Too Much Glue or Not Enough?! Glue Adhesive Investigation & Elmer's Giveaway

So here's the question...what do you get when you mix 7 tablespoons of non-fat milk and 1 tablespoon of vineager?  Why... GLUE of course! And we made some!!

It all started when this beautiful package from Elmer's arrived.

It was filled with all kinds of fun treats including three different samples of glue, a instructional guide to teaching adhesives, and a signed copy of the super fun book Too Much Glue by Jason Lefebvre! 

If you haven't seen the book Too Much Glue, go check it out immediately! The story follows Matty, a glue enthusiast, who gets a wee bit carried away with his glue in class even though his teacher always reminds him "rain drops, not puddles."

Although written for younger children, my 4th graders enjoyed every minute of the story. It was the perfect introduction to our discussion about glue and the new glue science word....dun dun dun...adhesives. 

The lesson plan provided from Elmer's was very teacher friendly and easy to adapt to my classroom. First, we read the book and brainstormed ALL the glues we could think of from Superglue to  Gorilla Glue. Then, we talked about what we noticed. Are all glues created equal?  They were emphatic... NO! So, that lead us to discuss - why not? We looked for different adhesives around the room and talked about what made they different. The idea that post-its and tape had glue blew their minds.  They were so into this lesson!

Elmer's even provided a PowerPoint to use to discuss the properties of adhesives including monomers and polymers to help explain what happens when you glue something. You can download this PowerPoint and whole lesson here. Go check it out!

Once we had enough background information, we got to the glue making part.  Excuse the mess in the pictures... we were creating. :)

After mixing the vinegar and milk, we tested our glue.  Now, the directions say to let the mixture settle so the solids go to the bottom and then carefully use papertowels to absorb the extra liquid, but we just fished out the polymers and started gluing.  :)

 

We tried a variety of materials including construction paper, cardstock, tissue, sequins, and string.  The glue polymers held everything. Well, everything except the sequins.

I promise you, they would have kept gluing anything and everything they could find if I let them. However, I had to stop them, so we could do the very last part. 

We made glue puddles.

The moment I told my kids to take off the lid of the Elmer's glue and DUMP a big puddle on their wax paper may have been the greatest school moment of their lives.  Their eyes lit up and they squealed with excitement. Then, I just passed out anything and everything I could find in my art cabinet and let them start putting it in the glue.  One little girls screamed, "This is so fun!!" Haha! They had an absolute blast!

Overall, the whole investigation was a success. My kiddos enjoyed every minute of it and went to specials telling anyone and everyone they could find, "Hey guess what?!!?  We just made glue!" It was learning for the pure love and enjoyment of learning. It was the perfect way to end a Friday.

I have to thank the wonderful people at Elmer's for inviting me to try out their World of Glue investigation. It was a huge success in my class and I know it will be in yours! 

Now, here is the really cool part.  They sent me one box of goodies and then promised another box of goodies to one of my lucky followers.  How fantastic is that?! So, sign up now for a chance to win your own World of Glue Investigation box that includes a signed copy of the fabulous book Too Much Glue. Your class will thank you! Giveaway ends Friday, March 21st.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Good luck and remember... rain drops not puddles!

 

P.S. This is my first giveaway with Rafflecopter, so if you encounter any issues, please let me know. I'm learning.  Thanks!

Have you heard of Snapguide?

Have you heard of Snapguide?  It may just be my new favorite app! And the best part is... it's FREE!

It's like Pinterest, BUT...instead of looking at the picture and thinking "how the heck did they do that?"- it is a step by step picture/video guide of how to.  You can peruse the guides on your phone, tablet, or computer.  And it is super easy to set up an account and get started.

My school is a bit behind. We just got iPads for the classroom during the last month of school.  I'm now proud to report that I have 3 iPads for students use in my room. Before the school year ended, I wanted to play around with some of the apps I downloaded and get my feet wet.  Snapguide was one of the first ones I tried and I loved it!!

My class was studying life cycles, specifically we were reviewing the butterfly lifecycle.  By 4th grade this is a one day review because they already know it so well. (Thank goodness!!) I went to my Pinterest science board for inspiration and found this adorable pin from the wonderful Mrs. Lemons of Step into 2nd Grade. Thanks Amy!

It was the perfect project to reinforce the butterfly life cycle, review vocabulary, and try out Snapguide. 


I used Amy's model to create my own one sunny afternoon.  After I completed each step, I quickly snapped a picture with my iPad and then created my first ever Snapguide. Check it out below...

Check out How to Make a Model of a Butterfly Life Cycle by Amanda K on Snapguide.

Here are some examples from my class.

 

 

Snapguide was simple and very user friendly.  Just select a picture to add to your guide, then add a caption. Keeping building and adding to your guide until you are done.

I will warn you that it does not save projects as you go.  You need to complete the whole thing in one sitting and publish or your work will be lost.  

I'm constantly amazed at all the great apps out there for free, but this is one of my favorites.  It's like Pinterest and YouTube all rolled into one.  I love it!  Check out Snapguide.com to view other guides. It's a very cool app/website and I can't wait to use it more in my classroom.

So far, I have already used it to provide my class with visual and written directions for a project.  I'm also thinking this would be a great way for students to publish any How-To piece they write.  What other ideas do you have?  How would you use this app in your classroom?

Happy guide surfing!!

Great Review for Content or Vocabulary

 

Have you ever played Taboo or Catch Phrase?  These are two of my favorite party games.  Basically, you give clues to your team to help them guess the mystery word. Sooo much fun!

I have incorporated this game in my classroom for review of academic vocabulary or content in all subject areas. The kids love it and it takes zero prep work so I love it too!

Here we go:

1) Students choose partners.  One partner sits in a chair facing away from the projector screen.  The other partner stands in front of them waiting for the word list.

2) Teacher puts up word list.  Students give any clues they can to help their partner guess the words in order.  (I write the lists write on the spot and include a mix of words from things we have been studying and some words just for fun.)

Sample List:

1. erosion
2. factor
3. hippopotamus
4. fraction
5. weathering
6. renewable resource
7. Cinderella

3) Students have 2 minutes to give clues and help their partner guess all the words. I will stop time early if it looks like the kids have breezed through everything.

4) We quickly discuss the kinds of clues that were given for the academic words.  How did you get your partner to guess fraction? What words did you use to describe renewable resources?

5) Partners switch roles and participate in another round. I usually mix in some of the same words on each word list so that the really important words get reviewed over and over again.  

You can play as many rounds as you want and use this fun activity to review for any subject.  Have fun!

Science Safety Videos

As I was catching up on all my favorite blogs, I noticed that I completely missed science week.  Dang!  So, I thought I would quickly share 2 videos that I showed my students this year regarding safety. The kids watched these videos before discussing and signing their safety contracts.
Thank you Sandy (our amazing science facilitator) for finding these great videos!

New Favorite Toy Inspired by Simple Solutions

This summer I went to on of the best professional development workshops I have ever been to for science.  The workshop was presented by Simple Solutions and this lady knew her stuff.  If you haven't been and you have the opportunity, go! The majority of the workshop was spent making things to use in the classroom.  I walked out with games to play that reinforce the scientific concepts I will teach this year, as well as great visual teaching aids. 

One of my favorite things that we did was create tennis balls to demonstrate differing density.  One tennis ball is completely normal.  The other tennis ball was cut open and filled with sand.  Now, the balls look the same, same size, same shape, but have different densities.  This is one of those things that I would hear about and somehow never get around to making what I needed. Now, I'm all ready to go.

As I said, we put everything together at the workshop.  Which brings me to my new favorite toy...the laminator.  Simply Solutions had little laminators set up all around the room so that we could laminate everything we needed right then and there. It was so easy and the laminate seals really well.  (My school laminator often lets me down in this department.) 

So, it turns out, you can buy the very same laminator at Walmart for $25.  Naturally, I ran to Walmart right after the workshop and bought one.

Now, the laminating cover sheets can be pricey.  But, you can buy 200 laminating pouches at Sam's for about $20.  This is a much better price than Walmart.  Do not buy there! So, for just under fifty dollar, I have been able to create my own laminating work station at home.  I'm loving it! Oh, and because most of what I laminate is 8 1/2 x 11 (game boards, mini-posters, etc.) I have nothing to cut.  Bonus!

Here are the needed supplies.

An example of some of the fun things I have been making this weekend.  No cutting or trimming required!

I'm loving everything about this little gem. Plus, I never have to wait in line.  :)

P.S. My reading strategy posters come from Constructing Meaning by Nancy N. Boyles.  This is another great resources for teaching reading comprehension.