Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don't really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.
Here's a great Object Lesson for Kindness - The Domino Effect. Equipping you to raise kids with character and concern for others.
To those afflicted with Fisheye, some students appear “larger” than others, grabbing more of our attention and making the others fade into the periphery.
It's easy to be tempted to use an AI lesson plan generator, but is it a good idea? Check out this post where I tell you the good, bad, and misleading!
Christianity is about living in relationship with God. Can any relationship be strong if there is not good communication? Prayer is an integral part of being a Christian. Some children naturally share their hearts with God. For others, prayer is not instinctive so we need to be intentional about teaching prayer as a way of life. In our family, we've used a variety of materials to teach prayer. Teaching Your Child How to Pray is a wonderfully thorough resource. It contains practical ideas for helping your child develop a habit of prayer as well as enriching your own prayer life. There are some really beautiful analogies here that helped me explain the purpose of prayer to my son. Probably the most unique aspect of this book is the developmental stages of prayer based on the lives of Samuel and Jesus. Explanations for each of these 6 stages includes scriptural context, examples of what is involved in each stage, approximate ages, suggestions for teaching and for transitioning to the next stage, cautions, and key Bible verses. Faith Begins @ Home Prayer is one of the companion books for Faith @ Home. This slim book is a very quick read. Despite its small size, it is a treasure trove of creative (and fun!) approaches to incorporating prayer into family life. Below are some of our favorites, but there are twenty four kid-friendly, innovative prayer ideas presented in the book. circle prayer (holding hands and praying around the circle, squeezing the next person's hand to signal when you are finished) popcorn prayer (complete-the-sentence prayers with an exciting twist) prayer calendar (assigning specific topics that need regular prayer to a particular date each month) prayer maps (support for missions and peoples in need) characteristics of God ( completing the phrase "God is . . . " and turning it into praise) prayer walks (praying about things or people you see as you walk along). Lord, Teach Me to Pray for Kids (Discover 4 Yourself® Inductive Bible Studies for Kids) is a fun educational tool that uses inductive study to learn what the Bible says about prayer. The book has a fun military theme to captivate the attention of children. My son really enjoyed the puzzles. The activities throughout the book weren't just busywork. They were carefully designed to increase understanding. Because the book contains eight chapters of the Bible in their entirety as an appendix, there is no need to have a separate Bible to use it. This made it a convenient portable activity book. The target age for this book is 8-12 years old. We introduced it at a younger age, but the vocabulary presented a bit of a challenge. (The lessons rely heavily on words such as allegiance, submission, petition, and intercession.) It can be challenging to find Bible study books that are especially interesting to boys. This one definitely fits the bill! This prayer poster is another resource we have used in our family. It took me a grand total of 5 minutes to create it. I just taped 5 envelopes to a piece of posterboard. The top envelope can hold a pen and some index cards. On the other four envelopes, I wrote the words: "Praise," "Thanks," "Sorry," and "Please help." The poster was hung in a high traffic area of the house where we see it often. If a prayer idea occurs to us, we can write it on an index card and slip it in the appropriate envelope. This really helps us remember what we want to pray about. I recently printed, laminated, and attached magnets to the free prayer printables at When You Rise. (Fantastic blog, by the way!) I love the idea of praying scripture over my children and am looking forward to giving this a try. Other prayer ideas I love: Prayer Pail by Lu Bird Baby. Children's Prayer Books by Our Family for His Glory. I love hearing new ideas! How do you teach your children to pray? Photo: Microsoft Images
The Good and the Beautiful Science reviews of several science units, plus The Good and the Beautiful science wall ideas and tips!
Are you a School Counselor, Psychologist, or Speech Pathologist who has a “LUNCH BUNCH” or...
Hi Julie, Thanks to The Writer’s Jungle, I can now relax and teach writing in a more natural and fun way. Your blog has helped inspire our homeschooling and remind us of what really matters. I like your homeschool style and wonder if I could get your recommendations on any particular materials that you used over the […]
Welcome to the top selling Complete Art Curriculum. Ideal for new teachers. I originally wrote this for students in my school in the UK, which feeds Oxford and Cambridge Universities. My art department has been judged as the best in the country. This stuff really works. My students have gone on to b...
http://melissa-wade.blogspot.com/search/label/Anchor%20Charts Here are some of my favorites I use ALL the TIME! Our county is using Marzano's evaluation system and this is one I use. The students rate themselves on where they are at in their learning. I have vocabulary notebooks and I use this anchor chart as a reminder anytime I am introducing new vocab and they are filling out a Frayer on a new word. Here is another Marzano chart I use. This is different then the other one because they rate themselves on their effort on a given task. My kiddos love this one. They rate themselves on the quality of their work in centers. I think this is the most used anchor chart in our classroom :) My kids were having a ROUGH time with written responses to a reading passage on a test. We went over it and over it and now they are fabulous. I even have one kiddo that highlights in the different colors to make sure that I see he wrote with all 4. Great for our geometry unit. They each made their own using popsicle sticks. I saw this on Pinterest and HAD to make it. This is such a great chart for those little reminders such as capitalization. The good old Main Idea table way: Watch Brain Pop Jr. Video on Main Idea and Details. Then they filled out the "table" main idea graphic organizer from the Brain Pop Website. And of course an anchor chart to accompany! I recommend printing on cardstock :) I learned this the hard way :( It prints like a plus sign and then cut it out/ fold the sides down. Here's how it turned out! I Love this idea from First Grade Jungle!! I can't wait to try this out. Anchor Chart :)
In this post, you'll learn about four meaningful structures you can use to help students give each other feedback that really helps. By the way, you can sign up for the pack of four free guides featured in the upcoming photos in the free resources section of this site.
Teach Kids How to Have a Good Attitude Going Back to School What's In Your Backpack teaches kids Bible lessons about having a good attitude going back to school using things they've already got in their backpacks - pencils, notebooks, folders, and rulers. _______ What's In Your Backpack Lesson Overview: Memory Verse: “Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.” Jeremiah 7:23b Lessons: Pencil - Pencils are used to make notes when the teacher speaks. Too bad we can't do that when our friends need a listening ear. Being a good friend means listening, not speaking, and really hearing what someone else needs to say. James 1:19-20. Be slow to speak, quick to listen. Notebook - We use notebooks to help us remember things. We need to remember to be unselfish and think of others ahead of ourselves. Philippians 2:3-11 Folder - Having a folder helps us keep track of all that we've finished. We can remember to trust God when we look back at all the things He has done for us. Joshua’s farewell speech to the Israelites. Ruler - Just like a ruler gives you a guide in centimeters or inches, the Bible gives you a guide for knowing God. A ruler lets you make a straight line. The Bible helps you live your life down a straight path. Proverbs 3:5-6 _______ About This Curriculum: Perfect for kids ages 6-12 4-weeks Includes large group and small group resources This curriculum is an instant download Download a free sample here Each Lesson Includes: Make It Stick! Parent Sheet - so you can let mom and dad know what kids are learning each week and look like a rockstar teacher who's thought of everything. Memory Verse - so that you can make sure kids are getting Scripture in their minds and hearts every single week and you can feel like each lesson was a success even when it seems like 90% of your lesson time is spent saying things like "calm down", "let's be quiet", "hands to yourself!" Skit or Puppet Show - so you have a way to easily connect the lesson with your hands-on and visual learners. No drama team? No problem! Just hand the script to the kids. They'll have a blast and think you're the coolest. Craft Activity - so you can give kids a physical reminder of the Bible lesson (and give yourself an activity to keep them busy until mom and dad come back!) Game - so kids don't leave and say church was BORING! Games are so important to help keep kids engaged. Our large group games always include a "What's The Point" section to help you connect the game to the lesson. Large Group Lesson - so you can present the Bible story in a clear and fun way, which means now you can enjoy Saturday nights instead of stressing over putting a lesson together! Small-Group Discussion - so you can find out who was paying attention and who was talking to their neighbor. Just kidding, this is a great way for you to build deeper relationships with your kiddos after each lesson, which means you're going to care about them so much you'll cry like a baby when they graduate and go to middle school :( _______ Guaranteed to Be Awesome 100% Money Back Guarantee. Our Children's Ministry curriculum is guaranteed to be awesome. If you don't absolutely love this curriculum, just let us know within 30 days and we'll give you a full refund, and a big hug. No questions asked. Click the COOKIE to see all of our Back to School Children's Ministry Curriculum and click the APPLE to see all of our FREE Back to School Children's Ministry Resources. Check out our collection of Children's Church Lessons for more great curriculum series for your Kids Church or Sunday School.
These FREE Name Chants and Songs for Pre-K & Kindergarten are sure to have your students excited to practice important skills like rhyming!
2 direction picture for use when teaching the crippled woman as found in Luke 13. Free download.
