A teaching blog

Way back in October I was doing a music inspired lesson with 4th-6th grade. 6th Graders spend I think a whole 9-weeks studying astronomy ...

Help kids learn to listen to message on Sunday morning with these printable, FREE Sermon Notes for Kids. They work with any message for kids of all ages.

Everything you need to teach the Catholic Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. Students will learn about doing the work of Christ through scripture and activities provided. Packet Includes: *Video Introduction Link *Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy Mini-Posters: Color and b&w copies. *Reference Bookmark/Study Cards: Color and b&w copies. *Sorting Activity: Students cut out works of mercy and paste them into the correct column. *Match Bible Verses to Works of Mercy: Two options - Whole Class Bible Verse Hunt Activity and Individual Handout Bible Verse Matching Worksheet *Quiz: Assessment if you choose to have your students memorize the works of mercy. *Writing/Reflection with Display Banner: Half and whole sheet lined paper for writing a reflection on ways to perform the works of mercy. Display on bulletin board with banner (color and black and white copy provided). **SEE PREVIEW FOR MORE DETAILS!!** Customer Tips: How to get TPT credit to use on future purchases: • Please go to your My Purchases page (you may need to login). Beside each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product. Each time you give feedback, TPT gives you feedback credits that you use to lower the cost of your future purchases. I value your feedback greatly as it helps me determine which products are most valuable for your classroom so I can create more for you. ☺ Be the first to know about my new discounts, freebies and product launches: • Look for the green star next to my store logo and click it to become a follower. Voila! You will now receive email updates about this store. ☺

Religious education ideas for Catholic teachers, homeschoolers, and catechists- crafts, lessons, and printables on Sacraments, Scripture and Prayer.

Teach the 10 commandments for kids with these fun 10 commandment craft ideas with free printable template, catchy song, craft, and more.

Linking up with Fabulous in First for the Sunday Smorgasbord! I had about a million thoughts rolling around in my head today, so I figured it was the perfect chance to do a Sunday Smorgasbord post! Fun fact: when I first started my teaching blog, it was called Fabulous in Fifth, so I love that this is hosted by Fabulous in First. I've been super busy prepping for the upcoming school year lately! I know that my time at school will be more limited than in the past because of childcare, so I am trying to really think ahead. I am redoing a few things that I use often in the classroom, and just finished one that I thought I'd share! When my students take a test, I am more concerned with what they learn than the grade they get. However, a lot of my students are more concerned with their grade. I like to give students the opportunity to work through the problems they made mistakes on to earn additional credit. It works for me, because the students correct their errors and show their learning. It works for them, because it helps their grade. That's a win-win situation! I revamped the sheet I use today, and created an instruction sheet to go with it. Check it out! I ask the students to circle the type of question that they got incorrect so I can quickly assess their weakness. For instance, if they are most often losing credit on short answer questions I know that I need to target this area in the future. The other columns are a bit more open ended and require some student thought and reflection. I created an instruction sheet go along with the correction sheet. I printed this sheet on colored copy paper, and the students will keep it in their binder all year long. One of my favorite parts about this sheet is that the students are asked to identify the reason they did not receive full credit. Along with this, I ask the students to write a paragraph long reflection in their math notebook. After a few tests, I am able to identify frequent errors and address them within my instruction. This instruction sheet is incredibly useful in teaching the kiddos how to use this sheet. It prevents (to an extent) students from leaving columns blank because they "didn't know what to write." I've created this to work with my classroom procedures, but if you are interested in downloading a copy check it out here! Totally unrelated to anything, I am super psyched to have just bought this adorable wristlet! It's a wallet that has a smartphone pocket, which solves my "gotta have the diaper bag, so I can't carry my purse, but I'm always dropping my iPhone because it's not in a bag" problem! :) Check out my view right now... How can I not go join in? :) Off to spend time with my loves.

I've been away for a while moving house but now I am back online! Here is a colourful activity to help children celebrate God's love for us and for others and to help them think about how this love links us together. I found a tutorial here for a chain of hearts craft and it made me think of how we could use the idea with children... Cut out several coloured hearts of the same size. Fold the hearts in half and cut out the middle sections- you can discard these or use them for something else! Open out the hearts Make a cut, like so, at the side of each heart. Link the hearts together by overlapping the cut edges and gluing them (a bit like making a paper chain). Attach a piece of ribbon to one of the end hearts and hang on a door knob! Things to talk about and use for prayer... talk about God's love for everyone and how He wants us to show love to others Children could write names of people on the hearts who they would like to know God's love Children could write names of family members/ friends on the hearts or choose a different colour to represent each person and pray that they will experience God's love in the coming week Children could write on the hearts things that God has made or done that show how much he loves us/ them in particular (especially any answered prayers!) the different coloured hearts show that we are all different, but we are all joined together by the fact that God loves us!

In this post, I am sharing my top three reasons why upper elementary teachers should have centers in their classroom, plus BONUS material!

Most of us are familiar with the beatitudes that Jesus shared with his disciples. The term beatitude simply means supreme blessedness. In Matthew, Jesus speaks of nine blessings, and in Luke he only speaks of four. In Luke, Jesus also goes on to tell the disciples about what sorrows awaits those who are rich, well fed, well liked, and who are laughing. In Luke 6:20-26, it says, "God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. 21 God blesses you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now, for in due time you will laugh. 22 What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. 23 When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way. Sorrows Foretold 24 “What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now. 25 What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now, for a time of awful hunger awaits you. What sorrow awaits you who laugh now, for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow. 26 What sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds, for their ancestors also praised false prophets. The Bible can be hard to understand, and put into words for children, especially when we as adults often struggle to grasp its full meaning. When Jesus speaks of these sorrows or curses, I don't believe he is meaning these things are completely bad. There isn't a problem with having money, food, popularity, and happiness. There is a problem if these things are the most important thing in your life, and you strive to have them with everything in you. You are going to end up unhappy. The day will come when your money doesn't bring you pleasure but pain. The food will only satisfy for a short time, and popularity fades. I believe Jesus was giving his disciples hope for the future and a little truth about the reality of what serving Him would cost them. God often asks us to give until it hurts. Sometimes we go without, so other can have more. Times can get really rough when friends disagree with our life or choices. We can be made fun of for our beliefs. But Jesus gives us hope. God sees our hearts and knows the pain we experience. He has great rewards and blessing for us. I can testify that those blessing don't have to wait until we get to heaven to receive them. I live an incredibly blessed life now. Each day I am in awe of all the good things God has given me. Is my life perfect? .... No way! Is there things I wish I could change? ..... Absolutely! Do I have hard times? ..... Unfortunately, a lot of them! But am I living a blessed life? .... Words cannot even begin to describe how truly grateful I am to God for all that I have. To help the kids in my class understand these scriptures a little more, I put together a game for them to make. Have you ever heard of the cootie catcher? Or the fortune teller? This thing goes by lots of different names. I put one together to help remind the kids of the blessings and curses Jesus talked about. If the kids want to color in the words, have them do this before they cut and fold their game. Once it has been colored, cut around the large square. You won't be cutting on all the small lines, those are going to be folds. Fold the square in half on both diagonal lines. With the plain side of the paper facing up, fold each corner into the center. Do this for all four corners. Turn the paper over, and again fold each of the corners into the center. Do this for all four corners. When you turn your paper over, it should look like this. The last thing you need to do, is fold your paper in half each way. This will give some nice creases, so you can fit your fingers inside the squares. You should be able to slide your fingers under the words woe, reward, blessing, curse. This is the final step in making your Blessings and Curses cootie catcher. Now you are ready to play! You hold the game with both of your hands. You would place your left index finger in the blessing spot, and your left thumb in the curse spot. With your right hand you place your index finger in the woe, and your thumb in the reward. You alternate between a pinching and pulling motion. Pinching would open the mouth of the game up and down, pulling would open the mouth left and right. In the traditional game, you would spell out the words on the front, or pick a number to choose how many times you open and close the game. For this game, we will spell out each of the words. For instance, if you want to read a blessing, you would start by opening the mouth up and down, then pulling it left to right, then up and down, and so forth. You spell the word Blessing as you do this: B (open it top to bottom) L (open it left to right) E (open it top to bottom) S (open it left to right) S (open it top to bottom) I (open it left to right) N open it top to bottom) G (open it left to right) You should end up with 4 choices: People hate you Sad Poor Hungry Whichever choice you pick, you will open the flap and it will reveal the rest of the verse... People hate you .... You are committed to the Son of Man Sad... You will laugh Poor... The kingdom of God is theirs, Hungry... They will be satisfied. Both Blessing and Reward will open to the correct place if you start spelling them by opening it top to bottom. Both Curse and Woe will open to the other choices if you also start spelling them by opening it top to bottom first. These were a bit hit with the kids in my class. Cootie catchers are a lot of fun to make, and you can use them for endless amounts of lessons and games! I think they would make great joke tellers too! I bet in the future you might see one or two from me. This one is extra special since it helps us remember our Bible story! To get a little more in depth into the lesson, if you have time, you could have the kids make a special personalized one for themselves. Have the kids think about when they obey God what happens. Also, they can think about what happens when they disobey God. Some examples of this: When I give to others .... God gives back to me. When I share with my friends ... it makes me feel good. When my feelings get hurt ... I know Jesus loves me to matter what. When I'm mean to my brother ... it makes Jesus sad. When I lie to my parents ... it hurts them. You can see from my Blessings and Curses cootie catcher at the beginning of the post, where you need to write in your personalized things. The Blessings are all in the same font. And the Curses are in a different font. The little triangles are where you would put the second step. And the middle, larger triangles are the last step. If you want to completely make up your own: You need an even number of letters in your first word to end up on the top to bottom spot. You need an odd number of letters in your first word to end up on the left to right spot.

Third Commandment: Keep Holy the Sabbath Day (Catholic) Do you keep the Lord’s Day holy? Do I try to get out of Mass on Sunday? Do I fail to pay attention at Mass? During my prayers? Have I been late for Mass through my own negligence? Do I do unnecessary work on Sunday? Do I save all my homework for Sunday? Do I fail to take extra time for prayer and family on Sunday? Do I fail to serve others on Sunday? Have I deliberately missed Mass on Sundays or Holy Days of Obligation? Have I tried to observe Sunday as a family day and a day of rest? Have I given over a considerable portion of my Sundays to temporal affairs and not dedicated a good part of these days to spiritual reading, prayer, and fellowship? Do I deliberately come to Mass late or leave early? Lesson 18: The Second and Third Commandments of God- (The New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism, No. 1, page 85-89). For younger students. Lesson 18: The Second and Third Commandments of God- (The New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism, No. 2, page 116-120). For older students. catholicity.com- Lesson 18 from the Baltimore Catechism (no questions at end of lesson as in the book above) cin.org- The Baltimore Catechism scborromeo.org- Catechism of the Catholic Church Set Aside a Special Day for God- Stories, crafts, games, prayer, and adventure. (Kids' Travel Guide to the 10 Commandments by Carol Mader, page 48-55). Church & Respect- lesson on why and how to act in church and what it means to respect others (parents, teachers, etc.). Lesson consists of: Objectives, Review, Vocabulary Words, Bible Story with questions, Activities, Crafts, Games, Snacks, Puzzles/Mazes/Worksheets, etc. On the Seventh Day God Rested- What are we supposed to do on the seventh day? Go to Mass. PK – K lesson with: Objectives, Word Wall, Bible Story with questions, Songs and/or Finger Plays, Activities, Crafts, Games, Snacks, Coloring/Puzzles, etc. Coloring: applesaucekids.com- The Seventh Day God Rests web.archive.org- Exodus 20:8 Remember the Sabbath Day. churchhousecollection.com- Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Crafts: sundayschoolcrafts.net- Remember The Sabbath Day And Keep It Holy Craft (change this to #3 Commandment) Introduce craft: Where do we come to worship on Sunday? Make a church- Lesson 1: The Church Is God’s House (Children Discover the Mass by Mary Doerfler Dall, page 8). web.archive.org- Matching Pieces Church daniellesplace.com- several crafts posted papercraftsquare.com- New England Community Church Free Building Paper Model Download The classic, clapboard church building with a clock and bell tower. Enlarge template for younger students to do. Teachers may need to help children put church together. Introduce craft: Have you ever noticed the beautiful stained glass windows in church? Let’s make one to take home. momontimeout.com- Stained Glass Cross Craft kindercraze.com- Stained Glass Cross Craft Games: What ever happened to good manners in church?- Find out if you know how to behave in church. Roll the die and move that many spaces. Follow the directions on the space you land on. If the space has a Roll Play activity on it, perform it to the best of your ability. If needed, the teacher will help you understand what to do and coach you how to do it correctly. If the space has a picture of person reacting to bad behavior that they had just seen in church, draw a Game Card and read it out loud (if the student cannot read, the teacher or someone can read it for them). Answer the question to the best of your ability (the teacher can coach the student if necessary). Puzzles: These activities are free, however they can only to be used for classroom and personal use. They may not be published on any websites or other electronic media, or distributed in newsletters, bulletins, or any other form or sold for profit. Reproduction or retransmission of any materials, in whole or in part, in any manner, is not permitted. Third Commandment- Word Jumble Keep Holy The Sabbath Day- Crossword Worksheets: web.archive.org- Look under 10 Commandments for worksheets Bible Stories: Picking Grain on the Sabbath (Matthew 12), Celebrate Sabbath/Manna in the Wilderness, Healing on the Sabbath

VERSES: Leviticus 1-9 MEMORY VERSE: Leviticus 19:2 "...Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy." BOOK TO REMEMBER: W...

Education Articles, Teaching Resources and Lesson Plans on Amy Mezni's blog. A TeachersPayTeachers TpT Top Rated Seller, Amy has 20 years of experience.

Mrs. Savoie's Friday 5th grade class (above; Madison B., Haden, Madison N., Alexis B., Muhammad, Ashwin, Jude & Joel) Mrs. Maddox's Class, 5th grade (above) Elaina, Hanna, Braden, Morgan, Katie & Christina Mrs. Kearly's 5th grade class (above) Rachel J, Sarah, Rachel E and Arushi INSTRUCTIONS for ASSIGNMENT Always begin lightly with a pencil... This will have many parts to erase as students go through. Need; eraser, ruler, pencil, step by step barn handout, washable markers, watercolor brushes, permanent black markers, paintable large paper. Outline with permanent marker..., -Doodle designs in everey other ray and row with perm. Black marker. -boldly outline every other row & ray) non-doodled sections) with washable marker. Next, use the washable marker watercolor teacnique. See here... http://tabithaannthelostsock.blogspot.com/2014/09/washable-marker-watercolor-technique.html One student added a blue outline on left of Subaru and green on right and had a great blend going on! Love it... Idea inspiration Arena

One of the things I do every year that really makes a difference in my students' learning is having them use notebooks to store notes, examples, work, and

Happy Sunday!! Today I thought I would share a little bit about one of my favorite classroom tools!! There is no other strategy or tool that I use in my classroom that I cherish and value more than “Status of the Class”. I have been using this tool in my classroom for the last four years, to engage, reinforce, and monitor my students’ reading habits. Four years later, I still find it to be one of the most rewarding parts of my day. Status of the Class is an idea that came from The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. Along with the many other ideas from this life-changing book, Status of the Class is an amazing tool for engaging readers in your classroom. Here’s how it works my classroom... I keep a binder full of “Status of the Class” forms for each of my students. At the top of each page I record their names. During our independent reading time, I flip through the pages and call out each student’s name, one at a time. When I call their names, they pause their book to tell me the title of the book they are reading and what page they are on. I record the date, title, and page number. If a student is reading the same book as the day before, then I only record the date and the page number. (This helps speed things along!) If a student has completed a book since the previous day, then I record an “F” for “Finished”. Likewise, I record a “Q” if a student has “Quit” a book. I repeat this process {almost} daily. All in all, this process takes about 5-8 minutes for me to get through all 33 of my students. In the beginning it takes a bit longer. But once students are used to the routine, it’s a breeze! 6 Reasons Why I Use (and Love) Status of the Class.... I ALWAYS KNOW WHAT MY STUDENTS ARE READING. This quick five minute routine, allows me to communicate with each of my students on a daily basis about what they are reading. I don’t have to keep track of reading logs, or even hope that my students are completing them accurately and honestly. I know what they are reading! I CAN TRACK MY STUDENTS' READING HABITS. Not only do I know what my students are reading, I know how quickly they are finishing books, how often they are quitting books, what types of books they like to read, and what types of books they don’t seem to finish. MY STUDENTS ARE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. My students know that I am going to check their reading status {almost} everyday!!! They want to come to school prepared and ready to share!! IT GIVES ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO REINFORCE AND PROVIDE FEEDBACK. During Status of the Class, I am able to provide positive reinforcement for students who have finished books, or who have read more pages than usual. I can also provide students with gentle reminders to read daily if I notice they are moving slowly through certain books. IT OPENS UP COMMUNICATION ABOUT READING. Since I have an ongoing record of my students’ reading habits, I am able to have endless conversations with them about reading. I know what books I can recommend to which students. I know when to talk with a student about branching out into a different genre. I know when to talk to a student about a book they are reading that might be too challenging. Status of the Class is also a great tool to share with parents during parent-teacher conferences. It allows you to have conversations with parents about their children’s reading habits. MY STUDENTS LOVE IT!! One thing I am guaranteed to hear AT LEAST once a day is, “Are you going to do Status of the Class today?!” My students LOVE to report when they have started new books, what pages they are on, and when they have finished a book!! Click here for this freebie! If you are not currently using Status of the Class in your classroom, I strongly urge you to give it a try. The short time that it take is worth every minute. You simply won’t regret it!!!

We are all thankful for what we have. Psalm 100:4 commands us, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.” In gratitude, we thank God not just for the stuff that fills our storage spaces, but for Him. When we think of Thanksgiving, we think […]

In our TAG/Pre-AP Algebra 2 classes we will jump into curriculum activities on the very first day of school. I've debated about how many and which "getting to know you" activities to do and how much time to spend on specific math content. I haven't decided for sure what icebreaker to do, but I found this one online. It looks interesting to me. I borrowed it from this website. Provide each student with three pipe cleaners. Give students about five minutes to use the pipe cleaners to create a structure or symbol that represents something about themselves. At the end of the five minutes, set up a sequence of 60-second "speed dates" during which each student tells the other what their symbol is and why they made it. (Sound a bell to indicate when they should switch chairs.) Alternately, students could create structures, then share them in groups, ask each group to select a "winner" - their favorite and give a reason. Another alternate idea is for students to work in groups to create a structure ... that represents something that all the students in the group have in common. Groups share out after 5 - 10 minutes of building. I would love to hear if you have tried this and how it worked ... or if you have ideas for how to strengthen this idea! Countin' down the days ... 18 days until our students arrive!

With the focus of our lit groups being on asking deeper questions and generating summaries to improve comprehension, I decided to build a Jeopardy board for my lit group meetings to encourage better participation and buy-in for students to ask more implicit vs. explicit questions. Materials Needed: -Velcro squares (used on the number cards ONLY - whatever you want to remove) -electrical tape (black lines) -cardstock of choice -paper cutter -hot glue or permanent glue dots -display board -punch out letters -H.O.T. question stems -silver sparkly star stickers to differentiate the Teacher ? cards (from Lakeshore) JEOPARDY! Board Directions: 1. Find a colored display board and/or paint a white one you already have 2. Position the JEOPARDY letters as desired (I hot glued mine) 3. Print out these files below: -First, use 2x4 shipping labels print out 2 copies of the number cards -Next, using 8.5x11 paper, print out 2 copies of the question labels -Then, print out the question stems & use a paper cutter to trim edges 4. Assemble the pieces of the board as shown in the picture 5. Laminate the number cards after labels are affixed to cardstock so they last 6. Layout the number cards in center of board, then make electrical tape strips 7. Attach Velcro so the rough square is stuck to the board & the softie is on the card 8. Hot glue or glue-dot remaining display board signs (I liked the hot glue better) 9. Create MINI Jeopardy cards if you want the ability to reward one member of your group with a special privilege at the end (i.e. next scorekeeper, a clip-up, etc.) 10. Store MINI Jeopardy cards in a plastic bag and clip with a clothespin to board! **Update - 02/17/2014** It has been about 3 weeks since I first implemented this lit group discussion strategy and I must say it has worked wonders! The students look forward to this time of day and remain actively engaged throughout the entire activity. Also, their questioning skills have definitely improved as well. I have many students who come to our lit group with several questions prepared hoping to ask a 500-level question!

It's a rainy day this morning ... rainy and chilly. I guess it's nature's way of telling me to stay inside and clean my house today. So ... let the procrastination begin ... I've got some GREAT foldables to share with you today. This week I had a reader ask me how I use my math journals in my classroom. I guess my math journals are more of an interactive glossary or how-to manual. Every time we have a new definition, or a formula or procedure, I try to do a foldable for it. Students keep their foldables in their math journals, which is organized with a table of contents and page numbers at the top of each page. I've been really excited to see my students use their journals as a tool during independent work or problem-solving activities. I'm starting to see them go to their journals first for help, rather than lining up at my desk. YAY! So, we're diving into the world of prime and composite numbers, and factors and multiples. LOVE this quick unit. I have a few really fun hands-on lessons from my newest math resource (see my last post here) that I'm excited to try. On Monday we made two four-folds to define and give examples of prime and composite numbers and factors and multiples. On Tuesday we made a Venn diagram to show common factors and the greatest common factor. We also defined these terms under the foldable. And on Wednesday we started on prime factors. So of course, we had to make a foldable factor "tree". Thursday we had our big three-part lesson on prime factors, and so many students went back to their math journals to see the factor tree. I've been thinking I want to start math centers or stations in the classroom - something on a far more organized and larger scale than I've done before. Okay - I've been more than thinking, I went out and started to buy a few things. I got some large sterilite containers, some flashcards, some sticker paper for cute labels, and a few more things. Getting it finished is my project for this week - hopefully I can get it finished by Wednesday so the students can have a center day on Thursday. I can't wait to share it with you when I'm done. I've been reading and researching a lot, and pinning ideas I've seen, but I'd love to hear if and how you do math centers in your classroom. If you use math centers with your older students, please leave a comment with some advice for me. And ... of course ... one of my math centers wouldn't be complete if they didn't have a pack of my cootie catchers (my students LOVE these). So, I made up a pack of Factors and Multiples Cootie Catchers. Each pack has 12 different cootie catchers - 2 of each for: prime and composite numbers, factors, G.C.F, prime factorization, multiples, and L.C.M. The pack also contains a BONUS Factors and Multiples worksheet to use as independent practice or a quiz. Click on the picture to the right to preview it. And as always ... if you are one of the first three people to leave me a comment with your email address, I'll send you a copy. Happy Sunday!!! Interactive Math Journal Interactive Math Journal 2 Building Better Math Responses Math Concept Posters InLinkz.com

Students create a chain of rewards with one link for every remaining day of school. At the end of the day, a link is removed and the reward is given if students were behaved that day.

Good Sunday Morning!!! I want to start off by thanking all of you who entered my Blog Birthday Giveaway Celebration! The comments you left on my post truly brightened my day. I am so glad that you are finding ideas you can use in your classrooms. That is the whole reason I started this blogging journey. I used rafflecopter to choose my two winners and have already emailed them this morning. You can see the winners here on the rafflecopter widget. So ... on to another idea to share. We're just finishing up our unit on prime and composite numbers, factors and multiples, and multiplication and division strategies. I wanted to have our test on Monday, but I have one last lesson for the grade 6 students (order of operations). I have a fabulous lesson to teach it, but I needed the weather to cooperate (this lesson is outside) and since it was raining ALL day on Friday, I decided to push the test to Tuesday and keep my fingers crossed for sun tomorrow. Okay, this was a fun foldable we did for division strategies. I can't take credit for the saying, "Does McDonald's Serve Burgers" - I found a fabulous poster on pinterest, and knew I liked it so much better than the "dad, mom, sister, brother" mnemonic device I had used before for steps for division. HoJo's Teaching Adventures has created some fabulous posters using this mnemonic device. You can check out her first post on it here. I had the students create the burger foldable using 4 flaps (each word is its own flap). We decided to colour them just for fun. Underneath each flap is a sample division problem, with the particular step highlighted. For example, under "does" there is a full division question and solution, and the division step is highlighted. (I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of the inside of the flaps - I actually thought I had until I checked my memory card). We added the steps, words to remember, sample solutions, and a definition to the page. Part of our multiplication and division strategies is also multiplying and dividing with decimals. (Sidenote - we've been doing this all throughout the year - not sure why it's this far back in the textbook. Next year I'm scrapping the text book altogether [we barely use it all this year] and I'm making my own timeline for math). Anyhow, since we have been using decimals all year, I wanted this foldable to quick and easy - and act as a review for all operations with decimals. We started out with a square piece of paper. We folded each corner into the center, then folded each of those corners into the center again. My class thought we were making a cootie catcher and got really excited. ;) On the outside of the foldable we drew a big decimal in the center, and wrote "Operations with Decimals" around the decimal. Underneath the first flaps we wrote each operation. Underneath each of those flaps we wrote a sentence about how to do the operation with decimals (in student-friendly language) and solved a question (highlighting where the decimal was in the question and solution). My youngest daughter gets so excited when the delivery trucks pull up to my house (which happens far too often, according to my husband). She watches from the window and yells, "Mom - the mail carrier brought you another present!". LOVE it! I ordered this "present" a few weeks ago, but I've had my eye on it for quite awhile! It will be perfect for my math journals, and my plans for my language journals next year. The book also comes with a CD of the templates for easy print out in the classroom! YAY! Looking forward to a few minutes of quiet time some time today so I can dive into it. Happy Sunday!!! Interactive Math Journal Interactive Math Journal 2 Building Better Math Responses Math Concept Posters InLinkz.com

Give your third grader some extra practice with one of the key properties of multiplication: distributive property.

Today I started back up teaching Faith Formation/CCD to third graders again. I am excited for another great year. I wanted to share some printables I use on the first day. Hopefully they will be found helpful to another CCD teacher!!! Enjoy!!! Here are the desk tags I use. You can print them too – …

Factors, Multiples, prime and composite numbers, multiplication and division strategies ... this is my FAVOURITE math unit to teach! I absolutely love it! We've been VERY hard at work getting fluent with our multiplication facts for the past few months, so all students can experience success with this unit. This week in our Interactive Math Journals, we made an entry that gave the definition for multiples, LCM, factors, GCF, and prime and composite numbers. Under each flap, we gave the definition and a few examples. Students will be able to refer back to this entry when doing work in this unit to keep the terms straight. For the proof, I gave them a number (36). I asked them to give three multiples, list the factors, and determine whether the number was prime or composite. For the reflection, I used another question from my Math Reflection Fans. I put the question under the document camera for the students to answer. Next week I think I'm going to let a student pick and display the question for all to answer. We also made math posters this week for LCM - I chose a few of the students' individual posters and put them together to make a larger poster. I want to do this for all the concepts in this unit and post them around the room. I also sent them home with some multiple and LCM cootie catchers so they can practice with a family member over the weekend. For some other ideas for factors, multiples, and prime and composite numbers, you can check out some of my posts from last year: Journal Entries for Factors, Multiples, GCF, and Prime Factorization Having Fun With Factors - Studing the GCF Fun With Factoring (A Three-Part Math Lesson for Prime Factorization) Graffiti Walls in Math Class - Great for review or test prep Hope you're having a wonderful and relaxing Sunday! Jen Interactive Math Journal Interactive Math Journal 2 Building Better Math Responses Math Concept Posters InLinkz.com

I've had several different classrooms and they each had a different paint color, different furniture, different set-up, different decor, etc. But one thing they always had: a prayer requests/answered prayers board. Students were encouraged to write

Are you looking for some ideas that you can use to review important content with your class before a test? Check out these 5 engaging games for reviewing!

It doesn't happen often, but every now and again I plan ahead a little bit. Just a little bit though. Back in the beginning of the scho...

When my kids came back from spring break this week, they were greeted with shampooed carpets, new collaboration desk clusters, fully stocked common desks, rotated book titles, and one less fish. I forgot to bring back Skittles, our classroom fish, who was still sitting on the entertainment center at home. It was very much a fresh start for everyone after the winter grind that brought long streaks of indoor recess, multiple rounds of state and district testing, and a consistent escalation of what my kids call "drama." I call it meanness. For the two weeks or so before spring break, there was a noticeable increase in student counseling , calls from concerned parents, and tears in the 6th grade. Student factions were constantly shifting their allegiances, leaving what were once friends, literally and figuratively standing out in the cold. The evidence and impact of rumor mongering, which causes emotional pain and hurt feelings, had increased. To me, the meanness was starting to erode away some of the classroom community that we had worked so hard to build together over the last eight months. Monday, as the kids began sleepily doing their morning work and listening to welcome back announcements, I started to clean the main whiteboard. The task got their attention, because it is something that they have never seen me do before. Tasks like those don't take place when kids are supposed to be learning. I removed all of the 'stuff' from what is normally our main board for instruction. All the magnets, signs, attendance sticks, etc were taken away or placed on the auxiliary board. I used the 'special' overpriced whiteboard spray and some rags to achieve a perfectly white surface. Nothing. Just before lunch I showed the kids a short video on how to subtly stand up for someone who is being treated mean or bullied. I tried to not sound old while offering them suggestions on how to verbalize a "stop it" message to someone choosing to be mean. The following morning I had written, just one word on the board. mean. I then shared some more videos on how bullying happens and how it continues. The lessons were short, focused and sometimes intense. I didn't want to lecture, I wanted to inform. I wanted the kids to make the connection between the words and actions they choose and how those choices impact others. Wednesday morning, as the kids entered the room, they immediately noticed that the big board was filled with meanness. Mean words, actions, and descriptors filled the space. I choose to write the words in black and blue, to symbolically represent the physical harm that meanness can rise too. After answering the most frequently asked question of "how long did that take you?", they began to notice the breadth of the words. Many of the words the kids didn't know, like avarice, scorn, and nefarious. However, when placed alongside more familiar words like mean, taunt, and pain, the variety of words helped them understand that there is more than one way to describe unkindness. On Thursday, even-though it took me over an hour to put the words up just the day before, I erased a bunch of them and created a space to write 'How do you want to be remembered?' smack dab in the middle of all the meanness. I shared my personal story of some events and people from my childhood that I still remembered. Life events that still bring me pain when I recall them. It was difficult at times to tell the stories, but I think my emotions helped land the message that the pain caused by others can last. Friday we were visiting the middle school that my 6th graders will be attending next year, and with it, a glimpse of another new start. Before we left we watched a powerful video of a young boy who was changing schools and was afraid that he would continue to be bullied and called names. The video message ends with him making a decision to keep fighting for who he is and a recognition that he matters. Once the video was complete, I silently walked to the board filled with mean words and characteristics, erased one of them, and replaced it with Love. I wanted to give them an opportunity to define themselves, while at the same time realize that they were in charge of their choices and legacy. I handed my marker to one of my students and asked them to help me erase meanness and replace it with a word of kindness or a word that they wanted to be remembered by. Over the next few minutes, as the rainbow of dry erase markers were passed around, the words on the board began to represent their aspirations. I was so proud of these young people and the respect that they were giving the process. They sat quietly and watched their classmates slowly transform the black and blue board into one of color and hope. It was an amazing and touching experience. We then headed off to their new school for a morning of tours and lunch. We had a blast seeing all of the resources and activities that will be part of of their academic lives in 7th and 8th grade. When we returned I shared the activity with my science and math sections. Powerful moments were created each time. We began to see how we can change the world with just a little kindness. Our world prism widened as we began to realize what we could become. During dismissal procedures, when my kids returned to gather their things and head home, they noticed that all of the harmful words weren't gone. Still visible were words such as envy and detest, but then a powerful observation was made. Yes there was meanness still present. Sadly, we can never get rid of it all, but kindness and caring can overwhelm the unkind. When we looked at the colored words of kindness that now represented our 6th grade, you barely noticed the words of pain. We literally "Erased Meanness" and replaced it with kindness. Update May 2013 : The reply I gave to a reader's request. Thanks for reading, I appreciate it. And yes it was an amazingly powerful lesson and one that I hope they never forget. I've never included the specific videos that I used in this post, because I picked them out specifically for my kids to address some of the things that I was seeing in my classroom. I guess I didn't want the lesson to be copied verbatim if another educator wanted to use the idea. I would rather have them tailor it to their classroom. I see know that that may have been shortsighted. I used a variety of sources and clips and have included them in my October Post "Charles Adler Show" here The word list I use to create the whiteboard is available here in this Google Doc Update August 23, 2014 - Launch of EraseMeanness.org ! I started a non-profit organization to spread the lesson of Erasing Meanness beyond this post. Kids really respond to this lesson and it is something that they remember. I like that. Join us by visiting our site. EraseMeanness.org Follow us on Twitter or https://twitter.com/EraseMeanness and Pinterest Update August 13th, 2015 - New materials for 2015's Worldwide Erase Meanness Day posted at http://www.erasemeanness.org/join-the-movement.html Join us and kids around the world as we try and make the world a kinder place. Follow me on Twitter @YourKidsTeacher

Sunday A (age 11) made a paper frisbee, as part of a verse go-along activity, in her Sunday school class. It's a very good frisbee, and still processing the whole higher math debate, I thought it could probably be used for a nice geometry lesson, too. To make one, you start out by trimming two sheets of paper into 8''x8'' squares. Divide, and cut each of the squares into four, 4''x4'' squares... ...for a total of eight squares. Fold each of the squares in half, turning them into rectangles. Fold the rectangles in half, short sides together... ...and unfold them, so you have eight rectangles, each divided into two squares. With the fold at the top of the rectangle, take the bottom left corner and fold it to the top right corner of that square... ...creating a shape made of a square and a right isosceles triangle. Now, fold the top right corner of the square down to the bottom left corner... ...to form a parallelogram made of two right isosceles triangles. A piece of tape can be placed between the two triangles to hold them in place. Once you have folded all eight squares into parallelograms... ...you can begin forming an octagon by placing the closed corner of one parallelogram into the open side of another... ...to from a 135° angle. You can double check, that you need a 135° angle, with the formula for angles of a regular polygon: s - 2 * 180°/s = the degrees of the angles of regular polygons, where s = the number of sides of the polygon. In this case that would mean the angles should equal 8-2*180°/8 or 135°. You can double check the angle with a protractor if you are uncertain... ...or eyeball the angle. If this is 90°... ...and half of 90° is 45°... ...then the two together look to be about 135°. Or, you could be really clever and just add up the three 45° angles from all the isosceles right triangles placed together. Either way, once you've determined you have a 135° degree angle, continue adding sides in the same way... ...taping the pieces together as you go... ...finally slipping the last piece into the first... ...to close the octagon... ...for a very nice frisbee... ...with a geometry lesson thrown in, just for fun. Now, if we just had a better grasp of calculus, we could probably even complete a throw. It's great to be a homeschooler.

Factors, Multiples, prime and composite numbers, multiplication and division strategies ... this is my FAVOURITE math unit to teach! I absolutely love it! We've been VERY hard at work getting fluent with our multiplication facts for the past few months, so all students can experience success with this unit. This week in our Interactive Math Journals, we made an entry that gave the definition for multiples, LCM, factors, GCF, and prime and composite numbers. Under each flap, we gave the definition and a few examples. Students will be able to refer back to this entry when doing work in this unit to keep the terms straight. For the proof, I gave them a number (36). I asked them to give three multiples, list the factors, and determine whether the number was prime or composite. For the reflection, I used another question from my Math Reflection Fans. I put the question under the document camera for the students to answer. Next week I think I'm going to let a student pick and display the question for all to answer. We also made math posters this week for LCM - I chose a few of the students' individual posters and put them together to make a larger poster. I want to do this for all the concepts in this unit and post them around the room. I also sent them home with some multiple and LCM cootie catchers so they can practice with a family member over the weekend. For some other ideas for factors, multiples, and prime and composite numbers, you can check out some of my posts from last year: Journal Entries for Factors, Multiples, GCF, and Prime Factorization Having Fun With Factors - Studing the GCF Fun With Factoring (A Three-Part Math Lesson for Prime Factorization) Graffiti Walls in Math Class - Great for review or test prep Hope you're having a wonderful and relaxing Sunday! Jen Interactive Math Journal Interactive Math Journal 2 Building Better Math Responses Math Concept Posters InLinkz.com

We have started to mummify a chicken, this is a fun project and your kids or students will learn a lot as they mummify a chicken.

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We were busy in our interactive math journals this week, so I have two fun entries to share with you today: circumference and time (elapsed time and the 24 hour clock). Late last week we started to look at circumference. I started the lesson by reading the story, Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi. If you haven't read any books in the Sir Cumference series, you HAVE to! They are perfect for upper elementary and middle school students, and such a great way to integrate reading into math. My students love these books. (I've included a link to Amazon below so you can check it out). We then started our journal entry. To make the circles, I gave the students two different strips of paper. They taped the strips together to make circles, then dipped the circles in paint to make two different circle stamps on their paper. After the paint had dried, they taped the strips to their journals. We measured the diameter of the circles, then measured the length of the strips (which we discussed would be the circumference of the circle). On their own, the students figured out that circumference is about 3x the diameter of a circle (in our curriculum, "pi" isn't discussed until grade 7). We added this information, our "big idea" under a sticky note on our journal page. In our "proof", I asked the students to draw a different circle, and find the diameter and circumference of the circle. For our reflection, I used the Math Reflection Fans and chose the question, "What other math can you connect this to". This entry was so much fun - and the students couldn't believe we were actually using paint in math class! Now, on to time ... I wanted to combine two of our expectations, elapsed time and the 24-hour clock, so the students would have something to refer to for our upcoming lessons. We made a clock for our math journals for this entry. We used small paper plates for our clocks, but if you don't have any paper plates, you could easily use paper circles instead. We divided our circle into twelfths (snuck a little bit of fractions in there), and labelled our clocks (hours and minutes). We then cut a small strip at the edge of each section so we could fold over the flaps. On the back of the flaps, we wrote the 24-hour times. We made hour and minute hands, and attached them to the clock with a brass fastener. With our clocks, we practiced telling the time with the 24-hour clock, and then I gave them some elapsed time questions (I have more lessons on both planned for this week). For the proof, I asked them to create and solve a problem related to elapsed time, and I challenged them to answer in both analog time and 24 hour time (most only answered one way, though). I used my reflection fans again to choose a reflection question - I made it easy on them today and asked them, "When could you use this math outside of school? Explain." Well, that's it for today ... I've got to get back to my report cards. Wish me luck!!! Jen Interactive Math Journal Interactive Math Journal 2 Building Better Math Responses Math Concept Posters InLinkz.com