Tried It....Tunes Tuesday...Lovin' It...

Tuesday...four days until Spring Break.
I'll spare you the hours and minutes until then.

I'm linkin' up for three different linky parties.
1. Tried it Tuesday with my sweet friend Holly from
Fourth Grade Flipper.
2. Tunes Tuesday with my awesome friend Nick
from Sweet Rhyme & Pure Reason.
3. Lovin' It & Over It with my fantabulous friend
Ali from Teaching (Powered by Caffeine).

Am I missin' any other link-ups?

This month's Tunes Tuesday topic is: Science.
How have you used music to teach Science?

I blame my newest Science obsession on Chelsea

from 5th Grade Wit and Whimsy.

Chelsea wrote this blog post and I KNEW

I had to do the same thing in my class

with my rockstars.

America's Most Wanted:

Element Posters

I started by adding The Periodic Table of Elements

in words and pictures to our 

Science Edmodo library.

(My kids reminded me they had their very own Periodic Table in their agendas)
I knew I keep these kids around
for a reason.
Little geniuses!

Then, I introduced this video from Study Jams-Periodic Table.
For some reason it was givin' me a fit this week when I was watchin'.  I hope it works for you.

Then, we used an idea from Sue's Science for Kids blog

to write our name in Elements.

Some of the letters don't have an element, so the kids typed
in their name and it generated a fake element.
That was fine with me, as long as they knew it was fake.

Finally...we get to the part about tunes in Science.

I shared two songs with my kiddos.
The first one is Tom Lehrer's "The Elements".
It's animated with the names of the elements.
I have found myself watchin' this several times and
singin' along.  Where was this video when I was
in Chemistry in high school?


The second video is "Meet the Elements" by They Might Be Giants.

It is catchy and easy to understand.

Grab a set of the lyrics here!

To wrap all of this up,
we have taken advantage of our Technology Lab
to start workin' on our
America's Most Wanted: Element Posters.
It's been nice to have a lil' break from test prep!
I've already heard lots of "Did you know....?"

Chelsea took her projects a step further and made
a 3D model of an atom using the same element.
If you are super duper sweet, you can leave
Chelsea some love on her blog and she might
even send you the rubric!

I also have a Symbaloo board that we use with several links
that also go into more depth of the elements.
(Let me know if you use it and want somethin' added, or if you
have a great resource that I most certainly need in my life.)

Here is a link to more of my Symbaloo boards
(appropriate for upper elementary-early middle).

Last, but definitely not least....

I got a new bed.
I'm officially in LOVE.
It is a king size throne fittin' for this
sleepin' beauty queen.
I most definitely feel like royalty in my new bed.
Who has some Bon Bons I can have?
I'm already thinkin' about all the wonderous
naps I will be takin' in this thing (yes, I'm typin' from it).
I might never go to work again and become
a professional pajama wearer.

Humidity.
I had to get a dehumidifier for my mini castle
aka the bedroom.
I live on the water...salt water.
Water plus cold air and moisture equals mildew
by the slidin' glass door.
I don't do mildew, mold, dust, or dust mites.
Just ask my allergist.
So...I needed somethin' to get rid of
all the humidity in my room.
The dehumidifier is supposed to run for 24 hours
and then go to a normal settin' after.
Not MY dehumidifier...
it has been runnin' straight for five days now.
I have emptied it at least three times each day.
That's...well...a lot.
Every time I empty it I think, "Surely, this will be
the last bucket of water for a while."
Wrong.
Maybe day six will be the lucky number.
Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me.

Happy Tuesday, friends!
If anyone needs me...I'm sure you know where I'll be...
in my new bed...after school.
Don't forget to visit my friends and leave them some lovin'!

Tunes Tuesday...

Today I am linkin' up with Nick over at Sweet Rhyme & Pure Reason for Tunes Tuesday.  I'm tellin' you...this idea is BRILLIANT!  What group of kids have you ever met that didn't like learnin' through music? I haven't!  My kiddos LOVE when I incorporate songs, lyrics and videos into any concept that we are learnin'.  This isn't just somethin' to do with a class of rockstars...this is for any and every student!  You really need to check this out!

Here's what Nick has to say about Tunes Tuesday:
"What is Tunes Tuesday? (My new readers may be asking!) It's simple! Just choose a grammar skill and pair it with a popular (or classic!) song (with clean lyrics!) that has examples of that skill in the lyrics. Copy and paste the lyrics into a document, and ask the kiddos to highlight the examples throughout the lyric sheet. I like to play the music video (clean version obvs!) for the kids while they work. It takes just a few minutes, but the kids beg for it every week! Music + boring grammar skill + highlighters = Fun grammar lesson! Click my tag, "Tunes Tuesday" to find past posts about this that have a few freebies to reference and use!"

The song I chose is "Naturally" by Selena Gomez.  The literary element or figure of speech to focus on is metaphors.  A metaphor is comparing two things where one is a symbol of the other.  
The technical definition: met·a·phor  n.

1. A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in "a sea of troubles" or "All the world's a stage"(Shakespeare).

2. One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol: "Hollywood has always been an irresistible, prefabricated metaphor for the crass, the materialistic, the shallow, and the craven" (Neal Gabler).

In Selena's song she sings, "You are the Thunder and I am the Lightning".  She is calling one person Thunder and herself Lightning. They go hand in hand. Grab the lyrics HERE! 

I'm really excited to see what everyone else is choosin' to link up.  Thanks Nick for hostin' this one!