flour, baking soda, and garlic powder to the bowl.
Whisk until the ingredients are combined.
Spread the, soon to be, crust unto the wax paper.
Cook in the oven for 20 minutes.
During this time, prepare another cookie sheet with wax paper and coconuts oil.
When it comes out of the oven, let it cool, the, flip the crust onto the new wax paper.
Peel the old wax paper off the crust.
Add whatever ingredients you want onto the crust!
Then broil on low for 10 minutes.
Your pizza will then be ready!

Love Notes

As a 5th grade teacher, I personally feel like Valentine's day cards are overrated, and mean nothing. Also, they are annoying because they are all about candy - which our district is trying to avoid. Thankfully, I have a friend (same friend who helped design the crossfit for kids - she is awesome) who taught me her wonderful way of "love notes."

The first thing I do is create envelopes with my students names on them. They are decorated nicely, and I hang them up before they kids get to school, about a month before (usually after MLK Jr holiday).

Then I explain my feelings about Valentine's Cards, and the point of Valentine's day (to actually show someone you care). So, I tell them that we are going to do something different. We are going to write love notes to each other. I usually get gasps, and ooohs. Then I explain the different types of love, and how we can love someone even if they are just our friends.

Then, I explain what love notes look like. They are compliments to each other. I also tell them that they are going to choose two people at random (I put everyones name twice into a hat). I love when people get someone they just don't like very much, and are forced to find something nice about them. Once they have written to their two people, they can write to whomever they want to. It's fun to see the kids who want to write to everyone.

Then on Valentine's day they get to open their notes - in silence. I make sure they absorb how their classmates view them. Then we discuss how they feel, and which notes made them feel really good. It really is fun to see how the students see their classmates in a new light.

School Adapted Crossfit for Kids

Just so we are clear, I am not a crossfit for kids instructor, but I have been doing crossfit for 2+ years. I am a certified gymnastics coach, and have taught PE for years. Before the beginning of the year, my friend (who also crossfits) that I taught with previously sat down and thought, how can we get our 5th grades in the best shape ever before their physical fitness test. It was a short conversation - Crossfit! Duh! She has been crossfitting for the last year, and together we sat down and made a crossfit program for our 5th graders. Below is the program we created:

Week 1:

Warm-up: 1 lap, 10 Jumping Jacks, Stretch

Skill: Push up with Hand release

WOD:

5 min AMRAP

5 push up with hand release

5 Jumping Jacks

Week 1 Challenge:

100 Jumping Jacks unbroken

Week 2:

Warm up: Skipping, High Skip, High Knees, Butt kickers, High kick, Lunge

Skill: Toes to Bar, Pull ups*

WOD:

1 mile for time

*if the whole 5^th grade is here: one class runs the mile the other does the skill, and we switch

Week 2 Challenge:

50 Toes to bar in one session

Week 3:

Warm-up: 1 lap warm-up, Stretch

Skill: Squats

WOD:

10 min AMRAP

10 squats

Sprint across bball court

10 hand release push-ups

Week 3 Challenge:

100 Squats

Week 4:

Warm up: 1 lap warm up, stretch

Skill: bear crawl, broad jump, lunges, and sprint

WOD:            

Team of 4 “The Box”

Start at each corner, first person bear crawls to broad jumper. BrJu to L, L to Sp. Has to go straight to bear crawl

Challenge Week 4:

Run a mile during recess

Week 5:

Team Warm up: 100 meter run, Squats, Push ups, Sit ups, 10 minutes

Skill: Plank hold, Burpees

WOD:

Every minute on the minute Burpees, Plank hold during rest

Week 5 Challenge:

2-minute plank hold

Week 6:

Warm up: Skipping, High Skip, High Knees, Butt kickers, High kick, Lunge

Skill: Handstands

WOD: Mile Run for time

Week 6 Challenge:

100 push-ups

Week 7:

Warm up: 1 lap, stretch

Skill: Wall Ball

Partner WOD:

20-30-40

Push ups, sit ups, wall ball

Week 7 Challenge:

50 Burpees

Week 8:

Warm up: 1 lap, stretch

Skill: Yarn Overhead Squats

WOD:

2 Min. AMRAP 1 min. rest between sets

Overhead squats

Push-ups

Sit-ups

“Box” jumps

Week 8 Challenge:

100 Sit-ups

Week 9:

Warm up: Wall ball, plank, “box” jumps, 200 meter run, 10 minutes

Skill: Review push-ups and sit-ups

WOD:

1 minute AMRAP with partner

Sit-ups, Push-ups

Week 9 Challenge:

3X 1 mile

Week 10:

Warm up: Skipping, High Skip, High Knees, Butt kickers, High kick, Lunge

Skill: Pull ups, Toes to bar testing
WOD:

1 mile run for time

Week 10 Challenge:

5 pull-ups unbroken

Week 11 Challenge:

50 box jumps

Week 12 Challenge:

50 inclined push ups (feet up)

Week 13 Challenge:

100 single jump ropes unbroken

or

20 double under jump ropes unbroken

Week 14 Challenge:

50 wall balls

Week 15 Challenge:

Skip around the entire field without stopping

Now you are probably wondering (if you crossfit) what are these challenges? Well, our schools only have so much time to teach PE, and we wanted our students to get out and work out on their own. So, we created a challenge for the week. The students would do this challenge on their own, and either two friends would witness at recess, or their parents could witness at home. This way they are getting an extra day of working out! Pretty smart huh?! After 5 challenges are completed, I give them a reward. 

Now, if you don't crossfit, you are probably wondering what all the acronyms, and half these work outs are. This is my answer - YOUTUBE! Most crossfitters have posted how to do the workouts on you tube. 

What I learned:

After doing the 15 weeks, these are the things I learned: kids HATE AMRAPS, they want to stop and just give up (at least the first couple of weeks until they get what this crossfit thing is). After about week 4, they get it and like AMRAPs a bit better.

Also, it is a lot easier to put running in between movements, for some reason they like that. So if the work out says: (like week 2) 10 squats, 10 hand release push ups. I found that putting running between the squats and push ups broke it up for the kids, and they liked the workout better. Not sure why, but they did. 

 They are HORRIBLE at squats!!! I found that putting them up against a wall - nose facing the wall, helped them a bit. Or if you have a handball court, have them practice the wall sit, and have them sit to the wall sit, then stand up. 

Now that my kids know what they are doing, they really love the program. They have become much stronger! It really is awesome!!

Arts and Comprehension

This year our district has a new leader, and he is amazing. After only a few months of being here, he organized an entire district run buy back day, where every teacher and classified staff met together and were able to "Celebrate each other." Different staff members volunteered and presented on their topic of choice. I was able to attend 3 different presentations, and was able to bring back one idea right away.

This year I am working at a Visual and Performing Arts school, so I decided to go to a presentation based on using the arts to increase comprehension. The basic idea was that we focus on an artist each month, and use different sentence frames that focus on comprehension strategies. I think it helps the students understand comprehension strategies on a level that is easy to talk about. Everyone can discuss a picture.
I am so thankful our district did this!! WAVE!

Fun and Free!

I am so thankful I am teacher. It gives me days off, so I can have quality time with Natalie. My husband and I have been trying to save some money, so that we can hopefully visit my sister who is soon-to-be moving to Italy. So, lately I have been trying to find some fun and free things to do with Natalie. Here are the list of things we have done so far, and hope to do soon.

1) Go to the Library.

     Most libraries have free baby story times, toddler story times, teenage activities, etc. It is fun to hang out at the library!

2) Go to the beach.

     Of course, this only works if you live near a beach, and luckily we do.

3) Pool time!

     We have a pool in our HOA, I cannot wait for it to get warm, so we can have pool time.

4) Play at the Park

     Though Natalie is small, we still swing on the swings. 

5) Go for a walk.

     We have trails near our house, and walking around those trails are fun!

6) Check out your local recreation center.

     I found out recently that our Rec Center lets you take our kid to their gymnastics center and lets them play for only $1!! I mean it's not free by $1 for gymnastics is CHEAP.

7) Check out a Farmer's Market.

8) Enjoy time with your baby, whether it is free or paid for!! Time flies when you have fun!!

The Periodic Table

Understanding atoms, and the amount of electrons, protons, neutrons, and how they are organized on the periodic table can daunt a 5th grader. My first year teaching fifth grade my co-teacher Niah gave this idea to us that she had learned about at a science convention.

I give the men to the students, and tell them that they are meant to be in a specific order, but that is all I tell them. They have to figure out the order.

If they struggle extremely with the order, I then give them the outline of the first 18 elements, but don't give them the order. This at least aides in their picture of understanding.

The order: Arms represent the amount of orbitals. The fingers represent the amount of electrons on each orbital. The size of the belly helps the students see that they weigh more as they get larger across the table, and the pattern represents the column, so the students can see that they have something in common going up and down. Also, what you can't see very well in the picture is that each man has a smiley, frowny, or straight face. The faces represent how the atom feels (unstable ones have frowny faces - they only have 1 electron on their valence shell, and stable ones have very happy faces - they have 8 electrons on their valence shell).

Once the students have a picture with the men, it is a lot easier to understand how to draw electrons, and how electrons interact to create molecules. It truly does help my fifth graders understanding atoms and molecules. I feel like this would have helped me in high school science as well!