SmithScience

Brain Gush I teach fifth grade math in Texas. I am very intent on my students’ success in life. I want them to have a great understanding of math concepts with amazing problem solving skills. Success on their end of the year tests is also important to me. ;) Critical thinking is essential for their success. I created Brain Gush and my students LOVE it! They love the choice, the challenges, and the uniqueness of the work (not the typical worksheets!). HOW I USE IT Brian Gush includes fou

I love giving my students opportunities to build logical thinking, but I wanted to link the topics we study. I created these logic puzzles that use our science concepts. This is a great activity to leave with a sub or as a review at the end of the year. I have included an answer key. I hope your kids enjoy!! Topics: matter landforms- forces that change the earth space renewable/non-renewable resources physical properties Energy

I have taught fifth grade science for 12 years in Texas and love seeing what my students need and creating materials. I created this for our fourth grade teachers who are juggling so much. The fourth grade TEKS are spiraled throughout the 10 assignments. They could be used for warm-ups, homework, centers, or review. I call it Brainwork because it should require students to THINK. Most answers are open-ended and require a good understanding of the concept. Students love mixing up the c

What to do the day before the fifth grade STAAR test? Here is TWO DAYS of REVIEW for your kiddos. Use these ready made activities with partner work, small group, centers, or whole class. ABCs of Science This is a bit of an oldie, but my students love it. Give them a topic (Earth, Life, Physical) and have them brainstorm vocabulary for each letter. If time permits: As a class have kids share their terms. Circuit Challenge: Students cut out the components for a circuit. They create a

Brain Work is a great homework assignment or review for your class. I used them as a nightly assignment as we approached the test. It is a MIXED review and touches on all of the TEKS with an emphasis on READINESS TEKS. The answers are open ended and lead to great discussions. When students bring in the assignment, I would often let them compare their answer choices with a partner. I use the COLOR version from the PDF file on my projector when we would discuss as a class. Because the

Everyone loves a road trip! Let your students use their math skills on real-life problems. They will plan their gas mileage, budget for snacks, figure the cost of repairs. There is plenty of work with decimals, mulit-step problems, and all operations. I designed this for my fifth grade class, but it is a great activity for 4-6 grades and would be a great homeschooling packet. -fractions -decimals -perimeter -elapsed time This packet would be great for centers, partner work, or a day when

Hi Teachers! I had always LOVED the Drops in the Bucket that was created for math. I set out to create a mixed review that would be short yet use a variety of assessment styles. I came up with BRAIN WORK. My kids love it. I use it for homework and they are always eager to pick it up! They love the variety and the brevity. Our discussions, as we go over the assignment are always engaging and fun. This sample is free, but I also have a set of 15 that would set you up for MANY homework

Three weeks of (half page) homework assignments. I combed through the 2017 STAAR test and rewrote questions to give my students practice with STAAR-ish questions. There are 12 assignments in all. I am going to send a half page home each day. You could also print the four assignments on a sheet of paper (front to back) and send one page home on Mondays!

Spice up your review playing survivor. My plan includes a behavioral component, immunity challenges, and daily missions. Start your day with an immunity challenge and follow with several missions. Students earn points for paying attention, being kind, putting forth effort, and winning missions. SURVIVOR WEEK includes more immunity challenges and missions than you need. You choose which missions your students need. You can even make your own activities into missions. Yes, you’ll need t

Hi Teachers! I created this to use as a REVIEW for our upcoming fifth grade science STAAR test. This review focuses on the READINESS TEKS (65% of the test). For each TEK, there is a short challenge. I plan on using it as a mastery assessment. If students show mastery, they ‘test out’ and move on to a more enriching assignment. Students who have not mastered the readiness TEKS can be retaught and try again. I plan on creating five versions and I will post my newer versions (same TEKS with

I use these MASTERY CHECKS as pre-tests. It helps me target kids who need more small group instruction or target difficult concepts. It also helps me identify students who has mastered the concepts. I let these kids move on to deeper work on these same concepts. In order to differentiate, we need to know what our kiddos know. These check are quick and target specific topics. Each Mastery Check has four questions. They could be used as a pre-test, tutoring curriculum, a post test, or a

Animania I created this for my students as a review of our life science concepts. I purposely used vocabulary that I wanted my students to know and I kept the readings short. After reading about three, obscure animals, students complete the table of information. I use this as an individual assignment then have students compare with partners. It is a great review and kids LOVE reading about these animals. The information in the reading will take some inference, but ALL the information is i

You'll love this easy unit that focuses on everything MATTER for fifth grade. I wrote this after the NEW STREAMLINE TEKS came out. The activities are meant for kids to make sense of the harder topics with visuals to bridge the gap when vocabulary is so difficult. WRITING If writing across the curriculum is your goal, there are tons of writing topics that will engage all levels of learners. You could use the list of topics in a variety of ways. Give a topic each day, assign a topic for hom

A LAB ready to go! Grab a few materials and you have great lab that your students will love. You are purchasing a lab sheet booklet (print front to back and fold). It fits perfectly in your INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOK. It'll walk you and your students though an active, classroom lab where student play with gravity, friction and mass. I designed the lab sheet with structure (It is nice to follow a plan) but open-endedness that allows your students (and you) flexibility.

Create a booklet for your kids to reflect on the year and make goals for their future. There are 14 half page activities. Make copies on front to back to make a booklet. Pick and choose the activities that work best for your students. I plan on using these for a day when I have a sub. It is an easy copy to make and will keep the kids busy for quite awhile. As an extension, kids could share their thoughts with partners.

This is a one page practice on how the moon rotates around the earth. Have the kids shade in the the half of the moon that does not receive sunlight. After shading, I like to have my students visualize what the moon look like FROM EARTH. I use this to teach that half of the moon is always lit, but the view from the Earth changes as the moon rotates. I know this is better in a 3D, hands-on lesson, but sometimes we HAVE to put it to the paper!