Ready to try mindfulness with your kids but don't know where to start? Try these simple mindfulness activities for a fun way to get kids excited about this life-changing practice!
Practicing mindfulness is a great way to calm your child and make them attentive. Here're 10 simple and quick mindfulness exercises your child will enjoy.
Teaching growth mindset can be done with read-alouds! Rosie's Glasses is a great book for this. Get ideas for using this book to teach being positive.
Create these fun Inside Out activities to help boost emotional wellbeing within your classroom or livin room!
A list of job options you have as a special education teacher (outside of the traditional classroom setting), given the skills you possess as an educator.
Streaming and downloads for the guided meditations of Eline Snel's Sitting Still Like a Frog, read by Myla Kabat-Zinn
There are endless ways to use Hexagonal Thinking in your classroom! Here are some examples, and even a time-saving suggestion for using AI!
From Constructivism and Connectivism to Situated Learning, here are 32 of the most common learning theories every teacher should know.
Ensuring students know the value and power of their courage is crucial for upper elementary students’ social-emotional learning and growth. Get easy-to-implement ideas, courage activities, suggested titles for books on bravery, and courage lesson plans to help you create a classroom community where
Back when I was a student, there is only one vocabulary activity I can ever remember doing in class or for homework. It was looking up the word in the dictionary, writing the definition, and using the word in a sentence. I can recall this assignment itself (probably because of the sheer number of times I had to do it), but ask me how many of those actual words I am able to remember. Couldn’t tell you a single one, to be honest!
Responsibility activities for kids: Fun activities to teach kids to be responsible/ Personal, social, and environmental responsibility activities
let students draw themselves on the inside and outsideFun and creative idea to get to know your students and for them to get to know each other!Powerpoint Available.
How to make a mindfulness glitter calm down jar for kids! Step-by-step directions for making a calming glitter jar, with a printable recipe.
25 Fun problem-solving activities and games for kids + 10 Tips to teach kids problem-solving skills + 10 problem-solving strategies
How do we, as parents or educators, teach children gratitude, such an abstract skill? Here are 20 Ideas to Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude in Children.
These 20 Activities and Lessons that Teach Obedience to Kids will help equip you to teach kids to obey. This is part of my character building series, a great resource for parents and teachers everywhere. The word “obey” has gotten a bad wrap over the years. Before you jump into this post and all it...Read More
This collection of classroom resources covers a wide span of activities for visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. There are projects, games, videos, and hands-on crafts that are sure to delight learners of all ages. Students will learn about a wide variety of habitats from Himalayan mountain ranges to cold, brackish waters, and study animals as diverse as the American river otter and the ray-finned fish.
Theme is such an important concept when teaching reading. Students are asked to determine the theme of a text over and over again. However, many students struggle with how to identify the theme. That's why I'm sharing some of my favorite ways to teach theme. You'll find theme lesson ideas, theme activities, and theme passage suggestions to help your students finally figure out how to find theme! Sometimes when thinking about theme it is easiest to think about what it is not. Theme is NOT the subject of the text. The subject would be a single word like "childhood" or "friendship." It is NOT a summary. A summary would be several sentences describing the text. Instead, it is the underlying idea of a text. It is what the writer wishes to convey about the subject. Therefore, it is usually written in a phrase or clause. When teaching theme, I find that it's best to introduce the critical components of theme through notes and a class discussion. My favorite kind of notes are theme doodle notes, of course. Since doodles are more engaging, they're a great way to get students focused as you begin teaching about theme. Once students have a general understanding of theme, you might want to have a discussion with students. During the discussion ask students to think of texts that have a theme like "Be careful what you wish for" or "Never give up on your dreams." Then, have students discuss the theme of fairytales or fables like "Beauty and Beast" and "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." The notes and discussion will drive home the idea that the theme is not a single word subject, nor is it a multi-sentence summary. Students will realize that the theme is a truth about life revealed in a phrase or clause. A work's theme can apply to multiple texts. When you teach about theme you'll want to help students realize that themes need to be general enough to apply to many different texts. Take the theme "Be careful what you wish for." That theme can apply to "The Little Mermaid," "Jack and the Beanstalk," and even "Macbeth." It's important for students to realize that themes are universal. You'll also want to expose students to different genres of writing so that students understand that themes are evident in all writing including fiction, nonfiction, prose, and poetry. I've compiled different genres in this theme unit. Since poems are short and compressed, I love using poems to help students develop an understanding of theme. Take a poem like, "Life Doesn't Frighten Me" by Maya Angelou. In Angelou's poem, the speaker is a child. Angelou's message and the poem's theme is to "be brave when faced with your fears." You might share poems like this or some of my other favorites to help students read several texts and practice determining universal themes. The theme is the message that the writer wishes to reveal about its subject. It's what the reader is supposed to learn about life after reading the text. Therefore, it is usually not directly stated in the work. Instead, students will need to think about the plot, conflict, characters, and setting and then make an inference or educated guess. When students consider all the elements of the text, they'll need to infer the theme. One way to help students understand that the story is built around the theme is to have them develop their own stories with a theme in mind. At first, you can have students do this by providing them with themes that they will need to portray in a comic strip or skit. For instance, you might have students doodle a comic for the theme "Two heads are better than one." Or, you could have students work in small groups to come up with a skit that has the theme "Friends always show up when you need them." By writing their own texts, students will begin to see how the theme is infused throughout the work. As students determine the theme of a passage, they'll need to consider a text's plot, characters, conflict, and tone. In other words, they need to think about the entire writing piece and reflect on its message about life. That can be challenging for students. That's why I like to give students many opportunities to practice finding the theme. Task cards and mini-passages work especially great for this. I've taken the idea of theme task cards even further with Learning Take Out activities. Students read fiction and nonfiction passages that they grab from take out containers. The passages are the perfect way for students to develop the ability to identify a text's theme. ------------------------------------------------- As you can tell, there are many ways to teach theme. I think the more chances we can give students to develop their reading skills, the better! If you're looking for some ready-to-teach resources, grab these THEME resources: ⭐--- FINDING THE THEME MINI-UNIT - Doodle Notes and Activities ⭐--- THEME UNIT - 3-Day Theme Unit ⭐--- LEARNING TAKE OUT - Theme Task Cards Thanks for stopping by! Mary Beth P.S. Here's my latest resource for teaching theme!
Are you looking for an engaging and easy-to-follow mindful art lesson idea for middle or high school? This neurographic art project was a huge success.
Although "practice makes perfect," it doesn't have to be boring. Find 6 ways to make lessons more engaging with movement in the classroom.
As more and more research comes out about the power of Growth Mindset and more and more people are leaning towards this line of thinking (heck, even my District is getting on board...they talked about it at a training I went to over the summer!), I figured that this would be as good a time as any to teach my students about their own brains and mindset. So I began my first week of school with a few lessons that really set a great tone for my students. To begin, I wanted something tangible and hands-on for my students to experience. So I searched online and found this lesson here. In a nutshell, I folded some paper in a crazy figure (that didn't actually look all crazy...until I tried to make it...go to the blog for exact instructions) and told the students they needed to recreate it. I had them get into groups of 7-8 students, put the figure in the middle and gave them each the exact same piece of paper I used. There were only two rules: They could not touch the folded paper and they could not have a second piece of paper. Most of the students got right to it. As they were working, I walked around with a clipboard and wrote down everything that I was hearing in the groups. At the beginning, I heard things like: This is easy. Look, we just fold it this way and then that. Let me get my scissors and we can all just cut it. Hmmm....I wonder how she did that. Can you just show me what you are doing? Then, as time went on and recreating the folded paper wasn't as easy as they thought, the narrative started to change. I started to hear: Wait, what? This isn't going to work. I can't get this. What did you do? Seriously, she had to use tape. How did she get that part? Let's only do one paper at a time in case we make a mistake. This was also the time when I started to see some kids just sit back and watch. They stopped trying altogether and just let everyone else experiment. I also noticed some kids taking charge completely and not letting others have opinions. Then, towards the end, I heard: This is impossible. I give up. I just can't do this. What on earth did she do? She used magic. After about 10 minutes of working, I called them all together again (no one was able to fold it correctly), I showed the students what they said. It was a bit eye-opening for them to see that some just quit so early on or that they declared the task impossible. Clearly it wasn't, as I had just folded the paper. They just wanted me to tell them the answer. This then lead into a nice discussion about the basic principles of growth mindset. That you have to keep going and trying. That your brain was meant to learn. So I passed out a quiz that I got from Angela Watson of the Cornerstone for Teachers. (she has a whole Growth Mindset pack that is really useful) They took the quiz, which asks questions about whether students think they can learn and grow or if they were just born that way. Then, we watched a video that Angela links from the Khan Academy about the fact that our brains were born to learn. We wrote down many ideas from the video, the biggest being that failure = growing. That REALLY stuck with them. I then asked the students to write down all of the words they could think of that pertained to their idea of what it means that "you were born to learn." The more important words, in their opinion, were to be larger than the less important words. Effectively, they were making a free form word cloud. I then took their picture as if they were screwing in a lightbulb, glued it onto the word cloud they created, and using tissue paper, they formed a "lightbulb" above their hand. All in all, this was a fabulous way to introduce the idea of growth mindset to my students. This entire process took two days to complete, but it was well worth it. The students continue to make connections to that first video from Khan Academy and refer to the idea of "failure = growing" still. I am also finding that there is just a much more positive tone in class because of it. I can't wait to continue on with future lessons. Have you delved into growth mindset? What are your experiences?
Teaching students how to annotate text can be an intimidating task. Likewise, for our students, annotating text can be equally as daunting, especially if they don’t have a process of their own that works or steps to follow. However, teaching text annotation can be a simple and straightforward task if you follow these five steps.
A flextangle, also known as a kaleidocycle, can be used as a calming tool to help children relax and be more mindful. Get ready to be wowed!
How do you represent distance and depth in art? Learn aerial perspective and tips on how to render the illusion of recession in painting.
Now that it's time for the kids to go back to school, why not use these free book covers.
Unleash the potential of creative minds with our Imagination and Creativity Worksheets. Designed to nurture artistic talents and inspire imaginative thinking, these worksheets are perfect for artists of all ages. This super fun pack of 10 Imagination Workout worksheets is designed to help students unleash their inner imagination and creativity. Each sheet includes 6 blocks filled with some sort of line or shape and simply asks students to finish the drawing themselves. Discover the joy of self-expression as you dive into the vibrant world of art. Create stunning masterpieces, experiment with new techniques, and let your imagination run wild. With our Imagination and Creativity Worksheets, you'll experience the thrill of bringing your unique ideas to life. Explore, create, and unlock the endless possibilities that lie within your imagination. It's time to let your creativity soar!
It's hard to talk to students without making it a lecture. Empower students while you teach them about respect using hands on activities
10 ESOL Teacher Must Haves. Check out these items to make your teaching job easier.2
Fun and simple mIndfulness activities for kids: Learning How to Regulate Emotions, Calm Down and Improve Focus.
Learn how to change a child's inflexible thinking with this collection of tips, books, and activities to develop a growth mindset for kids!
Teach kids about blueprints and architecture with this fun dream house project. Print out blueprints and create and design a house. STEM project idea
7 awesome strategies for digitizing your worksheets using Google Apps. Perfect for saving paper and managing student work in Google Classroom
