Make your own Robotic Articulated Hand Project that teaches tendons, bones and other parts of hand. Best Science Project for middle schoolers. Learn how hand works with robotic movements.
Learn how to make Musical Instrument Crafts with Kids. Your DIY Band put together with drums, guitars, DIY maracas, to horns and more! Easy fun
Our free printable feelings wheel will help your child learn to name what they’re feeling so they can become more self-aware. Print it today!
Challenges with focus and attention can become a huge roadblock to learning for kids and young adults. Simply put, attention is critical to learning. If students can't focus on the lesson, they are going to struggle with understanding the new content. If students can't focus on the directions, they
By the time you kids grow to the age of 5 or 6 they will now start going to Kindergarten. My elder one is in that age range 5+ yrs and hence we have started learning science in a fun way with DIY experiments at home. You can find them here and we would want […]
Free Anger and Feelings Worksheets for Kids
How to make a calm down kit or box for kids plus a free printable list of calming tools and things to put in your child's kit
This post was originally posted back in 2015 on my blog and has been a popular post since that time. I worked for a decade as a family counselor and elementary school counselor before staying
I wanted to stop by today and share some a few of my “go-to” activities during the first week of school to build our classroom community and set expectations for […]
I LOVE saving figurative language until June - it's such a fun language unit ... and perfect for our "dreaming of summer brains". We finished up our EQAO testing mid week, and this onomatopoeia activity was the perfect break from testing. How fun is that??? Students chose two contrasting colours - one for the background and one for the word and border "bursting out of the page". They also needed newspaper (cut just a fraction smaller that the "bursting out of the page border" and glued the newspaper on top. They glued their word on top of that (we had brainstormed a lot of onomatopoeia words, but for some reason most of them chose SPLAT for their word). I also had them do a little shading under their letters for that little extra POP (see, I know some onomatopoeia words, too). ;) I had seen this awesome idea on Pinterest and followed it back to Artisan des Arts. Her examples are FANTASTIC!! We also wrote simile poems this week. I found a little template HERE for the students to use for their rough copies. When students were finished their templates, I had them write out their good copies, and illustrate a few lines with a small image. I hung these up, too ... LOVING our bulletin board switch up ... even this late in the school year!!! (I have two of these "smART class" bulletin boards side by side in the classroom. 15 more school days left ... I think I can ... I think I can ... Happy Friday!!!
Whether your little one is a new reader or into their own chapter books, starting your own book club for kids is easy with these tips and tricks!
Working with kids and young adults who are oppositional can be challenging. Being oppositional might mean refusing to do work, breaking rules, and engaging in other challenging behaviors. The truth is, many kids can be oppositional from time to time, so many of these strategies work with all learner
What's your name? Fitness activity printable for kids. Your kids will get a workout without realizing it when you make fitness into a fun game with this spell your name workout.
Introduce children to a lifelong love of science, math, and physics with these simple and hands-on physics experiments for kids!
A blog of an elementary Special Education Teacher
A cheat sheet of education theorists and their research based teaching practices.
Pass them on to your first grade teacher friends!
Conversation Starters for Kids: Help Your Kids Build Lasting Friendships and Meaningful Connections with these Simple Conversation Starters
Working with kids and young adults who are oppositional can be challenging. Being oppositional might mean refusing to do work, breaking rules, and engaging in other challenging behaviors. The truth is, many kids can be oppositional from time to time, so many of these strategies work with all learner
A collection of 21 great podcasts for kids. Interesting Educational Podcasts. Mindfulness and mindset podcasts. True stories & fictional tales, all fantastic listening and will keep your kids engaged
I have a good friend with an autistic son, it seems like once a week someone inadvertently hurts her feelings by not understanding why her son acts the way he does. Education is always our best defense, maybe we can all be a little less judgmental, we don’t what road others are walking on.
Here’s a fun science experiment that will definitely get a “wow” from the kids. Combine baking soda and vinegar to make sodium acetate, or hot ice! It crystalizes instantly when you pour it, allowing you to create a tower of crystals. Since the process of crystallization is exothermic, the “ice” that forms will be hot […]
It seems like every day there is an endless stream of students reporting behaviors or incidents that happen in the classroom. On one hand, we want to help our students feel heard and validated so they know we are a safe person for them to talk to. On the other hand, we certainly don't want to feed into the tattle machine. It's a fine line to walk. So how do we handle tattling in our classrooms?
Our free digital escape rooms for kids and adults will keep you busy at home for a long time! It's a great family activity to work as a team!
Who knew playing with straws could be so fun? Straw bridges are a great whole class activity that also sharpens students' STEM skills!
The kids and I have been talking about words with ing added on the end. My youngest has just started coming across these words in his reading and his big sister was showing him how to break the wo…
Hey everyone! I hope you had a great holiday and if you’re like me you’re definitely enjoying your time off school. Yes I love and miss the kiddos and have seen some updates about them on FB but I’ve really enjoyed no alarms, comfy clothes, Netflix, organizing my home, and staying up late. The joys ... Read More about Read and Recall Freebie Update!
Thank you to Diane for submitting this fun book report poster. It’s legal size (paper) worksheet and is great for lower grades (or as an easy project for upper grades). Great end of the year …
Check out these fun teaching materials for teaching comma rules to upper elementary including an anchor chart, videos, and graphic organizer.
I grew up attending school in France and never liked it. I have always been successful, ranking top of my classes, graduated high school at age 16… but I always hated school. I felt like I did not belong. I was not interested in the way we were taught – […]
While not necessarily "un-schoolers", we ARE eclectic homeschoolers. And with that title comes ALL forms of learning...including a little bit of un-schooling or as I like to call it..."schooling at the speed of summer." Our official last day may have marked the end of assignments and schedules, but, it did not put a three-month halt to our learning. On the contrary, there is plenty o' schoolin' going on 'round here. It's just been slowed from a gallop to a trot. It's intentionally more leisurely. It's purposefully more gentle. Here's what our days look like during the sunshine months. Devotions For the summer, we pack away the Good Morning Board. Although we obviously still have breakfast and still get dressed, our morning routine is less planned than during the fall and winter. We do still make devotions a morning-time-MUST, however. The older three kids and I read from our individual Bibles and devotional books and then, we each take rotating turns reading a picture Bible story to the two youngest. Pleasure Reading In addition to our daily read-aloud for the month, my oldest three boys have to read out loud to me for at least 15 minutes each day. This not only gets them closer to their summer-reading-program goals, but it also maintains constant reading practice throughout the summer. My daughter, ever the book-a-holic, is rarely without a book in her hands. So, although I encourage her to read at least 15 minutes a day, it is really more of a obligatory request. As is our summer-time custom, we often allow all the kids to stay up past bedtime to read. The extra-long daylight makes it nearly impossible for them to fall asleep at the normal time anyway. So, the Hubs and I like to capitalize on the lengthier days by instituting the following late night reading rules. You have to be in bed at the normal time...8:00 at our house. You may read books, look at picture books (for those too young to read), or listen to audio books...for one hour. If you get out of bed for any reason other than an emergency, you forfeit your reading time and have to go right to bed. An extra late bedtime AND a whole hour of uninterrupted reading time! A win-win for everyone. Summer Science Project Since we spend six months of our traditional school year buried by snow, it is difficult for us to pursue any biological themes for science...at least the ones that are shaded in GREEN. For this reason, we have always chosen one particular element of nature to study during the summer months. As with any delight-directed learning, I left this year's science project choice up to the kids. After some brainstorming and a quick family vote, they decided that this summer we'd focus our science efforts on WEATHER. A couple of times each week will find us reading great weather-themed living literature books conducting weather-related experiments recording the temperature and cloud patterns of the day on a calendar using weather instruments and tools Who knows? We may even end our study by making a celebratory cloud cake! Discovery Basket Time So far, our summer days have been more mobile than in year's past. Since we are in the process of trying to sell our house, we have not been at home very often...requiring a more flexible schedule. So, while we haven't been able to enjoy our discovery quiet time EVERY day, we have tried to sneak it in whenever possible. Individual Interests Summer...with its fun-in-the-sun-laziness...has always been a great time for my children to explore individualized extra-curricular interests. Because the season is short, the commitment is minimal. I might not be able to taxi my daughter to three-day-a-week basketball practices ALL WINTER LONG...but, I CAN commit to chartering her to a morning basketball camp for one week in the summer. In addition to free weeklong swimming lessons offered by our local YMCA that my oldest three participated in the very first week of summer vacation, here's what my kids have chosen for their own personal summer learning. Sweetie Pea "Mommy's Helper" for a family friend once a week week-long morning basketball camp two-day sewing camp for girls offered by some wonderful women at our church Super Boy Alert Cadet training with dad nearly-free weekly guitar lessons offered as a ministry from our church's children's ministry assistant bi-weekly art lessons with an exceptional retired art teacher in our area Blonde Warrior AND Greased Lightning twice-a-week morning T-ball at a local park While I love the vigorous learning that takes place during the school year, I also enjoy the "exhale"-style schooling that happens during the summer months. The organic kind...the slow-down kind...the GENTLE kind. So, that's what our summer learning plans look like. How about yours?
These fun reading games are quick to make - and so effective for learners in kindergarten and first grade! Such a great addition to your language arts instruction. #teachingreading #kindergarten #firstgrade
Brain Balance Center of Greater Philly shares an inside look at ADHD. Click on the social media buttons below to share these awesome visuals!
Whether you're new to teaching or a veteran, this list has you covered for 4th grade.
Do you hate to teach poetry? Do you want your students to learn and enjoy poetry? Try these simple ways to learn how to teach poetry...
This 7 minute animal themed HIIT workout for kids improves emotional regulation and reduces meltdowns. Loved by OTs, teachers, and parents alike!
In this lecture to the first Waldorf teachers, Steiner focuses on the twelve senses, grouped into Thinking, Feeling, and Willing.
Grab a set of marshmallow and toothpick geometry cards to print and build with your kids. It is such a fun way to learn geometric shapes!
Good character is made up of many qualities. Here’s an ABC list of character traits we can aspire to teach our children.
It’s always so much fun listening and watching our young readers figure out those “longer” words. Many of our little ones are pretty solid decoding one-syllabe words and are now ready to learn strategies for decoding multisyllabic words. So, really, what is a syllable? Simply put, a syllable is a unit of pronunciation containing a […]
Every English language arts teacher needs a variety of successful, student led discussion strategies that will provide opportunities for student learning.
This past Wednesday, I shared a wonderful Roll-a-Dice Freebie for writing story starters (Check it the CF2 post here if you missed it!), but there's more where that came from! Check out my blog post from yesterday Roll-a-Dice Literacy Fun which features two new freebies using dice. Additional resources are provided for those interested in incorporating dice games into your classrooms through this post! Visit my blog post or access the freebies directly but clicking the pictures or links below! Roll-an-Emotion Fluency Activity (Google Doc) Here's a great tool for picking reading partners or reading buddies in the classroom! It's "clock partners" with a twist! Roll-a-Reading Partner (TpT) Happy Back-to-School Teaching!
What's your name? Fitness activity printable for kids. Your kids will get a workout without realizing it when you make fitness into a fun game with this spell your name workout.
