Science Teaching Tips
Introducing Younger Students to the Periodic Table | By Kelly Burleson from My Science Toolbox My 11 year old son is fascinated with the periodic table, as are his friends. When they come into my high school chemistry classroom, they're in awe of the huge poster with the chemical symbols for all the elements and… Continue reading The Periodic Table for Elementary
I never thought I would be a teacher. I never thought I would be a mom. Yet, here I am, 33 years old and I am a freaking TEACHER MOM. Isn't life funny? (I wouldn't change a thing, though.) Most people would assume that if I have the skills to manage a classroom of hormonal… Continue reading Teacher Mom Truths: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
Have you struggled with teaching the metric system to your students? You aren't alone! I reached out to a professional math tutor to help shed some light on why it is so hard to teach metric measurement in the United States. Learning math is not entirely different from learning language, and metric units must be… Continue reading Teaching the Metric System: Why it is SO hard!
As I have mentioned before, GOING BIG at the beginning of the year sets you up for success in the months to come. Pulling off something amazing will give you confidence in yourself, and also give students confidence in you as an instructor. Some teachers may feel that doing "too much too soon" sets unrealistic… Continue reading First Day of School Science Demo – WOW your students from day one!
The 5th Grade Science STAAR test has higher standards for passing and obtaining mastery than any other subject. It's a tough test, too. For years, I have been working on a strategy to help my students master this test without "teaching the test". No one likes to think about standardized testing every. single. day. Focusing… Continue reading 5th Grade Science STAAR: Test Prep and Review Strategies
Teaching science with art has so many benefits. Without fail, several students come into my classroom each year with a self defeating attitude about science. They mistakenly believe they can't learn science, or they aren't GOOD at science. Maybe in the past their science education has been confined to the pages of textbooks or worksheets.… Continue reading Teaching Science with Art: Animal Adaptations for Kids
We are all guilty at times of becoming stuck in our ways. Many moons ago when I started teaching science, I started a bad habit. It was time to grade my first set of benchmarks. I knew it was impractical to grade the answer sheet one letter at a time, so I wanted to make… Continue reading Grading Multiple Choice Answer Sheets Quickly
By the time my students reach sixth grade, they have been practicing classifying objects by physical properties for YEARS. Shape, color, smell, texture, mass, density, magnetism, luster...We actively sort things into categories based on similar characteristics as a means of identification. However, without FAIL, when we begin learning about the classification of life, my students… Continue reading Classifying Organisms: Teaching Taxonomic Classification
Guest Post by Kelly Burleson | My Science Toolbox on TPT "I'm a bad test taker." Throughout 16 years of teaching, at levels ranging from 5th to 12th grade, I have heard this from students who use it as a crutch to explain away poor grades on assessments. Occasionally I have a student who truly… Continue reading Instructional Strategies for Science to Improve Learning
One of the first things I wanted to do as a new science teacher was acquire a class pet. None of my teachers in school ever had one, and I always thought it was the best idea ever. I think in some way, I secretly hoped it would give me a "cool" factor to help… Continue reading Class Pets in Science: Pros and Cons
Sockmonkey Science 