Maths Worksheets Year 5 Free Online Count- Why use free math worksheets? Easy. These worksheets will save you plenty of time and money and when you're a busy homeschool mom teaching several children, this means a lot. Save Money It's easy to understand how free worksheets will save you money.…
Learn about Japan for Kids with this printable book to read, color, and learn about Mt Fiji, charming gardens, and sushi without leaving home!
Ideal worksheets for starters. I hope you like it :) Can also be used as a test ,) - ESL worksheets
PVC Pipe Ideas are popping all over Pinterest and beyond! There are many things you can make with pvc pipes that are great DIY pvc pipe projects for kids!
Celebrate Star Wars Day on May 4th with these super cute, printable Star Wars Worksheets from a galaxy far far away! HUGE Pack of free worksheets!
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I had a conversation recently with a colleague, and we agreed that in order to have a classroom with fewer behavior problems, all teachers have to do is enforce two rules: respect yourself and resp…
We have had several requests for the above "Letter Combination" chart. We alternate this chart with the below "Blends" chart every day. Students chant it as "ay, ey, ai See kids play, etc." They see these letter combinations in their reading and use them in their writing. These two charts are also kept in easy eye-sight for students to refer to as needed. Smaller charts are also put into their writing folders and reading bins earlier in the year to use as reference tools.
After a long chat about fore-, middle- and background, we glued our camels into our Egyptian Landscape Collages. Here's a kid that really got the concept of objects diminishing in size. What would be more appropriate to chat about on this here Hump Day then a one-humped camel (which are called domedary in case you didn't know) and his habitat? My first grade artists finished up these Egyptian Landscape Collages last week and I thought I'd share them with you. I've been doing this landscape collage lesson for years but always with a connection to our current theme of study. With Egypt being our theme this year, a desert landscape was what we created. Image pulled from pinterest.com. We began our lesson with a nice long chat about sunrises and sets. We looked at photos, artist renditions, and discussed personal experiences before creating our own. Each student was given a 12" by 18" piece of paper folded in half lengthwise. On the top half of their paper, students painted their sunsets. During their second art class, we discussed the horizon line and how objects near that line appear to be smaller. With that in mind, we painted our clouds, small near the horizon, gradually growing in size as they approach the top of the paper. Would you like one hump or two? The two-humped camels (called bactrian) are found in Central and East Asia. So apparently this one migrated to Egypt. The following art class, we began the textured paper for the desert sands. This time we had a wee chat about creating tints of colors and textures. Each student was given a new sheet of 12" X 18" paper folded in half lengthwise. They were to create a tint of brown on each half of the paper and create a texture with the texture combs. If you don't happen to have texture combs, you can easily make them from stiff pieces of card stock with small notches cut out of the bottom. It's just not a kid's landscape unless something is levitating. I totally dig the floating pyramids. Once both paintings are complete, the collage process begins. Now, I've done this project many times and the first time I did it, the collage portion made me want to whack my head against the wall. So to save you some head-whacking, lemme tell you how I explain it to the kids: Tear a strip of paper off of your textured and tinted paper lengthwise. Put glue around the edges of that paper. Place it directly on your horizon line (this way, no white space can be seen between the sky and the horizon). Continue to tear strips and glue down. Overlap the brown papers so there are no white paper gaps. When you run out of paper at the bottom to glue the land to, you are finished! This idea to create pyramids came from the book Dynamic Art Projects for Children. If you teach children, this book is a fantastic source for art project ideas. Once the landscape was complete, we began creating objects for the land. We kept these bits and pieces in an envelope labeled with our name until we were ready to glue them down. To create the pyramids, the kids folded a rectangle in half, cut across it diagonally, opened the paper and viola! we had a triangle. To make it look three-dimensional, we laid a piece of scrap paper over the triangle, drew a heavy brown line in oil pastel and then smeared the pastel toward the edge of the triangle. We used oil pastels gifted to us from Paul deMarrais. You must see his beautiful pastel landscapes (and pick up some of his hand crafted oil pastels!) here: http://www.pauldemarrais.com/home/index.html The How-to-Draw sheet that I made multiple copies of and had ready at the tables. Once our pyramids were complete, we began our study of camels. We read a book about them, looked at this amazing stuffed one that our librarian happened to have and proceeded to draw together. I firmly believe in guided drawing (meaning, I draw something on my paper, the kids attempt to replicate on their paper). Art teachers that I have met are either firmly for or against this idea. My rational is this: you wouldn't hand a kid a math worksheet and just tell them to have at it without explaining to them the concepts first, right? I love how the little camel's legs are firmly rooted as if to say, "I'm not taking another step! This walking on three legs business is just too complicated!" So as we are drawing the camels together, we are looking for the shapes and lines within the object, discussing what we see and drawing them. After we have created one camel together, the students were given the above How-to Draw sheet and asked to draw as many camels as they'd like in their landscape. They used the sheet as their starting point and them proceeded to draw walking legs, multiple humps, etc. Again, we kept them in our envelope. Another beautiful Egyptian sunset. I shared similar images with the kids to help them understand the concept of a silhouette. On our final day, students were given back their envelopes and their landscapes. We had a chat about fore-, middle- and back ground, diminishing size and silhouettes. Then the students proceeded to assemble their collages. Finally, we were finished! I have this habit of creating the World's Longest Art Projects...but I have myself convinced that it's okay. We learned: painting, color mixing, texture, collage, drawing, shading, etc. So, it's really about five projects packed into one, right? As I said earlier, I've done this project many times before. When we were learning about Japan, the landscape was vertical and filled with origami houses. One year we learned about Medieval times and created a green landscape full of castles. The original idea came from a SchoolArts article many years ago. That teacher had created a sea scape, using blue textured papers. The possibilities are endless-ish!
It’s back to school time and today we’re entering our 4th week of 2nd grade and Pre-K! It has been quite an adjustment for me! Every year I forget how big of a step up it is between the previous grade and the new grade. Every. Year. But I think we’ve fallen into a good groove....
Kids will have fun learning about the Aztecs with this fun clay Aztec Art Ideas for Kids from preschoolers through elementary age kids.
Hello Everyone!! Happy Monday!! I picked up a random book at Half Price Books the other day, Visual Tools by Roger Essley, a diagnosed dyslexic. The title caught my eye because I am such a visual learner. As I read through this book, I have to tell you, I almost cried. This approach to teaching writing for a differentiated classroom has become my Ahhhh Hahhhhh for the summer.The author suggests that kids need to draw out their stories before they even begin writing anything. Then they need to talk about their drawings, make adjustments, additions, etc, and then begin writing. I have always had my kids draw before they write, but not even close to the extent that Mr. Essley suggests. He calls it Storyboarding. The process really helps kids organize visually what they want to say in their stories. Stick figures and labeling to help others understand are acceptable. He tells many stories of kids with learning challenges who became writers because of this method. (You've probably been doing this all along. Sometimes I'm a little slower to get there!) While reading this, I couldn't help but be reminded of the struggle my oldest son had with writing. In fourth grade he was the only student in the school to get a "1" on his state writing exam. (4 being the best) :( We were all devastated and mortified- mostly because he is a bright kid, in the gifted and talented class. We came to realize that he is intensely visual, and this was affecting his writing! He has since graduated from the MIZZOU School of Journalism and is now an award winning broadcast journalist for ABC. He needs to see his stories!! This makes total sense to me now! If he would have been able to begin writing projects with a storyboard, I think he would have had more success in school. So now, how do I help my littles gain confidence in writing their stories?---through storyboarding! I like to think of it as a kind of comic strip. Kids draw their stories in little boxes with minimal words at first. They verbalize all their ideas through their storyboard, gain insights from the class, and then create a "dummy" book from the boxes, adding text. The dummy goes through editing, and then we are ready for publishing. Here are a few pics of a model I tried. Brainstorm ideas, and then draw ideas on paper. This is a class sized model. This is a kid sized version they can do on a plastic sheet in their writing notebooks. Attach cards with stickers helps with easy rearrangement. Keep sheet in notebook An envelope can be used to store cards Make a "dummy" Attach cards to one side, add another card for text. Add text Keep adding storyboard cards, text. Then revise and edit some more. Finally, publish in whatever way you want. I am so excited to use this visual tool with my new group of firsties. I wish I could have my old classes back! I just know it is going to be beneficial to so many. There is no way I can explain everything Roger Essley conveys in his book, but I will try to snap some pics when we get underway in the fall. I added this new tool to my Writer's toolbox unit, along with a ton more stuff. Just about everything you need to get ready for great writing!! Sample of target skills Three different storyboard templates 6 different styles of draft book paper the unit is now about 60 pages! You can get it free if you CLICK HERE!!! Einstein said, "If I can't picture it, I can't understand it." That is so true for my son, and for so many of our kids. And Aristotle said, "It is impossible even to think without a mental picture." Let's give our kids another tool to visualize, organize, and gain in confidence when dealing with text! On a side note: The storyboard tool is not just for writing!! Use it in all the other curric. areas! Thanks for sticking with me through this long post! If you have any other questions (because I know I didn't explain everything!), please don't hesitate to ask!! We're all in this together!! Until then, have a great rest of the day!! Joyfully! Nancy
Grab a TON of FREE Math Mania Games to strengthen your students' addition & subtraction! Snag easy printable math games for 1st & 2nd grade!
Hi Everyone! I am Jaime from Bright Concepts 4 Teachers. I am SUPER excited to be part of this collaborative adventure with my primary teaching peeps! I am constantly inspired and motivated by these amazing women and I know you will be too! Let me tell you a little about myself. I was born and raised in sunny Southern California. I have not moved far from where I grew up. Literally, I live 2 miles from there. I have been married for 13 years to my college sweetheart. We have two beautiful boys who are 10 and 7. I spend most of my free time at baseball fields cheering my boys on. This is my 16th year of teaching. I have taught fourth, first and second grade. This is my fifth year teaching second! One of the best things about teaching is watching the light bulb turn on when a student gets a concept! With the implementation of Common Core, I think it is so important to make the standards accessible to the students in a fun and meaningful way. I try to create activities for my students that will help them be creative and find a love to learn! Here are a couple FREEBIES to help you inspire your students to find a love of learning too! The first freebie is a set of I SPY Place Value cards. I place these around the room and have the students walk the room when they finish their work to answer the questions. The kids love to get up and move. I also want to share a set of Quotation Mark Task Cards with you. These cards are very versatile. They can be used in small groups, whole groups, intervention, centers and so much more! Your kids will love reading the cards and showing off their knowledge of quotation marks. Quotation Marks Superheroes FREEBIE! Thanks so much for stopping by Primary Powers! I'd love for you to visit my blog Bright Concepts 4 Teachers and follow along on my teaching adventure! Make sure to follow Primary Powers with Bloglovin', so you don't miss out on meeting all of our SUPER authors each day! Also, don't forget to enter our AMAZING blog launch giveaway going on right now! Just click on the giveaway button above to take you to the rafflecopter where you could win some INCREDIBLE gift cards for you and for your classroom!
My son took to reading like a fish to water. Everyone asks me how started teaching him to read as a toddler? A while back I shared...
A fun freebie to help your kiddos learn how to tell time!
"well, he threw one at me first and it didn't even hurt. My mom said do onto other people and I don't care if I get snow even in my face and I have glasses." Evan Michael Thomas
classroom tips, teaching tips, third grade, interactive notebooks, classroom tour, maternity leave, reading lessons, math workshop, teaching ideas
Work-in-progress, sheet rock carving Our 6th graders study ancient Egypt in social studies, and I've tried to coordinate an art project each year. I don't like to do the same thing every time (for 4 reasons: 1 - because I guess I get bored easily; 2 - because I get excited about new ideas; 3 - because the Libra in me makes it impossible for me to make up my mind; and 4 - because if a student repeats 6th grade he won't repeat the same project.) Two of my favorite Egypt projects involve hieroglyphics. This year my students each carved a cartouche. The designs mostly represent either their name, their initials, a nickname, or a name of a family member. I blogged a lot about the process here last year. This year, we discovered that little pointed wooden sticks (scratch sticks) made excellent tools for carving deep lines, in addition to our other tools. And this year we did not draw directly on the Sheetrock. We drew on newsprint, and then used carbon paper to trace the design onto the Sheetrock. Much easier. About 1/2 the kids are completely done, and today I loaded a bunch of them into the showcase by the library. The glass on it has this weird grid built into it, so the photos aren't great. Hopefully I'll remember to take more pics when the rest get done. Some years, we've made giant mummy cases on brown Kraft paper. Including hieroglyphics is required. These pics are from a couple of years ago I think. They are outlined in black Sharpie, colored with oil pastels, and then we've added gold. I've used both gold paint and gold contact paper, mostly for hands and faces. The kids work in pairs, tracing the body of the smaller member of the pair, and working together to decide what the hieroglyphics will say.
How many ways to make a rainbow? Let me count the ways! Chances are, if you're creating a St. Patrick's Day display, it's going to include a rainbow! As we've been searching for unique holiday bulletin board ideas, we ran across these fun rainbow displays that we thought might inspire some fresh designs! Photo Source: antsi-pants.blogspot.com Balloon rainbow via Antsi-Pants [NOTE: You can control the size of the rainbow by how much you blow up the balloons!] Photo Source: Shannon Neuburg Paper chain rainbow via Shannon Neuburg Photo Source: Tanae Rodriguez Shamrock cutout rainbow via Tanae Rodriguez Photo Source: getcreativejuice.blogspot.com Streamer rainbow via Creative Juice [NOTE: I know it's not a bulletin board display, but Mindy's St. Patrick's Day party is simply gorgeous! Once you check out the streamer rainbow tutorial, we highly recommend sticking around to check out the rest of the feature!] Photo Source: Jaime Banach Tissue paper rainbow via Jaime Banach Photo Source: icingdesignsonline.blogspot.com Tulle rainbow via Icing Designs Each is so colorful and unique, we know your St. Patrick's Day board will be the talk of the hall!
PVC Pipe Ideas are popping all over Pinterest and beyond! There are many things you can make with pvc pipes that are great DIY pvc pipe projects for kids!
Tons of fun color recognition activities for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners! Beautiful Colour Activities for kids!
Here's a mixed media winter cardinal project my Grade 2 students finished before Xmas break. I love the bright red of cardinals and they have such a graphic quality to their bodies, so it's a fun lesson to teach. See my other cardinal lesson HERE. Students started on Day 1 by drawing a cardinal on 9 x 12" heavy white paper. They outlined their drawing with a jumbo Sharpie, then painted it using tempera paint. Once dry they were cut out. The next class they created their background. Students chose a background colour of 9 x 12" construction paper. In pencil, they drew on a branch. For a challenge, I showed students how to overlap branches. They coloured these in using oil pastels. They were encouraged to mix colours for a more realistic effect. Lastly, white tempera paint was dabbed onto the top of branches and painted onto the sky for snow. Then they glued on their cardinal. I hot glued on a red feather for a wing for those students that wanted one.
Oh summary. How I have such a love-hate relationship with you. Summarizing stories is something students start at a young age, and yet it is still so hard for students even in late elementary. I often find that they struggle to determine the important details from the minor details and write summaries filled with and then, and then, and then, and then, and then.....I end up feeling like Ashton Kutcher from "Dude, Where's My Car." So, why do we teach summarizing? The ability to summarize builds comprehension. Summarizing a narrative text helps students comprehend the plot of the story. According to Fountas and Pinnell, good readers are always taking information from the text and condensing it into a summary-type form. As readers pull out the most important information, they are constantly interpreting what the author is telling them and further developing the summary of the story. This year, I wanted to begin by seeing what the kids remembered about summary and clear up misconceptions before beginning the summarizing process. I made a simple chart with "What is a summary?" and "What is a summary NOT?" I wanted them to think about summaries from both sides. I gave them each a green sticky note first and asked them to tell me, in their own words, what they thought a summary was. They each came and added their sticky note to the chart. Then I gave them each a yellow sticky note and asked them to write down, in their own words, what they know is NOT included in a summary. Then they added their yellow sticky notes to our chart. We read a few of them aloud and saw that many of them had several of the same ideas. Here are a couple examples of what my students said a summary is. A summary is a few short lines of sentences that tell the most important parts of a story in order. A paragraph said in your own words but not very many details. And here are a couple examples of what my students said a summary is NOT. Your thoughts about the story. A summary is not very detailed, not long, and not a copy of the story. I like to use the Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then (SWBST) strategy with students because it gives them a way to ensure they are looking for each piece of the summary every time they read a narrative piece. When teaching, I suggest lots of modeling, then move to group work before letting them summarize on their own. Here is our anchor chart: I discussed with them that when summarizing a narrative text, they should look for the main character, what the main character wants or his/her goals, the main problem he/she encounters, and the resolution of the problem. We summarized a short, one page text that we had previously read, about a girl names Callie who needed to complete a difficult homework assignment. (According to Fountas and Pinnell, you should begin with short texts that do not have many details). I modeled how to use the summary chart, and we looked for each piece as a whole group. I put a sticky note at each table group and tasked them with writing down the information for one component of the chart. One table wrote down the main character, one table wrote down what the character wanted, and so on. I have left this chart hanging in our room now so the students will have a visual reminder of how to get a summary! I also use a SWBST foldable with my kids. Anytime they read a story, they can fill in one of these. Doing this each time they read a book, (either a book from the library, a book you are reading aloud in class, during guided reading, a weekly story, etc) will solidify and fine tune their summarizing skills. It also reminds them that each time they read a story, this is the information they need to be looking for to fully comprehend the text. I also have a SWBST log that students complete each time they read a fiction book. This helps hold students accountable for reading and finishing a book, helps with comprehension, and simultaneously works on reinforcing summarizing skills. Many teachers do reading logs anyway where the students write down what they are reading, but this is a way to prove they have read the story, and shows if they understood what they read. Never miss a teachable moment!! You can get this foldable and SWBST log as a FREEBIE in my store by clicking here, or by clicking the picture below! Enjoy!
Table of ContentsColorSize and WeightLife ExpectancyTemperament & BehaviorWhat Do They Eat?AllergiesCostPlace in the Animal Kingdom We often have to describe chinchillas to people we meet when they learn that we have them as pets. The best verbal description we've come up with is that they […]
This summer my classroom got a HUGE makeover. From black, white and brights to a more calming color palette. Just wait til you see..
Easy Halloween Jar Tutorial
Hi Everyone! I am Jaime from Bright Concepts 4 Teachers. I am SUPER excited to be part of this collaborative adventure with my primary teaching peeps! I am constantly inspired and motivated by these amazing women and I know you will be too! Let me tell you a little about myself. I was born and raised in sunny Southern California. I have not moved far from where I grew up. Literally, I live 2 miles from there. I have been married for 13 years to my college sweetheart. We have two beautiful boys who are 10 and 7. I spend most of my free time at baseball fields cheering my boys on. This is my 16th year of teaching. I have taught fourth, first and second grade. This is my fifth year teaching second! One of the best things about teaching is watching the light bulb turn on when a student gets a concept! With the implementation of Common Core, I think it is so important to make the standards accessible to the students in a fun and meaningful way. I try to create activities for my students that will help them be creative and find a love to learn! Here are a couple FREEBIES to help you inspire your students to find a love of learning too! The first freebie is a set of I SPY Place Value cards. I place these around the room and have the students walk the room when they finish their work to answer the questions. The kids love to get up and move. I also want to share a set of Quotation Mark Task Cards with you. These cards are very versatile. They can be used in small groups, whole groups, intervention, centers and so much more! Your kids will love reading the cards and showing off their knowledge of quotation marks. Quotation Marks Superheroes FREEBIE! Thanks so much for stopping by Primary Powers! I'd love for you to visit my blog Bright Concepts 4 Teachers and follow along on my teaching adventure! Make sure to follow Primary Powers with Bloglovin', so you don't miss out on meeting all of our SUPER authors each day! Also, don't forget to enter our AMAZING blog launch giveaway going on right now! Just click on the giveaway button above to take you to the rafflecopter where you could win some INCREDIBLE gift cards for you and for your classroom!
From best-bet makeup products to totally affordable salon indulgences, these 10 little splurges will leave you feeling fine -- and flush -- in no time
James Rizzi is a prominent American pop artist, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He currently resides and works in a studio/loft in SoHo in Southern Manhattan. Rizzi studied Fine Arts at the University of Florida at Gainesville, Florida. He came up with the idea of 3D multiples now mostly associated with his name when, having taken classes in painting, printmaking and sculpturing, he had to hand in grade work for all three subjects, but only had time for doing one. So he created an etching, printed it twice, handcolored it, and mounted parts of the one print on top of the other, using wire as a means of adding depth. Having received good grades from all three teachers, he stuck with the idea and developed it further. I saw him on a Vernissage of Gallery Kersten in Brunnthal, south of Munich. I like his work very much for many years. He's such a nice person! www.james-rizzi.com/::en--.html
This Reading Comprehension Worksheet - Carly the Canary is for teaching reading comprehension. Use this reading comprehension story to teach reading comprehension.
What a CRAZY week and weekend!!! We are finished with our state testing and school fair. Yahoo!!! This past week consisted of finishing up state testing, teaching students a dance for the fair performance, painting a picture for the fair silent auction, (see picture below), making over 50 candy apples for the sweets booth, and practicing for the teacher fair performance! Yes, I am one of 11 teachers who actually dances in front of the parents and students at the fair!!! I think the best part of dancing would be attending all practices after school!!! enjoying the fair candy apples for the sweet booth silent auction: each student painted a different picture on the canvas End-of-the-Year Linky Party With state testing & the fair behind me, I can start preparing for the end of the year. I am linking up with Clutter-Free Classroom and sharing my end-of-the-year ideas. I can't believe May is right around the corner!! Where did the school year go? I still need to put together portfolios and make a power point presentation. I love making a power point from all of the pictures I take during the school year. I must admit that it takes over a week to construct because I always find a way to mess up something! It never fails that every year I make some kind of mistake!!! For the portfolios, I save the students' work all year and use sheet protectors in binders. I like to put the work in order from the first to last day for the parents. I put all work in sheet protectors. The parents appreciate the organization of the work so much because it saves them the time of doing it over the summer. Also, students complete a summer writing activity. This writing activity is my favorite one of the year. The creativity that flows from the students' brains is amazing! Students are asked to write about a summer trip they have taken already or plan on taking. After editing the rough draft, students write the final copy of the essay on sunglasses. Students glue glasses on large white construction paper and draw a picture around the glasses. I was amazed the first time I did this with my class. I did not instruct them to draw a person. The end results were more than I imagined! summer writing summer writing end-of-the-year presentation set up Click (HERE) to grab your sunglasses template. What a post! Please check out Clutter-Free Classroom Project and join the End-of-the-Year Linky Party! With much appreciation,
