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
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!
I jumped on the "close reading" bandwagon pretty early on, so I've had a lot of time to try it and reflect back on my complete and utter failures using it. And there have been failures, trust me. In
Past, present, and future.
A crisis plan (sometimes called a safety plan) can sound intimidating, but think of it like a tool: a gameplan for navigating the worst days.
The amazing ways being bilingual affects the brain. Learn about it in this infographic.
Emotions exist in the body- but how? This printable emotion sensation feeling wheel helps individuals match common emotions with the physical sensations that most often match those feelings.
This model and template will help college, high school, and middle school teachers put together a syllabus that sets you and your students up for a great year.
With the high ESL population at our school, language skills like verb tense is a real issue. And, unfortunately, it's not as noticeable when we do
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 […]
15 exit ticket ideas for any subject or grade level!
Throughout my years teaching middle school, I have had the experience of seeing many "work refusals". These are the situations when kids, for a variety of reasons, just refuse to start the work you give them. They might shut down and rest their head on their desk or lash out in anger, shouting about
Cultivate lifelong reading skills.
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!!!
Every English language arts teacher needs a variety of successful, student led discussion strategies that will provide opportunities for student learning.
Create a Syllabus That Your Students Will Actually Want to Read. Free Resource to download to help you create an Art Syllabus for your art students. Want to try your hand at a visual syllabus? We'll give you three helpful hints. This article will take 8 minutes to read.
If you want to be an effective English teacher you need to know how to use punctuation marks correctly. Check out this handy guide from our grammar corner.
It's been a while since we here at Lifehack posted anything about Myers-Briggs personality types. In the past we've shared 'Which Personality Type Are
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 – […]
Differentiation and scaffolding can help students better understand and learn. Here are teaching ideas and tips to use in class.
We all fall into one of nine learning styles. Which one is your strongest?
In this post, you will find 27 Formative Assessment Tools for Your Classroom! Formative assessment is such an essential part of the learning process and student success, and many digital tools can help support this process.This list has a wide variety of features and options to help you solidify your formative assessment strategies! Many of the tools below are great for both formative and summative assessments.
Basic vocabulary, like knowing prepositions, is necessary for beginning readers. Teach prepositions with this simple game.
special education, behavior, behavior plans, BIPs, writing a behavior plan
This is a fun worksheet to practice pronouns with your EFL students.
In this blog post, read about my best teaching strategies to teach writing narrative endings. Grab all the freebies to help you teach.
One effective way of checking how you feel everyday is by tracking it. Use any of these free feelings charts for adults and get to know yourself better.
You may have heard our agents at some point mention “life skills” and may have thought to yourself “what does that mean and why should I care?” Life skills reach beyond subject matter education and provide the overall objective of our organization. The foundation of 4-H philosophies can be derived from examining the Targeting Life […]
Printable worksheet to help in your teaching your kids the life skill of filling out forms. Guidelines for teaching are included.
What are Multiplication Posters and How Can They Help Students Learn Math? Multiplication posters are a great way to help students learn math. They offer visual cues and support to help students understand the concepts they are working on. These posters can be used in classrooms, homes, or anywhere else students need a little extra help with their math. By providing an easy-to-understand visual representation of the multiplication process, multiplication posters can make learning math easier and more enjoyable for students of all ages. With these tools, students can better understand multiplication and develop the skills they need to succeed in math class. Free Printable Multiplication Poster If your students need help practicing their multiplication facts, you will want to grab this free printable multiplication poster! This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog. All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love. Learning and memorizing multiplication facts can be hard for students. I made this multiplication songs and tricks poster to help remind my students of the tricks and songs they can use to help them memorize their multiplication facts. I have them keep this multiplication poster in their binders for easy reference. Tips are included for the multiplication facts for numbers 1 through 12. You can download this multiplication songs and tricks poster for free here. Other Helpful Multiplication Resources: Kicking It Math Multiplication Fact Fluency Program Multiplication Bingo Using Subitizing Cards to Foster Multiplicative Thinking 10 Ways to Practice Math Facts Multiplication Facts That Stick: Help Your Child Master the Multiplication Facts for Good in Just 10 Weeks Multiplication Slam Game Before you go, head on over to enter one of our giveaways!
Verbs are one of the most important parts of speech in English and incredibly important for learners of English. The below infographic showcases all types of verbs in the English language.
These are the top 10 budgeting tips for beginners you HAVE TO know! This is part #2 in a 5 part series. Your Ultimate Guide on How to Budget.
I've been reading the book, Mindsets in the Classroom by Mary Cay Ricci, and just finished chapter 3. It was a real eye-opener. Through all of my years of teaching, I thought I was differentiating by planning and implementing reteaching and enrichment lessons and activities as my class worked through a unit. But in this chapter, I learned how important it is to start the differentiation before the unit even begins! This process begins with the preassessment. So much valuable information can be gathered before you begin teaching a unit. The purpose of the preassessment is to find how much students understand the content before you plan and teach the unit. Do they have a complete understanding of the content? Then they will need enrichment and/or accelerated activities. Do they have a partial understanding of the content? Then you need to make note of the gaps in their learning so you can plan accordingly. Checklists are a great way to keep track of the objectives and student mastery. From this checklist, you will also see students that need to be grouped for instruction. Keep in mind that this grouping will change as students master the objectives. Another insight I gained from this chapter is the different types of assessments used in a classroom. I put together this graphic to sum up the three types of assessment you should be using in your classroom. Click on the image to download the pdf version. You can also download this free packet with three quick and easy formative assessments you can use
Cultivate lifelong reading skills.
I’ve been spending some serious amounts of time this summer leading conversations around the country focused on the integration of social studies and literacy. And for the last few years, I…
Which one are you?
Strategies and supports for executive functioning challenges can make all the difference, especially for students who struggle with task initiation. This is such an important skill, since it's like the motor in allowing us to get started on all tasks and assignments. When someone is struggling to in
Their research revealed 9 behaviors that make people want to be on your team. All you have to do is put it into practice.
These DIY constellation cards are the perfect project for a summer afternoon. It's a great way to introduce constellations for kids!
This worksheet is a great reading comprehension practice. Students have to read the descriptions and guess who lives on each floor.
In this six part series on How to Teach Spelling, this third post discusses and provides teaching resources for teaching the eight conventional spelling rules.
Our principal has really been encouraging us to add more writing into our daily lesson plans. "They should be writing all day long" he tells us. The research is there to back him up. I bumped into this Roll and Retell page from Fun In First on Pinterest awhile back and finally figured out how to add it to our learning day. I printed and laminated four copies of the Roll and Retell page to hand out to each of my four table groups. After a round of Daily 5 I handed them out. I also gave each table one die. Each student at the table took turns rolling the die and then answering the question based on the number they rolled. They each used the individual book they were reading to answer the questions. I felt like it would be a great advertisement for new books for each child to read when they were done with the one they were working on. I also knew it would be great oral practice BEFORE they started writing. Once they had a chance to talk about what they were going to write, I set the timer for 5 minutes and let them write. Then we shared our responses. Here are a few of their responses. I had so much success with this activity with my students, that I created versions that cover the standards for 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades. There are 6 different Roll and Respond Sheets that cover all of the Second Grade ELA Common Core Standards for both literary and informational text. There are 5 different Roll and Respond Sheets that cover all of the Third Grade ELA Common Core Standards for both literary and informational text. There are 7 different Roll and Respond Sheets that cover all of the Fourth Grade ELA Common Core Standards for both literary and informational text. Before you go, head on over to our giveaway page to enter our current giveaway! Every week one lucky winner gets a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card! Dr. Susan Hall, literacy leader and founder of 95 Percent Group, mentions this Roll and Retell Activity as a Reading Comprehension Game that Students Will Want to Play Over and Over! Check it out for the other ideas there as well! What have you tried in your classroom lately? Link up with Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday and share! This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog. All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love. I would love to hear from you! ❤️ Have a question? Idea for a resource you might find helpful? Be so kind and leave a comment below.
Teach your students social emotional learning skills with this feelings check-in YEAR LONG JOURNAL. With over 220 concise SEL activities that cover the most important social emotional topics, easily integrate SEL into your daily curriculum in 15 minutes or less. Gauge how your students are feeling: each entry includes a feelings thermometer and SEL self-reflection writing prompt. It's low-prep: just print and go and/or share the digital slides. Plus, your students will love the detailed visual supports, too! WAYS YOU CAN USE THE SEL JOURNAL: Perfect for in person or online: daily journal writing morning meetings circle time conversation starters individual counseling interventions small groups ⭐️ CLICK on the Preview Button and WATCH the Video to see what you'll get! WHAT'S INCLUDED 5 Journals categorized into Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, and Responsibility and Decision Making topics 224 Unique SEL Journal pages...that's just over 44 weeks of material! Color and black/white printing Digital Journal on Google Slides Binder spines and tabs ⭐️ Grab a FREE 10 day SAMPLE PACK by Clicking Here! WHAT SPECIFIC SEL TOPICS ARE COVERED? Feeling Identification Coping Skills Setting Goals Growth Mindset Breathing, Grounding / Mindfulness, & Movement Self-regulation Exercises Identifying Social Supports Executive Functioning Skills like Planning, Organization, and Self-Control Social Cues Perspective Taking Empathy Respect Communication Skills Conflict Resolution Friendship Kindness Being Responsible Solving Problems Making Positive Choices Dealing with Peer Pressure Healthy Habits + Self Care WHAT EDUCATORS, COUNSELORS and PARENTS ARE SAYING "Can I give this resource 10 stars? This resource does an amazing job of pairing visual aids with interactive activities in bite-sized portions. While I say "bite-sized", each bite is so on-point with the topic and message. I love and appreciate so much the care and attention that is so clearly poured into these resources!" "Oh My God! what a beautiful, timeless, highly useful resource. This is one of the best resources I've purchased - i would want to give it 10 stars for content, ease of use & visuals!" "Holy cow, this is an exceptional resource. I am usually the toughest critic when it comes to TPT purchases since it's my personal money. But this resource is a stand out resource. Everything about it is phenomenal. The clipart, the layouts, the questions, all of it. I've been using them as warm ups with my fourth graders the last few weeks in place of our vocabulary. We've had some amazing conversations so far. I can't wait to implement these as part of my morning meeting and SEL lessons next year!" COMMON QUESTIONS and ANSWERS Can Families Use This SEL Journal At Home? Yes! What Other Counseling, Wellness, or Social Emotional Learning Resources Do You Recommend to Help My Students or Children Regulate Their Emotions? 50 Coping Tools for Kids! Calm Corner Toolkit The Brain and The Stress Response SEL Lesson & Activities The Calm Classroom Bundle for Classroom Management ___________________________________ Learn about sales, freebies & new resources (that are always 50% off the first 48 hours!): Follow WholeHearted School Counseling™ on TPT Join our Newsletter Follow on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter ___________________________________ Earn TPT credit to Use on Future Purchases: Visit your My Purchases page. Click on the Provide Feedback button for any Paid Resources. Leave a short comment and rating. ___________________________________ Need Help With Your Files? Visit the FAQs section Contact TpT Tech Support and submit a help ticket Ask WholeHearted School Counseling™ a question via the Q& A tab ___________________________________ Terms of Use This resource was created by WholeHearted School Counseling™, all rights reserved. When you purchase a license, it may be used for your personal single classroom, counseling office, or home use only. If you would like to share this product with other teachers, counselors, staff, or administration, please either refer them to WholeHearted School Counseling's™ store or purchase an additional license for each adult use. You can read more details about copyright and terms of use here. Thank you for respecting the Copyright and Terms of Use boundaries. Take good, kind care of yourself. ❤️