03 February 2012

Planets, Stars and Space... Oh My! (giveaway and freebies)

We made it through another week! Man these kiddos have been all sorts of crazy! We've spent the last few weeks learning all about the solar system and snowmen. Quite the combination, right? This year our school has gone to a school-wide science theme schedule. Each month we have a focus, which is taught K-5. There is a list of vocabulary words for each focus, and the thought is that by 5th grade, the kids will have a strong grasp on all of the words. Of course, each grade has their own twist on the theme, and we only teach what is grade appropriate. To be honest, so months have been more fun than others, but it seems to be working well so far.

This month our focus has been the solar system. I haven't taught this since my very first year teaching, so it was so fun to revisit! Our goal was to introduce the kids to the concept of the solar system, but to mostly just focus on the 8 planets. We want them to know their names, the order of the planets, and a few facts about each. We've also introduces the earth's orbits, and rotations. The kids have had a blast, and we have as well. Here are a few activities that we've done with them.
Click {HERE} to get a copy of our planet book.
The first graders water colored the planets, and then made a poster out of them.
We made a few posters of all of the planet facts we've learned.
This next week our school is having a door decorating contest to celebrate Love of Reading Month. Since we were on a space kick, we kept the theme going with STAR: Sit, Think and Read. Each rocket shows a picture of a student reading, and we included another set of water colored planets to really make it look like space.
This isn't ours, but had to share. One of our 5th grade students made this INCREDIBLE model of the solar system. This picture really doesn't do it justice. (*I apologize for the photo quality btw, I left my camera at home and had to use my phone for many pics.) The bright stars are actually Christmas lights. Isn't it cool?

And of course this isn't all we've done. We loved this theme so much that we had to create a fun unit to go along with it! Introducing our newest baby, Planets, Stars and Space... Oh My! She is a 70 page unit packed with planet-themed activities, and lessons for teaching your first graders all about the planets. Included in this unit:

*planet posters

*planet game board & cards

*”BLAST” sight word game

*fact family activities (3)

-including worksheets

*addition/subtraction game

*mnemonic device poster

*original mini-book

*Planet report

*Planet riddles

*planet cards

*inner & outer planet activities

*sentence builders

*Word sort

*color & b/w printable planets


Here's a little preview of what you'll get!


Click {HERE} or on the picture below to head on over to our store to check out our Planet Pack.

Need some Solar System vocabulary cards? Check these out!
Make sure to grab these for free too!
Vocab Cards

We ended our week by incorporating one of our Snowman Fun Pack math activities into our day today, and boy was it fun! We began by retelling Sneezy the Snowman and then we conducted our own data experiment by tasting one of Sneezy's favorite foods, ICE CREAM! We brought in four flavors and each of our students had a sample.

Next our kiddos colored an ice cream scoop that represented their favorite flavor out of the four flavors that we tried. Then we grouped the scoops to view our data.
You can definitely see that each of our classes had completely different data! Our kids were surprised to find out that the other classes most favorite was different than their own.
Finally we recorded our data, answered questions, and created a bar graph that was attached to their packets (sorry we didn't get any graph pics).
This was such a fun math activity and our kids really had fun. They couldn't believe we could complete a math lesson and eat ice cream too! We can't wait to do this again next year! Interested in checking this unit out, you can look {HERE} and read all about it!

Before we head off to bed, we'd love to host a quick giveaway! We'd love to give a lucky follower a copy of our Planets, Stars and Space Unit. So leave a comment with your favorite science theme to teach, and we will draw 2 lucky winners on Monday night, February 6th. Good luck!

We hope you all have a great weekend! We'll be back soon...

39 comments:

  1. Thank you for all the freebies.Looks like a great solar pack.I like teaching about all the planets.
    dutchandtracy@hotmail.com

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  2. I enjoyed teaching the food chain to my students this year. Thanks for the freebies! Would love to win your pack!

    rmariemuniz@yahoo.com

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  3. This pack looks amazing! It will be a wonderful addition to anyone's classroom! My favorite science theme to teach is definitely outer space. The children are always so interested in learning about the planets and astronauts. Not to mention, aliens!
    luvyorkies@gmail.com

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  4. I love life cycles! So much to do with them. Kelodowd@Gmail.com

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  5. Hi ladies!

    My favorite science lesson includes life cycles. I set my classroom up as a campsite with tents, a river and row boat, a picnic table with umbrella to set the theme. The kids explore different insects and watch the life cycles. FUN STUFF!!

    Cheryl
    primarygraffiti(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  6. I love teaching about different habitats and incorporating great literature with science activities!
    2c2lsmith@kywimax.com

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  7. Great unit! I love teaching about lifecycles...so much out there...and great fun!

    Gladys
    teachinginhighheels(at)gmail(dot)com

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  8. Thank you for sharing all your great ideas and activities!

    Quench Your First

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  9. Habitats is my favorite! Kids love animals so they are all very interested. :)

    allyglass08@gmail.com

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  11. I can't decide between life cycles and habitats...my students have so much fun with these two. Thanks for the freebie!

    crhdouglas@gmail.com

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  12. Thank you for the amazing freebies! My favorite first grade science concept to teach is life cycles. Each yea we observe the butterfly lifecycle in detail and I usually add another animal in there as well... frog, chicks, or even ladybugs! So much fun!
    Deanna
    deannastubbs@yahoo.com

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  13. Your unit looks so cute!!! My favorite science concept to teach is weather. There are so many awesome experiments to do with the kids when we go through that unit. Thanks for the freebies!

    Lisa
    fsuteach81@yahoo.com

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  14. I'm in love with this unit. I love teaching space because the kids are so motivated by it. I also enjoy teaching weather because our local weatherman comes to school and teaches the kids all about storms on our area (southern NJ). It's great!

    Hope I am a winner.

    Marybeth
    http://cialinichat-mbcialini.blogspot.com/

    gcialini@comcast.net

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  15. I forgot to say thank you for hte freebie! I can't wait to use it!

    marybeth

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  16. This unit is so cute! I love teaching about birds with a focus on penguins.
    Kathy

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  17. I don't have a classroom yet (in my 3rd year studying Elementary Ed!), so I don't have much experience with teaching science... I loved teaching a couple lessons to 3rd grade on the human body though! ~Hannah

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  18. Thank you for the awesome ideas/freebies! My favorite science theme is a tie between space and weather! Both so fun!

    Kate
    dancinqueenks23@aol.com

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  19. I just discovered your blog, and I'm loving it! My favourite science unit to teach is on Structures, which includes lots of building challenges, and hands on activities. I'd love to see your Space unit!

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  20. The packet looks great! I love to teach about habitats.
    marcy_sundling@hotmail.com

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  21. Your unit looks great!!! I'm wanting to do a space unit this spring! I like teaching about insects.

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  22. I love teaching planets/solar system and I do a fun unit on Balance and Motion! Your planet pack looks awesome!

    delanej23460@aol.com

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  23. I love teaching matter and space!
    ❤ Sandra
    Sweet Times in First
    sweettimesinfirst@gmail.com

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  24. I love to teach Matter!! There are so many fun activities to go along with it:-)
    tarynweave@hotmail.com

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  25. I just finished a two-week unit on outer space! This is my favorite science unit--I wanted to be an astronaut, seriously! I've been known to stay awake for the annual Perseid's Meteor Shower and eclipses of the moon.

    My kinders made a class book titled "If I Went To The Moon....". I will try to post pics. The illustrations are priceless!

    ReadWriteSing

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  26. My absolute favorite is matter.


    First Grade Delight
    imgoingfirst@gmail.com

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  27. I love to teach about plants.

    Rene Owens

    renetowens@sbcglobal.net

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  28. Oh, WOW! I absolutely love teaching about Space, too! This unit looks fabulous and would extend my existing science activities to both language arts and math. It's SO FUN to teach about space because the kiddos are so intrigued and mesmerized realizing that there really is an outer space and it's not just something make-believe.

    Roni Oliver
    rroliver6023@msn.com

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  29. I love teaching science!! My love for it has grown over the years with the help from friends who have great ideas to share! I love life cycles, habitats, matter, and SPACE!! but you would you believe that our current standards for 2nd grade don't include ANYTHING about planets, moon, or anything???? Good thing we are moving to common core next year!
    I would LOVE to win this pack!!
    jenross1018@yahoo.com

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  30. I love teaching my desert unit! Fun, fun!

    SM

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  31. Love these freebies- thanks for sharing! My favorite first grade science topic is teaching about plants. I really liked teaching second grade science (magnets, life cycles, states of matter) much better than first grade science-- really miss those animal life cycles and habitats.
    Jan... who would love to win a packet of ideas for teaching about planets!
    jcatotti@aol.com

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  32. Here in Canada our curriculum is different. My favourtite science unit is the 5 senses. There is nothing like the look on the kids faces when they take a BIG bite out of bitter chocolate!! Too much fun.... well for me anyway!!

    ptaniceto@hotmail.com

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  33. I love teaching science! It connects to so many other curriculum areas! Teaching different life cycles are always fun, and solar system activities are great too!
    ~Tina
    TML721@gmail.com

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  34. Your blog is awesome! I found it through Pinterest! Teaching science has always been a favorite subject to teach! my favorite topic to teach are the 3 states of matter. Thank you for your planet book freebie. I can't wait to use it. Also, I'm your newest follower! :)

    Andrea
    Cheers to School
    AndreaHo.teacher@gmail.com

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  35. I would have to say my favorite Science unit to teach is Life Cycles!
    tjulch@mpsomaha.org

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  36. Choosing my favorite Science theme is hard! I think my favorite would be lifecycles - the butterfly for sure! Thank you for being so generous to give away such a big freebie!
    Mona

    Kindergarten Bus

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  37. Thanks for the freebie!!! I like your blog! I register to follow you!! Continue in good works!

    sharon.washington96@yahoo.com

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  38. Hi Erin & Leslie! I love the space activities you posted! I just found your blog, love it!! I'm your newest follower!

    ✿Sue✿
    Science for Kids Blog

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  39. We'd love to have a great science emergent reader. I would also like to be a scientist and check every planet and where we can get to the moon and stars.Leaning in science subject are great and very useful.
    Business listings

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