Tuesday Timesaver ~ Color coding composition books

I'm linking up with Kristin of My Carolina Classroom for a Tuesday Timesaver.

Today's tip was shared with me during a really, really, REALLY long and boring training over the summer.  We use Interactive Notebooks, which I love, but with 867,462 things in the student desks, locating the correct notebook can take forever.  Each student color coded their notebooks to match the color codes I have for the subject area.

We used the edge of a crayon to color the edges of the paper on each composition notebook.  I gave them 1 minute to color each notebook and now they can easily spot which of the 5 journals in their desk is the correct one without having to pull out all of them (and everything else that's hiding in there...scary.)

What's your time saver tip?

Pumpkin Project: Day 9

We have germination!  Yesterday the pumpkin had two little sprouts started.  The class was very excited.  Today five more seeds germinated!

Yesterday and today students drew and wrote about the changes and what they saw about the project.  We are incorporating as much vocabulary as we can. 

We used one of the students exclamations for our sentence today.  Well, with some tweaking.  After seeing the pumpkin on the document camera he called out, "Five seeds have sprouted!".  We discussed the changes and decided to change sprouted to germinated.  Nice.

The journals are upside down because they have a dual purpose.  One side is the Math Journal.  They flip the journal to the back cover and use it as a Science Lab Notebook.  Students will use the notebook until they reach the middle.  Then they will get to start Volume 2.

Side note:  The pumpkin is starting to mold a bit around the inside edges.  I am glad I put the pumpkin in a bowl.  I also keep the pumpkin outside during the school day.  We have had the "Don't Touch the Pumpkin" talk, but I know it can be very tempting.  So far, I am still very happy with this project.

Download Pumpkin Project from TpT!

Pumpkin Project 2012: Day 1

 

We started our Pumpkin Project today!  I pre-cut a hole in the pumpkin and shaved off the seeds and pulp sticking to the top.  The students and I added potting soil slowly and loosely.  I shook the pumpkin and tapped it to get the soil to settle to the bottom.*  Then we added a little water and placed the pumpkin in a big bowl.  We set it by the window for some sun.

Next we completed the Pumpkin Project Hypothesis page.  The students were cracking me up with their predictions.  How many seeds will germinate? 10, 71, 100, 1000, all of them.  How many days will it take to germinate a seed? 1 day, 75 days, 100 days.  I guess we need to do some estimation lessons.  I was proud that they all thought the seeds will germinate because we are giving it dirt (food), water and light.

They also drew a picture of what the pumpkin will look like at the end of the project and of the steps to preparing the pumpkin.

The students glued their hypothesis sheets into their Science Journals.  We did the project about 11:45.  For the rest of the day the students kept checking the pumpkin for sprouts.  They would walk away a little discouraged.  Imagine the excitement if it germinates soon!

*A colleague of mine put soil in the pumpkin and stuck her hand in to mix it with the pulp.  I thought that might be a good idea.  We will see which soil strategy works better.  It will be good data for next year.

Pumpkin Project: Printables Post

FREE: Pumpkin Project ~ Use the Scientific Method during a Pumpkin Growing Experiment

My co-worker found this pumpkin growing experiment on Pinterest.  I think it is great and am going to try it with my first graders on Monday.  I created a few Science Journal pages for this project.  The download is available for *FREE* on my TpT store.  Please share your experiences with this project.  I will have more pictures and anecdotes as the seeds germinate and the students interact with the pumpkin.

The Pumpkin Project uses the scientific method during a grow pumpkins in a pumpkin experiment. This project includes:
*Hypothesis page
*"Pumpkin Observation: Day__" pages for journals or booklets
*Evaluation page.

Students pages include fill in the blanks, free response and illustrated responses.

I start the experiment on October 1, but it can be started in September or November as well. Seeds generally take 4-7 days to germinate. Pumpkins grow to full size in approximately 120 days.

Vocabulary in experiment: hypothesis, predict, germinate, observation, evaluation, confirmed, experiment

Pumpkin Project 2012: Day 1