Target Dollar Section For The Win!

Oh man...I love Target. But sometimes I don't realize just how much I love it. My love has no bounds when it comes to this store. Seriously...any bad day can be turned into a good one with a little trip to this beautiful and majestic wonderland.

On a recent trip with my mom, I checked out the dollar section to see what I could find. I have found many awesome things there and usually they are things to use in my classroom. On this particular trip they had little silver letters made from card stock. I had seen them before but hadn't ever bought them. I decided I couldn't pass them up and got four packs. Each pack had one of each letter so I figured four would be good. And at $1 each, it wasn't gonna break the bank. I didn't know what I would use them for but when I got home, I decided I would turn them into magnets and put them on my metal desk at school. I quickly ordered the most amazing, mini magnets from Amazon and anxiously awaited their arrival.

I got my magnets and glued them to the back of the letters. I took them to school the next day and added them to the front of my desk. My desk faces the students so they can see the letters and immediately noticed them when they got there. Some of the students started making words and phrases which made my little heart so happy. I was glad they liked them and glad that they weren't too old for it.

Here are pictures of the process. They aren't too exciting but figured everyone just wants to look at the pics anyways so here you go. And yes - those are my Agnes and Dora leggings which I am so in love with. I have a few pairs and wear them to bed every night. So if  you haven't checked them out...you need to! Like right now. Go to the website. Buy a few pairs. You can thank me later!

 

  

 

 

Gettin' Sciency

On Monday, I spoke to the students about our upcoming science fair. We went over a packet of information about what they can and cannot do. Except for the token few, all that I heard form the students were moans and groans about hating this assignment. To be honest, I can relate. Science was never my thing growing up, and I don't even think that I competed in a science fair. But since having an incredible science class at UVU I have tried to change my ways and look at science in a more creative, interesting, and investigative learning experience.So...to get the students excited about their science projects, we decided to do a few in our class.

This is my "I love SCIENCE" face. I look a 

little scared right? That's because I am.

 First up on our experiment agenda was "Blazing Benjamins". It involved, 91% alcohol, water, a little salt, a dollar bill (or bigger bill if you want it to be more dramatic), tongs, and a lighter. Long story short, the bill doesn't burn. You can read more about it on the link I shared below. After we tried burning the bill, we then put it in a vase of water just to be safe. We noticed the bill looked kind of funny. The students remembered that this concept is called refraction. Success! They remembered a previous lesson!

Next up was the Glitter Volcano. It didn't work as well. It mini worked - but didn't actually explode over. The kids got the general idea of the experiment and we then discussed why it didn't work or what we could have done differently. Even though it didn't work, it was a great opportunity for learning and discussion. 

Secret Messages are always fun....especially when they work really well and you can actually read them! They did work, but it took way too long to get to the readable message. I think if we would have had a better heat source, it would have worked much better. But the kids still enjoyed it and hopefully will be interested in trying it again. 

The best part of our experiment day was definitely the Ooie Gooie Cornstarch Mixture. It's a simply mixture of cornstarch and water - and we added food coloring. The kids loved this stuff! The fact that it's both a liquid and a solid kind of blew their minds. When mixing up the powder mixture, it was really hard and felt like wet sand. But as soon as you just let it sit in your hand, it gooed and dripped back down your hand. It was so crazy awesome!!! It was worth the mess we had to clean up. 

Having some hands on science experiments was a fabulous way for the students to get more comfortable with their upcoming project. They were excited and realized that science can be super cool and really fun. We finished the last 15 minutes of the day watching Steve Spangler videos and the kids left my room talking about what they wanted to experiment and all of their ideas. 

Today I learned that even when you plan ahead for everything, it usually never works out just how you think it will. But sometimes it's for the best! If you want the directions or ideas, check out this website. If you have any questions about what we did, comment below.