I love giving primary kids a chance to explore science on their own!  Many of my Next Gen Science units have exploration stations built in because of this teaching core belief of mine.  Here's a look at the hands on Force exploration stations for kindergartners!

Ramps

This can be as simple as using dry erase boards as ramps for cars, balls, or blocks.  Put all of these materials at this station and have students explore how the objects move the same or differently on the ramp.

My kiddo tried this angle first.  He just let the car go without pushing it.

Then, he decided to make it steeper to go farther.

But the table stopped the motion of the car because of the steep change in angles.  This was definitely not what he expected!

So then, he made the angle less steep.  And the car rolled the farthest at this angle!

Questions to explore at this station are...

How can we make the objects move down the ramp faster?

Slower?

Which objects go down the ramp the fastest? Why?

Bowling

Use recycled and empty water bottles and a foam ball to set up a simple bowling station.  Students will explore what causes the bottles to fall down.

Questions to explore at this station are...

What force makes the water bottles fall?

How can I make more bottles fall?

Straws

At this station, students will use (their own!) straw to try to blow cotton balls across the desk or table!
    

We discovered two straws were better than one! #thatface

Questions to explore at this station are...

What force makes the cotton ball move?

How can I make the cotton ball move slower?

Faster?

Chair Pulleys

I love this station because when done right, it really causes kids to think!  Tie a rope around two chairs facing back to back with a bucket hanging from the rope.

Students must try to move the bucket around the chairs without actually touching the bucket!

Questions to explore...

What force is causing the bucket to move?

Why does this work without me touching it?

How can I move the bucket faster?

Slower?

Tools

This is a popular one for boys!  Who knew boys were exploring force when they are role playing at their play work tables/construction zones!

Questions to explore with tools....

How can I force the nail/screws in?

How can I make them come out?

You can find these exploration stations and more force activities in this unit!
You know that math kid.  That one who draws pictures to solve his math problem.

Every. Single Day.

And no matter what you say, she keeps drawing bubbles.

Do you have that math kid in your room too?  Cause some years I've had like 10 of them!

Maybe your kids aren't counting all anymore, but you can't get them to quit counting on, or drawing tens and ones...the concept is still the same...and still as frustrating!

How do we get kids to quit direct modeling or drawing pictures, or whatever we want them to quit doing and move on to more appropriate math strategies?  Let's talk about how I use the word EFFICIENT to help kids move beyond drawing bubbles!

What Does It Mean To Be Efficient?

An efficient math strategy is the quickest way to solve a problem that I understand.  In first grade, we start off by generating strategies.

Throughout the year, we chart strategies as they are shared during math talks or during story problems.  We learn from the very beginning how to identify and name a strategy. (Note this chart is one from several years ago and we had not added strategies like tens and ones yet.)

We start the second half of the year practicing using multiple strategies.  I encourage kids to have more than one strategy ready to share during math talks.  And during our story problem time, I have them show me two ways to solve the same problem instead of showing one strategy for 4 different problems.

The next week, our focus is on picking the best strategy for each story problem and number set.  We read a digital book called Finding Bingo.  (The dog is lost and we are generating ways to find him and deciding which way is the best.)  Then, we introduce the word EFFICIENT.  We talk about what it means and chart some synonyms.

What Are Efficient Math Strategies?

Once we understand what efficient means, we go back to our "Model With Math" chart and evaluate our strategies.

Is this strategy efficient? Why or why not?

Then, we color code our strategies.  This works best if you add strategies to your "Model With Math" chart on index cards from the beginning of the year.  Then, use tape to add them to your chart.

Once you are ready to categorize them into efficient and inefficient, it will be easy to move and you won't have to rewrite them!

In first grade, at the beginning of the year, all strategies are welcome as long as it fits the story.  Any strategies you share that result in the correct answer are "green strategies."

Any strategy that doesn't fit the story, is inefficient and we call a "red strategy."  A red strategy is a strategy that will not ever result in the correct answer.  That could be doing nothing.  Or subtracting on an addition story, etc.

In upper grades, move strategies to red when students are "not allowed" to use these anymore.  And if you see a red strategy as you conference, you simply mark through it with a red crayon and have them choose another strategy.  Be careful not to move strategies to red too quickly.  We don't want to take away strategies that build understanding for kids who need them too soon!

By January (at the latest), we don't want students counting all anymore.  So, once we discuss why counting all is inefficient, we move that strategy from green to yellow.

"Yellow strategies" result in the correct answer, but are a much SLOWER way to solve.  When I am assessing story problems, these would be a "2" on my rubric or below basic.  Notice that yellow strategies include drawing and counting all AND drawing all, but counting on.

If you are in second grade, you may start out with these as yellow strategies at the beginning of the year, and move more over as your year progresses.  This is super easy to differentiate between grade levels, but keep the same language for kids throughout the school!

"Green strategies" are the ones that quickly get us the correct answer.  But they also are strategies that we understand and could teach to a friend.  For example, decomposing 10s and 1s is efficient for the kid who understands it, but for a kiddo who doesn't understand 10s and 1s, it is not an efficient strategy.

This is where it gets tricky.  Not all green strategies are appropriate for every kid.  They have to be able to find a strategy that makes sense to them, and makes sense with the problem or number set.

These strategies are posted with our Model With Math chart so that we can use them during share time.

How Can I Use This With Small Groups?

If you follow my Guided Math Workshop Curriculum, you share during your small group time.  This makes it very easy to differentiate and only add green strategies that each group is ready for.

And it makes total sense to have a different green chart for each group!

As you share your strategies, have kids color a yellow, red or green bubble next to each of their strategies to determine if it is efficient or not.


For the yellow strategies that we find, we talk as a group about how to improve the strategy to make it efficient.

What is inefficient about this? (Reference the efficient chart)
How can we make it more efficient?

Make the word efficient part of your sharing routine helps move our kids beyond those strategies we need them to "drop."

You can find this lesson and materials in my Guided Math Workshop Plans.

In kindergarten and first grade, we have poetry folders that we use for fluency practice.  A while back, I blogged about my routine for poetry folders in first grade here.

So what does fluency practice look like in second grade?  Each day's routines are quick and easy and should take less that 5-10 minutes each day once you build the routine in your classroom!  Let's chat about fluency folder routines for 2nd graders!

Tuesday

The fluency folder routines start on Tuesdays with my 2nd grade phonics curriculum.  On Tuesday, students get the new fluency passage for the week.

Give them 2 quiet minutes to scan the passage for sight words to circle or highlight.  Then, they will spend the rest of the 2 minutes reading the passage quietly.

With the Digital Phonics Curriculum, the sight words are on the screen for the kids to find.  But you can definitely just write the sight words for them to look for or have them just look for ones they know!

When the 2 minute timer goes off (that's the black bar across the bottom), you model read the passage expressively as they follow along.

Then, just briefly talk about the passage by asking about 3 comprehension questions about the passage.  After you have discussed the passage, students will add the passage to their fluency folders.

Wednesday

On Wednesdays, kids get out their fluency passage and buddy read the passage.  Set a 4 minute timer and walk around and monitor as the buddies set elbow to elbow and knee to knee to take turns reading and listening or reading together.

The goal today is to let buddy 1 read, then buddy 2 read, and then both choral read together before the 4 minute timer is up.

Thursday

On Thursdays, students get their fluency passages out and read independently.  Set a 1 minute timer.  Kids will try and finish reading the fluency passage in the 1 minute.

The decodable fluency passages I have are written with an appropriate amount of words for second graders to read in one minute or less.  The passages start off with only 50 words and at the end of the year have 90 words.



Friday

There is no fluency folder routine for Fridays or Mondays built into the second grade phonics curriculum.  This is just to give you some flexibility.  For example, start the routine on Monday if you have more lower readers in your class and do Thursday's routine twice to give them practice and more time to build their fluency.

Fridays can be used for assessments.  During guided reading groups, take a few minutes to pull back some kids and do running records on their fluency passage for the week.  This will be a sure way to get data on grade level texts each week!  Want to learn more about running records?  Read this blog post.

Where Can I Find the Fluency Passages?

These fluency passages can be found here.  Or you can find them in my bundle of 2nd Grade Digital Phonics Curriculum!
   


In first grade, my favorite math games are the easiest!  And they all use only one material...

A pack of playing cards!

Today, let's talk about two of my favorite math card games that are great for building base 10 understanding!

Total of 10

In total of 10, students are trying to find cards that total 10.  The goal is to empty their total of 10 board so that they have no cards left.

I love this game because it's a solitaire style game...and it can be played independently or as a team.  Here's how to play!

Layout 20 cards in a 5x4 array.

Then, pick up cards that total 10.

When I model this game whole group, students quickly find pairs that make 10.  And then, we get stuck because there are no more card pairs to make 10.  So, I push them by saying, "I still see cards that can make 10.  Do you?"

And we discover that we can use 3 or more numbers to make 10!

The game is over when we cannot make any more totals of 10.  Again, the goal is to have as few cards left over as possible.  This is actually difficult to clear the board entirely.  Try it as an adult...it's kinda addicting! #ilovecardgames

This game can easily be differentiated by playing total of 20 with your higher kids.  And for my struggling learners, we use 10 frames to scaffold and help them play successfully.  You can see that intervention in action along with the recording sheets we use in this blog post.

Add It Up By Tens

This game is the next level up from total of 10.  We play this one later in the year.  Set up this game just like total of 10 in an array of 5x4.  This time you will be adding all of the numbers by composing groups of ten.  As you find a total of 10, leave the pile to the side.  When no more tens can be found, add up the groups of tens and the left overs to find the total.

Then, students record how they found the total...

I love this game because it pushes kids to use a base 10 strategy to add.  This is great for kiddos who insist on counting on or all and never attempt to compose 10s!

Tens Go Fish

This game is basically like Go Fish except you are pairing cards that make ten.  For this game, I always post a sentence frame for students to use as they play.

"I have 2.  Do you have an 8 to make 10?"


This game is played with 2-4 players and is great to play before playing total of 10 to build fluency with pairs of 10.

You can also find ways to scaffold this game for your struggling learners in this blog post.

These games and lesson plans to go along with them can be found in my Guided Math Workshop Plans or Curriculum Bundle!
   

Food always make learning better!  And food is the perfect medium for learning about matter.

My kiddo and I had a blast learning about the states of matter and enjoying a root beer float!  Here's a look at this engaging, Next Gen Science aligned experiment.

What You'll Need

For this states of matter science lab, you'll need...
*clear plastic cups
*clear spoons
*root beer (these small mini-cans would be perfect for parters or individual kiddos to share!)
*vanilla ice-cream
*ice-cream scoop

Science Lab Steps

Before this experiment, we front loaded our knowledge of the states of matter ome pebblego articles, and through sorting and observing properties of matter.  We also sorted objects by their state of matter.

On science lab day, we set out all of our materials and talked about which were solids, liquids and gases.  We recorded our ideas on our lab sheet.  Then, we predicted whether the root beer and ice cream would change.  We wrote our predictions.

Then, it was time to cook up the float.  You will want to do these steps altogether so that partners don't work ahead and ruin the fun for someone else close by.  So, everyone makes the float together.

We added the ice-cream and observed any changes....and then licked the scoop! :)

No changes...yet.

Then, we added the root beer and observed any changes.

BAM! Changes!  We loved seeing the liquid fizz up into a gas!  We recorded our results in the root beer column.



Then, we let the float sit for about an hour.  While we were waiting, we drew and labeled the float.

Then we observed the changes in the ice-cream!

Oh yeah, and while we waited on the ice-cream to melt we made our own floats to eat!

If you are doing this in the classroom, just save your ice cream float for an hour and let the kids eat theirs!  You can all observe the extra float after an hour.

You can find this experiment and tons more activities in this Next Gen Science Matter unit.
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