The Joy of Teaching – Page 17 of 46

November 22, 2019
by Evan-Moor
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Children’s Books To Read: Holidays Around the World

Encourage reading as a form of entertainment this holiday season as kids spend more time indoors. Check out these holiday books that explore multicultural traditions and learn new ways to celebrate the holidays!

Daddy Christmas and Hanukkah Mama by Selina Alko

Sadie’s family celebrates Christmas and Hanukkah every holiday season. This book tells the story of this mixed family celebration, which embraces more than one holiday tradition.

Tree of Cranes by Allen Say

This story, set in Japan, is about a young Japanese boy who has caught a bad cold just before the holidays. He watches his mother decorate the house with origami cranes, infusing their culture into the American Christmas tradition.

The Night Before Christmas by Rachel Isadora

This traditional Christmas poem is reinvented with African themes by Caldecott winner Rachel Isadora. Set in Africa, the poem tells of African toys, Christmas excitement, and holiday cheer in a new culture.

The Night of Las Posadas by Tomie dePaola

The tradition of Las Posadas, the procession of Joseph and Mary, is almost derailed when Lupe and Roberto (Joseph and Mary) get caught in a snowstorm! Two strangers step up to take their place, but mysteriously disappear after the procession! The town witnesses a Christmas miracle that night.

Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto

This Christmas Eve, Maria gets to help make the tamales for Christmas dinner! When her mom left the kitchen for a moment, Maria decided to try on her mom’s diamond ring. But the ring gets lost in the tamales, and Maria has to find a way to solve the problem!

Everett Anderson’s Christmas Coming by Lucille Clifton

This story brings an urban take on Christmas joy, telling the story of Everett, a young boy who lives on the 14th floor of his building. Everett loves Christmas and everything about it, just like all the other kids in the city.

An Angel Just Like Me by Mary Hoffman

Tyler loves to decorate the tree with his family, but notices all the angles have pale skin and blonde hair, and don’t look like him and his family. Tyler sets out to find an angel that looks like him.

La Noche Buena: A Christmas Story written by Antonio Sacre, illustrated by Angela Dominguez

Nina spends this Christmas in Miami, visiting her grandmother, which is a very different experience than the white Christmases she is used to in New England. Nina gets to learn about Cuban Christmas traditions from her father’s side of the family.

N Is for Navidad by Susan Middleton Elya

This alphabet-style book introduces different Spanish words to children, all about the Christmas season! It is also beautifully illustrated with vibrant pictures.

Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Yee

This little girl sees tracks outside her window in the fresh snow and decides to follow them. She discovers that the tracks are her own from yesterday, and they lead her back home.

Amadi’s Snowman: A Story of Reading written by Katia Novet Saint-lot and illustrated by Dimitrea Tokunbo

Amadi doesn’t want to learn to read, despite his mother’s insistence that he attend his reading lessons. He runs off to the market instead, where he discovers a picture book about a snowman that inspires him to learn to read.

Mama Do You Love Me? written by Barbara M. Joosse and illustrated by Barbara Lavellee

In this story, a child asks her mother all kinds of questions about how much her mother loves her. The arctic setting is perfect for the holidays, a time for family to come together.

Immi’s Gift by Karin Littlewood

A girl sits with her fishing rod in the arctic, but is surprised when, instead of a fish at the end of her line, she has caught a wooden bird. More surprises follow, so the girl drops a wooden bear into the water. Far, far away, a little boy stands on the hot sand and throws colorful things into the water, only to find a small wooden bear washed upon the shore.

Check out these books as a fun way to incorporate other cultures into your holiday season! Children will love the books about winter adventures, especially those that explore other cultures in a fun and colorful way. Happy holidays, and happy reading!

For more holiday activitites from around the world checkout: 10 Holiday Activities from Around the World

Christine Wooler has experience working with children as a youth soccer coach and summer camp counselor. She is currently studying English Literature and journalism in college. She enjoys exploring educational topics that help students have fun while learning.

October 21, 2019
by Evan-Moor
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Teacher Tips to Help a Struggling Reader

Some people think that to help a struggling reader, the student just needs to read more. Although daily reading is an essential component of reading fluency, this is not the best approach to take with a child who is struggling.

As a classroom teacher, I know it’s a challenge to address the varied reading levels within a class. The tips and resources in this article are meant to help both teachers and parents with some strategies that have worked with my students to nurture reading skills.

Sometimes, reading difficulty is an indicator of something more serious. One common learning disability is dyslexia, which can affect a child’s ability to spell, write, and read. These special cases should always involve school specialists to help you diagnose. A few signs of dyslexia in elementary students are:

Struggling to sound out familiar words and not wanting to read aloud
Reading slowly and not comprehending what they read
Not remembering details
Mixing up the order of letters

Here are five tips to help a struggling reader build confidence in reading fluency and comprehension.

1. Find the Phonological Gaps

Rather than teaching children from where they “should” be reading, start at the beginning. Look for holes in the phonological and phonemic awareness. (This is the most common problem.)

Supplement reading instruction with additional phonics and phonological practice. Once those reading skills are mastered, introduce reading selections that practice those patterns. Here are a few lesson ideas to help.

Basic Phonics Skills, Level B: This resource provides plenty of practice pages to help children master consonant sounds, short vowel sounds, plural endings, and word families. Included are take-home phonics readers for additional practice. (This resource is available in four different levels of difficulty: A, B, C, and D for grades K–3.)

2. Model Fluent Reading and Comprehension Strategies

The National Reading Panel Report supports sounding out letters as the number one method to help struggling readers. Model for children how to sound out and decode words. Some children learn best with a tactile component. Model sounding out words by placing an object next to a letter for each sound.

For example:

Have children sound out CAT, and each time they sound out a letter, have them place a small object underneath the letter they are sounding out. As a classroom teacher, I would use small, round, red magnets on my whiteboard to place underneath each letter.

C A T

Small group or one-on-one instruction is the best solution for helping struggling readers improve. Children in this setting face fewer distractions and can see your mouth forming the sounds easier. You are also able to monitor their progress closely in this type of setting.

After reading a passage, check for understanding. Some children are so focused on decoding the words that they are not paying attention to what they are reading. Sometimes, this is a good indicator that a reading passage is too difficult. The optimal reading passage for practice allows children to read fluently and understand what they read.

For more details on how to check fluency levels in students, read this article: How Many Words Per Minute Should My Child Read? A Guide to Reading Fluency.

3. Build Confidence

Most of the time, struggling readers feel ashamed and embarrassed that they are not reading like their peers. They don’t want to read aloud or tackle challenging reading activities in a group setting. Make time in your instruction to find each child’s strengths and compliment the student. Sometimes it helps to share your own difficulties with learning so students feels less lonely in their struggle. I like to recall my early struggles in math and the skills I developed to tackle difficult assignments. Often, the skills struggling children develop to overcome their learning obstacles are the same skills that will make them successful adults (perseverance, dedication, humility, compassion for others, and just plain hard work). Students who are succeeding without much effort will have to learn those traits later in life.

4. Practice Aloud

This is a struggling reader’s worst nightmare. Take time to pull these readers into a private setting and listen to them read aloud. This will showcase their progress as they infuse what they are learning in their reading lessons into reading practice. It will also highlight any word patterns or letter sounds they are still struggling with and that may need review.

Before asking a child to read aloud, preview difficult vocabulary in the passage. Model how to sound out the words and discuss their meaning. This will help alleviate children’s stress when they progress to reading it aloud alone. If they continue to struggle with the words, read the difficult ones with them to model correct pronunciation. These leveled reading comprehension resources are a great way to provide reading practice and check for comprehension.

Nonfiction Reading Practice for grades 1–6 works well within the classroom setting. It provides three different levels of reading for the same nonfiction story. This resource is ideal for supporting basic to advanced reading level instruction within a classroom. Each student can read at his or her own level while studying the same topic. Each robust reading unit includes:
- 3 leveled reading passages
- Comprehension questions
- Text-dependent writing prompt
Read and Understand with Leveled Texts for grades 1–6 covers a range of reading skills within specific Lexile levels. The engaging stories and fun practice activities engage even the most reluctant readers. These lessons and activities provide:
- Fiction and nonfiction topics
- Comprehension and vocabulary review
- Text-to-text comparisons

5. Include Multi-Sensory Activities

Providing visual, auditory, and tactile learning activities is a wonderful way to keep children engaged and provide avenues of practice that may interest them more than traditional learning models. Songs, chants, and hands-on center activities are some of the simplest methods for reinforcing children’s learning through multi-sensory activities.

Phonics Intervention Centers: Vowel Digraphs: This is a great hands-on center activity to help students struggling with vowel digraphs (those pesky sound-letter combinations that don’t follow the rules). This center provides colorful ready-made activities and an assessment to record students’ progress.
This classic Peanut Butter and Jelly chant is a fun activity to get children moving and reading together. Download your free copy here.

Read Fun Phonics Activities and Games for ideas for rhyming games, flip books, and hands-on center ideas.

One of my favorite quotes in teaching is “strive for progress not perfection.” Building a struggling child’s reading skills can take years. Focus on a student’s individual progress and not that of his or her peers.

Heather Foudy is a certified elementary teacher with over 7 years’ experience as an educator and volunteer in the classroom. She enjoys creating lessons that are meaningful and creative for students. She is currently working for Evan-Moor’s marketing and communications team and enjoys building learning opportunities that are both meaningful and creative for students and teachers alike.

October 21, 2019
by Evan-Moor
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How to Teach Writer’s Voice with Trait-Based Writing—Mini Lessons for Grades 4–6

The six traits of writing are a crucial part of writing curriculum, especially when students are beginning to learn how to write persuasively. However, just because it’s important doesn’t mean it’s easy to teach! That’s why we are presenting you with resources, ideas, and activities that make teaching the six traits of writing easy and fun!

What Is Trait-Based Writing and Why Is It Important?

The six traits of trait-based writing are:

Ideas
Organization
Word choice
Sentence fluency
Voice
Conventions

These six things are the basic framework that make up quality writing at all skill levels. They are the ingredients in your recipe to improve your students’ writing! Including these in your writing curriculum also provides consistent vocabulary, so it’s easier for students to understand what they do well and what they can improve on.

Trait-Based Writing: Author’s Voice

While all six are equally important in quality writing, this article will focus on an author’s voice and how it is used to set the tone of the writing, depending on what purpose the writing serves.

When teaching voice, it helps to narrow down students’ focus to:

Attitude: How does the author feel about the subject he or she is writing about?
Audience: Whom is the author writing for?

Together, attitude and audience will determine how an author approaches a writing topic.

Writing lessons can often become labor intensive activities that eat up a good portion of your school day. But scheduling consistent writing opportunities for students is important for their growth as writers. Evan-Moor’s Daily 6-Trait Writing bundles on Teachers Pay Teachers offer short daily lessons that focus on one trait at a time, providing consistent, focused writing practice. Each bundled unit provides five weeks of daily activities that are focused on one writing trait. (You can purchase the entire Daily 6-Trait Writing resource for 25 weekly units covering all traits here.)

How to Use Descriptive Words to Convey Voice or Tone (Grade 4)

For example, one lesson from Daily 6-Trait Writing grade 4, unit 5, weeks 1–5 teaches students how to use descriptive words to convey voice or tone in their writing. Each week focuses on a different aspect of the trait presented. Included in this mini bundle are five weeks of daily writing lessons that practice:

Examining different writing voices
Using your voice to persuade
Writing from different points of view
Using voice in poetry
Developing your own voice

Find Daily 6-Trait Writing grade 4, unit 5, weeks 1–5 on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

Each five-week bundled unit provides:

Five weeks of daily activities
20 reproducibles (days 1–4 of each week)
5 writing prompts (day 5)
Teacher support and grading rubric

Throughout the week, whether you choose to teach lessons consecutively or pick and choose to fit classroom needs, students will go through activities and lessons that teach them how to recognize and use each writing trait. As activities get progressively more complicated, students will fully understand how to implement the trait into their own writing. Day five of each week includes a writing prompt, so students can practice their newfound skills. Use the teacher support in each model for tips on how to teach each unit. Each activity builds towards the fluent use of the specific trait, so feel free to skip around and pick the ones you like!

Practice Writing with Voice Within Different Writing Genres (Grade 5)

Daily 6-Trait Writing grade 5, unit 5, weeks 1–5 includes five weeks of mini writing lessons that help students practice writing with voice within different writing genres.

Examining Different Writing Voices
Using Different Voices for Different Purposes
Using Voice in Poetry
Writing from Different Points of View
Using Voice in Persuasive Writing.

Find Daily 6-Trait Writing grade 5, unit 5, weeks 1–5 on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

Discover all the Daily 6-Trait Writing mini bundles for grades 3–6 on Teachers Pay Teachers. Click the links below to find your grade and trait.

Grade 3, Unit 1: Ideas
Grade 3, Unit 2: Organization
Grade 3, Unit 3: Word Choice
Grade 3, Unit 4: Sentence Fluency
Grade 3, Unit 5: Voice

Grade 5, Unit 1: Ideas
Grade 5, Unit 2: Organization
Grade 5, Unit 3: Word Choice
Grade 5, Unit 4: Sentence Fluency
Grade 5, Unit 5: Voice

Grade 4, Unit 1: Ideas
Grade 4, Unit 2: Organization
Grade 4, Unit 3: Word Choice
Grade 4, Unit 4: Sentence Fluency
Grade 4, Unit 5: Voice

Grade 6, Unit 1: Ideas
Grade 6, Unit 2: Organization
Grade 6, Unit 3: Word Choice
Grade 6, Unit 4: Sentence Fluency
Grade 6, Unit 5: Voice

For more trait-based writing teaching tips, view: Using Voice to Persuade: Persuasive Writing Prompts for Grades 4–6.

October 16, 2019
by Evan-Moor
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Learning Basic Map Skills with Cultural Maps and Sports Teams

Create relevant learning experiences for students with hands-on geography lessons that align with current social studies curricula and student interests. Geography doesn’t have to just be about the globe. Combining map skills with interesting and current cultural topics is a great way to introduce beginning activities that align with students’ interests.

Physical Maps: Canada Grade 4

Give your fourth graders a taste of world travel with this physical map unit! The unit features a physical map of Canada (which identifies major landforms, waterways, etc.), vocabulary, comprehension questions, and activities for five days of the week.
Find this activity on Teachers Pay Teachers in our Daily Geography Bundle grade 4 for weeks 13–18 here.

Physical Maps: Mexico Grade 5

This fifth grade unit features Mexico as its physical map subject. The unit displays the physical map of Mexico and provides advanced vocabulary, activities, and questions to test your students’ comprehension of physical maps. This unit introduces the physical and human characteristics of a country or landscape.
Find this activity on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

Physical Maps: Australia Grade 6

More complicated map structures, such as a legend and compass rose, are introduced in the sixth grade unit. These new features, in addition to corresponding vocabulary, activities, and comprehension questions, make reading maps fun and engaging for students. Students will practice the skill of map basics and using points, colors, or lines to identify different geographical areas.
Find this activity on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

History Maps: The Thirteen Original Colonies Grade 4

This new type of map helps fourth graders learn the valuable skill of using maps to interpret history. This unit features a history map of the 13 colonies in the 1600s, basic vocabulary, fun facts, and other questions and activities that engage your fourth graders in reading and understanding history maps.
Find this activity on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

History Maps: The United States in 1861 Grade 5

Students can tackle this history map, featuring the United States at the beginning of the Civil War, and practice their map interpretation skills. This fifth grade unit includes facts about the different regions of the U.S. at the time, vocabulary, and questions and activities for the week.
Find this activity on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

History Maps: Ancient Greece Grade 6

Using this unit’s map of Ancient Greece, sixth graders will need to acquire, organize, and analyze information to draw conclusions about Greek history. The unit provides students with the map of Ancient Greece, which identifies major cities and seas, as well as vocabulary, activities, and questions for the whole week.
Find this activity on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

Cultural Maps: Major League Baseball (MLB) Grade 4

Cultural map units feature characteristics of a specific cultural mosaic; in this case, the map shows the locations of all 30 of the Major League Baseball teams in the United States and Canada. Fourth graders will love engaging with this different type of map activity, learning basic vocabulary, identifying major cities and their respective teams, and answering comprehension questions.
Find this activity on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

Cultural Maps: National Football League (NFL) Grade 5

This cultural map unit for fifth graders has students practice identifying and understanding patterns of demographic and political change. This map shows the locations of the 32 NFL teams in the United States; students will receive helpful vocabulary and facts before answering questions based on the map.
Find this activity on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

Cultural Maps: National Basketball Association (NBA) Grade 6

Sixth graders will excel in their ability to identify regions, read cultural maps, and understand patterns of cultural change in this unit. Using a map of the United States and parts of Canada, students will identify geographical regions and their representative NBA teams, answer questions using the map, and challenge themselves to “create their own” NBA team and place it on the map.
Find this activity on Teachers Pay Teachers in our Daily Geography Bundle grade 6 for weeks 25–30 here.

Evan-Moor’s Daily Geography Practice provides a well-rounded overview of basic geography skills like map reading, identifying coordinates on a map or globe, and using a legend or compass with a map.

These skills become important in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade. Luckily, geography practice can be fun and engaging for students by incorporating sports, history, or other subjects into mini-lessons that introduce vital skills to students.

Encourage your students to interact with maps and globes in their daily life by drawing treasure maps, spinning a globe to find new countries, and navigating in the car.

October 15, 2019
by Evan-Moor
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20 October and Halloween-Themed Writing Prompts

It’s officially spooky season! October is the perfect month for fun fall and Halloween classroom activities! Inspire creativity in your students’ writing by adding some fun writing prompts to your lesson plan.

Check out the list below to find autumn or Halloween writing prompts that your students will love.

*Download a free pumpkin writing template below.

I woke up this morning with the feeling that something unusual was going to happen…
If I were a pumpkin…
The classroom door opened slowly, and in walked…
List as many words as you can that relate to October (pumpkin cutout for this activity is linked below)!
If I were invisible…
It was the spookiest house on the block. It had…
It was the best costume you ever had. Even your best friends didn’t recognize you.
Write a grocery list for a witch!
Design a bumper sticker to advertise October.
Observations on a windy day: Take a walk outside on a windy day, then go back inside and write about it.
Write a story about a flying kite. You can be the one holding the string, or you can write as if you’re the kite!
If I were a black cat…
The house on the corner always gives out the best candy! But this year, they gave something else out instead…
The classroom pet lizard has gone missing! It’s up to you, the students, to find it.
“If I were a leaf, changing color, it would feel like…”
Make a list of 10 things that remind you of Halloween.
There’s a friendly ghost that lives in the library! Give it a name and describe it.
The odd pumpkin. Write about a pumpkin that looks different from all the others, but give your story a happy ending.
Come up with an idea for the next big Halloween movie!

Picture writing prompts: Give your students a picture and have them put their creative writing skills to work! To make it easier, present the picture with a theme or title. For example, this picture is captioned “The Ghost Tree.” See what your students will come up with!

Evan-Moor Pumpkin Writing Form Free Printable

Download your free pumpkin writing template here.

Creative Writing Resources

Spice up your daily writing activities with some fun and spooky prompts! Creative writing is important for students’ writing development because it prompts them to exercise their creative minds and expands their thought processes.

Most of the prompts and activities above come from Giant Write Every Day: Daily Writing Prompts for grades 2–6.
You can find other prompts and writing activities in Evan-Moor’s How to Write a Story for grades 1–3 or 4–6.

Happy Halloween writing!

For free Halloween and pumpkin printables and activities, see: Educational Halloween Activities

For more October- and Halloween-themed lessons, check out: Halloween Lessons and Activities for the Classroom

October 8, 2019
by Evan-Moor
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Native American Activities and Lessons on Teachers Pay Teachers

Long before Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, the continent of North America was inhabited by the indigenous people, Native Americans. There were more than 560 Native American tribes in the United States alone, including the Navajo, Cherokee, and Sioux tribes. Hundreds of years later, the influence of Native American culture on today’s society remains incredible! Did you know that the sequoia tree was named after a Cherokee leader named Sequoyah who helped his people develop an alphabet? Or that a lot of U.S. states, like Arizona, Missouri, and Kentucky, were named using Ameri-Indian words? Use the following lessons from Evan-Moor on Teachers Pay Teachers to present an engaging view of Native American history!

Free Native American lesson and activity link below.

History Pockets: Native Americans, Grades 1–3

If you’re looking for short activities that highlight Native American history, Evan-Moor’s History Pockets will fit perfectly in your lesson planning! Each individual pocket is pulled from the complete book, History Pockets: Native Americans (grades 1–3). The first pocket, Introduction to Native Americans, provides information and fun activities on a variety of American Indian tribes! It includes a map of tribes across North America, a picture dictionary activity, and a cover sheet!
Find this unit on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

History Pockets: Navajo Tribe, Grades 1–3

Similar history pockets also highlight individual tribes so students can engage in a more in-depth learning experience. The seventh history pocket includes a lesson on the Navajo tribe, which lived in the Southwest United States. The pocket, in addition to having a fact sheet and new vocabulary, also includes two fun activities where students can design and create their very own Navajo-style necklace and rug!

Buy this pocket on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

Build a comprehensive Native American unit and purchase the entire Native American history pocket book History Pockets: Native Americans (grades 1–3).

Native American Day Activities, Grades K-1

For younger students (grades K–1), celebrate Native American Day (the fourth Friday of September) with traditional Native American art projects like sand painting, invented by the Pueblo tribe and developed by the Navajo! Or play the stick dice game, a popular Native American game that also incorporates basic math skills.

These activities and other projects like it are available on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

“The Three Sisters” Legend, Grade 3

Expand your students’ knowledge of Native American beliefs and mythology with “The Three Sisters” legend. The legend tells of Corn, Bean, and Squash, the three sisters of the field that always grow together and, at night, dance together as human girls! This unit (recommended for 3rd grade) includes the one-page story, reading comprehension questions, and five activity pages that fine-tune skills like identifying antonyms and synonyms, spellings of “long e” and adding “ed” and reading for information! A teacher answer key is also included.

Find this unit here, or purchase the entire activity book for grade 3, Read and Understand: Stories and Activities, grade 3.

“The Little People” Legend, Grades 2–3

The fable of “The Little People” is another great legend for 2nd and 3rd graders! This unit includes the two-page fable about a boy that learns not to judge others, followed by reading comprehension questions, matching vocabulary, and practice with synonyms and suffixes (answer key included).

Purchase this unit here. For more folktales and fables for grades 2 and 3, check out the whole book, Read and Understand: Folktales and Fables, grades 2–3.

Native American Tribes of the Far North, Grades 3–5

Spend some time focusing on the Native American tribes of the far northern United States with this informative unit for grades 1–3. In this unit, students will learn about the different tribes and practice traditional Native American activities, like making dream catchers and bear claw necklaces. The unit also includes instructions for an indigenous game called “shinny” and a story-telling activity.

Download this FREE Bear Claw Necklace and Native American Tribes of the Far North unit here.

You can find a complete thematic book on Native American history here.

Nature Weaving Activity, Grades 1–6

Practice the tradition of nature weaving on Native American Day using this Evan-Moor unit! The unit provides a short background on Native American Day before diving into instructions about how to weave using natural materials. Students will love this fun and easy project and will learn to appreciate Native American art and culture.

Find this individual unit here. You can also purchase the whole book of Holiday Art Projects, grades 1–6.

Native American Reading and Activity, Grades 1–6

Celebrate Native American Day by learning about Native American reading culture. This unit features background information on Native American Day, book recommendations about Native American history (fiction and nonfiction), and a make-your-own book project.

Find this individual unit here.

Tops & Bottoms Writing and Art Project, Grades K–2

To incorporate writing into your Native American history lessons, use the Tops & Bottoms: Native American Girl/Boy writing form unit! This fun unit provides a writing space and an art component, so students can write what they’ve learned about Native American life! This activity can be used for creative writing, story starters, or fact reporting; it also looks great as a bulletin board decoration!

To purchase the Tops & Bottoms: Native American Boy, click here.
To purchase the Tops & Bottoms: Native American Girl unit, click here.
To find other great holiday Tops & Bottoms writing forms, purchase the whole activity book, Writing Forms: Tops & Bottoms, grades K–2.

Whether you’re celebrating Native American Day or Native American History Month (November!), there are so many ways you can make social studies fun and engaging! Present fun facts about Native American history, include activities and hands-on projects, and read indigenous legends to give your students a well-rounded understanding of how important Native American culture is today!

For more Teachers Pay Teachers lesson ideas check out this article.

Sea Otters, Marine Mammals, and Ocean Life Activities for Grades K–3

October 4, 2019
by Evan-Moor
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Nature-Based Science Activities to Do with Your Child at Home

As school jumps back into session, children are itching to do something fun on the weekends. The season of fall brings many new ideas and projects for you and your young child to try at home together, particularly ones that keep their learning momentum going! Capitalize on this fun learning opportunity by adding some nature-based science activities for grades K–3 to your weekend routine!

Free Leaf Art Activity Grade 1

Start your nature projects off strong with a fun leaf art project! This life science unit is from Evan-Moor’s Skill Sharpeners: Science (grade 1) activity book, a great resource for fine-tuning those science skills in a fun way! The unit teaches about how leaves grow and live and includes reading comprehension, vocabulary, writing, and art activities! We’re giving you a free download of the leaf art activity, but if you want to expand your child’s science skills and get access to more science activities like this, you can purchase the Skill Sharpeners: Science activity book here!

Click here for a free download of the leaf project.

Garden Activity Grades K–6

For a fun nature activity that lasts all year round, start a garden with your child! Teach your child about plant life, the life cycle, and how plants eat and grow, all in your backyard. The scale of your garden is up to you; you can invest in a planter box outside, or even just grow some smaller plants in your kitchen window. Either activity opens up a world of nature science for your child to explore. Incorporate art into your science by having your child paint the pots or name the plants! You can even have your child take pictures at different stages of growth and make a mini-photo album of your garden!

Pumpkin Life Cycle Lesson Grade 2

Keep your life science theme and engage your child in learning about the growth and life cycle of a pumpkin! This unit, from Skill Sharpeners: Science (grade 2) teaches children all about the life cycle of plants with reading comprehension, vocabulary, and writing activities. This pumpkin growth activity asks children to match the sentence describing the growth stage to the picture. Have your children point out the growth stages of pumpkins when you go to the patch to pick out your own! Check out this unit and more in Skill Sharpeners: Science grade 2 here.

Download this free pumpkin life cycle page here.

Make Watercolor Paint from Flowers Grades K–3

To combine your science and art activities, you can make natural watercolor paint with someflowers!! For this activity, you’ll need:

Brightly colored flowers (or if you don’t have any wild ones available, you can buy some from the store)
Ziploc bags
A rolling pin
Small bowls or cups
Painting supplies

Steps to create your flower paint

Separate your flowers by color.
Pick the petals off each flower and place them in separate Ziploc bags.
- Note: If you do the same process with all the stems from the flowers, you can get a lovely green color!
Heat up some water (not boiling hot, but warm to hot).
Add hot water to each of the bags and close them (you don’t need too much water in each bag; your amount of paint will match the amount of water you put in).
Use the rolling pin the squish the petals into the water.
Let the water and petals sit for a few hours.
Pour your new natural watercolor paints into cups or bowls!
- If colors still aren’t vibrant enough, try adding more flowers and hot water.
Paint away! You can paint with leftover flowers, brushes, or finger paint!

Don’t forget to mention to your child about how color pigments work, and how stems get their green color from photosynthesis and chlorophyll!

Ecosystem Lesson and Activity Grade 3

Evan-Moor’s Skill Sharpeners: Science (grade 3) activity book features a whole unit on ecosystems! The unit covers the life science of ecosystems, including how living and nonliving things interact to create habitats and ecosystems. The unit presents new vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing activities. It also includes hands-on ecosystem art activities and an answer key! Check out this unit and others in Skill Sharpeners: Science grade 3 here.

Bring science home this fall with some fun nature activities! The fall season is a perfect opportunity to get outside and observe the natural science around you! Just the simplest of nature activities can engage your child in science and give them some good stories to bring back to school!

Skill Sharpeners Science is availabe for grades PreK-6.

For more scence activities read the article below.

STEM In the Kitchen—Cooking Up Science with the Kids

October 4, 2019
by Evan-Moor
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Top 15 TPT Lessons for October: STEM, Daily Practice, and Bats!

Browse Evan-Moor’s individual lesson downloads on Teachers Pay Teachers! Customize your weekly lessons to fit your classroom needs with activities and unit bundles pulled from Evan-Moor’s favorite classroom resources.

Check out our most popular October lessons for fall in Evan-Moor’s TeachersPayTeachers store:

STEM Challenges

STEM lessons are a wonderful addition to your October science units. Find individual STEM challenges that align with your science lessons from STEM Lessons and Challenges. STEM units are available for individual purchase for grades 1–6.

Daily Practice Mini Bundles

Did you know that many Evan-Moor Daily Practice resources are available in “mini bundles?” If you’d like to focus on daily practice for a few weeks instead of an entire school year, take a look at these downloads:

Daily Reading Comprehension, Grade 2, Weeks 1–5
Weeks 1–5 includes: 5 weekly units, table of contents, weekly unit overviews, a skills scope and sequence, and answer key.
Daily Word Problems: Math, Grade 3, Weeks 1–6
Weeks 1–6 includes: 30 word problems within 6 weekly units, a skills scope and sequence, student record sheets, day-by-day skills list, and answer key.
Daily 6-Trait Writing BUNDLE, Grade 3, Unit 1 IDEAS, Weeks 1–5
Introduce trait-based writing with 5 weeks of short daily writing lessons that focus on ideas.
Daily Science, Grade 4, Big Idea 3, Both Slow and Rapid Processes – from Erosion to Earthquakes
Five weeks of daily science activities that use inquiry-based questions to focus on a big idea within each week’s science theme.
Daily Geography Practice, Grade 5, Weeks 25–30
Short daily geography lessons in six weekly units that study the National Football League and climate zones in the United States.
Daily Academic Vocabulary, Grade 5, Weeks 10–18
This download provides weekly units 10–18 from Evan-Moor’s Daily Academic Vocabulary grade 5 teacher’s resource.

October Themes

Trees and Seasons (Fall) Art Projects, Grades 1–4
Celebrate the arrival of fall with creative art activities to decorate the classroom.
All Caught Up in Good Work (Bulletin Board), Grades 1–6
Decorate the classroom for Halloween with this creative spiderweb bulletin board!
Mammals: Bats,Grades 1–3 (science unit)
Introduce bats with this bat science unit that includes diagrams and reading comprehension activities.
Vampire Bats, Grade 3 (reading comprehension)
In-depth reading comprehension unit about vampire bats. Perfect to pair with your bat science unit.
Cats, Bats, Spiders, and Skeleton Art Projects, Grades 1–4 (Art)
Creative Halloween art projects to decorate the classroom!
Pocket Book on Night Creatures: Bats, Owls, Koalas, Grades 1–3
Thematic science units that incorporate reading comprehension, writing, and art into a comparison study of night animals.

October 2, 2019
by Evan-Moor
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Pumpkin-Themed Activities and Lessons for Fall

Pumpkins may just be the fruit of fall (yes, it’s a fruit… I’m still getting used to that); but more specifically, pumpkins are tied to October. The spookiest month of the year falls (pun intended) right in the middle of autumn, right after the back-to-school themes wear out but before Thanksgiving decorations go up. So what to do in the classroom during the mid-autumn month? Pumpkin activities and lessons are the answer!

Pumpkins can provide a theme for many fun writing, science, and center activities. Check out these favorite pumpkin-themed activities from Evan-Moor’s Teachers Pay Teachers store:

Halloween Pumpkins Activity Pages for Grades PreK–Kindergarten

This unit provides three fun worksheets, including a cut-out six-page mini-book, connect-the-dots count-to-10 activity, and a color-in pumpkin! This activity is great for younger students!
Find this unit on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

Pumpkin Phonics and Art Project for Grades PreK–Kindergarten

Students will pick out objects that “start like pumpkin,” complete a four-piece cut-and-glue puzzle, and learn about how a pumpkin grows from a seed in this fun and festive unit.
For this unit and more, check out TeachersPayTeachers.

Sequencing Activity: The Pumpkin for Kindergarten–1st Grade

This activity asks students to cut out six pictures showing the stages of pumpkin growth from seed to adult and put them in the correct order. This activity is presented in both Spanish and English!
Follow this link to purchase this activity.

Pick of the Patch Bulletin Board for Kindergarten–6th Grade

This fun fall bulletin board is a festive way to display student work during your pumpkin-themed month! This unit comes with teacher and student instructions, cut-out letters for the board, and a pumpkin poem! Fun for all ages, fun for the whole class!
For this fun project and more, click here.

The Biggest Pumpkin (A Tale from Africa) for 1st–2nd Grade

The African tale of how pumpkin seeds became the stars in the sky is featured in this two-page short story! Following the short story are activity pages that test reading comprehension with questions about the story, as well as skill practice pages that introduce silent k’s.
For this fun project and more, click here.

Seeds to Pumpkin Writing Center for 1st–3rd Grade

This unit provides directions for a “Seeds to Pumpkin” center activity. Students will cut out six pictures and place them in the correct sequence to show the stages of a pumpkin’s growth. This art activity also includes a writing extension.
Find this unit on TeachersPayTeachers here.

Critical Thinking: Comparing Pumpkins for 1st–3rd Grade

This art center is all about comparing pumpkins. The center, which includes student and teacher instructions, asks students to use their critical thinking skills to examine two pumpkins and use their checklists to list similarities and differences!
To get access to this unit and more fun activities, click here.

Pumpkin Art Projects for 1st–4th Grade

Find your fill of pumpkin art projects with this unit! You have your choice of five different projects: Jack-o’-Lantern Fun, The Pumpkin Patch (with ghosts), Jack-o’-Lantern Pals, Positive-Negative Pumpkins, and Pumpkin Smiles!
Follow this link to purchase this unit.

Jack-o’-Light Science Experiment for 2nd–4th Grade

This pumpkin-themed science experiment is super fun for the whole class (but be careful, please)! The experiment studies how fire needs oxygen to burn and how candles inside jack-o’-lanterns are affected by replacing the lid on the pumpkin. The unit also includes instructions, list of materials, and worksheets.
Find this activity and others like it here.

Watch a Movie!

As a special Halloween treat, show your students one of the many Halloween- or pumpkin-themed movies! I’ll list some of my favorites below…
- It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
- Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest
- Spookley the Square Pumpkin
- Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space
- Casper’s Scare School
- The Nightmare Before Christmas

Basic Pumpkin Art

To keep things simple, gather up some orange, white, brown, and black construction paper and have kids cut out and design their own pumpkins! This is an easy and simple activity, and allows for a lot of freedom. You’ll just need the construction paper, glue, and scissors!

Have fun this October!! There are so many possibilities when it comes to pumpkin crafts and activities. I love Halloween month, but don’t forget that pumpkins transition nicely into pumpkin pie come November. Happy fall!

September 17, 2019
by Evan-Moor
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Math Measurement Activities for Grades 3–6: Volume, Length and Time

As children jump into multiplication and division, they face another difficult concept: volume. Understanding units of measure makes its way into math around third grade, with concepts like calculating 3-D volume following close behind. Introducing measurement to students can be approached a few different ways, but hands-on activities and physical demonstrations are great additions to any measurement unit. Explore the basics of volume with your students by demonstrating liquid measurement and volume.

Measurement Activities

Visual measurements: Using a container and measuring cups, explain the units of cups, pints, quarts, and gallons. Ask students to guess how many cups are in a pint, how many pints are in a quart, and so on. Some may already be familiar with these measurements from baking.
Class recipe: Make a class trail mix snack in small groups and have students create their own mix by measuring specific amounts. Here are the supplies needed:
1. Measuring instruments: ¼ cup, ½ cup, ¾ cup, 1 cup
2. Paper bags or zip lock sandwich bags
3. Ingredients such as: raisins, Cheerios, chocolate, sunflower seeds, Kix cereal, Chex cereal, goldfish crackers, stick pretzels, banana chips, and cranberries
Art projects: Integrate a little art into your math lesson and have students illustrate a container and label how much water is inside with the units of measurement they just learned.
King Gallon’s Family:Teach your students how to convert gallons, quarts, pints and cups with this volume trick.

Measurements of time, liquid, and masses for Grade 3

Evan-Moor’s Math Fundamentals book covers measurements of time, liquid, and masses. The units linked below teach the basics of measuring time, measuring liquid with customary units and metric units, and measuring masses of objects. The third grade unit contains a teacher instruction page and multiple worksheets and activities for students to practice their measuring skills. This unit focuses on the basic units of measurements like cups, pints, quarts, and gallons, and how they compare to each other.

Find this unit on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

Measurement Conversion for Grade 4

Once students grasp units of measurement as they relate to time, liquid, and mass, they’ll attack the concept of conversion. Converting units within a system of measurement can seem very clear when being demonstrated in a physical or hands-on way, but doing the math on paper can be much more challenging. Luckily, there are plenty of fun ways to make unit conversions less intimidating.

“Party Time” is an Evan-Moor grade 3 math unit that provides worksheets for unit conversion, including fun activities like crosswords and party planning, as well as a standardized style test. The unit covers measurement and conversion of time, length, and volume. Find this unit on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

Fill It Up! for grades 3–4 is a fun measurement matching activity to help students practice converting measurements. The unit contains the directions for the activity, two sets of measurement cards, and an answer form. Students will need to match two cards together to find equivalent measurements. For example: a student will need to find a card that equals two cups, i.e., a pint card. To make it more challenging, flip the cards over like a regular matching game so the student will have to try and remember where each measurement card is to successfully match eight pairs.

Find this unit on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

Converting Units Within a System for Grade 5

Converting units within a system may be introduced as early as third grade, but it becomes a crucial skill by fifth grade. Though the conversions become more difficult as students progress to higher levels of math, the fundamentals stay the same. Evan-Moor’s Math Fundamentals for grade five covers all the basics of math measurement your fifth grader will need. The unit linked below provides practice of converting measurements within a system, with word problems, practice worksheets, and other activities to help students ace conversion! The models in the unit go over customary units of length, capacity, and weight.

Find this unit on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

Does Volume Change with Shape?
Help your students understand volume in this hands-on activity. (Students may have different results in this activity; if you’re using 20 blocks, some may create a 4 x 5 rectangle, while others may build a 2 x 10 rectangle.)

Using centimeter cubes or blocks, give a set number (12, 20, 25) to each student and ask them to form a rectangular solid with their blocks. If you can, place a concealing barricade between desks so students can’t see each other’s creation.
Once everyone has created their solid, remove the barriers so students can compare with each other. They may have trouble understanding that though some rectangles look different from others, they all have the same volume. You can test this several times using a different amount of blocks each time until students start to understand the concept of volume.

Linear Measurement Conversions for Grade 6

Around sixth grade, your students will have to tackle linear measurement conversions. While students need to practice this skill to improve, it can be tiring to do the same thing over and over again.

In “Linear Measurement: Conversions Between Units,” students solve riddles, tongue twisters, and complete math sentences while practicing their linear conversions. By completing the “math sentence” conversions, students then can match the answer to a letter, which is a piece of the puzzle on the activity page. Solving the problems means solving the puzzle! Students can practice their fundamental math skills without feeling bored converting units of measurement. This unit, which includes six activity pages that test your students’ conversion ability, also provides an assessment page in test format.

Find this unit on Teachers Pay Teachers here.

Encourage your students to take note of measurements at home – how much milk they pour into their cereal, how many inches long their couch is, etc. Some of my teachers offered extra credit if we brought in an empty carton and wrote down how many cups, pints, quarts, or gallons it held. Students will start to take notice of volume and measurements in their everyday life, and this will transfer to how comfortable they are with conversions in the classroom. Reinforcing your students’ confidence in this fundamental part of math will benefit them greatly as they progress to higher math!