I was once told that anyone should be able to tell what I teach just by glancing around my room. That person was in charge of deciding what we were going to be teaching as we discussed departmentalization for the next year and I was terrified I'd land with reading all day. Luckily, she was using my room as an example...it was covered in solar system things at the time. :D But, it's something that I've held to...we really should have things out to get the kids' attention for our subject areas.
Last summer I really focused on what I wanted my room to look like. One area was my science center. I've always had one, but it didn't have a purpose until last year. The way the kids used it was completely different compared to previous years. Plus, I was able to keep things fresh with minimal work for me (during the year).
Now, one thing to note, we have little down time in my class. I wasn't looking for a center that they'd actually rotate to or spend a lot of time in during class. I knew kids wouldn't have time to work on a project and finish it or come back to it the next day (3 rotations of science....I wasn't going to have half-finished projects for 66 kids laying around my room for a month). This set up is for grabbing a few minutes here and there - especially those few minutes before school and during bus duty after school.
I figured out some basics and then made everything fit for the nine weeks. I also only changed them out each quarter - yep, only 4 times a year.
- Posters: I use the space above the center to display posters for the current quarter. I use a black background and rarely change it (we're talking about once every two years....due to fading). I do change out the border and posters. A secret I discovered....put your second quarter border up first and then use a larger border for first quarter over it. Staples go through and you can just pull the top layer off. I do the same for the posters if I can find some that are the same size. Now, you are damaging the border & posters with two sets of staples, but the time it saves me is worth it.
- Task Cards: I printed the Science Penguin's Task Cards sets, hole punched one corner, and put them on the bulletin board near the bottom within kids' reach. I store the unused sets in a container under the center. They're really easy to set up for the next nine weeks.
- Books: I pick up a bunch of books from the library on the topics we'll be studying. I display them either by setting them up neatly or keeping them in a plastic bin on the center - depending on how much space I have.
- Observation Items: I have at least one thing for students to observe. All items are kept on the same shelf (or shelves) in my office, so they're easy to get to and put away.
- Physical Sciences: I put out a basket of random items (sea sponges, coral, shells, coquina, turtle's shell, alligator's claw, raccoon's tail) and things for them to observe/measure with (hand lens, pan balances, rulers, spring scales, etc).
- Space: I have a model of the solar system that can be moved and a Moon in My Room for them to "play" with. And then there are the sets of model rockets I've picked up from Kennedy Space Center that they love to look at and read about. An inflatable astronaut, space shuttle, and Saturn V rocket round out the center.
- Earth Science/Rocks & Minerals: I have rock & mineral sets. I also bring out my dinosaur stuff at this time because it doesn't fit anywhere else in our curriculum and this chapter falls right about crunch time for getting ready for state testing. The kids eat up those dinosaur books and the reading teacher loves that they're reading nonfiction. And, it's fun. :) For the observation...I have an inflatable globe that shows what dinosaurs were native to each area of the planet.
- Life Science: Easily my favorite and the simplest. I have managed to acquire several aquariums through Donor's Choose grants. In them, I keep critters to depict complete & incomplete metamorphosis: tadpoles, monarchs, grass hoppers, and lady bugs are routinely found there.
- Hands On: I try to have at least one hands on activity, but sometimes don't. The Life Cycles center is too crowded with just the aquariums. At the beginning of the year, I have a Robot Turtles Board Game & Snap Circuits. I paid $8 a piece at a 2nd hand kid's shop for them - both were brand new. Check out Goodwill or the second hand shops around your town for games like this. Legos are great for your center too!! You can buy bulk sets of wheels for legos off of ebay or get some small generic brand packs at Dollar Tree. Generic brand usually work just fine. I also like to throw a couple of cans of Play-Doh in there once I teach the kids how to use it - for models, not to make hamburgers (unless it's indoor recess time and I get to stay out of FL's August heat...then, make all the hamburgers you want).
Organizing It: I actually created a Google Task list and made a section for each quarter with the items I wanted in my center. On our teacher work days before the next quarter, I peek into the list and quickly change out the items. Other than running to the library, it takes less than 10 minutes to change out. And a lot of times, I'll just pick up the books the next time I take the kids to library.
Note: Please ignore the crazy monkeys and palm trees. Those are for my Survivor Test Prep Unit.
No comments:
Post a Comment