Teaching empathy is important. In the simplest of terms, empathy is the ability to notice, understand, and share the emotions of others. It is a critical social skill for all people to have. In many ways, empathy is the social skill that paves the way for all other social skills. It helps us to take
Using and sharing a group meeting template goes to offer structure and encourage participation from the relaxation of your group. Lastly, assembly templates encourage participation out of your team, as you work together in the path of your goals. Seeing as a meeting template retains you organized, on time, on observe and centered, you and
Want your independent reading program to shine this year? Set up success during the back-to-school season with these tips.
Here are 10 new fall children's ministry kickoff ideas to help you start a winning season of ministry to children and their families.
The activities below are available for free download, and are to be used in educational and/or private settings. They may not be used elsewhere or for other purposes (such as for profit) unless exp…
Use these 5 ways to foster a bully-free classroom and stop bullying in your class and even at your school.
I have mentioned before how much a feel like I am playing catch up this year and I still feel that way but this afternoon I made a bit of progress. One of the projects I have been wanting to get done is my hall bulletin board. Open House is coming up and it's time to show off what we have been doing. So, this afternoon that's what I worked on! I was inspired by this pin: http://www.izzyshare.com/ideabulletinboard But I wanted my board to feature our school colors, so I added a bit of blue fabric and some cute frames from Lakeshore Learning! Soon I will have pictures of my Maestro of the Month and Spotlight Performers in those frames. Mrs. P, our PE teacher was helping me hang everything and she taught me a cool trick. The staples were pretty obvious on the letters, so we took Sharpies and colored over them and now they are barely visible.
This year I am going to do some personal inquiry projects with my students. You've heard all the names.... Genius Hour, Passion Project.... I'm calling it what it is, and that's personal inquiry. Personalized learning is really at the heart of the new BC curriculum and I'm doing my best to dive right in. My bestie teaches across the hall from me and we're planning on team teaching personal inquiry to better meet the needs of our students. I can assist with inquiries I know more about, and vice versa. If we have students with similar inquiries, we can pair them for collaboration and feedback. We want to make sure that when we begin, students will have some understanding of what it means to inquire. Sadly, many students aren't provided many experiences to be curious and investigate. We wanted to give them that experience to connect back to once we begin. We decided to go with this: Humpty Dumpty - Did he fall or was he pushed? We had so much fun setting this up! We decided to go full force and even dressed the part. We each wore blazers, dress shirts, and ties. Crystal had the hat and glasses and I had a huge magnifying glass. From before school even started we had kids talking, wondering, whispering about what was going on. We were the buzz all around the school! The Setup This activity was set up in the multi-purpose room so we could keep it secret until we were ready for it. We created a brick wall using a cardboard box. We wrapped it in brown bulletin board paper and just drew the brick lines on with a Sharpie. Humpty Dumpty's chalk outline is drawn on the floor with a chalk pen. Turns out our floor is not level as the egg was running away! We dammed it up with the egg shells after I took this photo. Oops! We marked the area off with tables from the room and then cones and Caution tape. The tape is from the Halloween section of the Dollar Store, so it's got a spooky font, but it worked. Only one student commented on that. The clues were... 1) Humpty Dumpty's remains 2) A banana peel 3) Vasoline 4) A whisk 5) Boot prints (we painted the bottom of a boot with brown acrylic paint and stamped it on the floor) 6) A shield, sword and toy horses (for all the kings horses and all the kings men) 7) A chef's hat 8) A princess dress The Investigation The story we told is that as two broke teachers we rent the multipurpose room out on the weekends for some extra cash. This weekend, something bad happened and the police needed our assistance to solve a mystery. We set everyone up with a clipboard and paper before entering. We told them ahead of time that they needed to be quiet at first, so they didn't influence anyone else with their opinions. They were just to observe and take notes. Students used words and pictures to assess the scene. We asked them, "What do you see? What do you wonder? What do you think?" and after about 15 minutes of investigating we began to discuss. We made a t-chart that read "intentional" on one side and "accidental" on the other and students gave us their evidence to support both ways of thinking. We set them loose to observe again with their new thinking. At the end, they had to form an opinion of what really happened. There were many detailed descriptions with lots of evidence, but I especially enjoy this one. Before wrapping up, we asked the students if they were to continue the investigation what next steps they would need to take. They told us things like comparing the boot prints to those of students to see if they were suspects, sending the egg to a lab for DNA testing (haha), talking to specialists, and checking to see if the school had security cameras that could give us more information. Next week, when we begin to talk about the inquiry cycle, students will now have something to link back to. We plan on making an anchor chart with "Traits of an Investigator". We can remind them of how they were curious, and how they investigated further. We can link back to the fact that they had questions and took steps to investigate those questions. Although personal inquiry is not a murder mystery, there are many similar steps. It took less than an hour to set up and we investigated for about an hour as well. Take down was super easy and was completed over recess. Wanting to start up or spark up personal inquiry in your classroom? I'm sharing 11 anchor chart posters to help guide the inquiry process. Follow the image or button below to grab your copy. Take Me to the Free Download Pin this post.
Earlier this week we shared some fundraising ideas so you and your kids can have a fabulous fall kickoff even on a budget! We also have ...
Popcorn games are fun for the whole family. They're great for Cub Scouts too--perfect popcorn kickoff ideas for your next fundraiser.
I don’t usually start the year off with a traditional “meet the counselor” lesson but I do have a lesson I love to use as my first of the new school year. My kickoff lesson for 3rd grade two years in a row now is to incorporate a size of the problem lesson. It sets […]
If you are looking for back to school activities for upper elementary that keep kids engaged and go over important classroom information, then you’re going to
Fall kickoff means a new practice theme, new resources, a fun game and sharing music with eachother. Same fun as always, just a different format this year!
The activities below are available for free download, and are to be used in educational and/or private settings. They may not be used elsewhere or for other purposes (such as for profit) unless exp…
Fun, easy paper plate crafts for children of all ages, including seasonal craft projects for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.
Hey all!!! Now I do know that a few of you are still in the classroom and summer vacation hasn’t quite welcomed you with open arms. However, we are going to welcome you with open arms in this blog post we are going to assume that we are ALL enjoying our...
Have you ever tried the mentos and soda geyser experiment? It's one of the most fun experiments out there! Take it up a level with this RAINBOW one!
Easily integrate ELA, math and/or social studies with these purposeful back to school crafts for preschool, kindergarten and first grade!
Lataa tämä ilmainen vector (Tasainen Design Symboli) Pixabayn laajasta rojaltivapaiden kuvituskuvien, -videoiden ja -musiikin kirjastosta.
My, oh my! The first week of first grade is OVER! I swear, 5 years later and I still forget just how little and “new” to school 1st graders are. The growth is just so amazing and HUGE in first grade that all I can do is picture last year’s class at the end […]
We started the week by taking a field trip to see Disney's Chimpanzee movie. Such a good movie! What a great time we all had. {sorry for the poor picture quality-still working with the iPone's camera} Monkey-ing Around They all copied a monkey poem from the SmartBoard and turned it into a monkey. Monkey-See-Monkey-Do! We do this little activity with our GeoBoards. The kiddos sit facing each other, one "monkey" creates something on his/her board then shows it to the other child. Then the other "monkey" has to copy the creation. They had a blast doing this activity! Rainforest sentence writing. Making pattern snakes. Paper Plate Snakes The ants go marching.... Crocodile Rock! Piranhas This little guy made sloth claws and lizard wings during some free time. He used tape, scissors, markers, and above all, is imagination. He made me take his picture posing. I've said it before, and I'll say it again {and again}. I LOVE THESE KIDS!!!! Have a wonderful week! For those of you out there that have asked if I will be sharing my printables...the answer is yes! I will be putting them together and online as soon as I can. Best part is they will be FREE!!!! : )
We had a FANTASTIC New Beginnings last night. Our theme was based on the Dr. Seuss book "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" The invitation: Th...
It's all about that first impression!
Getting close to the end of the year? Here are several fun end of the year student gifts that you can put together for your students!
The new Start the Party 2024 VBS curriculum from Orange creates a VBS experience full of energy, movement, and lots of God’s Word.