Popsicle Project - Video Instructions Part I

Here is a short video (4 minutes) explaining how to do the tech part of the popsicle puzzle project.

Popsicle Puzzle Project

I made the top popsicle puzzle project with my Girl Scout troop for Valentine's Day and started thinking that it could adapted for academic and notebooking purposes. So I put together a sample project (using both the front and back of the sticks) and showed it to several teachers. Many of them wanted to know when we could start working on it.

I liked it because it had a tech element to it (setting it up in Word) and the teachers liked that it could be used in just about every subject. I have a couple of classes lined up for after our state testing in May (we have four weeks after that till the end of the year). I'm making a rough guess that it will take four class periods to complete....and when you have four weeks to go to the end of the school year time consuming projects are appreciated :)

I put together two short videos that I will post explaining how the project is done both on the tech end and one the crafting end.

Pollination Activity

I came across this pollination activity from this kindergarten blog and loved it. This is a perfect example of an activity that can be done and recorded in a science notebook for younger grade levels (although to be honest older grades would like this activity as well as it involves eating cheetos :)

Basically the kids go from bag to bag eating from the "flower" (bag of cheetos). They can not lick or wipe their fingers (the cheese dust represents the pollen). Afterward they have go visit the flowers of their friends "landing" on it with their fingers. Afterward they have to fill out a sheet noting what they learned (if I was notebooking in this grade level this would represent the "right hand sheet" students would complete.

In our district this activity is better suited for the first grade standards so I passed it on to all those teachers. One teacher emailed me back and said that she rushed out to get cheetos to do with her kids :)

Tool Box Idea

Earlier in the year I posted about an activity that was done with a third grade class regarding science tools (see second picture). Later in the year I ran across the top picture of a "Readers Tool Box" and it got me thinking about combining the two.

I could easily see larger versions of the tools that the kids would have to cut out label and identify their use (on the back) and put in the "Tool Box". The box would then open and close with velcro (which I love to incorporate in notebooks!).

It is a bit late in the year for the idea but I can see trying it out next year. If you want to try it this year it would be a good end of year "tool" review activity in preparation for any end of year state test.

Landforms

I saw this on picture on a Pinterest site and I loved it for third grade (that is when they study landforms in South Carolina). I could easily see having students draw it on the right hand side of their notebook. The picture came from the following second grade class BLOG.

Pop Ups in Notebooking

Earlier I wrote a post about this fun pop up card site. I haven't had a chance to use it in a classroom but two Social Studies teachers I know have.

They had their fourth grade students make the pop up explorer ship and write facts about Christopher Columbus. One teacher had her students put it in their notebook and the other teacher put them out in the hall. They turned out very cute!

I did do pop up cards with my Girl Scout troop using the turkey and though that might make a good ELA lesson. Students could practice their writing skills and let their families know what they are thankful for.

3-2-1 Pyramid

I saw this done in a social studies notebook and I really liked the structure. It is called a 3-2-1 review, which I have heard of before and use when kids are watching science videos to keep them engaged (list three things you learned, two things you thought were interesting, and one question you had).

In this example of a 3-2-1 review for the notebook students drew a pyramid. On the bottom part of the pyramid the students had to list three facts. The second part of the pyramid they had to list two “whys” and at the top they had to write a summarizing sentence. I liked this as a right hand assignment.

I have friends that are in an astronomy unit and they can use this structure to have children write three facts about the sun, two reasons why the sun is so important, and then a summarizing sentence.

Origami Tshirts - Part II

Earlier I wrote a post about an origami shirt - see post here. I had my Girl Scouts do the activity as part of an energy badge we are working on. The girls had to make an energy pledge and depict it on the shirt. My example is pictured above.

Sadly the girls pretty much copied my example (isn't that the way it always is????). Next time I think I would do a better job of discussing different things we can do to save energy and NOT show them an example.

I thought this might be a fun activity for teachers to do with Earth Day in April (not necessarily with energy). Students can brainstorm all kinds of different ways they can help protect the Earth.

I showed the shirts to a friend of mine and she used them in her ELA class. Students had to investigate their name - interview their parents, look up the meaning of their name online, discuss how they felt about their name. They then wrote up a short piece in Word and glued it on their origami shirt and decorated around it (she used large pieces of construction paper). It looked like a fun project and the kids seemed to be enjoying it.

I thought it could be done in a social studies notebook. Students could draw a scene from whatever they were studying, glue it in the notebook, and underneath write about the scenes.

Pop Up Cube Part II

About an hour after I made my last post, where I uploaded an embedded YouTube video, I made one of the popup cube wallets. It wasn't that hard. I probably wouldn't have any grade below 4th try it. It would be great if I can get our art teacher to do it with the kids (not sure if he would be willing or not). That way they can work on what goes on the cube in science class. I would like it to be a little bit bigger but I am thinking that I can enlarge the template on the copier. You definitely have to use card stock paper for both the cube and wallet for stability purposes.

Above is a short (30 second) video of my finished cube.

The website for the PDF templates can be found HERE. Scroll down until you see the Pop Up Cube in Wallet video and just below it are the templates.

Pop Up Cube

I saw this video on YouTube and thought it would be great for a notebook. Not sure kids can handle the craft or not. I am going to try it tonight and might try with my group of Girl Scouts next week.

Paper Pull Outs

I had seen a project on the internet that involved a pull out tab on a teapot and I have been thinking about how it can be used in notebooking. Today I had my "Aha moment" :)

I know my examples above are social studies based and that is only because I happen to be meeting with some social studies teachers this week. The concept would still apply to science.

One social studies teacher is entering a unit about westward expansion. I thought she could take the groups they discuss and students would choose a group (rancher, Native American, Asian immigrants, miners, etc.) to do a pull out tab person for their right hand assignment (my example was of a cowboy/rancher) - the fourth picture is what the back looks like. When finished the edges only would be glued to the notebook (leaving the tab to move freely in and out of the hat). Students would have to finish writing their information on the tab before the edges of the picture got glued in the book (very hard to write on the tab once it is already glued in the book...learned the hard way :)

Another teacher I am meeting with is doing a unit on explorers - so my two bottom examples were of a viking and Christopher Columbus ship.

I freehand copied clip art pictures on the internet because I can't draw at all. I did a Google image search for "viking clip art" and found a forward facing viking and freehand sketched it for this project.

I am hoping to convince these two teachers to do this project. If I am successful I will post some student samples!