Everything You Need to Teach About Germs!

One of my favorite units to teach is Germs.  I really love teaching any health unit, but germs is such a relatable unit for our kids.  It's perfect to teach at any time of the year, but especially during cold and flu season.

Germs Pacing Guide

I use a lot of Brain Pop, Jr. videos, picture books, and a few paper resources in my unit.  I also have a couple of hands-on, fun activities to add in when we have some extra time.

My favorite germ books are:
A Germ's Journey by Thom Rooke, MD
Sick Simon by Dan Kroll
Do Not Lick This Book by Idan Ben-Barak
Blow Your Nose, Big Bad Wolf by Steve Smallman
Germs Make Me Sick! by Melvin Berger
The Bacteria Book by Steve Mould
Achoo! The Most Interesting Book You'll Ever Read About Germs by Trudee Romanek
There are a lot of really good ones.  I have them all linked on my Amazon page for you.

One my favorite activities to do is a germ experiment to model the importance of washing with soap and water.  Get out the glitter and lotion for this one.
This is basically what I do:
1- Put lotion and glitter (germs) on everyone's hands.
2- Have them all shake hands, give high fives, share pencils, etc.  This shows the spread of germs.
3- Try washing with just water and shaking dry.
4- Wash with soap, water, and dry with a paper towel.
You'll model how to wash hands properly and how easily germs are spread.  It's easy, and the kids always really like it.

Another one of my favorite activities is to make germ models out of Play Doh or modeling clay.  I have them pull up pictures of germs on the iPads, and then choose one to model their germ after.  You can even have the kids do a little bit of writing about that particular germ.  Is it a bacteria?  Is it a virus?  What symptoms does it cause?  Add a little bit of whimsy by adding some googly eyes.

Another crafty idea is to make blow painted germs and then have the students write facts about germs or specifically bacteria/viruses.  Blow painting is so fun, and most of the students will have never done this before. Here's a video to model it.
You'll need: tempera paint, water, straws (1 per student), cups, and white construction paper (1 per student).
1- Add tempera paint to a cup, and mix in about 2 tablespoons of water.  I'm not exact about this.  The consistency needs to be thin enough to pick up and blow but not so thin that it's a watery mess.
2- Students will each get a straw, and they'll use the straw like a medicine dropper to pick up the paint. If you have medicine droppers, use those.  They'll be easier.  I just don't have any of those.
3- Gently blow the paint onto the paper.
4- Add a few different colors, and blow until you like the shape.
5- Once the germs are dry, draw on a little mouth with a Sharpie and add googly eyes.

You can download the writing paper here.

Throughout my unit, my students work in their germs flip books.  We don't do the entire thing at once.  We do a page or two at a time, as they coordinate with the day's lesson.  I love using a flip book, because it's pretty printer friendly and the kids find them engaging.  At the end of the unit, they have something to show their work and study from.  You can find my germs flip book here.

I also created a set of simple worksheets that coordinate with the lessons and the flip book.  I typically make them into a packet, and we work on them with different lessons.  The puzzles are nice for early finishers.  The worksheets are found here.

Germs Worksheets

I always feel like when teaching about germs, it's important to teach about healthy habits and leading a healthy life style- Nutrition, sleep, mindfulness, etc.

Balance Your Lunch Tray Game

Please Don't Pick Your Nose Poem

Here's a list of all of the resources that I use for my germs unit.  Some are in my Google Drive, and some are on TPT.
Germs Flip Book
Germs Worksheets
Please Don't Pick Your Nose poem
Bacteria and Virus writing papers 
Balanced Your Lunch Tray Game
Hand Washing Posters and Song

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Five for Friday- March 18th

Hey, hey, hey! Happy Friday! 

I'm linking up again with Doodle Bug's Teaching to share 5 little snippets of my week.

After a mini freak-out over papers and messiness everywhere,  stuff literally overflowing from students' cubbies, I whipped up a few reward coupons for neatness and organization.  There were some very excited students when they found a coupon waiting for them on their cubbies on Tuesday morning.  It also motivated some of my Messy Marvins to shape up their work spaces, because, man, they wanted a lollipop, too!  #bribery

I'm knee deep into my weather unit in science, and this week's focus as been on the water cycle.  We've done so many fun things- experiments, writing, songs.  Our favorites were shaving cream rain clouds and water cycle bracelets.  A full post will be coming on all things water cycle!

A few months ago, after being fed with the amount of plastic grocery bags we had lying around, I ordered a couple of reusable tote bags from Baggu.  I love them!  They're so bright and pretty.  They fold right up and get stuffed into a small pouch.  I can easily keep two bags in my purse.  The large one that I have is great for our Costco runs.  I'm definitely going to be ordering more.

Two Sundays ago, I had a Google Hangout with my TPT mini-tribe: Molly, Kelli, Becky, Caitlin, and Brynn.  We worked together to get ourselves set with goals and visions.  A year ago, I would have never imagined that what has been a hobby for a while would have turned into something so valuable to me.  I've learned a tremendous amount over the past year, and I have learned so much from those girls!  When I met them for lunch at a Panera last July, I would have never guessed that we'd be doing so much more in March.  What a blessing my tribe has been to me!  Wow!

(old picture, but same fabulous women!)

My little girl and I had a date last weekend to see my district's high school production of Cinderella.  It was fantastic!  A few girls from my first two classes of first graders were in the musical.  It was so wonderful to see them perform.  Such talented beauties all grown up!
Julia absolutely loved it!  She was beyond excited and loved the prince and silly step-sister.  It was a little long for a 3 year old, but she did a great job.  We don't get many mama-Julia dates, so it was really special. 

So, that was my week...how was yours?  Good, bad, crazy busy?  I'm super pumped for next week's 3 day week before Easter.  We can do it, Teacher Friends!
Be sure to check out more Five for Friday posts over at Doodle Bug's Teaching blog.  Thanks for stopping by!

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Five for Friday- Nov. 6th

Hellooooo, Friday!

After a super busy but long week, I'm linking up with Doodle Bug's Teaching for....

 

 We began our Pioneers unit in social studies this week.  Today I taught a lesson on Davy Crockett.  At the end of our lesson, we did a directed drawing of Davy Crockett.  How cute are these little guys?!?!  Every time we draw, I'm blown away by the talent in my classroom.  In addition to some things I already had, I used this fabulous freebie by KinderGals. My kiddos rocked the was/could/had chart!

Last week, I wrapped up our unit on the skeletal system just in time for Halloween.  I planned a bones party for the kids, and they LOVED it!  We made these cute little skeleton cupcakes and q-tip skeletons at our party. 

Going right along with the Pioneer theme, my grade level took our annual field trip to the Landis Valley Farm Museum in Lancaster, PA.  It's a pioneer village.  The kids had a fabulous time experiencing life as a pioneer.  The wagon ride was their favorite part.  Those gentle giants, Ben and Maude, were so sweet. 

Today I ordered a kit from Oriental Trading to make our own class quilt.  I'm so excited to do this project again.  I haven't done it in a few years.  The supplies were a little pricey, but the markers last for a while.  I love how the quilts turn out, and the kids get so proud of them.  I can't wait to see all 6 of them from our 6 second grade classes hanging together. 

 

 This past weekend, we went to my cousin's wedding.  It was the first time (I think) that we've had both of our kids at wedding.  They LOVED the dancing!  Julia would not get off the dance floor, and she wanted to dance with her little brother all night long.  She got a little miffed when another little girl wanted to dance with him.  Haha!  My family and I were loving it.  

So, there you have it, 5 random details of my week.  Click over to Doodle Bug's to see who else linked for for Five for Friday! Thanks for stopping by!

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Creating an Edible Butterfly Life Cycle

This week we've been totally into the life cycle of a butterfly.  We've read, wrote, and sang all about it.  We also have two butterfly houses in our classroom, one with a monarch and one with painted ladies.  Our monarch is in it's chrysalis.  So much fun!  My kids are completely loving it. 

To wrap up the week, I led them through the creation of an edible butterfly life cycle.  It was simple but really was a terrific review tool.  Overall, I think the entire thing cost less than $10. 

To get started, you'll need plain white paper plates, mini marshmallows, gummy worms, green grapes, and Pepperidge Farm butterfly crackers.  I prepped it all ahead of time, and gave each group a dish with all of the necessary ingredients. 

We started by dividing our plate into four sections, and labeling them with a key word for each stage: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly.

Then, the kids drew a little background for each section.  I modeled the entire thing on the board, but game them freedom with their drawings. 

Next, I gave each group a dish with the food.  They had to decide which food item fit the stage of the cycle.  The kids had no problem with this at all.

After they had the entire cycle built, elbow buddies took turns explaining the life cycle to one another.  Then, we ate it, which was, of course,  the best part.  They were amazed by the butterfly crackers.  LOL! This was a terrific review tool- creativity, vocabulary, comprehension, and food! 

Food Substitutions:
mini-marshmallow: Tic-Tac, M&M
gummy worm: cheese curl, rotini noodle
grape: Tootsie Roll, string cheese cut into fourths
butterfly cracker: pretzel, farfalle noodle (bow-tie)

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