Electricity and Magnets Unit and a Friday Flash Freebie (It's a Big One!)

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My 4th graders are wrapping up a quarter long unit on Electricity and Magnets!  They have spent weeks creating circuits, breaking circuits, creating magnets, finding conductors, and learning TONS!

We learned about Static Electricity!

What is attracted to balloons that are full of static electricity?

Our hair...

feathers...

tissue paper... 

index cards...

and ourselves!

We learned about making and breaking circuits!

We learned about conductors and insulators!

We learned about series circuits and parallel circuits!

And then we learned about magnets!

We learned what is attracted to magnets...

And how the magnetic field strongest at the poles...

And how to make our own paperclip magnet!

Download the whole unit for FREE as part of this week's Friday Flash Freebie!

Study Buddy and Friday Flash Freebie

Do your students know how to study for tests?  Sure, they know they have a test and they may look over their notes and they may even have a parent quiz them, but do they REALLY know how to study?

This is the question I have been asking myself for the past few months.  How do we expect our students to study for tests if we have never actually TAUGHT them how to study?!?!?

So, that is something my 4th graders have been working on...studying how to study!

We have been doing different activities such as flash cards, acronyms, games, etc that can help them study for tests (and maybe even have a little fun while doing so...who would have thought!  Studying can be fun?!?!?)

I also started using the STUDY BUDDY.  

The kids attach their Study Buddy (printed on bright paper so as not to be missed in the backpack!) to their study guide or review sheet.  They use the techniques we have learned in class and mark off what they did.  If they bring their Study Buddy back on the day of the test with a parent signature, I add 5 extra credit points on to their test grade.

This seems to be working well for my class, but you could be creative and change it up to do what works for you!

This is also this week's Friday Flash Freebie!  

Enjoy!

Cyber Monday Sale

Cyber Monday Sales at TpT!!!!!

Use this code at the checkout

TPTCYBER

My store is also on sale Monday and Tuesday.

So be sure to check out those items that have been on your wishlist for a while!

Happy Bargain Shopping!

Celebrating Birthdays and a Friday Flash Freebie

I love celebrating birthdays in my classroom, but in the past, have struggled to stay organized and on top of each student's birthday (especially those summer half birthdays we celebrate in the winter).

I thought I would share how we celebrate birthdays in our classroom!  It is a "can't go wrong" system!  I promise!

Create a bulletin board where each student has two cards recognizing them for their birthday. 

The top card is their "ticket" for a birthday surprise.  When it is time to celebrate their birthday, they get to tear off their ticket and turn it in for their surprise.  

The bottom card stays up all year long.

No one will be forgotten and it makes it easy to remember!

One might say it is foolproof!

Click on the picture for a FREE birthday sign.

Today's Friday Flash Freebie is an early elementary unit on hibernation, migration, and adaptation.

It is a fun "winter is coming" unit!

It includes an interactive student booklet.

It also includes a no prep interactive lap book.

There a fun review activities!

And more!

Page 1 - Cover

Page 2 - Copyright

Page 3-6 - All About the Desert Writing

Page 7-14 - Migrating, Hibernating, Adapting Interactive Lap Book

Page 15 - Hibernating Animals Worksheet

Page 16 - Winter Alphabetical Order

Page 17 - Winter Writing

Page 18 - Winter Words

Enjoy!

A Thanksgiving Class Recipe Book and a Friday Flash Freebie

Thanksgiving is next week and already I am thinking of that amazing, once-a-year dinner!  Thanksgiving is a time of traditions, thankfulness, and, of course, food!

So, I thought I would share a little writing project we did last year as a class.  It takes a little time and preparation, but it is worth it!  I promise!

We spent one lesson having group discussions on Thanksgiving traditions.  What we do with our families, what our traditions are, what food we have at our feasts.  

Then each child was asked to think of their favorite Thanksgiving recipe.  They were to bring this recipe to school.

Then we wrote!  We wrote about our family Thanksgiving traditions and what we remember or think of when looking at this recipe.

We went into the computer lab and each student typed up their own recipe and paragraph. (I proofread!)

I gave each student the opportunity to choose a clip art picture to go with their recipe as the finishing touch to their cookbook page!

I sent to our local ESU to be printed and bound and we were able to send home before Thanksgiving break!

These were a huge hit with my families.  The writing piece at the bottom of each recipe really made it worth it.

This year, we are doing this a holiday gift for parents.  So even though you may not have enough time to do this before Thanksgiving, you could have it done in time for your Christmas or Holiday break!

Today's Friday Flash Freebie is an oldie but a goodie.

My Cause and Effect packet is a set of activities meant to teach and reinforce the concept of cause and effect in a variety of ways.

Page 1 & 2 - Cause and Effect Practice Sheet and Answer Key
Page 3 - Cause and Effect Short Story Activity
Page 4 - Cause and Effect Picture Activity
Page 5 - Cause and Effect Trees Activity
Page 6 - Cause and Effect Puzzle Activity
Page 7, 8, & 9 - Cause and Effect Card Game
Page 10 - Cause and Effect Activity using the picture book "Tuesday" by David Weisner
Page 11 - Cause and Effect activity using a book of your choosing
Page 12 - Cause and Effect Transitions worksheet

Enjoy!