American Symbols is one of my FAVORITE units to teach. It must be yours too because over 12,000 teachers have purchased this unit from Teachers Pay Teachers ! It meets the Common Core Standards for Informational Reading with rigor and brings your classroom joy while reading! Updated with more crafts and symbols see below! My students LOVED this unit! I got 4 parent notes telling me how much they enjoyed hearing their child talk informatively and passionately about Social Studies. One parent said that their child doesn't talk much at the dinner table, and now he won't stop talking about school and symbols! I think it's because the unit is written to be kid friendly and engaging! Here are a few of the Statue of Liberty pages I wrote a week of fluency for the Statue of Liberty too. Each Symbol has a full writing unit Remember the update has even more art! 2 Interactive Little Books have been included for launching the unit and explaining what a "symbol" is. Oral Speaking "pledge page" with assessment rubric Tons of Activities like these: Math Graphing Bulletin Board You also get full color pages of all 5 symbols to make your bulletin board so cute. Also, you need a great way to show your graphing data. I included all the pages that kids need in order to understand that symbols are everywhere! Need grades for your grade book? Me too! I created several tests. Bonus American Symbols Mock Election Material The Reading Fluency passage comes in three levels. Low First Grade First/ Low Second Second Grade Anchor Charts and Registration to Vote Time to vote Anchor Chart, Secret Ballot, and Graphing to discover the winner Easy Graph (Tally Marks) "Harder" Graph ******* Update 1 ****** I am excited art added and has become available as BUNDLE! The one above has art as a bundle If you don't want / need the art, you can buy without it too. 62 Printables and 6 art projects! Pick and choose or do them all. This has open house written all over it! 2 student books 3 math and literacy activities 1 game 8 fluency & reading comprehension pages 5 writing units (From pre-write to publish) Syllables Activity Vocabulary Word Searches Clues Page (possible assessment if you choose) 2 patriotic student writing pages 1 oral speaking activity with parent note & grading rubric 3 assessments 6 art projects ***** Update 2 ***** So many of you asked for The Washington Monument to be added.
Activities, projects, worksheets, and lesson plans to teach grade 4 science. These lessons and ideas have been specifically aligned to the British Columbia BC Big Ideas.
How did our society become so advanced? Introduce your student to the Industrial Revolution with this reading sheet.
Integrating art and content in the ELA classroom. Tips and resources.
Queen Elizabeth I gave her name to an era. Your young student can read about Elizabeth's life in this biography worksheet.
Practice grade 4 math with these FREE 4th Grade Math Worksheets and print as many as you need. Fourth grade math answer key included!!
Learn about early American settlers in Colonial America for Kids lesson with hands-on activities and free printable worksheets for elementary
California History is the social studies focus for fourth graders in California. Growing up in Wisconsin, I learned about Wisconsin history so this unit was almost entirely new information to me as…
Learn the basics of topographic maps with this worksheet.
When people migrate, they are influenced by push and pull: They feel pushed out of one place and pulled to another. Try a push-pull exercise in this worksheet.
Celebrate Black History Month by learning about the birth of jazz music, and the history of African-Americans in pop music.
In this fascinating worksheet, children learn about the history of chocolate, from its ancient ceremonial use to the invention of the chocolate candy bar.
We're studying Texas history next year and to prepare for that overwhelming subject I started searching up hands on Texas history lessons and shared with you.
Interactive Notebooks are a great way to engage students in class, use multiple learning styles and for students to take ownership in the learning process.
A box of craft materials is an unclaimed treasure for children. Last night we had to finish making the biography poster for Leah's proje...
This, was a fun one! I had found an old box of uncovered paper straws hidden way back in my supply closet and was trying to think of a fun project to do with them. Then one day, as I was looking through some of my wonderful art books, BOOM!!! There was my answer... Leonardo DaVinci has always been one of my strongest facinations, both his art and his enginuity. I put together a really cool slideshow showing all of DaVinci's accomplishments as an artist, scientist, anatomist, mathematician, and inventor. I really wanted to stress that he was not only a great artist, but that his art became great through his thirst for knowledge and documenting the world around him. We had a great discussion about his inventions and the students thought that his war inventions and scuba suit designs were especially intriguing. Turns out there is some game called "Assians Creed" (judging by the title, might be a bit violent haha) but lots of the kids knew it and I guess in that game, the main character meets with DaVinci and gets to use many of the inventions we talked about in class!! I thought that was pretty awesome. I supplied the straws, popsicle sticks, string, rubber bands, and wooden shapes along with about a dozen glue guns for the students to use. Before we started building, I stressed that DaVinci was the ultimate planner and designer, and that we needed to sketch out our designs from at least two different persepectives before we began to build. I allowed the flying machine concept to stay pretty open, all I required was that it be some sort of flying aparatus. Students sketched and drew for the entire first class and many continued to draw in the second week as well. Before I let them start building, I shared a design of my own which was relatively simple and talked to them about how I would start to build. I told them that their design must have a place for a pilot to occupy and that would be a great place to start building. We did a demo on safe hot glue gun usage and then, the construction began... Students built the frame or "skeleton" of their flying machine for the first two or three classes before moving onto some thin foam and tissue paper for wing and cabin construction. I told them from early on that we could take these as far as we wanted to as far as actual working and moving wings. In the beginning of the third class I showed students how to build hinges for the wings and a simple axel to a spinning propel. I was worried that this would be maybe a little difficult for them, but most caught on right away and came up with some ingenious ideas as to how to make their wings not only move, but flap up and down! There was some real problem solving and creative thinking going on here and I loved every second of it. This student had created flaping wings by folding one of the straws after it was glued to the popsicle stick base. He controlled the flapping with a string that was attached to the tip of each wing and ran through a guide tube back to the cockpit and was tied onto a lever. By pushing the levers down the wings flapped up and gravitiy then took the wings back down. I was very impressed :) This student had made a simple axel bracket by glueing four small straw pieces in a square shape with the center opeing just large enough for a straw to fit. She made two of these and attached them with two guide straws to line them up. Then all she needed was a straw to slide into the two openings and it could spin freely. The students had about five weeks to make these flying machines and they turned out amazing!! It was really nice to get away from the typical "Art" project and inject a little engineering and visual thinking into the lesson. The kids loved it and kept saying how awesome the building was. I have been haning up all the finished machines in my room. More pics to come and I'm going to try and put up a few videos of the different flying designs in action!! Enjoy :) The Ultimate Patriot Flying Machine!!! One of my students put two American flags on his flying machine so I had to hang it in front of the flag. Here is a link to the video of one of our flying machines in action with its wing flapping levers and rubber bands. I really loved these! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94wSRqeMo-g&feature=youtu.be
The history of the American West meets the history of fashion! Your child will learn both with this worksheet about Levi Strauss, creator of Levi's Jeans.
If someone loses their glasses, are they as blind as a bee or a bat? This fill-in-the-blank worksheet introduces your child to popular similes.
Celebrate Black History Month by learning about the birth of rock 'n' roll music and the history of African-Americans in pop music!
I LOVE teaching about California history because I grew up in Illinois, so when I started teaching 4th grade, I learned all kinds of new things about California that I didn’t know before! And no one knows how to teach CA history better than my good friend LeAnn! She has been teaching 4th grade for […]
Free essays, homework help, flashcards, research papers, book reports, term papers, history, science, politics
Teaching students about immigration can be fun and engaging for your students! We always kick off this unit with a study on different cultures from around the world. You can find more information about these lessons in our culture blog post. After the culture unit we learn the key points below: 1. Definition of immigration. 2. The history of Ellis Island. 3. The why's and how's of immigration. 4. The influences of immigration on American culture. Below you will find books on the topic of immigration. The documentary below is a little boring, but it does a good job of showing why people left their countries and what they found in Ellis Island. Just click on the picture for the link to youtube. While learning about immigration we learn about Ellis Island and different famous Americans who have immigrated from other countries. Students are assigned a research project for homework. They get to choose Ellis Island or a famous person who immigrated to the U.S. They can make a poster, book report, display or anything that their heart desires. They have to include: topic, birthdate, death date, key details and what the person or place was famous for. Students have a lot of fun presenting these projects in class. Everyone gets to learn about all of the people that their peers found interesting. During the unit, I use passages and task cards written on immigration, Ellis Island and Cesar Chavez. I wrote these passages to fit in perfectly with the unit. If you want to just print and teach, you can find these units by clicking below.
Celebrate Black History Month by learning about soul music and the history of African-Americans in pop music, all in this Hip-Hop Music worksheet!
Looking for some engaging, high-quality history lessons? Then check out my favorite free US history lessons for middle school!
I'm linking up with Techie Turtle Teacher and A Dab of Glue Will Do's Winner Wednesday to give away one of my newest products. This past month hasn't been my most productive. The ideas have been flowing like crazy, but I have all sorts of half-finished products taking up space on my desktop. I'm looking forward to summer break when I can work on creating full-time! I showcased my Mother's Day Card last month, but I wanted to show off how cute they turned out, now that I've had a chance to do them with my students. Clicking on the photo will take you to the product in my TpT store. Here's my Mother's Day Cookbook: Another biggie was putting together my All About Canada social studies unit, geared toward Grades 2 and 3. Last but not least, I have a couple of FREEBIES for you! In case you haven't heard, TpT is having a side-wide sale. My entire store is 20% off, plus you can use the code "ThankYou" for an additional 10% off! Please comment below with your email address to let me know which product you'd like to win! Follows, shares, and feedback on FREEBIES are appreciated! If you leave feedback on a FREEBIE, please comment a second time and you will double your chances of winning. I will use a random number generator to select a winner by 9PM PST on Wednesday.
My 4th and 5th grade students created a freedom quilt square for their class quilts last year during Black History Month. We started out the project by reading The Patchwork Path: A Quilt Map to Fr…
Fourth Graders created self-portrait prints after learning about contour lines. They viewed work by Henri Matisse and Alexander Calder. Self-Portrait Fauve Style Wire Sculpture Self-Portraits with Contrasting Color
Do you know your historical celebrities? Get all the facts on Benjamin Franklin, one of America's most famous figures.
Geometric Art
When I was young, I LIVED for DBQs! I guess I didn’t really think about it too much at the time, but I loved that there was an answer right there in front of me; I just needed to look closely at a picture. As a VERY visual learner, being able to see history through primary sources […]
You can always tell my most loved read alouds just from looking at my book collection. They’re the ones with ratty old post its sticking out from between the pages. When I find a read aloud that I love, I litter the pages with questions, so I can remember exactly where to stop for the
Are you wondering what to do with your 4th grade students during the first week of Texas History? Check out this blog post with ideas for classroom lessons for Texas History during the back to school season!
Are you looking for a fun way to teach describing characters and character traits? Try this! Fold each side of a horizontal sheet of paper to the middle. Have the kids draw a picture of the character on the front. Put words to describe the outward appearance of the character on the outside. This can be things that are obvious from the text. Next, open the page up and write character traits and words to describe the character's emotions on the inside. These are things you have to infer about the character's traits based on the evidence from the text. It's pretty fun and these make a great display!
Second, Third & Fourth grade teachers, are you looking for a quick-win art lesson that is not craft? One that makes authentic links to the Element of Color/ Colour, Art Theory, Art History, Famous artworks ... and ... also guides you and your students through making a quick but relevant art response? All in a 1 day project! Then this Mini Masterpieces art lesson for COMPLEMENTARY FLOWERS inspired by the works of Vincent van Gogh, could be what you are looking for! I am writing a series that will see you through the whole year of teaching visual art essentials to your students, aiming for 1 hour a week. PRAISE FOR COLOR - COLOUR Theory Complementary FLOWERS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Really nice lesson, the kids found it engaging and their work turned out great" This Series now includes 6 individual lessons: 1. The COLOUR / COLOR wheel - Rainbow Unicorns View lesson 1 HERE 2. WARM & COOL Trees inspired by Rett Grayson View lesson 2 HERE 3. COMPLEMENTARY Flowers View the 2nd-4th grade Color / Colour BUNDLE HERE 4. VALUE Leaves View lesson 4 HERE 5. SPACE Winter Trees View lesson 5 HERE 6. Neurographic LINES View lesson 6 HERE ⭐️ You can save by purchasing the Mega-Bundle HERE which includes all 6 lessons + a BONUS Inclusion: ELEMENTS OF ART classroom posters, definitions and worksheets US and UK spelling For Kindy - 2nd grade teachers I have a similar series available. View the full Mega BUNDLE here For upper elementary & Middle School, I have several Principles of Art and Design lessons available in this custom category HERE. The Principles of art Bundle can be found HERE. COMPLEMENTARY FLOWERS is an impactful Art lesson plan that also helps to consolidate your student's understanding of Visual Art and colour/color theory. They will love and look forward to these small chunks of art explorations, each week. These easy to use art lessons have a strong focus on the Elements of Art, a great way to build essential knowledge and skill in this subject area - particularly for teachers without an art background or limited knowledge in this area. Each lesson focus in this series will include just the right amount of art theory, introduce a famous artist, artwork or art theme that relates to the focus, and then guide you through a mini masterpiece art lesson that has been tested and crafted to suit this age group of 7, 8 and 9yr olds. This lesson includes choice options for differentiation, while keeping the skills taught consistent across the class, to save your sanity. ❤️ Take the guesswork out of teaching art, ❤️ avoid endless hours of research, ❤️ avoid the epic fails that result from not having the time to trial the lesson or media yourself before teaching it. I’ve done it all for you and trailed this lesson with my own students, in 2nd - 4th grades. ❤️ why should you trust my lessons? I am both a general ed classroom teacher and currently practising as a Visual Art and Digital Media specialist educator, teaching students from ages 4-12, at a primary school. I do this every day, just like you! ❤️ How will this resource help busy classroom teachers, who are nervous about teaching art? No worries - I’ve got you covered. This lesson comes as a full colour PDF teacher guide, with a bumper 50+ slide deck, to share on your large screen with your students. All project steps are clearly explained and photographed, from start to finish, giving you the confidence to deliver a quality visual art lesson to your students. ❤️ All the materials & skills are also clearly listed for you. It’s like having an art specialist with you in your classroom. The PDF slides are intentionally designed in landscape orientation, to share with your students. This extra visual support will prove useful, particularly to diverse learners, and will also save your from having to repeat the same instructions, over and over again. Select VIEW > enter full screen for presentation mode. Then use the arrow keys on your keyboard to drive a smooth slideshow experience, like a pro :) Encourage students along the way, to follow choice options and create their unique artwork, while being guided by the information on the slides. ⏰ How long will this project take to finish? This art lesson and project can be completed in 2-3 hours, depending on the age and stage of students and the size of paper /media/ style you or your students choose. Chunk into smaller manageable lessons, if needed. An extension option (using multiple media) is included in the guide which can extend this lesson to go longer - if you want it to. View the PDF & Video previews above, then add to cart and smile, knowing you will soon have beautiful artwork on the walls and students glowing with pride! ❤️ So what is special about this resource? COMPLEMENTARY FLOWERS is NOT a superficial art or craft option. As a specialist in this field, I write lessons that encourage deeper, cross-curricular learning and make meaningful connections to other subject areas. This IS: a drawing tutorial that uses symmetry, shapes (Math) and lines, explores the concept of color/ colour theory (Science), teaches about the concept of complementary color / colour theory makes link to art history and artworks by famous artist - Vincent van Gogh makes cross-curricular links to seasons & plants (How the World Works). This lesson plan can be the perfect companion art project for students inquiring into ✏️ The Theory of Visual Art ✏️ Color (colour) theory ✏️ The use of complementary color/colour by a famous artist ✏️ How the World Works & How We Express Ourselves (IB PYP) Students can express their unique ideas through personal choices and modifications (suggestions offered in the guide), while working through the guided project. Pause the presentation in places to discuss next steps with students, check understanding and explore potential student responses or modifications, bringing personal creative ideas to the tutorial. This addresses the Viewing & Responding to artwork objectives in a purposeful way. Teachers who have used one of my themed 2-4 lesson plans - Elements of Art project for FRANK STELLA inspired PAPER SCULPTURES - say: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Extremely satisfied! Another great resource. I have purchased several from you recently and I love all of them. This resource is a great way to focus and teach color. I like it for my older students and they had fun with it as it was different than what we have done before. Thanks for the great resource" ✅ What is included in COMPLEMENTARY FLOWERS ? A 50+ PDF slide deck teaching guide for step-by-step guidance and reference, intentionally designed in landscape orientation, to share with your students as a presentation on your large screen. Select VIEW > enter full screen. Then use the arrow keys on your keyboard to drive a smooth slideshow experience, like a pro :) ✅ This PDF includes step-by-step support & teaching instructions for: 2 x full resources in both US spelling and UK spelling conventions - delete one Complementary color / colour theory teaching slides Artist & art history teaching slides Links to examples of artist's works for discussion Detailed instructions to create a student response Mini Masterpiece Photographs of every step Examples of work in progress and completed Printable sheet for recording Student Voice reflection/ assessment of learning (2/pg. to save printing, print on B&W setting) Themed bulletin board header, borders and pennant flags for a unified display ✅ What knowledge, techniques and skills will my students learn from this series? Gain knowledge about art theories, styles and movements Gain knowledge about art history Become familiar with important artists and their work Follow a tutorial for guidance - listening skills, visual discrimination, sequencing Develop fine-motor & technical skills for using a range of art tools and media Respond to art created by artists and by other students Reflect on own knowledge, skills, progress and artwork - using the included student sheets ✅ That sounds great! So what about the Visual Art focus in this lesson? Introduced to colour / color theory as an element of art. Explore Complementary color / colour pairs View support videos on color / colour Explore the work of an important artist Observe & understand the Art World (Studio Habits) Build skills for observational & guided drawing Explore art making that expresses new learning Build skills using paints or oil pastels Stretch & Explore (Studio Habits) PLAN - compose drawings lightly (gentle pressure) using lines and shapes Develop Craft, Engage & Persist, Express (Studio Habits) Reflect on personal development as an artist Reflect (Studio Habits) ✅ 4 X Bonus inclusion: This resource also includes a bulletin board display sign to accompany the art work produced by students. Inspiration flower photos in 6 hues Complementary colour style bulletin board borders & flags Complementary colour style pennant flags to make up with the words: 'COMPLEMENTARY COLOURS/COLORS or FLOWERS' View the PDF & Video Previews above, then add to cart and smile, knowing you have just saved yourself heaps of time and effort! ✅ Where can I find more art lessons like this one? → You can browse all my art lessons and support resources provided as PDF presentation lesson HERE: VISUAL ART STORE → If you would prefer the added support of guided video tutorials, browse my growing collection in this custom category HERE: ART LESSONS WITH VIDEO TUTORIALS → For my other Elements of Art lessons, click HERE: ART ELEMENTS ⭐️ Save the One Teacher’s Journey store to your favourites - click HERE. to easily find it for your next product search. Receive updates, reminders for upcoming sales and preview of latest releases. View all the previews above before you buy. If you have any questions, contact me through Q & A, BEFORE you purchase. ⭐️ Would you recommend this lesson to your colleagues? Then please return to rate & comment as this helps to inform other teachers about how this product brought value to your t
Plenty of interactive ideas and activities to teach landforms for kids. Find videos, worksheets and even experiments to help.
