New to gifted education? Read about the dos and don'ts of gifted education and how to best serve gifted learners.
A fun, processed based Fibonacci art project for kids. Great for S.T.E.A.M. learning at home or at school.
The workshop model is a great way to differentiate your instruction for all learners in your classroom. This post focuses on workshop for gifted students.
Have you ever wondered if a gifted language arts curriculum could be a good fit for your homeschool even though your kids aren't necessarily gifted?
In order to stay alive, your body is always taking in oxygen! Your lungs are SO important! They remove carbon dioxide from blood, and transport oxygen and deliver it to the blood!
8 Practical teacher gifts for back to school, Christmas, or end of school. These non-traditional gifts are ones that your child's teacher actually wants.
Free coloring page name decorated on the theme of spring, with flowers and leaves. Coloring page with floral patterns, customizable with a name or a personalized message before printing.
Are you looking for free preschool curriculum? This is the ultimate list of free preschool curriculum to help you make the best choice!
We need to understand that gifted children are not just “bright” – a highly subjective label. 15 signs of a gifted child--read on to learn.
The Printable Grade Book for Teachers is a highly useful and convenient tool that allows educators to efficiently track and manage their students academic progress. Designed specifically for teachers, this printable grade book provides an organized and customizable layout, allowing for easy recording and calculation of grades. With its user-friendly format, this grade book is perfect for teachers of all grade levels who want to efficiently manage their students grades and progress.
Here are six teaching strategies I use every lesson, every day.
Teaching gifted kids in the regular classroom can be a challenge. Do you sometimes feel like you're "losing it"? Do you not really know how to meet the needs of these kids when you have so many kids who have IEP's, 504 Plans, or are in the RTI process? Don't despair, there is help!
let students draw themselves on the inside and outsideFun and creative idea to get to know your students and for them to get to know each other!Powerpoint Available.
Do you want to get started with project based learning, but you’re not sure how? Maybe project based learning sounds too complicated, in-depth, and overwhelming to you? That’s how I felt when I first delved into PBL. But now I know there is nothing to be afraid of! In this post, I will give a quick explanation of project-based learning and then give you some tips and ideas to begin to implement it in your own classroom. What is Project Based Learning? Project based learning, simply stated, is an authentic learning experience
Create Your Own Roller Coaster With Downloadable PDF or DIY Track. : Rollercoasters are all about physics! Unlike most moving vehicles, cars, trains, and buses that rely on engines, rollercoasters rely on gravitational potential energy. What goes up, must come down. Potential energy is stored or held energy by an obj…
Back to the basics! This poster will remind you/your students of the treble clef, alto clef and bass clef note names! Keep on your wall as "reference art." Music theory is combined with typography! A great gift for any music student, educator or professional.
MATH Higher-Order Thinking Questions for Students! Questions for students to ask EACH OTHER! *These open-ended questions are great to get your students to think deeper about math concepts and word …
Teaching theme is not an easy task! Not only do students need to have a strong comprehension of the story's elements (like plot, setting, and characters), but they also have to be able to make inferences to find the author's message, since most themes are not overtly stated by the author. So, what are some of my favorite activities for helping kids understand theme? I'll list a number of them here. 1. Make an Anchor Chart Anchor charts are a great way to make learning visual and to have a record that kids can refer to when they need a bit of extra support. Theme may be defined in a number of ways. To me, the theme is the author's message or what he/she wants the reader to take away/learn from the story. It is a BIG idea, with a real-world or universal concern and can be applied to anyone. Besides talking about what a theme is, you'll also want to go over what it isn't. For example, some kids confuse the main idea of the story with its theme. To help students understand the difference, it's helpful to use stories that everyone in the class knows, like previous read alouds or classic stories like The Three Little Pigs. You can take each story and discuss the main idea (what the story was mostly about - specific to the story) vs. the theme (the lesson the author wants the reader to know - not specific to the story), to contrast the two ideas. The second area of confusion for some kids is that the theme is not specific to the characters in the story. In the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, for example. The theme would not be that...A little mouse named Chrysanthemum learned to accept the uniqueness of her name. The theme would be larger than the book and would be something like...It's important to accept oneself. Also, you'll want to explain to your students that often times, a book has multiple themes and there are several answers which work equally well to describe a book's theme. Since theme is very subjective, I tell students that I will accept any answer, as long as they have the text evidence to prove it. For example, in the book, Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, one might argue that the theme is about friendship, another might say family, or even courage, or kindness. Any one of these themes would be right, and counted as such, since they each fit the story and could be supported by text evidence. 2. Use Pixar Shorts to Practice Theme Besides the sheer enjoyment which comes from watching these mini-films, your students can learn a lot about reading concepts from these. They're great for ELL students or for struggling readers, and for all readers really since the text complexity piece is removed. You can find these clips on YouTube, but you'll want to make sure to preview them first, so you're more familiar with the plot and are able to focus on theme questions. Here are some of my favorite Pixar Shorts for teaching theme: Piper Partly Cloudy Lava Boundin' 3. Use Mentor Texts Mentor texts are one of my go-to teaching tools as picture books are able to portray examples of just about any reading concept you need to teach. One thing I like to do when using mentor texts for theme, is to vary the types of questions I ask. Rather than always saying What is the theme?, I might ask... What is the deeper meaning of this story? After reading this book, what do you think matters to this author? Which idea from the story do you think might stay with you? What did the author want people to learn from this story?... Once kids answer, you might say, Ah...so that's the theme! Some of my current mentor text favorites for theme include the following: Ish by Peter H. Reynolds I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe Journey by Aaron Becker (a wordless book) Beautiful Oops by Barry Saltzberg The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Pete and Pickles by Berkeley Breathed If you're looking for more titles, I have a FREE Mentor Text List for Literature which includes a page on theme which you can download from my TpT store. 4. Use Posters with Themes to Chart Book Themes I like to choose 8 - 10 common themes and place posters of them in the classroom. These are included in my Theme unit but you could easily make them yourself if you'd like. After we finish a class novel, a read aloud, or a mentor text as part of a mini-lesson, I like to have the kids discuss the theme of the book. Once we decide on the theme, I place a miniaturized copy of the book's cover (about 3 x 3 inches or so) under the correct theme poster. You can also make the posters more interactive by allowing kids to write titles of books they have recently read on sticky notes, under the posters as well. 5. Use Songs to Practice Finding the Theme I love to add music to the classroom whenever possible. Not only does it add instant motivation for some kids, but it is also just good for them in so many ways. There are lots of songs you can use to teach theme, from current pop songs to oldies, rap songs, and country songs. While all of these work well, I especially enjoy using Disney songs. Disney songs are easily recognized for some kids, have catchy, fun tunes, and have lyrics that need no censoring (yay!). You can easily find the lyrics online to project on a smartboard or document projector, and the song clips may be found on YouTube, Here are some of my favorite Disney songs which work well for theme: Hakuna Matata from Lion King Just Keep Swimming from Finding Dory Reflection from Mulan Let it Go from Frozen Something There from Beauty and the Beast A Whole New World from Aladdin 6. Introduce Short Texts Using Task Cards Using task cards for theme gives your students a great deal of practice in a short period of time, which makes them a perfect way to begin to practice finding the theme using text. I love the fact that students can read multiple task card stories and practice finding the theme 20 - 30 times, in the time it might take to read a story and find the theme once. You can do task cards as a center activity, to play Scoot, or as a whole class scavenger hunt. One thing I like to do for the scavenger hunt is to make sure everyone has a partner and to pair stronger readers with struggling readers. 7. Add Some Writing After students have worked on theme for a week or two, I like to have students create their own short stories which show a strong theme, without directly stating it. This changes each student's role from a theme finder, to a theme creator and gives students insight into how authors create a situation that allows a theme to unfold. When I introduce this project, we refer back to the task cards we just completed, as an example of story length and rich content. In a matter of 2 - 3 paragraphs, students learn that they can include enough information to let our readers know our message. After students are finished creating these short stories, it's fun to share them in some way, to give more theme practice. Sometimes I have students meet in small groups to share out, with group members guessing the theme. Other years, I leave a stack on my desk and grab several if we have a few minutes. Either the students or I read the short story out loud, and the class discusses the theme. 8. Move to Passages, Short Stories, and Novels. Once we have scaffolded a great foundation for the understanding of theme, there comes a point where kids have to move on to text which is more challenging. I like to use page-long passages which I have created, before using short stories, and ultimately novels. If you're looking for some ready made materials to help you teach theme, here's a packet I love to use which works well for 4th and 5th Graders. Click here to read more about the Theme unit. Want some more teaching ideas and activities to teach theme? Click here to read Teaching Themes in Literature. If you like this post, make sure to share it with a teacher friend! Thanks so much for stopping by! For more ideas and strategies focused on upper elementary, be sure to sign up for The Teacher Next Door's free email newsletter! Bonus, you'll also gain access to my FREE Resource Library which contains exclusive upper elementary freebies that you won't find anywhere else! I'd love to connect with you! The Teacher Next Door's Website Pinterest Facebook Instagram TpT Store
Make an origami cat using this fun and easy tutorial for beginners! This can be made as a two-piece origami, or a head only.
If you're tired of digging into your own pockets to find ways to motivate your students, you need to check out these FREE reward coupons. You can even use the editable option to add your own coupons.
Teaching growth mindset can be done with read-alouds! Rosie's Glasses is a great book for this. Get ideas for using this book to teach being positive.
Yup, I just used the G-word. Did you cringe just now, when you read it? To be honest, I still cringe a little too. As the mother of a profoundly gifted and twice-exceptional child, I think that gifted is a terrible label; it brings to mind images of beautifully-wrapped packages with neatly tied bows. Our gifted reality is sometimes beautiful but complicated and challenging and anything but neat. When folks hear the word gifted, they tend to make assumptions.
A Color crayons printable pattern can significantly enhance your crafting and educational projects. By using this template, you can create consistent and visually appealing designs for classroom materials, party decorations, or personal art projects..
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The most typical characteristics of gifted children. Check this list and discover if your child might be gifted. Learn what signifiies giftedness.
A dancing raisins experiment to teach kids about states of matter, gas, density, and more! A fun and simple science experiment for all ages!
Not sure what to teach the first week of 3rd grade? Here's what we did!
Vintage papers, sheet music covers, book covers pasted onto lined board. Gift to Dorothy Cuming December 2012
My blog post on Following Instructions, with hands-on learning activity ideas that follow instructions and easy-to-use guides, has been so popular for over a year now (Click here to see: Following Instructions), that I thought I would make Following Instructions Printables! (Click here to see: Following Instructions Printables) Here are 4 printable activities that require following instructions, using reading, rhyming words, printing practice, creative drawing, and cutting and pasting. A suggested age range for this printable package would be 4-7yrs. Copyright Terms: All printables marked with "www.rockabyebutterfly.com" are Copyrighted © All rights reserved. My printables are provided to you for your own personal use. You are more than welcome to save the files on your computer and print off copies for yourself and your own children/students whenever you would like. You may post pictures of your own children/students using my printables on your personal blog, provided www.rockabyebutterfly.com is properly credited and linked in the post. Link directly to www.rockabyebutterfly.com to share my files with others. You cannot host any of my printables on your own or other sites. You cannot upload my pdf files to your server. You cannot alter or sell any of my printables. All files are for personal non‐commercial use only. You may NOT use my items for sale or profit. By downloading and printing my printables you agree to these copyright terms.
Are you challenging gifted students in the classroom? Check out these daily challenge tasks that will help your gifted students thrive!
How to make a gorgeous DIY baby sensory book - perfect for babies and toddlers.
Make word study fun and engaging for your students.
Certain tasks are inherently rigorous, including reading idea-dense content, debate, using the writing process and even note-taking.
This simple and easy teacher gift idea is the perfect gift for any teacher. Get your favorite teacher what they really want this year!
How do I make a unique gift card holder quickly and easily? Try these 25 creative DIY gift card holder ideas for different occasions!
Free set of printables to go along with Magnetic Tiles. Includes two levels of difficulty. Builds problem solving skills.
