Animal Science Unit

I have bit the dust and finally decided to make something that isn't reading, math, or classroom management related.  I made an Animal Science Unit.  You can purchase it on TPT for 50% off through July 4th HERE. This unit has fun posters, task cards, games, worksheets, assessments, and a project.  It is very heavy on vocabulary and applying the vocabulary.  Many of the things also come in B/W.  See the actual description or table of contents for exactly what pieces are b/w and which are in color only.  The amazing clip art is from Teachers Clip Art!

There are 20 vocabulary words: mammal, birds, amphibian, reptile, fish, insects, vertebrate, invertebrate, herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, consumer, producer, food chain, organism, environment, adaptation, predator, prey, and habitat.

 Here's a couple of pictures of games in the packet. 

Here's a couple of pictures of one of the worksheets and part of the assessment!

You can see an example of the project by checking out a previous blog post by clicking HERE

Any questions on this unit let me know!  I am very excited about it.  You can get it at my TPT store by click HERE or any of the pictures above.  I will update it with links to my other stores soon.

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Day 7: Winter Vocabulary Flash Cards

I hope everyone had the chance to snag the cute Multiplication Monster game yesterday!  I also hope you are all finding some brand new blog, stores, and FB pages to follow!  I can't believe we are already at Day 7 of the freebies to celebrate my blog's Blogiversary!

Today's freebie comes from Kim and Deborah.  These two wonderful ladies have a blog geared mostly toward Spanish called "Teaching Spanish Beginning Sounds."  The freebie today though is in English, but would work well for ESOL (ELL) learners!  Click on the button to visit them and become a follower today.  Tell these ladies thanks for the kind freebie!

Today's freebie, which is only free for today, is called "Winter Vocabulary Flash Cards."  These are cute cards with pictures on them and then word underneath. They would be so perfect to go on a bulletin board for your students when they are writing stories so they don't have to ask you how to spell this word or that work.  Click on the picture to get the freebie and please leave us a kind comment so we know how many of you downloaded the freebie!  Thanks a million!

Please be sure to become a follower or say something nice to these ladies on their blog, TPT store called Doodles and Kreations, and FB page today!

Tomorrow's freebie comes to us from Lori from The Kindergarten Pod.  Please click HERE to visit her blog and become a follower today!  Tell her that you are looking forward to her exclusive freebie!

As always thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings!  Keep on smiling!

Make Learning Part of Your Child’s Holiday Cooking Experience

Today, I have a guest blogger, Kellie from StudyDog.  She wrote an excellent article for me using cooking as a learning tool for your children.  Be sure to click on the hyperlink and give Kellie and StudyDog some love! 

 

Make Learning Part of Your Child’s Holiday Cooking

It’s no secret that many kids love to help out in the kitchen and with the holiday cooking season at its peak, now is an ideal time to get some extra help from your children. While they are helping out, cooking also presents opportunities to sneak in lessons in reading, math and science.

Photo Credit: Eric Delcroix

“Cooking creates a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time with your children and may also help them keep up with some of their academic skills during the holiday break with a variety of school subjects being used,” said Deme Clainos, a spokesman for StudyDog, an interactive reading program geared toward elementary students. “The recipes you make together may even become part of your regular holiday traditions in the years to come.”

Before you start cooking, take time to read through the list of ingredients and instructions together. For those just learning to read, spend time letting kids sound out new words and have them repeat the word a few times. Challenge more advanced readers by having them spell different words from the recipe.

The recipe might include some new words and technical terms your children may have not heard before. As you proceed, answer their questions and help them gain even stronger reading comprehension as they see the new vocabulary words in action. Some new terms might include glaze, fold, zest and whisk.

Photo Credit: qwrrty Foter

Keep kids engaged in the process by assigning tasks that you know they can handle like measuring, stirring, mixing and seasoning. Have helpers stand on chairs or stools so they can see what you are doing. Ask and answer lots of questions about the process and ingredients.

Cooking also offers opportunities to build math, science and problem-solving skills. From counting the different ingredients, to more advanced math skills like division, multiplication and fractions, mathematics can be integrated into your child’s cooking experience at a level kids are comfortable with. Science comes into play when answering questions about how different ingredients like yeast or baking soda affect the final product.

Cooking also teaches kids how to work as a team, and communicate and share with each other.

Photo Credit: Matthew Oliphant

There are a number of books available that teach children about cooking and include several kid-friendly recipes. Some are even dedicated to teaching math and science lessons as you cook. A few recommendations include “The Kid’s Cookbook: A Great Book for Kids Who Love to Cook!” by Abigail Johnson Dodge, “Eat Your Math Homework: Recipes for Hungry Minds,” by Ann McCallum, “Betty Crocker’s Kids Cook!” and “Science Experiments You Can Eat,” by Vicki Cobb.

What recipes do you plan to make with your children this holiday season? 

During December StudyDog is offering a special $10 discount for a one-year subscription. For more information, visit https://www.studydog.com/parents/decemberoffer/. Use the promo code SDL1L65.

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays - Week of April 30th

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you had a great week. How many days of school do you have left? We have 15 for the children after today and 1 more for us teachers!

- In blog news I am over 49,000 views, you all are simply amazing for viewing my blog over and over again. Don't forget to hop on over on the 6th to get a freebie that is in the $3 to $8 range from me! It will only be free Sunday.

- In 5th grade news, the children continue to use manners when they get a treat or a snack, which is nice to see! There have been times when they have been really really quiet doing their work. I am also pleased that almost every student scored a 100% on the last Vocabulary test last Friday! Spelling test scores also went up considerably with nearly everyone passing! Whohohoooooooo! One of my students also made me a drawing that I proudly hung in the classroom!

- A very sweet Kindergarten child saw me over looking her balcony earlier this week and yelled my name and waved as I walked into the school. She put a huge smile on my face. What a bucket filler she is! - Some of the 3rd/4th graders were sweet enough to sign my yearbook that I just had to buy since I know so many of the children in that school. One even wrote that he will miss me and another wrote to have a Happy Summer! I'll be letting the 5th graders that want to sign it and sign each others the last few days of school for something fun to do.

- I continue to get hugs, smiles, and hellos from the Kindergarten, 3rd and 4th grade children. Even some other 5th grade children, 1st graders, 2nd graders, and a couple of 6th grades have been saying good morning or hi to me lately. One gave me a candy bar, which was super sweet! It is a great feeling to feel loved by most of the children. These kids are bucket fillers.

- I also filled the bucket of a sweet 3rd grader who really loves horses.  I told her about the new Flicka movie that is on DVD and she just got so excited and full of smiles.  She said she is going to have to watch that!  I know I made her day!

 - Administration continues to be such a big help. They always have something so nice to say to me and have told me that I am doing a great job and they know how hard it is to take over for a class at the end of the year. These two are bucket fillers and I hope to get to work for them next year!

- The teachers in this school continue to amaze me. The wonderful 3rd/4th grade teacher gave me a great idea for lessons, which I have been using daily this week and it's working really well! I have a wonderful teacher who has been assisting me with helping children in the class who need extra help. A few other teachers are coming in to help offer suggestions and help out with children too. I have never seen such teamwork before. These teachers are bucket fillers and the children are benefiting because of it! If any of you are reading this, thank you so much!

- In non-school related news I am headed to a 3 day country music concert called Runaway Country this weekend! It's going to be a whole lot of fun! I get to meet Steve Holy and for the 3rd time Chris Young! I can't wait!

Brian :-)