Sometimes it seems impossible when engaging the online learner. Here are 3 actions to keep in mind when planning out a virtual lesson with online students.
Team 16 will be starting long division in Math next week. Here is a preview:
This fantastic shark activity mat is more than just a collection of activities. It's specifically designed to engage young minds and encourage development.
Our guest blogger shares her tips about how to make time for vocabulary instruction and how to make vocabulary instruction engaging for your students!
Dive into a world of fun learning with our Free Preschool Printables! 🎨✂️ Explore, create, and learn - perfect for little adventurers. #PreschoolFun #LearningIsFun
250 What Am I Riddles with Answers will have everyone using their critical thinking skills to answer the question what am I? Play today!
The planning and lesson preparation stages are so often overlooked and result in frustration and stress when challenging behaviors occur. Classroom management is not just about having rules and following through with them. In fact, purposeful lesson planning is a key piece of having a strong classroom community where
Prefixes and suffixes are used in writing, reading, and conversations to shape the meaning of words. This blog shows ways teach & keep your class engaged.
Have you ever found yourself daydreaming about someone without really knowing why? It happens to the best of us. We could be going about our daily tasks, and suddenly, our mind drifts to a person
Explore the power of perspective-taking skills with these 31 children's picture books to dive into empathy, understand different views & enhance social skills.
Are you racking your brain for toys that will work with your moderate-severe students. I have 10 toys that will promote functional communication!
Professional preschool furniture supplier＆manufacturer of quality, customizable furniture solutions for preschools and daycare centers. Our experienced team offers personalized design and exceptional customer service.
Help the learning process with these simple strategies for making studennt thinking visible. Perfect for middle and high school English classes.
Many exercises ask you to "engage your core", but are you wrecking your back in the process?
There are more ways to demonstrate understanding than just taking a test. Read this list of 72 ways for students to show what they know and get ideas!
Love podcasts? Check out this post in the form of a podcast episode on The Classroom Commute Podcast :
There are endless ways to use Hexagonal Thinking in your classroom! Here are some examples, and even a time-saving suggestion for using AI!
Check out five fun, unique ways to get students engaged in reading aloud in your classroom. They'll love the variety and the way they get to..
Stress, Depression, Anxiety, social media, happiness, coping skills, mindfulness...and even resiliency!......It's all related to mental health- so let's dive in! Included here you will find: Stress Slideshow + notes (Google Slides and Powerpoint formats) 11 Stress Activities 3 Stress Assignments Mental Disorders Slideshow + notes (Google Slides and Powerpoint formats) Mental Disorders Group Project 4 Mental Health Activities: "Watch and Try" Mental Health "988" sign to hang Mindfulness Activities (1 for each season) 5 minute REUSABLE SEL class activities (for Monday-Friday) Unit Quiz and Answer Key More details on what's included: **"Depression, Anxiety & More" Class Activity & Project: This is a group project for all students in your high school classroom centered around eight areas of mental health. The eight topics chosen are commonly experienced among high school students (Depression, Anxiety, Impulse Control Issues, Bipolar, Schizophrenia, OCD, Prosopagnosia, and Children of Alcoholic Parents). This product gives you an entire lesson outline with ALL lesson handouts and materials that are needed. ---------------------------------------------- **"Mindfulness & Happiness" Activities: *The 4 topics chosen are practices that can help students have a healthier mindset in the midst of life's challenges (Mindfulness, Thankfulness, Social Media depression, Growth Mindset (Positive Self-Talk). *Each topic has a YouTube video to watch and a task for them to complete. ---------------------------------------------- **"Stress Unit" Lessons and Activities *20 Slide Stress PowerPoint (PDF format) *Follow Along Student Notes *11 Super Fun Stress Relief Activities! *Simple Directions and Guidelines For Each Activity *Article on Stress with Questions *Stress Documentary found on YouTube with follow-along questions ---------------------------------------------- **"Sensing Seasons"- Take your class outside today...and practice mindfulness! Students can do this activity on paper, silently or with the included Google document form in a digital format. ------------------------------------------------ **"First 5" curriculum - Mental Health curriculum for the first five minutes of every day of the week! *Mindful Mondays *Tell Me Something Good Tuesdays *Willful Wednesdays *Thinking Thursdays *Funday Fridays ------------------------------------------------ ★ This can all be used as pieces of MENTAL HEALTH throughout your school year- or consecutively as a MENTAL HEALTH unit! ★ All components needed are here in this download. Organized enough to leave with a sub. Reach out with questions, Emily Health 101 [email protected] *PSSST!!! Find us on Instagram @healthlessonplans for an up close look at lessons in action!
As kids explore science, one of the fundamental concepts they will encounter is understanding solids, liquids, and gases - although it might...
Mindfulness journal activities for kids and teens to help feel calm, focused, and happy. Mindful activities teach self-control, emotional management, growth mindset, self-love, and so much more. Use this as a daily morning practice or in your calm down area. Perfect for home or school. This post has
Although "practice makes perfect," it doesn't have to be boring. Find 6 ways to make lessons more engaging with movement in the classroom.
Enjoy these free customizable Boggle templates for use in your classroom! You can switch out the letters to make a new game every time!
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Have you been looking for a fun and engaging conflict resolution activity to reinforce conflict resolution skills in your preschool, pre-k or kindergarten classroom? These conflict resolution games for preschoolers are a great way to help reinforce different ways to manage conflict encountered in preschool. Use these conflict resolution games to get your preschool, pre-k or kindergarten students thinking about what are some positive ways to deal with conflict and talk about times they have used some of these conflict resolution techniques. These conflict resolution games for preschoolers are a perfect companion to your Unit on Conflict Resolution. ♡Download the Conflict-resolution-games-for-preschoolers-PREVIEW to Learn More♡ What's included in this conflict resolution activity for preschoolers? Conflict Resolution Bingo - 6 Bingo Playing Boards with 15 Calling Cards. Conflict Resolution Matching Game - 15 pairs showing different conflict resolution techniques. Instruction Cards for Each Game - Full Page and Half Page All pages come in vibrant color or ink-saving black and white.
Are there more creative ways, besides movies, to keep kids minds engaged AND get a little time back for ourselves?
Explore the power of perspective-taking skills with these 31 children's picture books to dive into empathy, understand different views & enhance social skills.
Teaching wind to preschoolers is important, yet merely discussing the topic isn’t enough. Keep your class engaged by incorporating wind-themed activities. Not only will these activities teach them about the wind, but they can also help develop many other essential skills. Take a look at the wind activities presented below and add them to your ... Read more
By Connie Bergstein Dow, author of From A to Z with Energy! 26 Ways to Move and Play Children love to move! As a dance educator, I enjoy engaging young children in playful and fun movement explorat…
The best social media poll questions. Funny polls. Instagram poll question ideas. Facebook poll questions. Questions to ask on instagram.
Yoga is a fantastic activity to get kids up and moving! Today we are sharing a fun printable Ocean Themed Yoga for Kids packet for y'all to use at home or in school! Ocean Themed
Are you a fan of Pop Art? Look no further than our Pop Art Worksheet! This worksheet is designed to engage and educate individuals who have an interest in the iconic art movement. With its vibrant colors and bold patterns, Pop Art is sure to captivate the artistic minds. Get ready to delve into the world of Warhol, Lichtenstein, and other influential Pop Artists as you analyze their works and explore the concepts behind this popular art style. Get your creative juices flowing and have fun while learning about this fascinating subject!
Would you like to decorate your classroom with fun, hand-drawn anchor charts/posters? Do you simply not have the time to get them done? Well, you have come to the perfect place! I love making these engaging and appealing anchor charts. I also can draw/create any other topic you would like, just contact me directly and ask! My students absolutely love these posters and references them every day. Many of them are visual learners, so the colorful images really help them connect and remember what they have learned. This particular anchor chart is for readers/writers learning all about story elements. The puzzle visual really helps my students realize that there are pieces and parts that make up a story. They also love The Three Little Pigs and Big Bad Wolf so they really had fun with this! **These will be copies unless asked otherwise for a custom poster. They are not laminated, and are printed on normal, anchor chart paper. I ship these out ASAP after being ordered, but please keep in mind once shipped, it is outside of my control. Therefore, if shipping does not meet your expectations, I highly encourage you to please reach out to me first, and we have always been able to work something out to make up for anything that may have occurred after I have sent your package, thanks so much!! Hope you love it :)
The pencils are sharpened, your classroom is clean and the bell rings…gulp…here they come! My feelings on the first week of school are conflicted. On one hand, it’s one of the most important weeks. Explaining and practicing the class procedures and expectations sets the tone for the rest of the school year. Success is vital. On the other hand, I’m so excited to start teaching my historical content that waiting until all the expectations are explained requires a lot of patience! Every teacher has their own plan of action for that pivotal time. Here are 5 things I can’t live without during the first week of school: One: An Icebreaker. I aim to try and make kids feel comfortable in my classroom on day one. One of my favorite little activities is Fact or Fiction. Each student receives a small slip of paper and they’re instructed to write one fact and two fictions. Then each person (including myself!) introduces themselves and we all try to guess which statement is the fact! It’s a great way to quickly learn about each other. Two: Classroom Information and Expectations. This is every teacher’s staple, I know, but it had to go on the list because it’s a must-have! When you’re making your own, spell everything out – from the obvious grading procedures and late work policy to how to pass back papers and when to sharpen pencils and go to the bathroom. Trust me, leave no stone unturned. Your classroom will function much better if you set the tone from day one. (Oh, and don’t forget a seating chart!) Three: Fun and Games. On the second day of school, I love to start class with a little game. It’s a great way for the kids to start practicing our classroom procedures and expectations while getting familiar with their teacher and classmates. Here are some of my favorite games that I use during the first week of school: (P.S. Some of these activities can be found in my Back to School Activities resources! Click the grade level you’re teaching to check them out: Sixth, Seventh, Eighth) InstaFriend: This activity gets students moving around the room and interviewing fellow classmates! Their InstaFriend paper has a series of descriptions and characteristics. When they find a student who matches the description, they write their name in the box. Each name can only be used once! Right or Wrong: I love skits. LOVE THEM. I like to introduce students to the idea of skits during the first week by allowing them to create their own based on our class expectations. I first divide students into small groups of 2-3. Each group then randomly receives one of our class procedures or expectations. As a group, they have to work together to create two mini skits – one showing the RIGHT way to follow the expectation, the other showing the WRONG way. They get to be silly and I get to reinforce my class expectations. After each skit I happily point out all the positive behaviors as well as each time a class policy was violated. It’s a light-hearted way to grab their attention and create a positive atmosphere all while practicing the laws of the land. Classmate Bingo: I love to play this game at the end of the first week. I give each student a blank bingo board with a large selection of personal characteristics, hobbies, etc. at the bottom. The students choose 16 off the list and create their customized board. Then, I randomly select characteristics from the list. If a student has that characteristic on their board, they have to write down a student’s name that matches the characteristic – but no cheating! They have to use what they’ve learned about others during their first week of school to try and win the game. Four: A Pre Test. After a few days of class information and fun, it’s time to start getting down to business. Each year, I make a short pre-test on the information they’ll learn about that year. It gives me a chance to see what the kids already know and gives them a feel for what subject matter they’ll be learning about in the coming weeks. FYI: Your pre-test probably won’t take the whole class period. Make sure to have plans for other activities, too, on the day you give your pre-test! Five: A Writing Activity. True fact: when I tell kids they’re going to do a writing activity, they groan every time. It’s a signal that the “real work” is about to begin. Luckily, they’re always relieved when I assure them that this activity will require very little research because it’s about a subject they’re experts in – themselves! I have a few different activities to choose from each year. Here are some suggestions: Student Survey: What are your strengths? Weaknesses? What do you hope to learn in this class? These are just some of the questions I ask students in the survey. The more I know about my students, the better I can help them achieve success in my class. Write Away: A staple of many: write a letter to a future you! I ask students to write goals for the year, dreams they wish to see realized, and questions they want to ask their “End of the Year” self. I tuck these letters away and revisit them during the last week of school. I’m Ready: Like every middle school history class, we do a lot of writing and students always have to back up their reasons, statements, etc. with evidence to support their claim. In this writing activity, students have to identify which class rule or expectation they believe is most important and provide evidence to support their claim. This activity both reinforces my classroom policies and secretly gives me a preview of their writing proficiency. Have I left anything out? If you have any fun plans for the first week of school, share them in the comments. I’m always looking for new ideas for my classroom!
Grab our 24 free printable coloring pages for mental health at the bottom of the article.
Our school has an Outdoor Learning Committee that I am a part of. We all feel very strongly that the environment where the children play outside is just as important as the environment inside our school. We have worked hard to make our playground an area where the kids can run, exercise explore and yes...learn! Outside play plays an important role in children's development! They are working gross motor muscles and getting must needed exercise. They learn how to solve problems such as when social disagreements arise. They learn empathy as they help friends who get hurt. They learn to take risks and see where their limits are and feel empowered as they take those risks and succeed. They create games and role play. They learn science concepts as they discover things in nature and learn to look closer and ask questions about what they see as they discover new things. They learn kindness as they try to save an insect in danger or nurture a plant. They are literally learning about life and life skills as they play outside, so we knew the environment needed to support that. We had an area that we were having some problems with in the middle of our asphalt area. We wanted to turn it into something all of the kids could explore and benefit from and decided to create a Barefoot Sensory Path. We came up with a design and my husband figured out how to make it so that it would be sturdy and last. Our amazing PTO gave us funds to purchase the materials and we had fun shopping at Lowes for items that would provide the sensory experiences we were hoping for. Our team came in on a Saturday and went to work. Our maintenance team had dug the area down four inches so that it would be even with the asphalt. We put down a layer of paver sand, and then the 4x4's. We glued some materials to 2x2 pieces of plywood. The sections were all 2x2. We filled the sections with paver base and tamped it solid. My son even came and helped! Here is the finished frame. Of course, we had to test it out! Here is the finished path!! We were so excited for the kids to try it! It was a huge success!! The kids absolutely loved walking on it with bare feet, crawling on it and feeling with their hands and even laying in it enjoying the warmth radiating from it from being in the sun. Another new area we created was an area to create roads, ramps, etc. using scrap wood, cars, signs and other loose parts. This lovely lady below had the vision for this area! We also added an area to really work those gross motor muscles. Mr. Doyle created a boundary to keep it all contained to one area. We filled it with stumps, logs, and large branches. The kids have created obstacle courses and love lifting these up to show how strong they are! They jump, balance and create here. They collaborate and problem solve. They use both critical and creative thinking skills. This is a great area to develop 21st Century Learning Skills as they play! For our nature lovers, we have an area with plants for them to explore and observe. Some are edible such as peppermint and fennel. We have cone flowers, milkweed, irises, sunflowers and more. This area is a great place to explore and observe insects also! Here are some other things on our playground where they can let lose and have fun! Our playground is still a work in progress! We have many more ideas that we want to implement some day! One step at a time!
Make learning fun for your students! Strategies, activities, freebies and more for teachers, tutors and homeschoolers. Ideas you can use today!
THE FREEBIE LIBRARY Welcome! EVERY file on this page is absolutely free! This page is worth bookmarking and revisiting frequently, as I upload new free downloads weekly. Be sure to check out the spotlight free downloads. SIGN UP FOR WEEKLY FREE DOWNLOAD REMINDERS HERE. Tips for accessing freebies Access this FREE set of 26 alphabet books....
This post contains Amazon Affiliate links for your convenience. Recently I brought you my review of You Are A Social Detective: Explaining Social ThinkingⓇ to Kids by Michelle Garcia Winner and Pamela Crooke… and now I am FINALLY getting around to sharing all of the cool activities we did to go with that book! Woot! If […]
Kids Yoga Props Ideas! Easy to find ideas to engage children in this ancient practice of yoga through play.
Whether it's the last day before break, the day after testing, or a day when you just need a lesson plan, these 10 ELA lesson plans andactivities are sure to engage students in meaningful learning.
