Hello Friends,
It has been awhile since I last posted here. There are several reasons. One of the biggest ones is that I have been working on revisions of a science pack that I created two years ago. It has taken a LONG, long time to get it to the point that I wanted it to be. It has been deactivated for about a year. Since I am still a classroom kindergarten teacher, everything that I create and sell in my TPT store is tested by my students and me. Well..... after trying out my old "ABC Science" packet last year, it did not work well and simply was not the quality resource that I try to keep in my store. The original resource was based on every letter of the alphabet. I HAD thought that this would work out great; combining my ELA lessons with a science lesson. But, what I found was that this made the whole process MORE complicated. Because the letters that we were working on at the time did not necessarily line up with the science lessons that were based on those letters, the flow of my lesson planning was choppy. I also wanted for each lesson to last an hour or LESS. With all the ELA, Math, and social/emotional learning that goes on in my kindergarten classroom, my time for teaching STEM is limited, which is why I wanted to keep the activities to under an hour. STEM activities that did not "break the bank" when gathering supplies for them was another priority. So, after many, many months, I finally reactivated my old "ABC Science" and re-named it to (MOSTLY) ONE HOUR STEM LESSONS for Kindergarten. I am fairly certain that the activities would work for first grade and possibly pre-K or second grade. BUT...All the activities included have been tested in a kindergarten classroom. It is named MOSTLY One hour because as with all things, sometimes an activity will take longer than anticipated. Plus, some activities might involve starting in the morning, letting them sit, and completing them in the afternoon. Each section has more than one activity included, too, which means that if you want your student to do each activity, it will take longer than an hour. I will often do one of the activities on one day and re-visit the other ones on subsequent days.
Each packet includes THREE sections and each section includes teacher read aloud pages, activities appropriate for STEM learning, a supply list, and student recording sheets. The sections are written in such a way that you can pick and choose which activity that you wish to do with your students. Here is a quick look at ONE HOUR STEM LESSONS - Sink and Float, Ducks, and Fish.
The teacher read-aloud pages in Float & Sink, Ducks, and Fish begin by walking kids through the process of asking a question, making a hypothesis, and then doing an experiment. The vocabulary word in this packet is DENSITY. (Please note: Not all packets begin this way. Some begin with background information for the teacher to share. All sections encourage kids to think and apply what they know to a problem.)
A few STEM concepts are repeated throughout packets. For example, the word DENSITY is reinforced in Sink/Float and Ducks. The concept of everything being made up of particles (or molecules) is found in Sink/Float and Heat.
I have a free sample lesson in my TPT store. It is a much shortened example of what is included in a each packet, but it should give you an idea of how they work. The I CAN BE A SCIENTIST recording sheet is generic and can be used for many STEM activities. The recording sheet has 2 writing levels to aid in your differentiation.
Posters with simple explanations for the scientific method are included in the FREE SAMPLE,
A supply list is added to the beginning of each section.
Teacher directions and examples for the experiment steps are included at the beginning of each section.
PLEASE NOTE: If you purchased the ABC Science bundle, the revisions are available for you to download. Unfortunately, if you purchased ABC Science A-M or ABC Science N-Z, those resources have been discontinued. The changes that I made are so extensive that they could not be split into two parts. I sincerely apologize for being unable to offer an upgrade to these older products.
Until next time!
Blessings,