In addition to meaningful and fun instruction, solid classroom management, and positive relationships, what can we do?
T
he second semester of school in 5th grade can be…intense. There’s the test prep and the data analysis and the after school tutoring and the hormones and “The Test”. I tried something new this semester to keep motivation high and work quality high while also giving me time to work with students who need extra help.
Every Friday, students take a quiz over the week’s material. I quickly grade the quizzes as they turn them in (once I’m done reading aloud to some students). Then, students graph their quiz scores.
After that it’s… SCIENCE ACTIVITY TIME!
As soon as I introduced Science Activity Time (SAT), the kids LOVED it! Some made a hand crank powered radio with Snap Circuits. Some made art of cycles in space with chalk and construction paper. Some played computer games. Some read with a buddy. Some made a contraption to test force and motion.
How does it work?
SAT happens on Fridays after we do a unit test or weekly quiz. The reward is academic! It lasts about 30 minutes and is for students who meet certain criteria:
1. All work for the week must be complete and high quality.
2. You must not have received a Classroom Referral all week.
Students who struggled with the quiz meet with me briefly during this time to ask questions about what they didn’t understand and clear up any misconceptions.
Students who did not do quality work or have incomplete assignments have the opportunity to get caught up.
There are plenty of easy ideas to use for SAT. This is not something where I’m going to rotate all of the activities each week. I added activities over time, but we started with just a few options.
Best Bets for SAT
Here are my recommendations based on what students have really enjoyed (affiliate links):
Snap Circuits Alternative Energy
7 thoughts on “Science Activity Time”
Hi! Do you use the Science Stations and Science Activity Time every week?
Yes, the consistency in our schedule worked really well with my kids.
I love this idea. I’m moving up to a 5th grade class next year and I’m looking forward to my students being able to do more of the kind of activities you mentioned independently.
Hello, awesome idea. I was wondering where I could find more info on the graphing of their weekly quiz grades and the “classroom referral” you referred to. I would really like to know your sequence of events to receive a classroom referral etc.
A classroom referral is pretty rare, but would be for completely unacceptable behavior that required parent contact. As for the graphing quiz scores, more info can be found here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/5th-Grade-Science-TEKS-Based-Assessments-2371616
Thanks!
Ari
Did you allow free choice, or set up like stations? I think I want to do this after tests, because who really wants to move on to a new topic on those days?
Free choice!