And When it Rains, it Pours! Yes, ANOTHER Giveaway!

Believe it or not, I was invited to be a part of another giveaway!  This one is all Valentines Day theme products from Teachers Pay Teachers.  There are so many talented authors at TpT and this giveaway is a great chance to sample some of the very best!

Here's the prize package where you can win a FREE copy of my Valentine's Day Logic Puzzles.

And if that's not the right age group for your class, check out TEACHER GEMS to see what you can win for K-2 and 2-5!  Enter, enter, and enter again!  Tons of ways to enter to win!

Thanks to Kelsea from Teacher Gems for putting together this awesome giveaway!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Huge Teachers Pay Teachers GIVEAWAY!

I'm participating in a HUGE giveaway!  Tons of terrific lessons from my friends and colleagues at Teachers Pay Teachers!  And something from MY store too!  Join in the fun!  If you haven't tried Teachers Pay Teachers, it's a great way to try i tout for free.  If you HAVE used TpT, you KNOW how great it is!  What's better than TONS of FREE products??!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A really FUN review game

My students can be VERY competitive with each other.  Last week I took advantage of that and split the class into two teams to unscramble a pile of letters into important sentences they need to remember.

This photo shows the statement:  CELLS SHRINK WHEN WATER DIFFUSES OUT.  Somehow no matter how many times we go over it, no matter how many examples, experiments, specimens we go over, someone still wants to blame the diffusion of salt for the "shrinkage."  Hopefully this game helped cement this sentence into their brains.
Also included was a practice round sentence that said BIOLOGY CLASS MEETS IN ROOM 613, and two more transport related sentences:  STOMATES ARE FOR GAS EXCHANGE and CELLS RECOGNIZE SIGNALS BECAUSE THEY HAVE MEMBRANE RECEPTORS.

We took the sentences in order of difficulty.  Each team of 13-14 students was able to solve the puzzles within several minutes.  The longest sentence took about 7-8 minutes for the teams to solve.

What an enlightening activity.  Some students were easily able to unscramble individual words, some were really good at putting the words in the correct order, some students naturally took over the organization of the line once the problem was solved.  It's always so fun and interesting to see the students in a new light.

The kids really enjoyed this game.  I think I'll do it again.  What kind of fun and creative games do you play with your students?

He got a BLADDER for Christmas??

Sometimes teenagers say the WEIRDEST things.  The day before Christmas break I was walking in the hall on my way back from lunch, when I overheard one of my students telling his friend, "She gave me a bladder!"  The biology teacher in me HAD to stop and ask.  What on earth does that mean?  You got a BLADDER??  Well, he showed me the cutest softest bladder I have ever seen!

If you are not familiar with these, you have got to check out I HEART GUTS where you will find funny, creative and adorable stuffed body organs and more.  Each organ comes with an informative little blurb including a bunch of facts you might not have guessed.  Check out what they say about this cute bladder:

Urine for a Treat!  The bladder stores your pee until you’re ready to go! Most bladders hold approximately 300-400 milliliters of liquid, about the size of a can and a half of soda. Drink up! When you pee, your brain tells the muscles in your bladder to tighten and squeeze out the urine. In Japanese, the word for bladder, boukou, also means “violence.” Hmmm… Let the bladder take out the trash with a lovely golden shower! 

What a cool gift for YOUR favorite teenager.

If you do go check out I Heart Guts, I'd love to hear which is your favorite organ.  I'm thinking about giving one away.  Are you up for that?