Classroom transformations are a great way to spice up the school year. Camp Read-a-Lot is sure to leave your students with great memories!
Simple, yet effective social responsibility strategies you can try today to teach kids to be more responsible, make good choices and set attainable goals.
Learn how to use social studies stations in the Middle & High School classroom to increase student engagement. Includes link for a free station activity!
Looking for ways to connect and engage your students in positive behavior practice? Check out a guest blog post on using Conscious Discipline.
Just a simple sort I made to reinforce respectful actions/gestures. This can easily be added to your Citizenship unit, or beginning of the year activities to set a tone of spreading kindness in the classroom. I have listed 12 scenarios/behaviors, and students must decide is the actions "respectful" or "disrespectful", by gluing the sentence under the correct header. Hope you like and find this resource useful! Be sure to follow me: IG (Beached Bum Teacher) TikTok (Beached Bum Teacher)
Are you looking for tips and tricks for working with partners in the classroom classroom? Read on to learn all the hacks!
I talk quite a bit about classroom management on my blog. I have to be honest here. I have tried so many different things. I have tried the clip chart, I have tried check marks, I have tried the “flip the card”. NONE of them work for me. The book Dream Class really changed my thoughts on...
Are you on the lookout for engaging and fun ways to foster social-emotional learning (SEL) skills in your students? Well, you're in the right place! Whether you're a seasoned teacher or a fresh-faced educator, I've included a treasure trove of games that will transform your classroom into a hub of self-awareness, self-management, relationship building, social awareness, and responsible decision-making. These games are not only a breeze to implement, but are sure to have your students begging for more. These activities aren't just about learning; they're about making SEL skills an integral part of your classroom culture. So, let the games begin! Self-Awareness: Game 1: Empathy Chairs This game is similar to musical chairs, but it has a social-emotional learning twist. Start the music as students rotate around a circle of chairs with emotion cards on the seats. When the music stops, they'll need to grab a seat. Based on the card at their seats, students will share experiences that they have had related to that emotion. For ready-made cards and detailed directions, click here. Game 2: Feelings Charades Get ready to break the ice with a classic game of charades, but with a twist! Instead of acting out movie titles or animals, students will express various emotions using only their facial expressions and body language. This not only hones their emotional awareness but also creates a safe space for open communication about feelings. Game 3: Emotion Journaling Equip your students with journals and encourage them to express their daily emotions through words, drawings, or a combination of both. This simple yet effective exercise fosters self-awareness by helping students identify and reflect on their emotions. Bonus: It's a fantastic tool for tracking emotional trends over time. Find my favorite journal prompts for building self-awareness here. Self-Management: Game 4: Mindful Minute Challenge Kick off each class or session with a mindful minute challenge. Set a timer for 60 seconds and guide students through a brief mindfulness exercise, such as deep breathing or visualization. This routine cultivates self-management skills by teaching students to center themselves, promoting focus and emotional regulation. You can also practice mindfulness with these FREE finger labyrinths. Game 5: Goal-Setting Bingo Turn goal-setting into a game! Create bingo cards with various self-management goals (e.g., completing homework on time, staying organized, managing time effectively). As students achieve each goal, they mark it off their bingo card. The first to get a bingo enjoys a small reward. It's a playful way to instill discipline and responsibility. Or turn goal-setting into a group bulletin board. Grab the FREE goal-setting materials here. Game 6: Popcorn Game Play a game called "Popcorn." Have students get into a circle. Explain that the goal is for them to each take a turn popping into the air and clapping at the same time. The only catch is that they must go in a random order. If they "pop" up at the same time as a classmate, they should all start again. This is great way to promote impulse control. Grab detailed directions to play this game and four others here. Relationship Skills: Game 7: Collaborative Storytelling Fuel creativity and teamwork by having students work together to create a story. Each student contributes a sentence, building on the narrative created by their peers. This not only strengthens relationships but also enhances communication and cooperation skills. Plus, it's a blast to see where the story takes unexpected twists and turns! (These reading passages based on SEL learning skills are fun, too!) Game 8: Group Challenges Help students develop their relationship skills as they complete a series of fun challenges as a team. Have teams of students work together to solve 5 different challenges that focus on teamwork, collaboration, and leveraging individual strengths to emphasize the power of working together. Make planning these challenges easy with these ready-made stations. Game 9: Peer Appreciation Circle Form a circle and have students take turns expressing appreciation for the person on their right. This simple yet powerful exercise builds positive relationships within the class and reinforces the importance of acknowledging each other's strengths and contributions. Social Awareness: Game 10: Perspective Puzzles Print or draw pictures of various situations and scenarios. Have students work in pairs to discuss and understand the emotions and perspectives of the people in the pictures. This game sharpens social awareness by encouraging students to consider different viewpoints and practice empathy. I've created a set of cards for this game here. Game 11: Community Connections Scavenger Hunt Create a list of community-related items or tasks that students can complete outside of the classroom, fostering a sense of connection to the broader community. This activity enhances social awareness by encouraging students to explore and appreciate the world beyond their immediate surroundings. Responsible Decision-Making: Game 12: Decision Dilemmas Present students with real-life scenarios that require responsible decision-making. Engage them in thoughtful discussions about the potential outcomes of each choice. This game equips students with the skills to analyze situations, consider consequences, and make informed decisions—a crucial aspect of responsible decision-making. Need some scenario cards to share with students? Grab them here. Game 13: Consequence Connect Four Create a Connect Four game board with spaces featuring different consequences of actions. As students play, discuss the potential outcomes associated with each move. This visually engaging activity reinforces the concept that every decision has consequences and helps students develop a sense of responsibility. Game 14: Decision Making Prompts Get students thinking about how they might respond to situations with targeted writing prompts. Share prompts that challenges students to make a decision. Then, give them opportunity to write how they might respond. Let students share their responses with peers or small groups. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- And there you have it, a bunch of games designed to infuse your classroom with social-emotional learning! These activities are not just about learning; they're about creating an environment where students flourish emotionally, socially, and academically. So, why wait? Dive into the world of SEL games and watch your students grow into self-aware, emotionally intelligent, and socially adept individuals. Your classroom is about to become the epicenter of SEL success—game on! Wishing you lots of fun in your classroom, Mary Beth P.S. Find 15 MORE social-emotional learning activities HERE.
With the success of my post about how to use google forms in the classroom I thought I would create a post for how to use Google Slides in the classroom. Google Slides is probably one of the most used Google tools in my classroom. I use Google Slides and Google Forms daily. Google Forms […]
The ultimate list of classroom management strategies, organized into verbal and non-verbal strategies, parent communication tips,rewards and prizes, games, brain breaks, and visual strategies.
This in-depth, editable IEP Folder Snapshot, otherwise known as an IEP Audit Form. It is perfect for keeping track of what is inside a student's IEP folder, cumulative folder, or audit file, without having to sift through all of the paperwork inside the folder.
Classroom review is a lot more fun with the Four Corners game! I love using this strategy for test prep, icebreakers, and more.
Learn About the 7 Continents! Exploring the 7 Continents has never been more exciting! It’s a Small World Continent Study is filled with over 35 activities to help your students gain a greater understanding of the seven continents. This 130+ page unit is filled with great resources, posters, printables, activities, and projects that will open […]
These fun and easy ice-breaker activities, intended for use with elementary students, can be used on the first day of school or any time you'd like to help your kids get to know one another better and feel more engaged. We’ve been sure to include activities for both virtual and in-person classrooms so that you can utilize them no matter your teaching setup! Keep reading to discover 32 ways to turn your classroom into a welcoming, positive community!
ALL ABOUT EARTH Get ready for a month filled with so many fun activities to teach your kiddos all about our planet Earth . I teach this unit in April so it coincides with Earth Day. I’ve loaded up this blog post post with read aloud book ideas, free videos you can share with your students,
If you work with children, I can promise you that you will come across at least one student that has these difficult behaviors. Not only are they really stressful for the teacher but they impact the student’s life in many ways. Behaviors like disrespect and defiance can make classroom's chaotic.
Teaching Honesty in the Classroom; character education; classroom community; honesty for kids
How can you support the development of self-regulation in kids? This huge resource is full of self-regulation games, information, books, and more!
Learn how to create simple models and maps with early years students with this free geography printable!
This post explains how teachers can use an academic version of the highly engaging Spoons game to review concepts. Free games included!
Responsibility activities for kids: Fun activities to teach kids to be responsible/ Personal, social, and environmental responsibility activities
Try these fun brain break ideas to help active kids stay focused and learn at their best like yoga, Go Noodle, and printable cards.
Students can travel across the globe without leaving the classroom. Check out these fun geography lessons for any grade and curriculum.
Happy Friday! The whirlwind of the back-to-school season has almost calmed in the Petty household. We’re almost settled into our crazy weekday routine of laying out clothes the night before, setting cell phone reminders, packing backpacks and lunches, ensuring that all dance, soccer, and piano requirements are ready to go, enjoying a nighttime read, and finding ... Read More about Cell Phones in the Classroom – My Policy
How to set up a house system as a behavior management tool in your primary classroom.
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) has been found to promote academic success and increase students' commitment to school. Generally, there are five key components that make up social emotional learning. These competencies include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and decision making. Today, I'd like to focus on ways to help students develop self-awareness. Self-awareness includes one's ability to recognize emotions, have an accurate self-perception, identify strengths, develop confidence, and show self-efficacy. Researchers have found that a student's ability to control his or her feelings, thoughts, and behaviors can be linked to academic success. So, let's take a look at some easy ways to help students develop an awareness of their individual characteristics and personal emotions. All About Me - A - Z This activity helps students to define and identify a variety of aspects about themselves. They'll create a list about themselves with a characteristic, quality, or emotion for each letter of the alphabet. Materials: Piece of paper, pen or pencil Directions: - On a piece of paper, have students create two columns. (Or grab a ready-made poster here.) - Have them write all the letters of the alphabet in each column. - Then, challenge them to write something about themselves for each letter. For instance, they might write "gregarious" for G or "curious" for C. Ideas: - Share your own A to Z list with students first. - Create a class list of emotions and descriptive words to get students started. - Assemble students' finished lists in a class book. Moment of Mindfulness Mindfulness is a great way to build self-awareness. Since mindfulness is all about paying attention to the present moment, it's a great way for students to pause and reflect on how they are feeling, what they are thinking, and what they need in the present. It's simple to do too! Ways to take a moment of mindfulness: - At the beginning of class, have students close their eyes and take several deep breaths. Ask students to pay attention to their breathing. - Share a mindfulness quote with students to help focus students' thoughts during a moment of mindfulness. - Pause during instruction and have students do a self-awareness check. Encourage them to be mindful of their thoughts and feelings. Reflective Journaling Reflective journaling is a powerful way to help students become self-aware. With targeted writing prompts, students can develop insight into their feelings, make sense of their experiences, and build clarity on their thoughts. When students write about their own experiences and feelings, they become more self-aware. Materials: - A notebook and/or computer, pen or pencil, writing prompts - A list of writing prompts that spark self-reflection, these might include: --- Write about a time when you were proud of yourself. --- List ten things that make you feel excited. --- Reflect on how you have changed this year. --- What is something that you find challenging? (Check out a set of 10 engaging prompts here.) Ideas: - Have students respond to their prompts as if they are writing a letter to themselves..."Dear me..." - Read students' responses and respond to their writing in the margins. Add questions and positive notes at the end of their writing to build connections and spark further reflections. - Schedule a time each day or week for journaling to make it an intentional part of your classroom community. Growth Mindset There are many ways to help students develop a growth mindset. When students develop an understanding that all forms of intelligence are malleable, they are inspired to work toward success. That's why it is so powerful to infuse lessons about growth mindset into instruction. Giving students a moment to reflect on their own mindsets builds self-awareness. Materials: - Short lessons or articles about Growth Mindset to help students understand the differences between a fixed and growth mindset. - Series of questions about students' own mindsets. Directions: - After teaching students about Growth Mindset, have students respond to questions about their own mindsets. - Give students a chance to share their responses with a partner, small group, or the entire class. Ideas: - Share and display inspirational quotes about growth mindset. (I particularly love paper desk tents. They are an easy way to display quotes right on students' desks.) - Highlight important people who demonstrate a growth mindset. Emotions Skits Researchers have noted that there are at least six universal emotions. These include happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust. Help students investigate and demonstrate these universal emotions by challenging them to write a short play or skit that involves a character or many characters experiencing one of the universal emotions. Materials: - List of the universal emotions, paper, pen - Skit planning pages (optional) Ideas: - Review the six universal emotions with students. As a class have students brainstorm what each emotion looks like (how people look when they are experiencing that emotion) and sounds like (what people might say when experiencing that emotion). - Brainstorm situations where people might feel each emotion. Encourage students to share personal situations when they felt a certain way. - Divide students into small groups. Secretly assign each group an emotion. - Challenge students to write a script that their small group could act out for the class that demonstrates that emotion. - Have small groups perform for the class. Have the audience identify the emotion prevalent in the skit. Self Check-In Daily feelings check-ins are a great way to build self-awareness. When students are given the opportunity to assess how they are feeling and share their emotions with others, they begin to know themselves more fully. Self check-ins also help normalize feelings. Materials: - Paper with an open grid shape - List of feelings Directions: - Pass out the gridded paper to students. - Have them fill the grid with different emotions. - Then, have students display the grid on their desks. - Have them place a token or shape on the emotion that shows how they are feeling at a particular moment. Ideas: - Once students can recognize their feelings, help them to develop strategies for regulating their emotions. - Encourage students to track their feelings over an entire school day. Then, discuss how feelings change in different situations. -------------------------------------------------- I hope you've found a few ways to help students develop self-awareness. Incorporating lessons that target social emotional learning is essential in today's classrooms. If you're looking for ready-made resources, check out this set of 10 SEL reading passages and this set of 6 Self-Awareness Activities. Thanks for stopping by! Mary Beth
Classroom community building activities and free ideas and lesson plans to kick off the school year or implement at any time.
FREE Call Backs and attention getters for the kindergarten classroom! Great classroom management tool!
There are times throughout the year when it seems like your classes just aren’t going right. You are working hard on your lessons, thinking of engaging applications, and even trying to add ch…
Interpreting history can seem like a daunting task for students, but with a few creative tools and ideas, teachers can bring historical events and people to life. I love providing students with an interconnection to the people who shaped our country. Our history is on-going and by studying our past, we can hopefully learn
Visual schedules promote independence by allowing students to know the sequence of the day’s events. Here are 5 types of visual schedules commonly found in a special education classroom.
Canva is FREE for teachers and students, and their templates are beautiful, user-friendly, and great for the classroom! In this 2-part series, Kasey shares 30+ ways to use FREE Canva templates in your classroom, including graphic organizers, choice boards, certificates, and more!
Update your Social Studies classroom decor cheaply and easily with fun and useful decor. Make your classroom fun and inviting for students.
I am so excited to launch my first "series" of blog posts! It's making me feel all grown-up and blogger-like :)My first series is going to be on increasing student engagement in the classroom. Over
Cooperative Learning Partner Cards Using collaboration cards in the classroom is a great way to organize students in cooperative learning groups effectively. You can differentiate groups to reach all levels of your students. These cards are intended to be used on the desk for cooperative group seating arrangements. You can also use them as a group shuffle for collaborating in the class and forming groups around your room for discussion and group work. The cards come in 8 different colors and are intended for groups of 4 or partners. Do you like this Cooperative Learning Pack? Check out the Cooperative Learning Roles Posters and Slides where you can display their assigned roles and expectations. Connect with me on social media! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecreativeclassroom/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCreativeClassroom/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ashlyn1214/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecr8tiveclas Blog: https://www.the-creative-classroom.com Don't forget to receive TPT credits to use your purchases! Here’s how it works: First, Go to your My Purchases page. Next to each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button, click it and you will be directed to a page where you can give a rating and comment on each product. Every time you leave feedback for products you will be given credit to use on future purchases like this one! Are you following my TPT store? Don’t forget to make sure you are following my TPT store so you can stay updated on new product releases, sales and freebies! Click the green star beside my name at the top of this page! Thanks for visiting and following my store!
Build social responsibility and encourage good behavior by creating a classroom contract. Helpful anchor chart idea and FREE printable included!
Having a little time at the end of class is something my students look forward to because they have an opportunity to do fun five minute social studies activities. If you find yourself with a
Songs for the classroom, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, teachers pay teachers, posters, transitions, hand washing, walking in the hall, lining up
As a kid in school I loved when my teachers celebrated creativity in the classroom. In fact, when I reflect on my own education, the moments I remember the most were the creative ones. I vividly remember making salt maps of the state, book report mobiles, models, papier-mâché globes, interactive brochures, puppets, and dioramas. What about you? Are the instructional moments that you remember the most tied to creative activities? There's just something so powerful about hands-on learning with creative opportunities. Now, more than ever, in our assessment-focused world of education, it's time to infuse creativity into the classroom! Check out these fun ways to turn ancient history lessons into creative hands-on learning experiences! EARLY MAN During this project, students complete 5 different learning stations. Students complete their work on flame shapes that they can transform into a 3-D fire. Working both independently and with small groups, students learn about The Paleolithic Era, the Neolithic Era, the Great Migration, and elements of a civilization. (Learn more here.) ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA As students complete 6 learning stations about ancient Mesopotamia, they'll build a 3-D ziggurat. The stations focus on geography, religion, accomplishments, politics, economics, and society. The end result is a 3-D structure that students can display on their desks or around the classroom. (Learn more here.) ANCIENT EGYPT With this hands-on project, students learn all about ancient Egypt before turning their learning into an interactive sphinx. Students build flip-able parts of the sphinx poster while their progress through 6 different learning stations. The end result is a celebration of Egypt and their learning! (Learn more here.) ANCIENT CHINA Learning about ancient China is especially engaging with this fact hunt and doodle poster. Not only will students collect critical facts about the ancient civilization, they'll also display their learning with doodles that they create. The poster's extra-long size makes it unique and perfect to display in the classroom. (Learn more here.) ANCIENT INDIA If I have to pick a favorite hands-on World History project, this one might be it. During this project, students add information about ancient India to different layers of a lotus flower while progressing through 6 stations. When they're finished, they turn their learning into a 3-D lotus flower. The end result is a stunning collection of learning. (Learn more here.) ANCIENT GREECE This hands-on learning project includes 6 learning stations about ancient Greece. During the stations, students create an accordion-style book to showcase their learning. They'll assemble the foldable parts of the book to create a Parthenon accordion book. It's interactive and meaningful. (Learn more here.) ANCIENT ROME This ancient history project is especially fun. After completing 6 engaging learning stations about ancient Rome, students will turn their learning into a 3-D version of the Colosseum. And...to amp up the "fun factor" there are even 3 gladiator figures that students can design and display inside their Colosseum. (Learn more here.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These projects are the perfect combination of rigor and creativity. If you're looking for fun ways to mix up your Social Studies instruction, check out these hands-on units here: - Early Man - Ancient Mesopotamia - Ancient Egypt - Ancient China - Ancient India - Ancient Greece - Ancient Rome Thanks for stopping by! Mary Beth P.S. Save on the bundle for ALL of the resources HERE.
Free map printables! Welcome, homeschooling parents, to a journey of exploration and
