Uh Oh....

Dum, duh, dum-dummmmm.....

Wen't to the dreaded doctor today after my voice situation proceeded to get worse....and guess what.  Not only do I have an upper respiratory infection, no no, that couldn't possibly be enough...I also have bronchitis!  LOVELY!  2 infections in one!  It's my lucky day! :-/

So I have a sub lined up for tomorrow, and I will try to rest and relax.  I use the word TRY very cautiously, because the teacher in me is stressed for tomorrow!  (Do you guys get stressed when you have a sub?)  I KNOW it will be fine, especially with the FABULOUS subs we have at our school, but I worry about my kiddos (I have a very high needs class who like routine). 


But to get my mind off of my personal HEALTH DISASTER, I will post for you my Natural Disasters unit from my classroom (so far!)  I, obviously, will miss tomorrow (and maybe Thursday's) lessons, but they will be very similar to these below.

We started off by simply talking about the word "disaster".  We used it in sentences, such as "My day was a DISASTER because...." etc. etc.  Then, at our tables, we brainstormed a "definition" for the word disaster.  I had each student write their thoughts on a sticky and we each got a chance to read our sticky, then post it!

Afterwards, we began talking about NATURAL disasters, being terrible, bad, things that go wrong in NATURE!  And "CLICK"!  The lightbulbs went off!  "OH, so Ms. Hubbard, like last week with the tornado?"  "Or hurricanes"  "What about volcanoes!!"  (you can imagine the enthusiastic shouting out!)

So we had a nice class discussion, and then we read a short little book about droughts.  We looked at our class "mini-poster" (part of my Natural Disasters Pack).  Droughts really hit home here in Texas, because we have them often.  The kids can really relate to things such as water restrictions, dry ground, huge cracks in the ground, etc.  (I think my all time favorite teacher quote was earlier this year when I yelled, "Quit playin' in the crack!" at recess!  Haha, teacher of the year right here!)

Posted on the board...both mini-posters from today and yesterday!

Then, we looked over our "Window into Natural Disasters" sheet as a class.  We talked about what would go in each square, and we even talked about all the answers together as a class.  Students then completed it on their own at their desks.

Today was the OPPOSITE of droughts...floods!  Same process, learning about floods, discussion, and independent practice of the "Window" page.

AND it all goes in our Natural Disaster Books! 

Love keeping our materials organized! :)

So they will repeat the process for the rest of the unit with tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, blizzards, and earthquakes.  Fun fun fun!  There are also SO many great videos and websites out there for Natural Disasters.  Our district uses "Montage" for our video system...and it has a library of thousands of short (20ish minute) videos on all sorts of different topics.  We love to use them during this unit, so the students can actually SEE the different ones (because let's be honest, chances of seeing a blizzard or volcano in Texas is slim to none!)

Hey by the way, I wanted to throw this question out there...our Natural Disasters Unit is in BOTH Science and Social Studies curriculum (what they are AND the effects on the world and people), which is great to check off 2 birds with one stone!  But when I went to list the pack on TpT and TN, it seemed to just fit in Science.  So is your Natural Disasters/Natural Hazards Unit just in Science??  Hmm...very curious!

Wish me luck with trying to rest tomorrow!  Crossing my fingers for a voice in the morning...unlikely, but we shall see!  Hope you're having a great week...it's almost hump day! :)