I got this idea from my peer teacher, Nina. It's a great way for students to share about themselves. I think it would be perfect for a first day of school activity. I would start by having the students first write the numbers. Later, once we have learned about multiplication and division, I would have them create the equations. Finally, they can put it all together in time for Open House. It can be easily adapted for the younger grades by using addition and/or subtraction. It can be adapted for older grades with exponents, multi-step problems, and including fractions or decimals. Thanks to my friend Nannette for inspiring me with her sample.
In recent decades, there has been a call for change among all stakeholders involved in scoliosis management. Parents of children with scoliosis have complained about the so-called “wait and see” approach that far too many doctors use when evaluating children’s scoliosis curves between 10° and 25°. Observation, Physiotherapy Scoliosis Specific Exercises (PSSE) and bracing for idiopathic scoliosis during growth are all therapeutic interventions accepted by the 2011 International Society on Scoliosis Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Treatment (SOSORT). The standard features of these interventions are: 1) 3-dimension self-correction; 2) Training activities of daily living (ADL); and 3) Stabilization of the corrected posture. PSSE is part of a scoliosis care model that includes scoliosis specific education, scoliosis specific physical therapy exercises, observation or surveillance, psychological support and intervention, bracing and surgery. The model is oriented to the patient. Diagnosis and patient evaluation is essential in this model looking at a patient-oriented decision according to clinical experience, scientific evidence and patient’s preference. Thus, specific exercises are not considered as an alternative to bracing or surgery but as a therapeutic intervention, which can be used alone or in combination with bracing or surgery according to individual indication. In the PSSE model it is recommended that the physical therapist work as part of a multidisciplinary team including the orthopeadic doctor, the orthotist, and the mental health care provider - all are according to the SOSORT guidelines and Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) philosophy. From clinical experiences, PSSE can temporarily stabilize progressive scoliosis curves during the secondary period of progression, more than a year after passing the peak of growth. In non-progressive scoliosis, the regular practice of PSSE could produce a temporary and significant reduction of the Cobb angle. PSSE can also produce benefits in subjects with scoliosis other than reducing the Cobb angle, like improving back asymmetry, based on 3D self-correction and stabilization of a stable 3D corrected posture, as well as the secondary muscle imbalance and related pain. In more severe cases of thoracic scoliosis, it can also improve breathing function.This paper will discuss in detail seven major scoliosis schools and their approaches to PSSE, including their bracing techniques and scientific evidence. The aim of this paper is to understand and learn about the different international treatment methods so that physical therapists can incorporate the best from each into their own practices, and in that way attempt to improve the conservative management of patients with idiopathic scoliosis. These schools are presented in the historical order in which they were developed. They include the Lyon approach from France, the Katharina Schroth Asklepios approach from Germany, the Scientific Exercise Approach to Scoliosis (SEAS) from Italy, the Barcelona Scoliosis Physical Therapy School approach (BSPTS) from Spain, the Dobomed approach from Poland, the Side Shift approach from the United Kingdom, and the Functional Individual Therapy of Scoliosis approach (FITS) from Poland.
Discover the 7 key features and benefits of the Orton-Gillingham approach for teaching reading and spelling and download our free e-book.
I just found the coolest feelings identification chart. It uses Inside Out characters… I always get excited when I find something therapeutic that also relates to children! Kids h…
Cultivate lifelong reading skills.
Check out these fun teaching materials for teaching comma rules to upper elementary including an anchor chart, videos, and graphic organizer.
It took me years of searching, but I finally found the BEST homeschool spelling curriculum! This spelling curriculum teaches spelling rules.
GIVEAWAY! All About Reading Level of Choice! This month you can enter to win the All About Reading level of your choice, which includes the Teacher’s Manual, Student Packet, and readers! If you haven’t used AAR before, they'll
Don’t miss the giveaway at the end! Do you know what PHOTOGRAMMETRY or THERMOPHILE mean? How about ZOOMETRY or SYMPHILY? Your children will be able to tell you quite easily what the definitions of these words are after spending time playing Rummy Roots. This game is teaching my children all about English words through learning […]
Hello! I’m back with another blog post about one of my favorite topics. I’ve blogged about phonemic awareness a few times already, but it’s such an important topic that we’re going for it again! Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of smaller parts and these parts can be pulled apart ... Read More about All about Phonemic Awareness
Finding a way to sift through and make sense of the Next Gen Science Standards can be a challenge to say the least! :) But there is some good content in
Je vous donne quelques idées en anglais pour la rentrée, que vous soyez en cycle 2 ou en cycle 3 ou en Maternelle ! Pour les cycles 2 Pour la période 1 - Une séquence sur Hello Goodbye + les animaux avec l'album Say Hello de la célèbre Jane Cabrera...
Resources, tips, and materials to help you, help children with autism
Learn about four powerful spelling strategies to help your student become a better speller. Lots of free resources and videos to get you started!
Journaling is an art that should never die. It provides your legacy with an honest glimpse into your soul. Eating healthy and exercising do not dictate a long life, just as smoking and years of sunbathing do not mean it will be short. Even when our minds have forgotten the faces of our loved ones, […]
“Emotional Freedom Technique” (or EFT) is a clinically proven form of “emotional acupuncture without needles”. Used by therapists, psychologists and millions worldwide to ease emotional distress and clear negative emotions, beliefs, and memories, it’s setting a new tone for how we manage stress in the modern world.
Counseling Psychology Information and Resources: Learn all about this recognized specialty within professional psychology.
Every parent faces "them". Every child has "them". This list of books are books about "issues". (Not so much). Pacifiers, sucking thumbs, security blankets.
This worksheet is a fun one for kids that are beginning writers. The questions are concrete for the most part and ask mostly about colors of different things (clothes, hair, eyes, etc.). It is nice because you can use it more than once since the answers to some of the questions will be different depending on what clothes the kids wears, how they are feeling, etc. each day. I currently use this as a homework sheet or for my students to complete during independent work time. I have created three different versions of this worksheet (for learners at different levels). Here is a picture of the mid-level worksheet. Click Here to get all 3 versions for FREE!
I used to think…students could control a lot more I do now. Now I know…there is a whole lot more out of their control than I realized. I used to think…part of my job as a teacher …
VERSES: Luke 12:16-21 MEMORY VERSE: Luke 12:21 "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." BOOK TO REMEMBER: James. Write "James" on small slips of paper for the students to take home and memorize another book of the New Testament. Practice saying all the books of the New Testament together as a class or sing the song, The Books Of The New Testament, found under March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #3 as review. PRAYER: Pray that we will always put God first in our lives and place everything else below Him. SPECIAL SONG: Jesus Taught By Parable And Miracle (see March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #4 on this blog. Click on orange circle to hear tune.) VISUAL AID: Make a large Activity like the one below under Activity. LESSON POINTS: As Jesus daily walked around Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem, there were always a crowd of people who gathered around Him. Perhaps they were waiting for Him to perform a miracle and they wanted to see Him make a lame person walk, maybe they had heard about Jesus and were curious to see what He looked like, or maybe they wanted to hear what He had to say. Whatever their reasons, the people followed Jesus as He visited their towns. Sometimes there were just a few people following, but many times, there were great crowds of people. Because microphones and speakers had not been invented yet, the people had to be quiet and listen closely and remember what Jesus had said because there were no tape recorders or smart phones to record what He was saying. No, the people--all the people--listened quietly to Jesus as He spoke. When Jesus preached to the people, sometimes He said exactly what the people should do. He commanded them like He did when He taught on the Sermon on the Mount. Sometimes He would heal someone who everyone in the town knew to get their attention, then He would teach the people. Sometimes He told the people stories or parables to paint a picture in the people's minds, so they could remember the lesson and also understand the lesson. One thing remained true: Jesus always taught by His example. He lived what He taught. In the lesson today, Jesus taught a parable about a very rich man who forgot something. Jesus taught the people lessons by talking about something they knew, like farming for example, then he would apply the lesson to something spiritual. He told the story about a man who farmed land and his land grew a great amount of fruit. We don't know what kind of fruit it was, but there was a lot of it and the rich man put it in barns. God had blessed the man's land so much that the man began thinking about what he would do with all the fruit. He thought to himself, "What will I do? I have so much fruit that I don't have enough room for it all. I know! I will tear down all of my barns and I will build much larger barns and then I will put all of my fruit inside. I will say to myself--I have much fruit stored up for many years, so I will eat, drink, and be merry." BUT...the rich man forgot something! He forgot God and he forgot that he was going to die. God said to the rich man, "You fool! Tonight your soul is required of you! Then who will own all those things that you have stored up?" At the end of the parable, Jesus said, "Someone who stores up treasures on this earth and is not rich towards God is just like that rich fool." Jesus did not want us to be like that rich man who forgot God. He wanted us to always put God first in our lives, then God would always give us everything we need. (Matthew 6:12). What does that mean, "Put God first?" That's right! It means to always do spiritual things before we do the earthly things. First, we go to Bible class, then we can play soccer or go to the mountains. It means that whatever we do in life--get a job, play sports, etc.--we need to put God above those things. "Older Student" Tips: Discuss what a 'fool' is. Someone who is not smart. Talk about how smart Jesus was to tell parables about the things that the people knew: farming, cleaning house, finding a treasure, losing a sheep, etc. The people He taught could understand what the meaning was to His lessons. Have everyone open their Bibles to Luke 12:16-19 and count how many times the rich man said the words, "I" or "my". Then, count how many times he said anything about helping others or giving back to God. ACTIVITY: Parable of the Rich Fool Materials needed: 6" x 9" red construction paper, 5" x 12" light brown construction paper, 4.5" x 8" dark brown construction paper, 3" x 3" dark brown construction paper, glue, scissors, marker, crayons. Hand out light brown paper. This is the roof. Cut edges off two short sides of light brown paper to resemble a roof. Hand out red paper. This is the barn. Glue top edge of red barn. Place the bottom of the roof on top of the barn. Hand out dark brown paper. This is the barn door. Cut in half. Fold one edge of each dark brown square. Glue only the small folded edge. Place glued edges of two barn doors away from each other on top of the red barn. The doors should open. Hand out small dark brown paper. This is the hayloft. Cut in half. Fold one edge of each small dark brown square. Glue only the small folded edge. Place glued edges of two hayloft doors away from each other on top of the roof. The doors should open. Write "The Rich Fool" and "Luke 12:16-21" on top of the roof. Open large barn doors. Inside the large barn doors on the red barn, write "The rich fool said, 'I will build greater barns...I will eat, drink, and be merry.' But..." Open small brown doors of the hayloft. Write "...but he forgot God." On both sides of each of the barn doors, make a large "X". On the small hayloft doors, make black or brown lines to resemble wood. On the roof, make lines to resemble a roof. Before leaving class, have the students read what it says inside all doors.
Since it is poetry month, I thought I would share a bit about how I teach alliteration. Teaching literary devices is probably one of my favorite things to do, but they can be tricky for the little ones! That means I provide a lot of different kinds of activities to help the concepts stick! Here are just a few of my favorites with alliteration. Tongue Twisters Tongue twisters are a favorite! I love sharing some with my students and have them try to say them three times fast to the class. We usually end up doubled over in laughter. :) Once students are familiar with tongue twisters, we set out to write our own. We publish them on the tongues of these cute displays! No template - we just trace lids for the circle faces and I free-cut tongues out of the large construction paper. Poem Practice We read the Jack Prelutsky poem, "Bleezer's Ice Cream" and I ask students to identify the flavors that alliterate, like checkerberry cheddar chew or cotton candy carrot custard. This poem is in the book The New Kid on the Block and it's an all-time favorite poetry book that I highly recommend! {affiliate link below} There are a few ways to access this poem online if you can't get your hands on the book. Here is a YouTube reading of the poem. You can also play the musical version of the poem being sang by Natalie Merchant here. After analyzing the poem, I put students in partners and let them create their own wacky ice cream flavors that alliterate! You can download the freebie below to do this activity with your students. {Download Freebie Here} Games Galore Games are so important in the primary classroom. We play games every single day. Multiple times a day. For alliteration, we play an old fashioned car game. It's great, not only for alliteration, but for listening and memory, too! The items being taken on the trip must all begin with the same initial sound as the destination. To play, I read the card, for example, "I am going to Paris and I'm taking a parachute." The next student in the circle would repeat my item and add one of his own, for example..."I am going to Paris and I'm taking a parachute and a piano." The sentence keeps getting passed around the circle with each student repeating it and adding another "p" word. They are amazed when it make it all the way around the circle! I also teach students how to play it with just two players - perfect for the car ride home from school (sorry parents)! One student starts it, and it keeps alternating until one player either can't think of an item to add or can't remember an item. What fun practicing alliteration! Clever Crafts Since we study literary devices during the spring, we love to decorate the hall with clever craftivities. For alliteration, we create "Alliterainbows." Students use planning pages and brainstorm parts of speech to alliterate with each color and then use these ideas to write their own sentences with alliteration on each color band of the rainbow. By now, they are amazing at alliterating! :) Story Surprises Throughout our study, I always throw in a couple of surprise read-alouds! These are a couple of my favorites for alliteration. The first book I read is The Little Book of Alliterations. It is a simple alphabet book with one phrase per page. It's perfect to read before having students write tongue twisters. The next book I read closer to the end of our study. It's called One Smug Slug and it is written in story format. The story uses as many "s" words as possible. They enjoy trying to figure out what the smug slug is climbing throughout the story and are always surprised when he is eaten at the end! But, their favorite part of the book is that there is a hidden "S" somewhere on each page - some are super tricky and they love searching for them. {affiliate links for books} I hope this post gave you a few new ideas for teaching alliteration!
First graders can gain capitalization practice by fixing the short paragraph. Simply change the appropriate letters to capitals then re-write the paragraph!
“A good thing to think about is what kind of face to make when you say please.”
The Yellow Brick Road Blog is a website dedicated to providing music teachers with fun education resources for serious music literacy.
In our classroom we have been learning all about prepositions. I usually hate teaching grammar, but these hands-on reading units have made it so much more fun! Pinterest I started off by introducing prepositions with a song… These songs were PERFECT!! If you play them, be prepared for a classroom of little singers that will […]
These eight videos about poverty are powerful tools for helping children global poverty, as well as poverty in the United States. Discussion questions are included for each video.
Thanks to Jackie at Room 213 for organizing this blog hop! It's so true, right? When I think about my own experiences as a learner, the times that I made the most profound instructional gains were when I felt that my teacher truly knew me and believed in me as a student. That's why I believe that the best learning always occurs when students feel a connection with their teacher...when they know that their teacher cares about them as a person. If you're reading this, then you already know that students don't care a bit about what they are being taught until they know that their teacher cares a bit about them. Any teacher checking out a blog about learning and instruction is one who is invested in their profession. So, the ideas that I'm about to share are probably not new...in fact, I bet you have a few ways that you build caring and compassion into your own instruction that I'd love to read about! However, I hope that these ideas remind us all about why we became teachers in the first place. We love learning. We love students. And showing them both each day is what matters. How often do you hand back a piece of student work to see them quickly scan for the grade and then toss it into a folder...or worse the garbage? That's why I love writing students fun notes on their papers. Instead of "good job," I like to write comments that show I know and care about them, like "Wow, use figurative language in your writing as well as you shoot 3-pointers!" I'm a huge fan of making positive phone calls home. They're such a wonderful way to build positive relationships with students and their families. You can read all about it HERE. I love watching my students excel in the classroom, but for many of them their true talents are on display at the band concert, or on the soccer field, or during the school play. That's why I try to reserve at least one night a month to attend students' extracurricular activities. There's nothing better than the connection between that student and I the next day in class! I've always heard that the best way to get your own children to listen is to whisper your message within their earshot to someone else. I like applying the same technique with students. When talking with colleagues I love to brag about individual students within earshot of them. Spreading the word about the great things kids are doing is super important! When the bell rings at the start of each class, I'm at the door to greet my students. I love giving them the impression that I can't wait to see them. It sets the tone for a caring classroom before the class even begins! On the first day of school I let my students know that I will be holding them to the highest behavior and academic standards. I want them to achieve beyond anything they have ever done before. That means that there are classroom management procedures in place. It also means that they might be redoing their work to meet my standards. This is the "tough love" part of showing them that I care. OK, this may be obvious, but I'll never forget when I was student teaching and my supervising teacher kept telling her students day-after-day how much she loved them. I was in awe of this. I've followed her lead and tell my students how much I care about them and my profession all the time...even when I'm stressed and tired and overwhelmed. I love creating homework and classwork with students' actual names in the assignments. I'm careful to make sure that their names are associated with positive things and connected to activities and hobbies they care about. It's not hard to do and kids love seeing their names in print. Celebrating students' learning and achievements is super important. I love to do it in little ways like hanging their work around the classroom and in big ways like planning events to celebrate their learning. As you know, teachers are human, too. One of the ways that I show students that I care about them is by trusting them with stories from my own life. I share information about my family, my life successes, and times when I have struggled. Sharing builds important connections. At the end of the (school) day, teaching is not about standardized tests, curriculum requirements, paperwork, data, and reports. I think it's about creating an environment where students want to learn because they know that their teachers care about their profession...and most importantly each of them. I love learning about my students through their own work as well. Units like this MEMOIR Writing Unit and this NARRATIVE Writing Unit are an awesome way to engage students in their learning and gain insight into their lives at the same time! Oh, and click HERE for a printable of the 'Teachers Care' poster (prints on legal-sized paper) and HERE for a printable of the 'Learning' poster (prints on standard-sized paper). Thanks for stopping by!
