Earthworm Dissection for the Tried it Tuesday Linky and a 50 States Game

So I'm linking up to this cool new linky from Fourth Grade Flipper. The rules are simple, describe something new you've tried. Well, today we tried dissecting earthworms in my classroom. We study the plant and animal kingdoms and relate it back to animal classification and adaptations. The earthworm has a highly adapted body, yet has many analogous organs/systems to the human body (which is our next science unit). We use this as kind of a capstone experience for the unit. 

Censored for your benefit!

What went right: The kids really did learn a lot about animal adaptations and how the earthworm's body is compared to the human body! No one cut themselves. No one threw up (though one girl turned a few shades of yellow). A good discussion arose from the activity. Pretty good all in all.

What could have been better: Well...the teacher across the hall was absent, and her kids were supposed to do this today too, so we combined classes and taught all the kids in my room. That's a lot of kids in a little room. Also, I LOVE parent volunteers, but they were a little grossed out and a lot under-educated about the inner workings of the earthworm. I had to correct more than one parent when they told the kids at their center that "those white things are its hearts!" (The white things are its reproductive organs, for the record!)

Also, my classroom smelled like dead worms for like 2 hours afterwards...

In other news...

Congrats to Rosemary for winning the 250 Scholastic Book Points in my recent giveaway! I hope you'll let me know which books you get one you receive your prize! We're slowly climbing to 50!

Also, I was very productive during my ill-gotten snow day yesterday! I FINALLY finished custom making all 50 states worth of clip art and put it all together to make a new game I plan to use with my class and have added to my TpT store. Click the image below to check it out! (Just 3 clams! Practically a steal!)

I think it'll be a fun way to have the kids practice the states as a small group center later in the year once the big ugly tests are over. The same cards could easily be adapted to practice the state capitals as well! I also listed the clip art I made for this product on my store for anyone interested!

Tomorrow and Thursday we have parent conferences all day. In my old school system in GA we didn't get days like this for conferences, we just had to schedule them all for after school. There's nothing worse than scheduling a 5:00 conference just for the parent to no-show! I like the fact that we get to do them during the day, but I kind of wish I could just have a normal school day for a change. 

I'm super anxious to get some things done in my room with the kiddos. We're still loving Wonder, we're in the middle of our poetry unit, and we're about to begin our Westward Expansion Simulation! Not to mention all the math I need to cover. So much to do!

Now, everyone close your eyes and say a prayer for Spring to finally find its way to the northeast! I'll be back for the Workshop Wednesday Linky tomorrow!