DNA in a YUMMY way

Hello Friends!

We've been learning about DNA and wow... talk about learning along with your kiddos! As I was explaining the structure of DNA and its functions, I began drawing it.. or trying to draw it. I thought I did a pretty good job until my neuroscience friend came over one day and asked me why my DNA had "those things" on it. What??!!! I drew it completely wrong.. and worse, I taught it wrong to my kids. Sheesh!  Well after a quick lesson from my dear friend, I was able to correct my drawing and teach my kids the RIGHT DNA. lol.


Since my candy animal cell was such a hit with my kids, I decided to make a candy model of  DNA. And since I'm such a visual learner,  this project was just as much for me as it was for my little ones.

Here are the materials I used:

Sour punch - sugar phosphate backbone
Nerds - nucleotides
Mike and Ikes- base pairs (AT, GC)
Frosting - to "glue" the nucleotides to the sugar phosphate backbone

I cut the Mike and Ikes in half so that they could represent each base pair.

I had each of kids pick a 2 different colors that would represent a base pair (A and T). Then they stuck them together. The inside of Mike and Ikes are a bit sticky so they stuck well. Then they took another 2 colors and stuck them together. That represented the other base pair (G and C).

Note:  A can only be paired with T and G can only be paired with C. They can go in any order (G,C or C,G) but they MUST be paired together. They are like a puzzle piece that will only fit for those pairs.

They began building their DNA with the sour strips, making them twist to create the double helix.  We used frosting as "glue" to stick the nerds on. It was a bit messy, I must admit. The easiest way I found to make the nerds stick was to put the frosting on the strips and then roll them into the nerds.

Our finished product. Wow.. this makes my teeth hurt.

Then, for the moment my kids have been waiting for (drum roll please)...

I turned away in disgust as I practically began making a check out to their dentist....

one.

 two.

 three.

And just like that. The storm has passed. 

The good thing? My kids and I both know the structure of  DNA (even my littlest little in kinder).

The bad thing? Well, I let you know at their next dental cleaning.

Have a great day friends!

Blessings,

Winter FREEBIE!

Happy New Year Friends!

I know that some of you are back at work so I wanted to share a little Winter FREEBIE with you to help you ease back into the classroom this year while your coffee kicks in today. Easing back in for you doesn't mean that your students just color and do packets, either. Here is a FREEBIE that will help with reinforcing a skill while your kiddos have fun. They can work in groups, use it in a center, or use it however works best to fit your needs.

I've included 3 different levels for alphabetizing: ABC to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd letter.  Students alphabetize the cards with the same picture and then write them on the recording sheet with the matching picture. This 18 page FREEBIE includes 6 sets of words for each level plus 3 different recording sheets!

Hope you enjoy this FREEEBIE. If so, I would love for you to take just a couple of seconds to leave some feedback.

Thanks and have a wonderful 2016!!

Blessings,

What Am I Teaching This Christmas?

Merry Christmas Friends!

It's the season of rushing and crafts and presents and buying and lines and planning and parties... and through all that busyness...I want to teach my kids how other countries celebrate this season (I'm using this from Rockin Resources as a research project for my kids and this for fun from Rachelle Smith).  I am also doing some close reading activities about reindeer using  this from A Grace Filled Classroom.

But even more important than that, I want to teach my kids what Christmas is REALLY all about.

But how do you do that when there are toy catalogs full of unfinished circles that surround each toy they "have to have"? Unfinished circles.  Like these kids just zipped through the toy catalogs not being able to circle fast enough to fill their wish lists. On one page, my littlest little even drew a large greedy circle around the whole page. THE. WHOLE. PAGE. Greedy? Well, she's not greedy. She shares well and will do anything for you. But really, what do we expect when we live in a society of "Your Way Right Away" and "Bigger is Better"? Oh and the Christmas guilt is the WORST! "All of (blank)'s  friends are getting this so I will feel bad if they don't have it" or whatever. I am SO guilty of this.

BUT Christmas is far from guilt. or buying. or rushing. It really is all about the waiting. Advent. Waiting for the birth of Jesus.

So in this crazy time, we are attempting (because we will fail sometimes) to s.l.o.w. down and enjoy the coming of the birth of our Savior.

Here's how our family is doing it.

My hubby and I are reading through this AMAZING book from AnnVoskamp called the Greatest Gift. It's a short devotional everyday that begins on December 1st and has a link for special ornaments to download for each day. This book takes you through the journey of Adam to the birth of Jesus and how the events in history all point to His birth. It all culminates on Christmas Day, when we finally get to experience the birth of the anticipated Savior.

The beautiful ornaments..

For this kids, we are using this book from Ann Voskamp. She has a children's version of the Advent book called Unwrapping the Greatest Gift that we are reading everyday with the kids as we cuddle on the couch.  Each day the kids take turns and go to our "Advent" calendar and unwrap the next ornament. We read and they put the ornament up on our tree. Again, the book goes from the creation of the world and culminates on Christmas Day, where they get to unwrap the Greatest Gift.

For our "homemade" advent calendar, I got this EASY idea from my sweet friend Kathy. It's just a plastic shoe organizer from Wal-Mart. I wrapped each ornament in Christmas wrapping paper and used scrapbooking paper for the dates and clipped it to the outside of the pocket with clothespins. Because there are only 24 pockets, I doubled up on the 23rd and 24th. You can also put a little sweet treat in each pocket with the ornaments so that the kids can enjoy something sweet while they listen to the story. :)

These colored ornaments are the older versions. She has all white ones now (pic above) that I haven't put together yet, so we just used the ones I had for this year.

I'm hoping to refocus our family on what this season is REALLY about. After all, we ARE celebrating Jesus' birth. He deserves the gift that our hearts can give.



Blessings this Christmas,

Aligning Houghton Mifflin to Common Core

Hi Friends.

I know that it's Christmas time and the last thing that you're thinking of is teaching the curriculum. You want to teach something FUN... something Christmas-y. I get it. But for some of you, you have to keep trucking along the pacing guide for the next week or so. This post is for you. OR you come back Christmas break and don't want to think about anything and want it to be EASY, no prep, BUT rigorous. Is that even possible? Yes. This post is also for you.

I just completed a new product that will help you during this busy season. Introducing my 1st Grade Houghton Mifflin Unit for Theme 7.  It is over 260 pages of Common Core aligned work. It's PACKED with Thinking Maps, comprehension skills, Depth and Complexity icons, text dependent questions, and MUCH more!

You're colleagues will be so impressed that you are STILL teaching rigor to your students during this crazy time of year and wonder how you did it. Shhhh... I won't tell.

Here is a snapshot of your easy, no prep, BUT rigorous lessons...

Here is an overview. Scroll down for some close ups.

Can't see the worksheets? Here are some close ups....

One of my classroom favorites was the Skip and Scan. They have to work with partner to look through their anthology and find the answers to the questions. Level 1 has page numbers for those who need the extra help. Level 2 has no page numbers, but the students have to write what page they found the answers on.  This is a GREAT skill to practice and teaches students HOW to look in a piece of text to find their answers.

These vocabulary word and picture cards are great for not only Language Learners, but for ALL learners.

There are other themes available, just check out my store. I also have a Themes 1-5 bundled for extra savings!

So really. If you can just crawl yourself to the copy machine and push copy, I will take care of the rest. I got you covered, friend.





Blessings,