Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Science, Stem, and lots of Magnets!

My class is just finishing up our magnet unit and I have to say the learning that has been going on in this classroom amazes me! I am so proud of my students, and lets face it, myself too! I can honestly say now that the change from eight years of ELA to Science/Social Studies this year, might have been just the refresher I needed in my educational career. I am excited to come to work, excited to see my students wonder, learn, and discover, and am blown away by the expectations of the new NGSS

We've been drawing diagrams, collecting and analyzing data, explaining our thinking, and proving our answers. Check out this gorgeous diagram below explaining what the student learned in the static electricity center.


Some examples of our magnet centers. I will post more about them soon, I promise!



Have you heard of Gizmos? They are interactive stimulation lab activities that are awesome! They work from 4th grade all the way up through middle/high school and are math/science focused. 

Luckily Gizmos work on Chrome Books and our students love them. In one half of the picture below students are learning about materials that are attracted to magnets and other materials that are repelled by magnets. In the other half of the picture, students are discovering how to use field lines to tell if magnets will be attracted or repelled. Pretty high tech four fourth grade, isn't it! ;) 

So that's what we've been up to in the classroom over the past few weeks. I have so much more to blog about and share with you. Do you teach about magnets? My students also really enjoyed working on homework that applies directly to our current unit. I also feel that it is a great home/school connection and I received a ton of positive feedback from parents on the quick, meaningful, reading passages assigned. Check out the packet on magnets. Not only are these packets created with short passages, but also ELA standards are addressed when the student has to create a one-two sentence summary, diagram, and find choice vocabulary to help them remember the content. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Magnets-Science-Articles-w-Comprehension-Paired-Text-Questions-2413773




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