Five for Friday - Dr. Seuss and St. Patrick's Day

Happy Five for Friday (even though it is Saturday)! We had a great week with all things Dr. Seuss.  I love using his books for my older students.  I am also getting my room and home ready for St. Patrick's Day.  I love decorating.  I didn't get much of a chance to do so last month, because I spent so much time being sick.  I am making up for lost time.

1

Foot Book - We traced our feet - technically our shoes - since I was not in the mood to smell any stinky feet.  Then we measured them without different units - paper clips, cubes, and boring rulers.

                                                                

                                                                                       

2

Bartholowmew and the Oobleck - Our favorite science experiment was making our own oobleck.  It's hard to really describe what oobleck is since the texture is so strange.  I put the recipe I used below.  I know that there are lots of recipes out there, but this one is really basic.  I also made mixing and cleanup easier by doing everything in a plastic bag.

                                                               

Making Oobleck
     1.  Put equal parts cornstarch and water into a Ziploc bag.  (I used a tablespoon of each and gave each student their own bag.)
     2.  Students squeeze the bag to mix the two ingredients together.  When mixed, it should created a mixture that looks watery, but it is slightly more solid.
     3.  Additional water or cornstarch can be added as needed.

3

One, Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish - This one is an easy one to do.  Just take a large box of colored goldfish crackers and give every child a handful.  Let them tally, graph, and interpret their data.  My students were so focused (especially when I told them they can eat their goldfish only if they worked hard on their work)!

                                                                 

4

St. Patrick's Day (Home) - I found a cute pin on Pinterest making a St. Patrick's Day hat.  The one I saw was made using green candy.  I knew that I couldn't leave candy out with my cats around, or I would find the candy later on when I did major cleaning under/behind furniture.  I found the rocks at Michaels.  They didn't have all green ones, but I thought the colors gave it a nice contrast.

How to make a Leprechaun hat:
     1.  Place a footless trifle bowl onto a clear plate.  I used an old microwave plate that my mom had. I got the trifle bowl off of Amazon.

     2.  Fill the bowl and plate with candy or with colored stones.

     3.  I then added black ribbon to make the band.

     4.  To make the buckle, I used a strip of connected gold beads that I found in Michael's jewlery making area.  This was easy to bend into a buckle shape.

     5.  The flowers are just a cutesy decoration on top.

5

Pots of Gold - I just finished ordering the mini cauldrons below for St. Patrick's Day (I even ordered enough for next year, because they are half price).  Next week, we will plant clover seeds in them. By the time St. Patrick's Day comes, they will have grown (clover grows quickly).   I have 'gold' to put in them on the 17th (I got them on clearance after Christmas).  I can't wait to make them.