In an era of high stakes testing, art is sometimes the first thing to go but we as teachers need to find ways to continue providing art experiences for our students. Not only is art just plain fun, and let's face it, kids do need fun, but it's much more than that. Art is beneficial in so many ways! Find out ways to incorporate art in this post by The Teacher Next Door.
Spending the first week of school teaching classroom expectations and procedures is essential for a successful year. Glue is a tricky school supply for many little learners and there definitely needs to be instruction dedicated to teaching learners how to use this tool.Glue BottlesWhen learners are not taught how to use their glue correctly things
I like this a lot.
This page contains free social emotional learning activities that can be used to help students in elementary and middle school.
This Australia Lapbook contains lots of fun and interesting elements as well as hands-on activity for children to learn about this unique country.
Paint a Watermelon Poem. A fun way to encourage reluctant writers to try writing free-form poetry. Great activity for elementary kids.
A collection of drawing exercises, downloadable worksheets and beautiful line drawings: inspiration for the student, artist or teacher.
These free printable 3D summer coloring pages are tons of fun to color and add 3D details for a fun and colorful work of art. Grab them here!
Need a rainy day activity idea or a few summer crafts for kids to make in the summer camp (or at home). We've got some of the best summer art and craft ideas to share
Printable playdough mats are the perfect way to help inspire creativity with very little guidance. We have created 5 PRINTABLE playdough mats for parents.
This easy recipe for Inside Out Egg Roll is filled with flavor, ready in 20 minutes, gluten free, dairy free, low carb, and keto.
FREE Minecraft Learning Printables (Various Subjects)
World's Easiest Silicone Mold.: This simple way of silicone mold-making will have you wanting to make casts of all your trinkets and toys. 2021 Edit: If you are looking to use this mold-making technique to do life-casting or food casting, these molds are not skin-safe or food-sa…
One of my favorite new digital art mediums is Procreate on the iPad. It is an affordable and intuitive app to use, and you are able to create some seriously stunning artwork with it. From illustrations to animation, Procreate is a powerful tool that you can take with you on the go.
Necklaces and Neckline Necklaces and neckline, what to wear? Its a question we get almost daily! Finding the right necklace to wear with your neckline can sometimes be a challenge for a lot of us. This is simply because we are generally so focused on colors that we tend to miss how important shape and size fits int
Are you new to machine quilting? You may have made tied quilts for a while and now want to explore machine quilting. I’ve seen a lot of advice given for how to machine quilt but I think mos…
Just a Dot, Not a Lot! is a free download for your students to practice using a glue bottle.
Wonderful tips and creative journal ideas to help kids. Writing journal prompts and art journal ideas the whole family can do together.
I absolutely LOVE IKEA and even though the closest one to me is about 3 hours away, I always make a point to go a couple of times a year. A few years ago, I did a post on items from IKEA that teachers can use in their classrooms. You can check out that post HERE (most of those things are still available!). Below are some of my finds from my most recent trip... There are tons of alternative seating options at IKEA. Most of the office type chairs are sold in two parts... the seat and then the base. The seat part is a great floor seat.. similar to the rocker chairs people are using. Here are just a couple of the options that I thought looked the most comfortable and affordable... If you need some basic stools for your students to sit on while they work... IKEA has some awesome cheap rugs. The rugs I bought for less than $5 over 5 years ago are still holding up and look great (even after 180 days of use a year by primary students). I use rugs for silent reading but also for my low table where students sit on the ground. These are a few of the rug options... I grabbed up two of these larger circle rugs... my kiddos will love them! Two students can fit on them for partner reading. I loved this green dot rug.. look at the price! You can't really tell the size but this would be a great rug in a small area where 3 or 4 kiddos could sit and play a game together. This would be a great addition to any classroom. IKEA has tons of deals like this! They also have a TON of chair pads.. the ones with the strings that you tie to the back of the chair. these would also be great for your floor kiddos. I picked up these round versions that go on stools... they have rubbery grippers on the back that will prevent them from sliding on hard floors. If you are looking for "spots" to keep your students in one place while sitting on the rug these could be an option... they are actually placemats! They have a rubbery backing so they won't slip on laminate flooring and are just the right size for primary kiddos. This is a longer cushion pad... two kiddos would fit perfect on this for partner read! I wish I had about 12 of these! If you want to go kind of big and you are looking for a couch, this is so cute. I almost grabbed this up but couldn't decide on a color... It comes in yellow or a dark gray. These stools are so cute... they would be great at a tall table. The don't wobble and are sturdy. They have a ton of other stool options. I love stools because they can be stacked or pushed under tables so easily! Here are some lower stool options. They will work on regular height tables. If you are brave enough for pillows (I always tell my kids no heads on the pillows....if you get my drift) they have a ton of cheap options. This dish rack would be perfect for organizing tablets! Just slide the tablets into the slots and place any iPods into the silverware holder portion. I purchased this shelving unit (in white) to transform my fluency station... These picture frames are perfect for displaying learning objectives at small groups.... If you can screw into walls and cabinets these would be perfect for so many purposes... displaying student work, displaying pics from the year or I think they would be great for hanging headphones. Just slip the headphone over the wire and you are good to go! This is my dream item at IKEA...I would love to have two of these to hold my differentiated tubs for literacy and math rotations. It holds 12 drawers (3 drawers for each group) that can hold different leveled materials. If you want to whimsically figure up your data this calculator is super cute...I would love for my principal to come in while I am punching in numbers on this ridiculous thing... I have never seen this section in IKEA before (maybe it's new or I am just blind) but they have cute party favor type decor. I often use the tissue balls in my classroom. I love these options! This section also had these number paperclips and quotation paper clips. These would be a fun little teacher gift! I also grabbed up this cheap tub to store rugs and pillows. Finally what my kiddos will be most excited about BEADS (for fun friday). These are super cheap! IKEA also has these rolls of paper (should have grabbed a dozen for my artsy kiddos!) for super cheap! What items do you use from IKEA in your classroom? If you have any questions make sure to leave them in the comment section!
As a watercolour beginner, you're probably making a lot of painting mistakes. So check out these solutions to learn how to paint with skill and confidence!
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Use the special ed inclusion documentation forms to keep track of service times, lesson plans, and more. Streamline it all quickly and effectively!
We’ve all been in a situation where we’ve made a fist, either as an expression of anger or right before hitting something (or an unfortunate someone).
Inside you'll find an easy step-by-step How to make a Matisse art project tutorial and Coloring Page. Stop by and download yours for free.
Here are the best of the Artful Parent's watercolor projects. These ideas are fun and easy and include salty watercolors, watercolor resist methods, and printing. Watercolor Paints for Kids As for the watercolor paints themselves, we primarily use liquid watercolors (which we love, love, love) and watercolor paint palettes. But we also use a few other versions of watercolors including homemade! Liquid watercolor paints Paints palettes of dried watercolor paint Watercolor crayons Watercolor pencils DIY Paint-with-Water Pages Homemade watercolor paint Watercolor paints are one of our family’s favorite art materials. We’ve used them for everything from straight painting, to printing,
Size: ~⌀ 35 cm. (13 inch) x h 30 cm. (11 inch).Long strap: length ~58 cm. (23 inch).Gauge/inch: 6-7Skill Level: Easy Easy Crochet Net Bag Tutorial (beginner & step by step) Video Instructions: Materials: 0:12 mins Net bag: 0:37 mins 1st Strap: 19:10 mins 2nd Strap: 29:35 mins Assembly: 31:12 mins Materials: 2 mm […]
Kites are a great way to pass some quality time for kids, as they can go outdoors to fly kites or stay indoors and have an excellent fun-learning experience, filling kite coloring pages with beautiful colors. Kite coloring pages are very popular among kids of all ages, from toddlers and pre-schoolers to kindergarteners and even […]
A few weeks ago Open Press-owner Brian Kyle (@bkmms) shared his most recent printmaking experience ...
A collection of FUN and mess free ways to incorporate sensory play at home and at school. Sensory bags are the way to go if looking for less mess sensory!
Sidenote: Do you do ebates? I have earned over $300 (you just put a button in your browser and shop online). You get $10 to sign up and ...
Do you have a black and white version of that frog pattern? I tried turning down the saturation to make it grayscale, but it would still print a lot of gray area and waste a lot of ink. Yea here sor…
Teaching theme is not an easy task! Not only do students need to have a strong comprehension of the story's elements (like plot, setting, and characters), but they also have to be able to make inferences to find the author's message, since most themes are not overtly stated by the author. So, what are some of my favorite activities for helping kids understand theme? I'll list a number of them here. 1. Make an Anchor Chart Anchor charts are a great way to make learning visual and to have a record that kids can refer to when they need a bit of extra support. Theme may be defined in a number of ways. To me, the theme is the author's message or what he/she wants the reader to take away/learn from the story. It is a BIG idea, with a real-world or universal concern and can be applied to anyone. Besides talking about what a theme is, you'll also want to go over what it isn't. For example, some kids confuse the main idea of the story with its theme. To help students understand the difference, it's helpful to use stories that everyone in the class knows, like previous read alouds or classic stories like The Three Little Pigs. You can take each story and discuss the main idea (what the story was mostly about - specific to the story) vs. the theme (the lesson the author wants the reader to know - not specific to the story), to contrast the two ideas. The second area of confusion for some kids is that the theme is not specific to the characters in the story. In the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, for example. The theme would not be that...A little mouse named Chrysanthemum learned to accept the uniqueness of her name. The theme would be larger than the book and would be something like...It's important to accept oneself. Also, you'll want to explain to your students that often times, a book has multiple themes and there are several answers which work equally well to describe a book's theme. Since theme is very subjective, I tell students that I will accept any answer, as long as they have the text evidence to prove it. For example, in the book, Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, one might argue that the theme is about friendship, another might say family, or even courage, or kindness. Any one of these themes would be right, and counted as such, since they each fit the story and could be supported by text evidence. 2. Use Pixar Shorts to Practice Theme Besides the sheer enjoyment which comes from watching these mini-films, your students can learn a lot about reading concepts from these. They're great for ELL students or for struggling readers, and for all readers really since the text complexity piece is removed. You can find these clips on YouTube, but you'll want to make sure to preview them first, so you're more familiar with the plot and are able to focus on theme questions. Here are some of my favorite Pixar Shorts for teaching theme: Piper Partly Cloudy Lava Boundin' 3. Use Mentor Texts Mentor texts are one of my go-to teaching tools as picture books are able to portray examples of just about any reading concept you need to teach. One thing I like to do when using mentor texts for theme, is to vary the types of questions I ask. Rather than always saying What is the theme?, I might ask... What is the deeper meaning of this story? After reading this book, what do you think matters to this author? Which idea from the story do you think might stay with you? What did the author want people to learn from this story?... Once kids answer, you might say, Ah...so that's the theme! Some of my current mentor text favorites for theme include the following: Ish by Peter H. Reynolds I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe Journey by Aaron Becker (a wordless book) Beautiful Oops by Barry Saltzberg The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Pete and Pickles by Berkeley Breathed If you're looking for more titles, I have a FREE Mentor Text List for Literature which includes a page on theme which you can download from my TpT store. 4. Use Posters with Themes to Chart Book Themes I like to choose 8 - 10 common themes and place posters of them in the classroom. These are included in my Theme unit but you could easily make them yourself if you'd like. After we finish a class novel, a read aloud, or a mentor text as part of a mini-lesson, I like to have the kids discuss the theme of the book. Once we decide on the theme, I place a miniaturized copy of the book's cover (about 3 x 3 inches or so) under the correct theme poster. You can also make the posters more interactive by allowing kids to write titles of books they have recently read on sticky notes, under the posters as well. 5. Use Songs to Practice Finding the Theme I love to add music to the classroom whenever possible. Not only does it add instant motivation for some kids, but it is also just good for them in so many ways. There are lots of songs you can use to teach theme, from current pop songs to oldies, rap songs, and country songs. While all of these work well, I especially enjoy using Disney songs. Disney songs are easily recognized for some kids, have catchy, fun tunes, and have lyrics that need no censoring (yay!). You can easily find the lyrics online to project on a smartboard or document projector, and the song clips may be found on YouTube, Here are some of my favorite Disney songs which work well for theme: Hakuna Matata from Lion King Just Keep Swimming from Finding Dory Reflection from Mulan Let it Go from Frozen Something There from Beauty and the Beast A Whole New World from Aladdin 6. Introduce Short Texts Using Task Cards Using task cards for theme gives your students a great deal of practice in a short period of time, which makes them a perfect way to begin to practice finding the theme using text. I love the fact that students can read multiple task card stories and practice finding the theme 20 - 30 times, in the time it might take to read a story and find the theme once. You can do task cards as a center activity, to play Scoot, or as a whole class scavenger hunt. One thing I like to do for the scavenger hunt is to make sure everyone has a partner and to pair stronger readers with struggling readers. 7. Add Some Writing After students have worked on theme for a week or two, I like to have students create their own short stories which show a strong theme, without directly stating it. This changes each student's role from a theme finder, to a theme creator and gives students insight into how authors create a situation that allows a theme to unfold. When I introduce this project, we refer back to the task cards we just completed, as an example of story length and rich content. In a matter of 2 - 3 paragraphs, students learn that they can include enough information to let our readers know our message. After students are finished creating these short stories, it's fun to share them in some way, to give more theme practice. Sometimes I have students meet in small groups to share out, with group members guessing the theme. Other years, I leave a stack on my desk and grab several if we have a few minutes. Either the students or I read the short story out loud, and the class discusses the theme. 8. Move to Passages, Short Stories, and Novels. Once we have scaffolded a great foundation for the understanding of theme, there comes a point where kids have to move on to text which is more challenging. I like to use page-long passages which I have created, before using short stories, and ultimately novels. If you're looking for some ready made materials to help you teach theme, here's a packet I love to use which works well for 4th and 5th Graders. Click here to read more about the Theme unit. Want some more teaching ideas and activities to teach theme? Click here to read Teaching Themes in Literature. If you like this post, make sure to share it with a teacher friend! Thanks so much for stopping by! For more ideas and strategies focused on upper elementary, be sure to sign up for The Teacher Next Door's free email newsletter! Bonus, you'll also gain access to my FREE Resource Library which contains exclusive upper elementary freebies that you won't find anywhere else! I'd love to connect with you! The Teacher Next Door's Website Pinterest Facebook Instagram TpT Store
