Learning Properties and Making Books!

States of Matter. . . done.  The kiddos are doing well categorizing things into solids, liquids, or gases.

Properties of Matter. . . huh?

That was the type of reaction I got yesterday when I first mentioned properties of matter.  Their eyes sort of glazed over.  I started a Properties chart and broke it down into categories (color, shape, size, texture, weight).  Once I did this everything seemed much more manageable to them.  They came up with all of the ideas for the chart and I recorded them.

After we finished the chart, they each got to record some of our ideas in their very own Properties of Matter books!  The books are a simple little foldable that I learned to make in a professional development session (don't ask me which one because I have no idea!)  I folded all of the books and the kids filled them in.

If you are interested in making some books for your class all you need is paper and a stapler.  You will need three sheets of paper for each book (unless you want a smaller book).  Start by placing one sheet on top of another.  Line up the sides, but slide the paper up so there is about an inch and a half showing at the bottom.  Next place the third sheet on top and leave about an inch and a half of the middle paper showing.

Then, it is time to fold!  Take the top part of the three pages, and fold them over towards the bottom. By folding just one time you should be able to get about an inch and a half space for each row.

Crease the fold and add a couple of staples at the top edge.  You made a book!  These books can be used for anything.  Seriously, the possibilities are endless, but here are a few to get your mind going:
1.  retelling a story
2.  recording characters, setting, beginning, middle, end
3.  recording items of different shapes
4.  recording items that are certain colors

Just have the kids write the name of a category on each row and then they lift the flap to record their answers.  This is an example of our Properties of Matter book.  You could also "fancy it up" by adding pictures on the little tabs to go with each category.

Today we played "I Spy" using words from our property books.  They loved this!  I think we will continue to play whenever we have a little free time (like that ever happens!).