Hello Mr. Gecko

Hello, Mr. Gecko!

        Spending time in Arizona means you will see a different variety of animals from the assortment we have in Michigan.    One of my granddaughter's favorite pass times is looking for geckos.      Baby geckos, Dada geckos, Mamma geckos, large and small, are so much fun to look for in the yard.     I should say, on the outside walls of the house.     These little guys are so very fast, and they blend into their environment so well.   So looking for them is a challenge.    But they like to hang out there in the hot Arizona sun and sun themselves.

      I have to say that I'm not sure that "gecko" is the correct term for this little reptile, but that is what my granddaughter calls them.    If you know the correct name for this little guy, please feel free to leave me a comment.
   

      Well, one afternoon while cleaning up after lunch, Mr. Gecko decided to come into the house and walk around on the kitchen window sill.     He startled me to say the least.  Then I had to figure out how to catch the little guy and get him back outside where he belonged.       He was hanging out on the windowsill between the blinds and the window behind the kitchen sink.
  
     First,  I had to clear all the dishes, cups, etc. from in and around the sink.    I needed to have easy access when trying to catch a very, very fast gecko.   Then what am I to use to trap him?    I had a good size plastic bag from grapes.   You know the kind with the little holes in the sides.  

    Mr. Gecko needed to be cornered so I could carefully get him to run into the bag.   As you can see in the picture, he was near the side of the window.    Lucky, he did run into the bag without me making a lot of noise.    By the way, I was doing this while my granddaughter was taking an afternoon nap in her crib.   Her bedroom is adjacent to the kitchen.

    So now what do you do with a trapped gecko?     Of course I could not just let him go.  My granddaughter would have been terribly disappointed not to see the gecko close up.

      You put the gecko into a bucket for safe keeping, of course!

       Now he was only in the bucket for about an hour before my granddaughter woke up from he nap.    Needless to say, she was very excited to see Mr. Gecko.
We had a good time pointing and talking  to him.
    
         A few weeks earlier by accident another gecko fell off the side of the house and into this same bucket.    He tried to jump out.       As you can imagine, this scared my daughter and granddaughter.     When she sees a gecko, she shakes her finger and says, "No, No, Mr. Gecko, don't scare us!"

     We placed the bucket on its side so Mr. Gecko could  leave when he was ready.     I didn't want him jumping up at us this time.     Eventually, Mr. Gecko went on his merry way. 
  
         This is one of Mr. Gecko's friends.      He is much darker in color than the other gecko.      This one is climbing down the outside of the house.

       We are visiting our family in Florida now.   What do you know?  There are geckos here, too!   Well that's all for today.    No geckos in Michigan.      Enjoy the  weather where ever you live no matter what time of the year.

Please leave a comment if you find the time.  I'd love to hear from you.

Beti

One Pack of Seeds

Seeds!

        One little pack of seeds can sprout into a beautiful garden.

       Last fall I trimmed some  very overgrown bushes in my yard and cleared the space in between.  This spring the bushes started to sprout new green leaves.  I decided to plant wild flowers in the empty spaces. No big thing.  I sprinkled the seeds onto the dirt and raked them in. For a few days I faithfully watered the seeds until little green leaves started to poke through the earth. 
    
       I spent a few weeks away from home and was afraid that all my baby flowers would be all dried up.  Happily, when I got back my flowers were in bloom. 

   
    The neat thing is that every week some new flower bloomed.  

       These were the latest to bloom.
    

        In the fall, when the flowers die, the flowers will drop their seeds for next spring.  Then I will have a new arrangement of beautiful wild flowers in my garden.  

     So when you see those little packets of seeds in the store, buy one and grow some lovely little flowers.  They will brighten each  day with new blossoms.

     Even though it is the fisrt day of August, fall is coming the school year is just getting started. But plan ahead. Put this one in your planner for the spring.  Grow some with flowers in your classroom.  Could be a great Mother's Day gift from your students.

    Today I linked up with Forever in Fifth Grade  for Show and Tell  Tuesday.

https://foreverinfifthgrade.blogspot.com/2017/08/show-tell-tuesday-back-to-school-time.html 


    Have a great end of your summer and a successful school year.

Beti

Bubble, Bubbles, Bubbles

Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles!

           Playing with bubbles is always a great sensory experience.  I whipped up some bubbles using baby shampoo and a very small amount of water.   Then I scooped some of the bubbles in a small plastic cup to place on the high chair tray. If the bubbles happened to get splashed, the shampoo is gentle on the eyes.  My granddaughter really enjoys this activity.

           Not much water was used, so we didn't get very wet, but had a great time exploring with the bubbles.  The nice thing is you can do this activity during the winter without getting completely soaked.  Notice the plastic bib.

           I liked the idea of thick bubbles that would kind of keep their shape while while a child is playing. 

                Some green food coloring was mixed into this batch of bubbles. It is fun to add another color to see what color appears next.

            Here we got into a big bowl of bubbles for a different experience.

        
             We don't have to spend a lot of money or need an Ipad for our little ones to learn about their world.

        Please leave a comment if you have the time. I always enjoy reading your ideas.

Beti

Baby Hummingbirds

Baby Hummingbirds in Arizona!

     Today I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for the "Five for Friday" weekly linky party.

www.doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com    
I spent a couple of weeks in Arizona in April. The palm tree in my daughter's front yard was the perfect place for this hummingbird to made her nest. The nest is only about two inches in diameter. She lined the nest with her softest feathers for the two little eggs. They look large in this picture, but remember that the inside of the nest is only about an inch and a half across!

   The eggs began to hatch on Saturday before Easter.  You can see the egg being cracked. This was so exciting. 

  
The baby chick was so very tiny.

      I had to be very careful because I  did not want the mother bird to get upset with me taking close up pictures with my phone. 

     Both eggs hatched and the two chicks were constantly tended by the mother bird.

     Day by day the baby birds grew quickly.

    
         It was so much fun to go out each day to check on the chicks, an unbelievable teaching moment.  My granddaughter had as much fun as I did.  Every morning she would say, " See hummingbirds!"  It was very difficult, but  I had to come home to Michigan. 
       
         I'm sure the mother bird will take very good care of her chicks without me checking on them every day.  They will soon fly off to check out all the flowering bushes in Arizona.

         Happy Spring!

Please leave a comment if you have the chance. I'd love to hear form you.

Beti 

Mall of America Aquarium

           On a recent trip to Minneapolis we went to the Mall of America.  There is an aquarium that is very impressive.  So much to see!

      
        There was an exhibit with sea horses.  They look so delicate.  You can see how they wrap their tail around a plant to stabilize themselves.

      There were also frogs.  I couldn't resist taking these pictures because of their brilliant colors.

       
         If you happen to be in Minneapolis stop an visit the Aquarium in the Mall of America.  Of course you'll see sharks, jelly fish, sea turtles, and feed a stingray.   It is a wonderful family experience.

         Please leave a comment if you have a chance.
Enjoy your day.

Beti

Jet Toy Vocab Review Flip Chart

       Jet Toy is a STEM program in coordination with automotive engineers. Our 5th graders have been part of the Jet Toy program for years. An engineer volunteers his or her time once a week for six weeks to come and teach our children about force and motion along with the basics needed to construct and test their jet toy, balloon powered, vehicles. 
     My teaching partner teaches the Science and Math subjects for our 5th grade team. She  uses flip charts for review and study of vocab. Along with all the hands-on learning being done, the students need to have a good grasp of all the technical vocabulary.  This is where the flip chart comes in.

Some of the vocab words have been glued onto the flip chart.

Students use their books to make sure the definition matches the vocab word.

     

          Students learn so much by doing hands on activities.  

Enjoy your day!

Beti 

Solar System Guest Blog

          My teaching partner, Suzanne, is the Science and Math teacher of our 5th grade team.  In order to meet the 5th grade Science standards she had the students do this project.
         Our 5th grade students have completed their unit of study on the Solar System.  Each student was instructed to make a brochure of one aspect of the Solar System. In addition to the brochure a model was to be constructed.  This is just a sampling of projects  and brochures from our 91 students. These were the projects that I had a good angle to take a picture. 
    

5th  Grade Solar System Projects and Brochures

These are the directions for the brochure and model along with a grading rubric.
   

Please leave a short comment. Our students are very proud of their work.

Enjoy the next few weeks until the end of the school year.