The worksheet is intended to teach Ss some useful vocabulary to describe places. Page one has 9 short texts and a list of 50 most commonly used adjectives. Page 2 has an exercise and a writing task. - ESL worksheets

I'm back! I totally apologize to all my readers for disappearing for the last couple of months. I took my first real grad class this fall and had no time to breathe. Something had to give and unfortunately it was my blog. But, the class is over and I am back! I have so much to tell you but instead of one long post, be looking for short posts over the next week or so to catch you up! The class I took was TONS of work but also very rewarding. In Massachusetts, if you have even one student in your class who is and English Language Learner, you need to take a class called Rethinking Equity and Teaching for English Language Learners (RETELL). It's basically an intro to ELL and walks you through tried and true activities that helps ELLs succeed in the classroom. Being my second year in district, I found the class to be EXTREMELY helpful and my biggest takeaway is direct vocabulary instruction. I have always felt that vocabulary is such an important part of teaching social studies and last year I just knew I wasn't cutting it. My students were just understanding vocabulary on the most superficial of levels and I knew it was because I was teaching a population I had never really experienced before. In the class they taught us a vocabulary activity called the Seven Steps to preteach vocabulary. Here is a fabulous example of Seven Steps from an elementary teacher: I knew this was exactly what I needed but I decided to tweak it for my class. Now, almost every day, my kiddos walk in and we preteach a word or term they are going to need in order to understand the upcoming content (Tier 2 and Tier 3 Words). We do it in the same order every day: Introduce word and have them pronounce it twice. Ask if they know anything about the word and identify and prefixes, suffixes, and/or base words. Have them write down a student friendly definition. Tell them how we are going to use it in content. I also like to tell them how it is used in other contexts (for the word "convention" this week, we talked about the Constitutional Convention but we also talked about ComicCon). I show the kids a YouTube video that better illustrates the word or a visual. Lastly, the students are given a sentence stem that they need to finish with the students in their table groups. We then share out as a class. This method has truly revolutionized my class! Not only are the kids truly understanding the vocabulary, it has allowed me to frontload my teaching. As an example, I taught the term Articles of Confederation three days before we really learned about the Articles of Confederation. The kids absolutely love it and have been acing their vocab quizzes like champs. They can use the words weeks later in a sentence and I really feel like it has helped me make bigger connections in my content. I showed two different videos with this term. The first clip, I explained to them, is how the British knew how to fight and the second video was how the Americans learned to fight from the native Americans. We were able to compare and contrast the two styles and this whole lesson took less than ten minutes of my class. If you're interested, I have started to gather together these vocab lessons and have made them available on Teachers Pay Teachers. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mesopotamia-and-First-Civilizations-Direct-Daily-Vocabulary-Instruction-1675580 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/American-Revolution-Direct-Daily-Vocabulary-Instruction-1672787 Head on over to TPT to check these out and look for more as I progress in the year!

This worksheet had students distinguish between school rules and community laws. Choose color or black and white. ...

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 […]

Here is a worksheet on taxes. We live in California so I used the taxes that apply to us. I also used a minimum amount of income tax. The majority of my students will never work. The couple that will, will most likely work part time. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Life-Skills-Paying-Taxes

Making a connection to the past through hands-on learning helps a child to remember what he has learned and develop critical thinking skills.

20 Reflective Qs to Help Ss Respond To Common Core Texts via @TeachThought http://t.co/bgz2UMKH23 #edchat #cmsk12chat

Financially savvy kids are future leaders!

Last year I set a goal to have Brooklyn be able to get her Good Canine Citizen award. Well if you spend more than two minutes around my dog you will instantly know we didn't reach our goal. She is a catalyst of bad behavior. So this year my goal has been for her to walk in Nashville's Christmas Parade with other Nashville Pitties. I always do a lesson on goal setting, but what good is a goal if you aren't organized enough to ensure the steps are in place to meet it? My goal for Brooklyn was a lofty one, in fact it was too big. So we are reorganizing to reduce the stress of dog and mother. This reorganization made and the stress I put on myself to accomplish made me think about how I could change my lesson on organization. After a lot of brainstorming and about 5 drafts here is my new lesson for 4th Grade on responsibility and organization: Lesson 1: We started with a scavenger hunt. I gave teams either an organized back pack or a messy back pack and a list of items. I started the timer and they were off. Most of the teams with organized back packs finished the scavenger hunt within 2-3 minutes and the teams with messy backpacks anywhere from 4-8 minutes. They really got into this, especially because I hid stinky socks, cereal, stuffed animals, and toys in the messy backpacks. Next we discussed that if you were organized that would save you about 2 minutes per day, just enough time to recheck your work, 14 mintues in a week, enough time to read a chapter or two in your new favorite book, and about 56 minutes a month, enough time to watch an entire episode of their favorite Disney show. We ended with a pre-test of work habits so they could identify what they specifically need to improve on. Lessons 2/3: We talked about responsibility and what it means. We watched the video "I Can Do It! Taking Responsibility" which shows the students different scenarios and allows us time to stop and discuss each one. Next we charted what kinds of responsibilities they had in 4th grade. We then role played different responsibilities (the examples are from AIM Education) and in teams practiced what we would do. For example: A new movie you and your best friend are dying to see has just opened up, and your friends wants the two of you to see it this Saturday. The trouble is, your science project is due on Monday, and you and your project partner agreed you would spend Saturday gathering plants in the park. What should you do? At the end of each skit we talked about the different feelings that come with responsibility: stress, disappointment, frustration, etc. That lead us to the postcard activity. I laid several postcards around the room each with a different picture on it. I asked the students to (in silence) find a card that represented how they feel about starting fourth grade and the new responsibilities they are taking on. When everyone had a card we broke into small groups and shared the card we choose and why. Next I asked everyone to set 3 goals for themselves: 1) Something they could accomplish this week. 2) Something they could accomplish in the next 2 months. (I like to remind them of their work habits pre test here) 3) Something they wanted to accomplish by the end of this school year. We then shared our goals with our small group and then with the entire class. I collected the cards and will give them to our students in two months with a personal check in note written on each. **In the past I have done this icebreaker with my faculty and with 6th grade. They filled out the card like an actual postcard and I mailed it to their homes half way through the year. Lesson 4: We continue our talk of responsibility and stress. First in groups they draw what it feels like to be stressed. Then each group shares and we look for similarities that we all have. Next we watch the Brain Pop on stress and at the end they go back to their drawings and surround themselves with things they can do to help alleviate their stress. To finish our series we take the same work habits post test and see if we have improved! Since I only see this grade once a month this 4 part series starts in Sept and ends at Christmas break. Before I know it the sleigh bells are ringing!

Back to School is right around the corner for us and I am SUPER excited to kick of this school year with some fun, hands-on and engaging resources for The

This infographic presents twelve ways you can shake up and energize learning with tried and true instructional strategies.

Need a creative idea for teaching money to kids? The Money Game is a fun hands-on way! Inspired by the Beth Kobliner Book- Make Your Kids a Money Genius

The personal financial literacy math standards include challenging vocabulary and concepts. Use these 5 tools to make it easier and more fun for kids!

Looking for a fun vocabulary activity? This extension is perfect for middle and high school to help encourage critical thinking and associations.

We have been studying the different types of government that can be found around the world today and throughout history. The most common include, Anarchy, Monarchy, Dictatorship, Oligarchy, Theocracy, Democracy, and Republic. In order to better understand these systems, we first applied hand motions to them (See THIS post to watch these in action), created a flip book with their definitions, and finally, ACTED them out with GUMMY BEARS! I got the idea for this off of a pinterest picture and decided that it could make a great review activity! Students worked with a partner to create their system of government "scene" acted out by the gummy bears. Once we had recreated the system of government, we drew a matching picture in our flip charts (either of the gummy bears or stick figures). The kiddos REALLY had a great time with this activity and I felt that it helped them solidify the different systems since they were having to create the definition in a visual way. It was SO cute listening to their ideas for how to make the system. Here are a few of my favorite depictions. Oligarchy - ruled by a rich and powerful few Monarchy - notice the "gummy" throne! This group created a voting booth for their Republic depiction :0) To see more of what we do during my Government Unit, Visit THIS post and THIS post. Here are more Government Activities:

Teach English Writing and Arguments Teaching ESL students how to write logical arguments supported by warrants is a slow but worthwhile exercise. Once ESL students learn how to write these arguments, their text becomes clear and persuasive. This mini lesson writing lesson incorporates several s

Are your students reluctant to learn multiplication? Do you find that your students are struggling to understand the basics? I’ve watched far too many kids walk through the door of my class…

I am always looking for ways to blend subject areas together to get more bang for my buck! 🙂 This FREEBIE file can be used to teach students about culture and our human fingerprints. It can also be used in tandem with Tanny McGregor’s trash can inferencing lesson! Hope you can use it!!! 🙂 CLICK …

Check out these 5 fun game ideas to teach comparative and superlative adjectives to English language learners. With FREE resources and games for your lesson.

Cultural Observation: An Observation of My Experience at La Mexicana

Need some extra verbs? Here you go! ~Mia Via Marta Torán

This activity is an inversed Clue game where SS need to find the person who was murdered, where was heshe murdered and what was heshe doing when it happened using Past Continuous. Suggested

I've read about choice menus forever, but never tried it until just recently. I decided to created a menu to use during social studies review when students finish with stations early or we have a few extra minutes in class. I introduced the menu a week ago and you would've thought I'd given my students gold! They were thrilled!! I asked if they'd seen a menu before and we talked about a fast food restaurant menu. Then I asked what they would buy if I told them they had $5 to spend at the fast food restaurant. We played around with that a few minutes and then, with great drama, I introduced the social studies menu. I told them they had 50 points to "spend" and they were beside themselves - some even wanted to know if they could "spend" more! As we were going over the points values for different items one students even said, "All the fun stuff costs more points, but the boring stuff doesn't cost as much." I really had to pinch myself! How did this happen?!?! We've had a week to work on the menus and they have really been successful so far. I've been amazed at the creativity my students have shown. It's also been really interesting seeing which people and time periods they choose to work with. I think this is a strategy I will try to use again. Maybe next time I'll try something with reading - after a class novel or maybe even for their self-selected texts. You can click on the picture to download a copy of the menu. It is specific to 4th Grade Virginia Studies, but it might be a good place to start for a menu specific to your social studies standards. I'm linking up with Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper for another great Tried it Tuesday linky.

written by Hillary Kiser

In this (21th) logic game you can find out more about Bobby, Danny, Jenny, Molly and Sally. How much do they learn? What do they have for dinner? When do they go to bed? The cliparts are from Grace Lee and Philip Martin. The key is on the 2nd page. Enjoy it!If you don’t know how to solve this kind of game, you can look at the Einstein riddle on the net or have a look at my 33rd logic game, called Best friends where I wrote down the solution step by step. - ESL worksheets

Ever wondered what the difference is between these student-centred methods of inquiry learning? Read on to find out what makes them different.

The FLOSS Rule You must have seen words with a double consonant at the end, like less, and others aren’t (like cob)? There is actually a reason for this , and it’s called The Floss Rule. The Floss Rule helps you know when to double the final consonant and it’s a pretty easy rule to […]

Really interesting look at Bloom’s Taxonomy and Twitter by Aditi Rao from TeachBytes a technology resource specialist from Houston, Texas and a graduate of Johns Hopkins University. &…

How are you meeting the needs of the English Language Learners in your classroom? There so many ways to assist your English Language Learners in your classroom. Let's focus on a few Dos and Don'ts that will help the most. Did you know that it takes between 1-2 years for ELL students to acquire social language, but between 7-9 years to acquire academic language? For this reason, it is important to give all ELL students support in the mainstream classroom. Even though an ELL student may carry on a conversation with you, he still may be struggling with academic language. But, there are many strategies that you can use to help your ELL students become successful. First, build a classroom community that fosters kindness and acceptance. Foster a love of all languages and always value a student's diversity. Do provide visual support to ELL students. Visual support comes in various forms. Have a print-rich environment. Label your classroom. Provide pictures with word walls. Model what you expect. Show, don't tell. Simply telling and talking will be too challenging for an English Language Learner. Do provide plenty of wait time. Pay attention to how quickly you speak. Too often teachers are in a hurry to say everything they need to say to finish a lesson. Remember that less is sometimes more when it comes to speaking. Slow down and speak clearly. Do value a student's home language. Take the time to get to know the cultural background of your ELL student. Ask him about his home language and cultural. If he knows that you value his background, he will be more likely to feel comfortable enough to participate more in your classroom. Do promote activities that allow your ELL students to participate in group work. When English Language Learners are given a chance to work in groups, they can practice language with their peers in a more relaxed and lower-risk setting. These are just a few suggestions for assisting English Language Learners in the mainstream classroom. Want to learn more? If you are new to my blog, please consider joining me on Facebook, Instagram or at Teachers Pay Teachers for more great ideas for working with ELL students. For more bright ideas from tons of different bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that interests you. Thanks for visiting! What are you waiting for? Have a great time checking out the links to find more BRIGHT IDEAS! An InLinkz Link-up

It´s my 5th logic task. The ss have to know 5 tenses: present simple, present continuous, present perfect, past simple and future simple. It´s good to have some fun before or in the Summer Holiday. Hope you like it. Hugs, Zsuzsapszi. If you don’t know how to solve this kind of game, you can look at the Einstein riddle on the net or have a look at my 33rd logic game, called Best friends where I wrote down the solution step by step. - ESL worksheets

Well this wraps up my 5-part series on some of my favorite cooperative learning activities I have used over the years. If you missed the first 4, you can find them here: "Expert Groups," "Q and A Match-Up," "Four Corners,"and "Circle Chats." How It Works: Divide your class in half. One half will form the center circle, facing inward. The other half of the class will form the outer circle, facing inward as well. The students in the inner circle will discuss a predetermined topic. The outside circle will be listening to the discussion, making note of interesting, new, or contradictory information. They are not allowed to say a word at this point. The inner and outer circles can then switch positions and repeat the steps above. Why I Love It: Eases Discussion Management: Since only half the class is discussing at a time, this makes it much easier to manage than a whole-class discussion. Promotes Active Listening: Half the students have the explicitly given job of listening to the inner circle. They understand that their turn to talk will come, which is more likely to free their attention from trying to get a turn to share, and focus it on attentive listening. Great for Debate: I love this arrangement for classroom debates. The physical position of students makes it very clear when it's time to listen and when it's time to talk. You can switch through the roles a number of times during debate, and students have more incentive to listen when they are in the outer circle so that they can appropriately counter the points made from the inner circle. Peer Evaluation and Modeling: This model presents a valuable opportunity for students to evaluate their peers. Successful student presenters also serve as wonderful models to other students who are not as skilled at class discussions. Alright! 5 strategies down! I hope you find them useful. I would also love to hear about ones you love, that I didn't include.

Organisations are under increasing pressure to equip staff with higher-order thinking strategies to thrive. Here's why they are essential.

With the free Google Earth, you can learn latitudes and longitudes, distances and how the world’s nations and continents are laid out

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This free Lesson Plan for Kids Discover Mesopotamia will help you teach kids all about the birth of civilization, from the many inventions forged in this ancient era, like the wheel and writing, to the religious beliefs and myths that still seem current today.

This is my 8th logic game. It´s about the TV programmes and ´be going to. It´s good to have some fun before or in the Summer Holiday. Some cliparts are from Philip Martin. Thanks for them. Hope you like it. Hugs, ZsuzsapsziIf you don’t know how to solve this kind of game, you can look at the Einstein riddle on the net or have a look at my 33rd logic game, called Best friends where I wrote down the solution step by step. - ESL worksheets

“Instructional Strategies (by @ForTheTeachers) #edchat #engchat #elearning #aussieED #mathchat #PBLchat #edtech”