Participating in class activities and answering questions is a very important part of learning. It also helps the teacher to assess student’s understanding of a concept. But what if a student is so shy they won’t answer questions in class and struggle to participate at all? Should you force them? No. I used these strategies when I was teaching English…
Looking for ideas for your Valentine party this year? Here are several great ideas that you can do with almost any age group. 1. Candy Heart Patterns Print these free candy heart patterns and have students use real candy hearts to continue the pattern. You can focus on colors using these pattern cards or you could focus on words if…
I’m always amazed how many teachers come back from Winter break feeling refreshed and inspired, only to be completely overwhelmed shortly after. Let’s be honest, the slow (usually cold), gloomy months of January and February can be difficult for teachers and students to get through. Behaviors crop up in the classroom that you may not have really seen earlier in…
Some people think history is boring but I think it is actually one of the most flexible, engaging subjects to teach! There are soooo many cools things you can do to help bring history to life for kids. Here are a few ideas: Mission US This website is by far the best “game-like” history website I’ve come across. It…
Once your child or student has mastered short letter sounds they can begin learning long vowel sounds. Here are four hands-on activities you can use to help them practice these sounds. You could use these same activities for learning sight words and short vowel sounds too. If you want to see more, check out my Ebook that contains 40 hands-on…
Games are a fun and important method for helping students practice skills and remember facts in the classroom. You can read more about that in my post: Why is Active Learning Important? Here is one game that I’ve used in multiple subject areas. To play Around the World, have each student stand up in a circle. Depending on how your…
Kindness is a very important concept to teach and practice with your students. Before looking at three great activities to practice kindness, you should discuss what kindness looks and sounds like and why it is actually important. You can use the demonstrations below to help students of any age to visualize kindness in a concrete way. Teach About Why Kindness…
This month we learned all about the secret and exciting world of spies! Students practiced different types of codes, learned to disguise themselves and even solved a mystery. Here are ideas for your own Spy unit or Spy party! Secret Codes The most important aspect of any good Spy unit is codes! There are lots of different types of codes…
Are you looking for some great STEM ideas to use this November? Here are my favorites! You can download a free poster of each of these challenges at the bottom of the page. 1. Create a turkey trap Before beginning this project, I love to read the book How to Catch a Turkey by Adam Wallace & Andy Elkerton. This…
If you don’t know what culturally responsive teaching is check out my post here before reading this one. November and December is a time of year marked with numerous important holidays around the world. How can teach about these holidays and celebrate along with students while still being culturally responsive? Here’s some suggestions: Incorporate different holidays equally in your classroom…
