So, are you itching for winter break to get here or what?!? I am drowning here, people! Between report cards, conferences (for my students and my own kids!), shopping, baking, parties, wrapping... DROWNING!Don't get me
Make article of the week meaningful and relevant to your students with this print and go activity for secondary ELA. Here's how it works: use the provided lesson and article to teach students about building schemas for reading. Students learn that they can build schemas, or files, in their brain by reading as well and as much as they can. Next, begin reading articles and completing the activities on the provided worksheets. After reading, students reflect on their learning in their personal Building Schemas for Reading files. Students can take pride in their growing understanding and learning! A simple rubric is provided to make grading Article of the Week easy. Everything you need is here: 35 standards based Article of the Week worksheets Standards List Building Schemas for Reading lesson and digital file to share with students Rubric for grading Tips for implementing Article of the Week Articles are not provided in this product; however, a growing list of links to high interest, meaningful articles is provided on my website.
Wow...my hat goes off to those of you who blogged regularly throughout your first week back to school. I literally was lucky to make it home without falling asleep at the wheel! Teaching procedures to 8th graders is SO much easier than teaching them to 6th graders. In fact, since I am new to the school, many of them were super helpful in telling me how things are done there and so on. The bell schedule is a little different than the one I was on last year, so I have new dismissal times to memorize. I would just ask my kids how much time is left and wouldn't you know...most of them ACTUALLY know how to read a clock!? Amazing. I was so impressed with how my students behaved all week. These are some of the most polite kids I have ever taught. My classes are widely diverse, but the kids don't even acknowledge it, which is awesome. I am so privileged and blessed to have these kiddos to call my own. After our first day of getting to know you activities (I actually saw all of my classes for about 30 minutes a piece that 1st day!), I knew we were ready for team building on day 2. I had already gone over my syllabus on the first day which I hadn't ever done before, but I felt like I could since I didn't have to give a school tour, etc. I am the one who needed the school tour! (True story...my kids walked me down to the textbook room so that I could issue them textbooks!) I know I have COMPLETELY rambled, so let me get right to it! I read about The Marshmallow Challenge earlier this summer and KNEW that I wanted to try it in my class! If you want to read more about The Marshmallow Challenge, click here. I spent about $10 on supplies for 6 classes which equates to about $0.06 per student. I am so willing to spend that on any lesson that students are going to get something out of. Here is the basic challenge: Students use the following materials: 20 pieces of spaghetti 1 yard of tape 1 yard of string and 1 marshmallow I also include scissors for easy cutting The challenge is that students must create the tallest freestanding structure out of these materials with the marshmallow on top--in 18 minutes or less. It is super easy to do this, but the marshmallow is the key to keeping it upright. Many students build the structure as tall as they can and then put the marshmallow on top...and then watch it collapse before their eyes. We all think of marshmallows as light, airy, and fluffy, but in this challenge, they might as well weigh as much as a brick! I did have several groups that were successful, but sometimes I was too excited that I forgot to take a picture! The tallest one was in 7th period and it was 22 inches. I did not let the students tape anything to the desks and that is what was harder as well. Here are some of the successful groups: This was the first one done in 1st period, and they were so proud. They had started doing some large contraption that of course fell right over after putting the marshmallow on top. This must have been Plan B. Or Plan E. Either way, they were only 1 of 2 groups that were successful in that class! This was the winner in 1st period at 18.75 inches. They said their inspiration was the Eiffel Tower! I was so shocked that this one stayed up! This one was the 3rd period winner. This was the winner in 7th period and overall! 22 inches...super proud of these boys! I can't wait to see what else I can throw at these kids to do this year. They are all begging me to do this again so that they can fix their mistakes--I promised that we would do it in the spring to see how much they had improved! The best part was the recap at the end of the challenge where we discussed that most everything in life has a "marshmallow aspect" to it where it kind of throws a wrench in the plans and how we can overcome it in math. Did I mention I love my kids?!? If you made it this far in my post...thank you! If you are looking for an easy way to incorporate this into your classroom without much setup, you might be interested in this product that can be found in my TPT store: Looking for more Back to School activities to use in your math class? Check these out! Be sure to drop me a line and tell me how it went in your class!
Did you know that STEM activities are a great way to build classroom community and teamwork at the beginning of the year? Unfortunately, STEM challenges can tend to be used as a classroom competition where students and groups are competing against each other. While classroom comp
Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don't really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.
I decided to take on my own challenge of incorporating a STEM activity every day for a week. It turned out to be a huge success where both my students and I had a blast. Here were the various …
So we are back with the World Building Series again. Last week I covered Flora (plants) and this week, it’s Fauna (animals). I even included a little special bonus at the end of this article.…
Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don't really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.
Looking to grab students' attention during the first week of school with fun and easy science experiments? These super fun back to school science experiments are perfect for your first week of school science activities.
Five activities to use to get to know your grade 4, 5, 6, and 7 science students on the first days of school. These back to school activities will allow students to be creative through hands-on activities, writing, or sharing about their personal lives through art to foster personal relationships.
Paragraph of the Week is the best way to improve student writing. By using quality writing prompts, students will write organized paragraphs!
The first week of school sure is a busy one! I work hard to balance the mandatory paperwork with games, hands-on activities and team-building fun. Even with bigger kids, it’s important to keep them moving throughout the day and providing a variety of activities. 1. Marshmallow Tower For this activity, you’ll need the following materials […]
I always liked to make it a point to incorporate several simple team building activities within the first few weeks of school. The science classroom is an ideal environment to promote group interaction. These activities
Last month I was looking for a getting to know you game that I could do with a large group of women for Relief Society. After searching for...
This back to school "snowball" fight activity will have your students getting up and out of their seats moving around the room to get to know each other.
Build It is a cooperative, team building activity that encourages students to work together, communicate, and think logically as they construct a geometric
Creative Writer Worksheet – Writing Study Guide (PDF) This week marks the end of our year of creative writer worksheets. From a multitude of possible topics I had to choose one last worksheet, and here it is! I hope this worksheet will serve as a reminder to keep studying and improving yourself as a writer. There’s always more to…
Are you tired of ho-hum co-op classes? Do you need a creative class? A challenging class? A class that teaches team work? This class does all three of those–it is one of my favorites! Think! Team Building Challenge teaches kids to learn from failure, promotes creative thinking and problem solving, and helps them learn to work …
I recently blogged about how I created policies and procedures that incorporated character education in my classroom. My post also includes a checklist of policies and procedures that teachers can use when planning for the new school year. Use this checklist as you review your own policies and procedures for the upcoming school year if ... Read More about Classroom Policies and Procedures Checklist
Oh. My. Goodness. We had the MOST fun ever with this cranking device challenge! My test class loved being the guinea pigs for this challenge and helping decide on the rules of the task! The basic premise is that a team member has fallen over a drop-off and must be rescued. The remaining teammates
Paper Bag Dramatics: A fun activity for Team Building and Developing Community. Here's an idea that can be used just about anywhere at any time. It encourages groups to solve problems, think creatively, and work as a team.
Trust building activities are a great way to build trust between people that have just met, and get them to form a bond, loosen up and have fun. Here are 3!
Back to school in your ELA classroom just got easier. Starting a brand new school year requires a ton of planning and organization. These freebies are a great way to ease the stress and start
Teach the nervous system with a DIY model, information sheet, and graphic organizers. It's an effective way to teach body systems.
These three icebreakers for teens will make the first class, youth group, or club fun for everyone, even the introverts.
The back to school season is a fun and exciting time of year. It’s a time for new beginnings and a fresh start. Before I dive into curriculum work, it is essential to get to know who my students are to develop personal relationships with them. Knowing how they think, feel, their likes and dislikes ... Read more
Teamwork and collaboration! These are important parts of raising a 21st-century learner in the classroom, yet many students do not entirely understand what this it. I stress the importance of teamwork and collaboration throughout the year, but I take time in the beginning of the year to help students truly understand what it means. Throwing […]
This is a long post... however, it has literally everything you need to complete the week-long Skeletal System Unit Study.
Need some ideas for building a sense of community in your classroom while maintaining social distancing rules? Look no further! Sit or Stand is just one idea listed in this blog post, and you can grab this printable for FREE!
Learn about eight important and must-do first week of school activities for your middle school students to start your year off right!
This FREEBIE includes a color and black and white handout to provide to teams of students engaging in the Marshmallow Challenge activity. This activity is great to use as an icebreaker or to engage students in critical thinking, cooperative learning, and innovative thinking. It can also be used to r...
30+ ideas for surviving the two week wait: tips on how to lean into the 2ww, distract yourself or self care during the most annoying part of TTC. The top...
Build a Heart Model - STEM activity about heart rates and how blood flows through the body. Engineer a functioning model of a beating heart.
Now that a new school year is starting, we had our “move-up Sunday” for all the student ministries. We had several Kindergarteners move up into the elementary class, and we have a huge …
An educational blog that shares ideas about teaching! Mostly geared towards science, but sometimes offer ideas that any teacher might benefit from. Come see me!
