Here's a list of heartwarming books for kids that teach empathy and kindness. Add them to your personal library today!
Do you know what makes my students really, really, really happy? Nothing makes my students happier than a big bucket of fabric! If you have a bucket of fabric you have unlimited costumes and imagination! I have been having kids make plays or videos for all of my 18 years but I never saw the power of the fabric bucket till I went to my new school. The fabric bucket does not belong to me but is actually shared among teachers and used for Hammurabi plays, Greek God skits, and vocabulary videos. I have the biggest classroom so I get physical ownership of it and I am lucky! The fabric is old sheets, drapes, sashes, and rope. It has turned my kids into Babylonians, women on the Oregon Trail, and the red fabric can be wrapped to become a Redcoat. When I mention the use of the bucket the kiddos start frothing at the mouth so I often have to hold off on costumes until plays and videos are written and rehearsed. Once they get their hands on it, though, they become giggly little kids again and that makes me happy. Middle school kids should be excited about pretend play. It means they are still kids. Get yourself a bucket a bucket of fabric and watch your students become creative!!!
According to the common core standards, students learn idioms in second through fifth grade. I created these two products with those ...
I have a new favorite chart! I found this on pinterest and knew it would be great to use during the first week with my new little first grad...
Every teacher needs some fun Japanese games to use in their Japanese language classrooms. So we've compiled five of the most simple, yet most fun and easy to play. Our list in cludes ohajiki, janken, origami luck predictor, bingo using hiragana or katakana and hide and seek, all with the relevant vocabulary.
I am sorry for being away from here for a few weeks. I truly appreciate all the emails I received from readers asking where I have been an...
to practice vocabulary (clothes); I think, the pupils and also teachers will enjoy this domino (clothes); the pupils can do it in a small groups (etw/ four - six pupils) - ESL worksheets
It can be done! During the summer I always have more time to practice my instrument. I enjoy continuing to work on my playing and becoming more proficient on secondary instruments (I was trained on violin and viola so I am less strong on cello and bass). As a kid I used to hate the Wohlfahrt, Kreutzer, Mazas type etudes and technique books. Back then I just wanted to practice solos. I'm sure most students feel the same way. Now that I'm older I have begun to really enjoy playing etudes from all of my old books. I practice to build and strengthen technique and etudes do the job very well. Since starting to review all my old etudes, I have noticed a big difference in my playing. My intonation, tone, bowing...everything was noticeably improving! Inspired by the etudes of my childhood, I decided to write a book of simple exercises for beginning orchestra. These exercises are much shorter and painless. :) Over my last few years of teaching I noticed I would use the D scale for warm-ups almost every day. I wanted to vary my warm-up routine, but didn't have time to search out appropriate exercises. This book is great because it becomes your warm-up routine for the school year. It provides some great variety so you don't have to just do the D scale. Available for purchase at www.orchestraclassroom.com or TPT. These simple exercises are written for beginning orchestra classes to be used as warm-ups to improve intonation in your ensemble. Each exercise drills a specific note pattern or fingering to help students achieve more precise intonation. The rhythm in each exercise is always simple in order to help students focus all attention on tone and intonation. This book is set up so that all exercises for each part are grouped together. (Violin exercise 1, viola exercise 1, cello exercise 1, etc.) It’s not set up to be a separate book for each instrument. After printing, you could collate the parts to create separate books. I choose to keep exercises together because I hand out one page per week to my students and this grouping makes it easier for me to find and copy the separate parts. I used to copy entire books, but found students would sometimes leave them in lockers, forget them at home or lose them. It’s easier for me to give them a replacement page rather than a replacement book. There are no fingering markings. It is up to the teacher to determine when you want vioin/viola students to use open strings versus 4th finger. It depends on what you are wanting students to work on. I wanted the exercises to be adaptable and versatile. There are many ways to use these exercises in your beginning strings group. Here are a few ideas: Focus on one exercise per week to be used as a warm-up. Encourage students to memorize each exercise by the end of the week so they may watch fingering and listen intently. Insist in perfect intonation. Most exercises are in D or G major—the keys used in most beginning level music. You can re-use these exercises and increase the challenge by changing the key signature on each exercise. Teach students how key signatures change finger patterns by playing the same exercise in a few different keys. For example—after teaching low 2’s, you may have students play the first exercise with low 2’s (C major). The simple exercise will help students drill the new finger placement. There is an optional harmony part for each exercise. Sometimes the harmony is just a drone note to help with tuning the exercise. Encourage students to learn the harmony. You may perform each exercise in a variety of ways (Violins on melody with all others on harmony, boys on melody with girls on harmony, outside player melody with inside on harmony, etc.). Encourage careful listening as your group harmonizes to for quality intonation. Be sure they understand that it only sounds good when the notes are in tune and expect all students to reach that standard. I believe beginning strings groups can play in tune with careful practice. Believe in your students and let them amaze you. There are 98 pages total with parts for violin, viola, cello and bass.
Engage your students in this detailed 7-page context clues project! Students will love practicing their context clues skills while going on a transcontinental trek! As students travel from country to country, they must complete a wide variety of context clues tasks and earn "travel tokens" to fill their postcards and complete their trip. The following context clues skills are included in the project: Multiple Choice Using context clues to determine the meaning of nonsense words Fill in the blank (with word bank) Fill in the blank (without word bank) Determine the meaning of words and generate definitions Multiple meaning words Dictionary Definitions Please see the preview for a closer look at the project pages as well as the additional components! DIGITAL ACCESS ALSO INCLUDED via Google Slides HAVE FUN with this project! Dress up like a "tacky tourist" as you introduce it and serve airplane snacks (think small bags of pretzels and tiny glasses of pop!) as they work. Your students will be so engaged they won't even realize all the content they are practicing. You can have your students complete this as a whole class, in small groups, or as a fun at-home project. A Note on Grade Levels: My reading and math projects are designed to extend and enrich student thinking. In general, this should be a guided activity with 3rd graders, 4th graders will need some help, and most 5th graders will be able to complete this as a review on their own after some explanation. Answer keys included More Context Clues Resources Multiple Choice Context Clues Task Cards Fill in the blank Context Clues Task Cards Context Clues Task Cards Multiple Meaning Words Task Cards Context Clues Using Dictionary Definitions Looking for no-prep lessons and slides to teach context clues? Look no further! You can find them here! More Engaging Reading Projects Inference Reading Project Sequencing Reading Project
Interpersonal speaking is an advanced communicative mode. Consider whether it is appropriate to assess and to practice interpersonal speaking in language classes.
Every year I am shocked by my students' underdeveloped vocabulary. They struggle with reading comprehension because of their limited understanding of words. Their writing can be very drab because of their limited word choice. And when it comes time for standardized testing they often struggle with understanding what is being asked of them because of
Recently I saw this infographic depicting an iceberg as a metaphor for culture- most of the culture is 'underwater' or rather, more in depth. It is a great graphic! However, at the elementary level, where young children are first being introduced to and learning about the concept of language and culture (often for the first time!) finding tangible, concrete aspects of culture to include in the classroom are key, in my opinion, and typically fall under the 'surface culture' part of the iceberg. As they gain experience and the mental ability to comprehend deeper culture as more than a fact about a group of people they have never met (such as concepts of self, attitudes, and such) these can be added into Spanish class. . One of the most tangible and authentic ways I have brought culture into my elementary classroom, which I believe hits both surface and deep culture at the same time, is the tradition of Ratoncito Pérez, the Tooth Mouse. It is a celebration of sorts, that wonderful and magical experience of losing a tooth, and a coming of age moment for little kiddos. Recognizing and celebrating it in Spanish class via an adorable mouse (not a fairy!) has always been the most remembered, understood and delightful aspects of culture my students interact with. And, because kiddos always have loose teeth or one has fallen out, Ratoncito Pérez is part of EVERY class! Talk about keeping something fresh in their minds! Here are ways I integrate Ratoncito Pérez in my classes: *Right from Kindergarten kiddos learn how to say 'Tengo un diente flojo' and 'Se me cayó un diente'... they are encouraged to share their 'tooth news' with me anytime *I have tooth chart posters featuring Ratoncito Pérez where I record each kiddo's name when he/she loses a tooth (they have to tell me in Spanish or their name doesn't go on the poster :) ) *I teach an entire theme about Ratoncito Pérez in Second Grade, where we read our book 'El diente de Javi' (see the link to our store at the end of this post) and then imagine what Ratoncito Pérez looks like (color and size) and what mode of transportation he uses to get around. After they have practiced this, they then write and illustrate three sentences describing him with this vocab. Super cute! *I hand out certificates celebrating the lost tooth *I read books I have collected over the years of various authors imagining adventures with Ratoncito Pérez-go to Amazon and type in 'Ratoncito Pérez' or 'Ratón Pérez'...a whole load of books will come up. My favorite is 'Cartas al Ratón Pérez'! (Note: most of these are in Spanish and with vocabulary far too advanced for my students to understand so I translate in my head and read it out loud in English) *I have printed out lots of illustrations from Google images over the years which I put around my classroom...he is always present! There are also two full length movies about Ratón Pérez made in Spain- if you are able to get ahold of a copy and can play it, what fun that is! And here's a great link of an article describing what el Ratoncito Pérez might "give" to children: https://www.heraldo.es/noticias/sociedad/2017/11/30/que-puede-regalar-ratoncito-perez-cuando-cae-diente-1209813-310.html If you are interested in integrating Ratoncito Pérez into your classroom and don't want to start from scratch, please check out our Activity Pack in our store on TpT! It is full of printable activities, posters, 'El diente de Javi' minibook, props for retelling the story, and more! Ratoncito Pérez Printable Minibook & Activity Pack You can also watch me introducing a comparison of the Tooth Fairy and el Ratoncito Pérez here:
An A2 grammar worksheet for revision. Here you are a worksheet with twenty-one different sentences related to pictures to revise the difference in use of for, since or ago - ESL worksheets
Dear reader, Shakespeare has “shaken” my “sphere” (Earth, because it’s a sphere, and Earth = world). (Bad pun.) I used to hate reading Shakespeare because I found it t…
Title: Ode to Scout Finch (School Play) Artist: El Lohse Medium: Mixed Media Size: 3”x5” This artwork is part of Bear and Bird Gallery's Bear and Bird Gallery's "Small Stuff" 4th annual cash and carry holiday exhibition in Lauderhill, Florida. Exhibition runs November 21, 2010 - January 6, 2011, for more information visit our website www.bearandbird.com
Our society's view of gender identity is rapidly evolving, and for many teachers, dealing with issues related to gender is new territory.
A veteran PBL instructional coach shares 6 skills teachers need to coach students effectively.
Where did the Anglo-Saxons come from? Learn about Anglo-Saxons settlements, daily life and jobs in this BBC Bitesize year 5/6 primary history guide.
New! All Free Printables
When I posted about making my daily objective frames last summer, I had NO idea how "big" that post would get. As a little newbie bl...
We’ve gathered a few of our favourite writing displays from teachers who totally nailed it when it comes to inspiring writing...
When I set out to write an anatomy and physiology full-year curriculum, I was excited about all of the opportunities that lay ahead. I've never designed a curriculum for an elective course before, a course that many states lack standards for (although I did make sure to study each state's standards that did have them to incorporate as many as possible into the resources.) This provided me a great deal of freedom for the course design, and with that, I found that my creativity flourished.
This is a really creative recycled heart, but certainly not the most romantic for your valentine !
Complete the sentences using so or because - ESL worksheets
Ever buy a really great dress or amazing shirt? It probably makes you feel good when you put it on and gives you confidence for the day. B...
Speaking exercise for intermediate level students to practise some of the phrasal verbs they have to be able to use at that level - ESL worksheets
