Find more education infographics on e-Learning Infographics Lev Vygotsky According to Vygotsky (1978) the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) relates to the difference between what a child can achie…
I’ve posted about The Other 21st Skills and Attributes. This post provides links and resources about these skills as well as an educator self-assessment. This assessment contains questions …
Give your child a jump start on some essential algebra skills! She'll be simplifying algebraic expressions with these practice problems.
Visit the post for more.
Here is a list of my most favorite ESL teaching resources: books, websites and simply products that make my life as an ESL teacher easier!
FREE Minecraft Learning Printables (Various Subjects)
Explore our comprehensive collection of classroom resources, including classroom posters, engaging activities, classroom management techniques, and more. Enhance your teaching and inspire your students with these valuable insights.
Filler Activities for ELA (blog post) What can you do with five extra minutes in secondary ELA? Here are a few ideas to engage students until the bell.
Give your child practice with his sentence building skills with this printable worksheet that's all about capital letters.
Infographic by Global Digital Citizen
Hands-on learning isn't just for younger students! These hands-on activities for middle and high schoolers will help older students enjoy learning and stay actively engaged in the process.
“A2: Like this picture #primaryrocks”
Visit the post for more.
Save time and energy by using Khan Academy to simplify your day - 7 ways to implement Khan Academy as a resource for students and math teachers.
Write the right form of the verb ”to be”: am - is - are. Worksheets PDF, Grammar for beginners to be.
Blooms Taxonomy A SMORE of Resources
To learn about muscles, look no further than this Inside-Out Anatomy page.
Doodlr is a spin on Tumblr. Students make connections with words and symbols through doodling. This activity includes a parabola graphic organizer for students to label in relation to real-world scenarios. Available in printable form and digital for Google Slides.Add more iMath activities to the pho...
Differentiation and scaffolding can help students better understand and learn. Here are teaching ideas and tips to use in class.
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:
A lesson plan! A lesson plan! My kingdom for a lesson plan!
One fun math idea to incorporate as a weekly routine is a Challenge of the Week problem. It is optional for students to give it a try, but I've found that just by adding the word challenge and hyping it up a little bit...kids love to give it a shot! The problem is always an extension of what we are studying that week in class. I put each new challenge up on Monday morning and students have until the end of the day on Thursday to turn in their solutions to the turn in basket pictured. We go over the challenge every Friday after our daily warm-up problem. Students who answered the problem get a small prize (mints in my classroom!) and the recognition of solving the Challenge of the Week! Enjoy! Both my 6th grade challenge problems and 8th grade challenge problems are FREE! Be sure to grab a copy and use them with your students! Here was one of our first Challenge of the Week problems this year during our fraction multiplication unit. Go Badgers...Wisconsin sports is a fairly common them in my classroom! After multiplying fractions, we moved on to multiplying and dividing mixed numbers. I love how this problem really makes them work backwards and think about the process of multiplying fractions and mixed numbers! As we moved into our rates and ratios unit, this problem was one of the more challenging this year. My students get to know my love of baseball pretty early on in the year! Another challenging rates and ratios problem. Especially letter c... Here was a great problem that I used during our percents, fractions, and decimals unit a few weeks ago. Another Problem of the Week from our percents, fractions, and decimals unit! This one was from later in the chapter when we learned how to find the percent of a number. For our shortened Thanksgiving week, I got creative and researched some crazy Thanksgiving statistics. Seems like a lot of turkey per person, but I guess the stats don't lie! Here is a challenge that relates to order of operations! I also had to show one of my students responses because of how complex it was. I love it when I see things like this in sixth grade! On the left is the problem of the week. On the right is one of my the student's response. I rewrote it so that I could go through it with all of my classes. They loved the challenge of having to use order of operations to solve such a complicated problem! After introducing algebraic expressions at the beginning of our algebra units, here was a challenge of the week that I had A LOT of students try! As we continued our units of algebra, here is a challenge of the week that I had students try BEFORE we learned about two-step equations. I liked the writing aspect of this problem, as well as how open-ended it is! Once we learned about two-step equations, I made our challenge of the week a little tougher...fractions AND decimals! More two-step equations! This challenge of the week was also a great review of dividing fractions and mixed numbers from the start of the year. This challenge of the week involved finding a two-step rule for the function table! This problem was as we were nearing the end of our algebra units. I like how it brought together everything that we had been learning about...equations, function tables, and graphs! On to solving inequalities! This problem was before we had learned about solving two-step inequalities. Two-step inequalities with fractions! This was a tricky one for the sixth graders! This challenge of the week was just prior to learning how to find the measure of a reflex angle. I had a lot of students who remembered to subtract from 360 degrees! This one was one of my favorites! Some students surprised me by finding angle C first. I hadn't even thought to solve it that way! This problem sparked a fun discussion of the names of different polygons...including a megagon (1,000,000-sided polygon). Translations, reflections, and rotations! Putting it all together! The rotation step was tricky for my students because most of the examples we did in class were rotated around the origin! Moving on to areas...this problem was just after learning about how to find the area of parallelograms and triangles! More work with areas! I really enjoyed creating these area challenge problems! Putting it all together with a composite area problem. This was challenging with the two semi-circles! Composite volumes...combining what we learned about finding the volume of rectangular prisms and pyramids! This might have been my favorite problem to create! Who doesn't want to solve a problem with a floating pyramid inside of a rectangular prism!
Emotions exist in the body- but how? This printable emotion sensation feeling wheel helps individuals match common emotions with the physical sensations that most often match those feelings.
Stories, ideas, and beliefs that have been disproved through scientific studies litter the mind. Professionals across-the-board in medicine, law, architecture, engineering, and business take-for-gr…
Resources, tips, and materials to help you, help children with autism
You are probably familiar with Kahoot as a review game, but my favorite way to use this website is a BLIND Kahoot. The game structure is the same only instead of reviewing a concept, you use it to introduce it! Check this out as a way to mix up your lesson plans, introduce content, and engage your students!
A four-step approach to using a powerful model that increases student agency in learning.
Doesn't just focus on "what" kids learn, it focuses more on "how" kids learn best... Knows the difference between something that is hard, and something that is rigorous... Makes learning both relevant and meaningful... Recognizes we're preparing our students for a world that doesn't yet exist using technology that hasn't yet been invented to solve problems we haven't even thought of... Embraces the notion that education should be done "with" our students, rather than "to" our students... Provides opportunities for students to explore, discover, create & experience failure... Accepts that the world is a playground for learners, and learning can no longer be contained to the four walls of a classroom... Understands that you can't be "data-driven" unless you actually make adjustments and modifications to your instructional practices as a result of that data...
Try this synonyms worksheet with your third grader. This synonyms worksheet gets your child to find words with the same meanings. Download to complete online or as a printable!
Do you struggle with finding interesting ways to teach ESL listening skills? Maybe you have an activity or two already but you want to be able to mix it up and keep things interesting. By the end of…
Check out these activities for teaching interjections including mini posters, Youtube songs, games, suggested books to use, and more.
Vocabulary for high school students had better not be boring! Teaching vocabulary is easy with these teaching ideas and activities.
We Enable Strategic Outcomes through Leadership, Learning and Change Interventions Get in Touch to Know More Leadership Development Leverage two decades of leadership experience to facilitate strategic leadership workshops and build leaders through customized interventions. Explore Change Consulting & Facilitation Facilitate large scale strategic change programs to clarify and implement goals, focus areas and strategy
Use this worksheet to help set a goal to improve your grades! ***This download is a fillable worksheet that allows the option to type or click directly into the document using an electronic device. A PDF Reader (Adobe, Foxit, etc.) is required in order to use fillable features. The worksheet can be saved on the device or sent electronically without the need to print. Learn more about fillable worksheets here! The worksheet can also be printed for in-person use with clients.
When I was a brand new teacher, I thought the quality of my teaching was ultimately tied to the quality of my resources, so I spent hours searching for great materials. I believed that if I had quality resources, ones that my students enjoyed and were engaged with, then that would make me a good teacher. Well, I still believe that having quality resources is extremely important, but over the years I've also come to realize that being a good teacher is SO much more than the tools in my toolbox. Everyday has a million moving parts that need our constant attention, focus, knowledge and skills of best practice. So even though I now believe that being a good teacher is more than the quality of my teaching materials, knowing that I have a good variety of kid tested and teacher approved resources at my fingertips allows me the time and energy to focus on other aspects of my teaching day. So today, as a follow-up to my original "favorite resources" post, I want to share with you MORE of my "go-to" resources that I consistently use in my classroom with my students! Build a Sentence I love this resource, and so do my students! This resource gets beginning and intermediate ELs speaking and writing! First, a photograph is posted. Then students generate a word bank by telling what they see in the picture. I ask for one word at a time. No matter the level of my ELs, everyone can come up with at least a word or two. I get additional details by asking about colors and quantities of items they see. Once our word bank is sufficient, they use those words to create varying lengths of sentences. They are asked to create a 3 word sentence, then a four word sentence, then a five word sentence, and so on. I'll ask, "Who thinks they can come up with a 4 word sentence?" My students all start thinking and counting on their fingers, then quickly a hand shoots up, then another. They love it! This activity is heavily scaffolded for beginners. Students orally create the word bank and sentences, but I write the words and sentences on the board using correct spelling and grammar. Then they copy. I am a big believer in modeling for beginners, and I model a LOT! This activity is a definite favorite among my students. They practice their oral language skills as well as their writing skills. I do this with my small groups at least once a month. Writing with English Learners I created this resource to prep my students for the writing portion of the annual language proficiency assessment. In Virginia, where I'm from, ESL students take the WIDA ACCESS each winter. Being that writing is the literacy skill that usually takes the longest to develop, I wanted to explicitly teach the skills students needed to be most successful on this assessment. In my lesson plans, I incorporate a listening, reading, speaking and writing focus each week. For the writing focus, I usually pull from these two resources. Whether I am teaching how to stretch out words, write a story, explain a process or analyze information, this resource allows me to choose the skills my particular groups need to work on. For my intermediate and advanced ELs in grades 3-6, I focus on "language formats" found in writing. Whether they are asked to describe, provide an opinion, analyze or compare and contrast, understanding and applying the language with that format is key. 5 Ws and H - A Writing Resource for Adding Details This resource is a new favorite! It teaches students to add meaningful details to their sentences. I often ask students to "tell me more." This writing activity gets them in the habit of giving more information in their sentences by adding thoughtful details. This resource is designed for gradual release. The first set of activities can be done in a whole group setting. A photograph is projected and students are asked to answer the 5W & H questions about the picture. This information is then used to write two thoughtful sentences. As students become more proficient with adding details to their sentences, the next set of activities can be done in either a small group setting or as an independent activity. The last set of activities are writing prompts that students can independently respond to in their notebooks. Posters are included which add a great visual reference for a classroom display. Restate the Question This is a simple, yet effective, activity that teaches students to restate the question or prompt in their answers, both orally and in writing. As a writing activity, either project a prompt on the whiteboard and have students write their responses in their notebooks, or print out the question and have them glue it into their notebook. This takes modeling the first several times, but afterwards should be a quick independent activity. For a speaking activity, pull out a card and ask the question. Students take turns answering several of the questions. This works great in a small group setting. My students often ask if we can keep on "playing." VIDEOS! VIDEOS! VIDEOS! Incorporating videos into my lessons is a MUST! When I plan a new unit, one of the first things I do is to scour the internet looking for fun and meaningful videos. My go to place is YouTube. There are some real gems out there, but it does take some looking. When I find a goody, it goes into my collection and I use it again and again. Here is a blog post that I wrote about using short films to teach reading comprehension skills. I continue to add to the list as I find new films. Click on the image to see the list! Check out my Short Film Bundle here. Monthly Themed Vocabulary This is an great resource to use with primary learners and beginning ELs. Each month contains 20 vocabulary words. I love this because it's relevant to what's happening around students at the given time of year. Along with the terms, which I use as a monthly word wall, matching cards, writing activities, a vocabulary booklet and BINGO games are included. In closing... As I create my weekly lesson plans, these "tried and true" resources are many of the activities that my students use throughout the school year. Having a collection of reliable and engaging materials available frees up the time I'd otherwise spend searching. I'm sure you have your go-to resources too. Happy teaching!! (Affiliate Link)
Your ESL students have to write sentences following the example in the