Food Chains- with a GIVEAWAY!

Last week in science we worked on the flow of energy from one organism to another. In other words, food chains and food webs.
Here's the power point we used with our vocabulary. If you'd like a copy of the PPT, you can find it {HERE}. 

To assess what we'd learned, we got to play with my Food Chain War Game that you can find on TPT.

(Keep reading to find out how you can get it for FREE!!)

First we played the game the way it says in the directions. Students play it was a "WAR" game, the person whose card is the highest on the food chain wins.

The next day, we used the cards to create food chains. I had to explain that not all the animals went together (from the same habitat), so some of the food chains created were just my students putting them together by order of the different types of eaters. (carnivore, herbivore, omnivore)

 They knew that every food chain had to start with a producer, and end with a decomposer. They had a great time and did a wonderful job!

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** Are you interested in getting a copy of the Food Chain War Game for free? 

The first 5 people to become followers of the blog and leave a comment with their email address will get a copy sent straight to them!!**

Shout Out- Ms. Kovacs

Are you tired of hearing bad news when it comes to education in America? Do you wish you could find a place where we can praise teachers the way they deserve?

Well, my friends- THIS IS THE PLACE!

I had the privilege of attending a literacy professional development today hosted by East Ridge Elementary. There a plethora of sessions from which to choose, but I had the good fortune of attending the session held in Ms. Kovacs' classroom.

I'd never met her before, but from what I could understand, hers is a 4th grade classroom.
The reason I chose to spotlight Ms. Kovacs was because of her anchor charts! They were beautiful!

In fact, her charts were so great that I was completely willing to look over the fact that she's a Yankee. (Originally from Connecticut, bless her heart.) :)

It looks like her class is working on writing informational text, which is what we are working on as well. I totally had to get some pics.

 This one is my favorite! ^

It lays everything out beautifully!

 Easy lay-out for students to understand.

Basic poster to show that any topic can be broken down and written about.

But wait! There's more! 

As teachers, we are constantly looking for ways to make our lives easier. Work smarter, not harder. 

In this vein, I love what Ms. Kovacs has done in her classroom library.

All of her books are separated into their different genres in tubs, then all of her students' names are written on clips. When students get a book out of a tub, they put their name clip on the tub to remember where to return the book! Genius!

So, well done, Ms. Kovacs! 

Thank you for allowing us to use your classroom, and thank you for all you do for your students. 

YOU ROCK!!

Big Plans- Tennessee State Representative

It was a BIG day today at the Hills. It started normally with reading, small groups, and writing, then who should come through our door?
Why, Mr. Evans, Ms. Newson, and Representative Favors!

You read that right! Tennessee representative JoAnne Favors came to the Hills just to check us out! (Well, to check out the school, not just General Delk's Army.) Imagine our happiness when she agreed to being interviewed!

As always, I explained that this is part of our BIG PLANS segment on our blog and I showed her our BIG PLANS poster.

I had explained to my students the importance of Rep. Favor's position, so I can only assume that they must have been in awe and a little shy. That's the only reason I can think of for their being so quiet when I started filming. (Goodness knows they're never that quiet any other time.)   :)

* I need to apologize to Representative Favors for the picture in the background. We had been reading the book What if You Had Animal Teeth to get ready for science and I just laid it on the ELMO not realizing it would be in the background. Sorry about the fangs!*

1. What steps did you follow to become a Representative for Tennessee?

2. What level of education is needed for this profession?

3. How long is your work day?

4. Is there a lot of practice needed for your job?

5. What does a typical work day look like?

6. Do you use any special equipment in your field?

7. What was the best day you've had so far at your job?

8. What is the starting salary for this position?

Thank you, Representative Favors for coming to visit Clifton Hills! And a BIG thank you for agreeing to an interview. When you left, many of my students commented, "She was so nice!"

Feel free to come back for a visit any time!

 

(Pretty picture)

(Silly picture)

Big Plans- School Nurse

It took a lot of arm twisting, but we got our very own Nurse Burney to come and let us interview her!

The conversation went like this:

Nurse Burney- Mrs. Delk, can I come talk to your class about germs and washing hands?
Me- Sure. Can we interview you about your job while you're there?
Nurse Burney- Sure.

I'm a hard-core negotiator like that. :)

So, Nurse Burney came and talked to us about the importance of washing our hands, the proper way to sneeze and cough so as not to share germs, and why we shouldn't be doing things like sucking thumbs or wiping our eyes/faces all the time.

In return, Nurse Burney answered our BIG PLANS questions:

1. What steps did you follow to become a nurse?

2. What level of education is needed for this profession?

3. How long is your work day?

4. Is there a lot of practice needed for your job?

5. What does a typical work day look like?

6. Do you use any special equipment in your field?

7. What was the best day you've had at your job so far?

8. What is the starting salary for this position?

Thank you, Nurse Burney!! 

You are a wonderful member of the CHES team and we appreciate all you do!

Big Plans- Girl Scouts Community Development Manager

Ever since we interviewed a representative from Boy Scouts, my girls have been wondering when we would get to talk to someone from the Girl Scouts. Well, Monday was the day! We had a visit from Kelsey Kinzy, who is the Community Development Manager for the Girl Scouts in this area.
Kelsey came in to talk to my girls and of course we had to ask if we could interview her!

One of the things Kelsey shared with us is that, not only does she work for the Girl Scouts, but she was a member of Girl Scouts for 16 years!! That's dedication! That tells me that Girl Scouts must be doing some awesome things to be able to keep their members for so long.

1. What steps did you have to follow to become a Community Development Manager for the Girl Scouts?

2. What level of education is needed for this profession?

3. How long is your work day?

4. Is there a lot of practice needed for your job?

5. What does a typical work day look like?

6. Do you use any special equipment in your profession?

7. What was the best day you've had at your job so far?

8. What is the starting salary for this position?

Thank you, Kelsey for coming and talking to us!