Teacher’s Brain

Category: Teaching Tips

Science Lessons For Kids: What Is A Scientist?

Science, Teaching Tips

Science is such an important part of elementary curriculum. We set the foundation for our students to understand important science concepts later on. Creating meaningful science lesson plans that students can really learn from is essential. 

A great way for students to begin to really grasp science and have a FUN, positive learning experience is to teach them how to see themselves as scientists. Putting themselves in a scientist’s shoes can really get their minds working and understanding the subject. 

What is a scientist?

I like to start the school year off with the first lessons focusing on what a scientist really is. A scientist is someone who observes, thinks and discovers how things work. A scientist has expert knowledge on a particular subject.

The next step is to move into what tools does a scientist use? Teach about safety equipment including goggles, gloves, and masks. Other tools you can teach include rulers, thermometers, measuring cups, beakers, hand lens, globe, etc. 

Next you’ll want to teach the scientific method. The scientific method is a way for a scientist to study and learn new things. 

Teach your students the steps: 

  1. Ask a question
  2. Gather information and observe
  3. Guess the answer or make a hypothesis
  4. Test your hypothesis
  5. Analyze your test results
  6. Make a conclusion

After covering this with your students, dive into some fun experiments! Plan to do lots of STEM activities to engage your students and make learning about science fun. Interactive notebooks are great for helping students collect data and easily integrate writing into your lessons.

To help make this lesson easy to plan, I created this What Is A Scientist 3 Week Unit! 

It includes 3 full weeks of detailed science lesson plans with interactive notebook pages, posts, and hands on activities that are fun and engaging for your students. Examples include gummy bear science, rainbow milk magic, and mixing primary colors to make observations. This unit is perfect for preK, kindergarten, 1st grade, or homeschool students. 

Science Lessons For Kids

science lessons for kids

Interested in a full year of science lesson plans? Check out my Science Curriculum Yearlong Bundle. For more tips, check out my post here.

What are your best tips for teaching science to younger students? Let me know in the comments!

 

Science lesson

Social Distance Greetings for Students

Distance Learning, Teaching Tips

No-Touch Greetings for Students

Greeting students in the morning is going to be especially important this fall with a pandemic hanging around.  Welcoming students in the classroom is a great way to help students feel welcome and leave any problems they might have from home at the door.  Teachers want schools to open safely this year.  Social distance greetings for students can help with the transition from home to classroom.

Here are some no-touch social distance greetings you can do with your students:

  • Foot Bump
  • Jazz Hands
  • Namaste
  • Wave
  • Blow a Kiss
  • Bow
  • Curtsy
  • Wink
  • Peace Sign
  • Smile
  • Air Hug
  • Thumbs Up
  • Air Five
  • Air Fist Pump
  • Raise the Roof
  • Pretend to Tip Your Hat
  • Salute

How to Teach Distant Greetings

I would have students pick a greeting before they get to school to do at the door and an action for how to say goodbye.  These activities should be quick. You can make a sign that has the actions that hangs on the wall by the door for a reminder.  Hang posters and share other distance greeting activities to help students get in a routine of greeting each other.  I recommend having a few actions and then changing the activities out every month to keep them engaged. Create your own or check out Teachers Pay Teachers for some great resources already made for teachers.  Using Velcro will make it easy for teachers to change the greetings regularly.

Social Distancing Greetings for Kids

Jack Hartmann has a wonderful song to help teach how to greet someone without touching and remind students how to stay 6 feet away from others in the classroom.  Check it out! Thank you JACK!

Netiquette for Kids and Adults

Bullying, education, Teaching Tips

Netiquette Guidelines for Online Learning and Communicating

First, let us look at the definition of netiquette.  Netiquette is the correct or acceptable way of communicating on the Internet. The core rules are to remember the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Your written words are read by real people who all are deserving of respectful communication.  Before you press send, ask yourself, “Would I be okay with this if someone else had written it?” or “Do I care if a room full of strangers hears these words?”

It’s important to remember netiquette varies from domain to domain.  Depending on where you are in the virtual world, the same written communication can be acceptable on one domain, where it might be inappropriate on another.  KNOWING YOUR AUDIENCE is something that will help you with communication just like if you are in the real world.

Respect Others

You should respect others and make yourself look “good” online.  One of the BEST and WORST things about the virtual world is you will be judged on the quality of your writing. Always check for spelling and grammar errors, know what you are talking about, state it clearly and most importantly be polite. Some sites have their own type of language due to limiting text or site terms.  Before you participate in a discussion on a new site, take time to research that site’s slang or acronyms.

Don’t abuse your power or feed the flames.  If you see a lot of angry posts being exchanged, don’t jump in and be hateful with others even it they reflect your same feelings.  Think about how you can respond in a way to make the conversation more productive and extinguish future angry postings. In addition, angry postings usually don’t change people’s minds.  As a result, negative posts can close off a conversation that could have ended with a deeper understanding of both sides.

Forgiveness

Be forgiving of other people’s mistakes.  Not everyone has the same experience in the virtual world.  Some people don’t know netiquette.  You will see stupid questions, misspelled words, cyber bullying and hate filled comments.  If it’s a minor “offense,” you might want to just let it go.  If you feel compelled to respond to a mistake, do it in PRIVATE, not on a public forum to avoid cyber bullying.  I know I have posted spelling errors in the past and really appreciate a kind private message.  I have seen memories pop up about how I felt years ago and don’t feel the same way today. People change all the time.

CONTROL YOUR ZONE

Don’t be afraid to block people.  Each domain has different ways for you to snooze, block, hide, report or delete comments.  USE THEM.  You do NOT have to attend every argument you are invited to. Especially when we know there are trolls who are there just to instigate cyber fights. Think before you respond.

Here is a list of my TOP 5 Netiquette topics I share with kids and adults who are on the internet:

  • Cyberbullying is saying something to purposefully scare, injure, or hurt another person or ruining someone else’s reputation.
  • RUDE LANGUAGE  – Using curse words, or calling names is not using good manners.  Dirty jokes are not acceptable.  Use kind words.
  • CAPITAL LETTERS – USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS IS YELLING!
  • Laws – If it is illegal to do it outside the internet, it’s illegal on the internet. Think before you type.
  • Sarcasm is a source of plenty of misguided arguments online.  What seems like a joke to you is not to others. Be polite, respectful and direct when communicating. Of course, if you are in a private area with someone who knows your personality you can get by with more.  Remember to know your audience.

What do you do if you are a victim of cyber attacks or negative comments?

  • If it’s a crime, call 911 or if you are a child tell an adult.
  • If someone is hopeless or suicidal contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline online or at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
  • A child is being bullied in school, contact the teacher, counselor, principal or parent.
  • If the school doesn’t respond, contact the superintendent, State Department of Education or Department of Justice.
  • If it is offensive, don’t respond.  Do report it to the site admin. Block the person and delete comments.  You are in control of your zone.

A great  interactive learning resource for educators and parents, Sammy’s Guide to Internet Safety. The guide teaches kids how to enjoy the internet safely while providing fun activities and games.

Reading Comprehension Strategies

Reading, Teacher's Pay Teachers, Teaching Tips

Learning to read is a huge accomplishment for students. Going from needing help with books to being able to read it by themselves is a big deal! Sometimes, however, actually comprehending what they are reading can be a little more challenging. 

It is important to know how to read, but it is even more important for them to understand what they are reading. It is not only an absolutely necessary  life skill, but it can open up a whole new world and encourage a love of reading. 

Here are some strategies that you can use to help your students achieve reading comprehension and fluency. 

  • Find books your students will love. Finding the right book can make all the difference when students are learning to read. Books that they will enjoy will inspire them to put in the work and understand the words they are reading. 
  • Read aloud. Encouraging students to read out loud can get them plenty of practice reading and it can also help you identify where they might be struggling. 
  • Use metacognitive strategies. These can be great for increasing reading comprehension. For instance, pausing while reading aloud to ask the student to vocalize their thoughts can help them to understand what they are trying to comprehend. 
  • Reread sections that are confusing. Making sure to revisit difficult sections until they understand is important. It can help better identify where they are struggling and work together to understand. 
  • Use a ruler or finger to follow along. Helping students stay on track while reading can help them follow along with the story and decrease the risk of confusion. 
  • Write down words you don’t know. Writing it down and working on it will help them better remember it in the future. 
  • Discuss what the child has just read. Having a discussion can help the student think through what they just read and also help you point out areas they might be struggling in. 
  • Recap and summarize the main points. This will be great practice for students working on their comprehension. 
  • Reading passages and answering questions. Find some fun and engaging reading comprehension activities for your students to practice with. 

Great news, I created some fun activities to help with this!

These reading comprehension activities are perfect for helping students get more practice and achieve fluency. They are set up through Google Classroom so they are distance learning friendly. These include written instructions, listening options, drag to complete the sentence activities, word families, and 20 reading comprehension passages and questions. 

This option is perfect for Kindergarten and 1st grade. 

This option is perfect for 1st and 2nd grade.

 

Reading Comprehension Activities

 

Want more information on reading comprehension? Check out my post here to learn more about my strategies. 

 

Do you have any strategies for helping your students with reading comprehension? I would love to hear in the comments!