The Joy of Teaching – Page 20 of 46

January 22, 2019
by Evan-Moor
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Blubber Glove STEM Project: How Polar Bears Stay Warm in Winter

Who doesn’t love a hands-on activity? Most often, the lessons our students remember are the ones that require active participation. This winter-themed STEM lesson on polar bears challenges students to create a blubber glove and offers an interesting way to engage students in learning about winter animals. Our blubber glove activity is a fun way to answer the question, “How do polar bears stay warm?” The answer is fascinating!

Download your free blubber glove polar bear STEM challenge below. In this STEM unit, you will challenge your students to design and create a blubber glove that keeps hands warm in winter! Complete with background information, visual literacy pages, and suggested materials list, this unique nature-themed winter class activities STEM unit will exercise your students’ collaborative problem solving.

Blubber Glove STEM Challenge

Free STEM Unit

Free STEM Unit

Before beginning the polar bear activities STEM challenge, send home a suggested materials list for parents to donate to the classroom. (SignUpGenius is a great way to track who is bringing which item so you don’t get three of the same thing.) Download your free blubber glove STEM lesson for grade 3 from STEM Lessons and Challenges.

1. Build Content Knowledge by reading and discussing science articles about how polar bears keep warm.

Have students research polar bears, whales, seals, and other arctic animals that stay warm using blubber. Ask them to think about how science, technology, engineering, and math are connected to blubber protection.

2. Visual Literacy: Use visual examples along with reading material to show students polar bear fur anatomy.

3. Blubber Glove STEM Challenge

Separate students into groups and assign the challenge.
Look at pictures of arctic and Antarctic animals. Figure out how they stay warm. Think about how science, technology, engineering, and math are used to protect animals like polar bears.
Blubber Glove Polar Bear STEM Challenge: Make an insulating glove that keeps your hand warm in the cold.
Brainstorm: In your group, draw one or more design ideas for an insulating glove.

4. Plan: Before starting construction, have students create a plan for their polar bear blubber glove design using their brainstorm ideas. Using the engineering process of plan, create, test, and evaluate, students will systematically create a blubber glove that will keep a hand warm in ice water for three minutes.

5. Redesign: Have students evaluate their blubber glove design. Did it work for three minutes? If it didn’t, how could they change it to function better? Draw a new design and test the results again.

As teachers we often cringe when we plan those creative and engaging lessons, knowing exactly which students will have difficulty following the rules. However, if you think back on the lessons you most enjoyed as a young student, the memories that sparked your investigation, they probably involved creative projects and field trips.

Resources:

The polar bear blubber glove STEM lesson was taken from Evan-Moor’s Stem Lessons and Challenges grade 3. This series is available for grades 1–6.

STEM Lessons and Challenges is an excellent resource for introducing hands-on problem-solving opportunities for students. Each unit includes a hands-on STEM challenge for students to complete. The units include background information, visuals, graphic organizers, and supply lists to make your STEM project simple and easy to execute in the classroom with very little planning involved (a major plus in my book). Every unit includes a redesign element that teaches students to value failure and learn from it. (As teachers, we use this concept daily to improve our teaching.) Incorporate some STEM challenges into your lessons and allow your students to develop collaborative problem solving while learning about the world around them.

For more information on the importance of STEM, read STEM and the Benefits of Failure.

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.

January 8, 2019
by Evan-Moor
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Jumanji Reading Book Projects and Author Study

Here are some fun book report ideas to incorporate around the popular children’s book Jumanji: A Jungle Adventure by Chris Van Allsburg. These creative book report activities inspire reluctant readers by incorporating hands-on learning in meaningful and artistic ways. Download your free template and directions for designing a game box cover, below.

Sometimes, you need to take a break from traditional reading assessments and give students a chance to demonstrate their understanding using different modalities. Incorporating a project-learning approach to reading assessments can spark students’ desires to understand what they read and integrate real-world relevance into their learning. Also, including some hands-on book report projects can foster a love of reading in students who thrive in creative and project-based learning environments.

The project-based learning lessons listed below encourage students thinking and reasoning processes by asking them to view characters and story plots in new and different ways.

Design a Game Box Cover

Read the book aloud
Design a game box cover

Materials

Download this reproducible sheet
8″ x 10″ (20 x 25.5 cm) piece of tagboard
Scissors
Crayons or marking pens
Cellophane tape
Optional: game board boxes

Steps to Follow

Lead students in a discussion of what kinds of things are found on the lid of a game box. Use examples if possible. Brainstorm to make a list of elements students might include on a lid for Jumanji (title, illustration, warnings, etc.).
Recall the rules for playing Jumanji. List these on the chalkboard. Reread sections of the story to verify the rules.
Using the template (see “Download” above) trace and cut out a box lid from tagboard. Fold the edges under, but don’t tap the lid together yet.
Create a cover on the outside of the lid. Turn it over and write the rules for “Jumanji: A Jungle Adventure” on the inside of the lid.
Tape the corners together to complete the game box lid.

Sell the Book

If you have future marketing executives in your classroom, this is a fun one to challenge them with. Explain to your students what a publicist is and how they help authors sell books. Ask them to write a persuasive book report that convinces readers why they should read Jumanji.

Turn students’ book reports into persuasive speeches and have them speak aloud in front of the class.

Write a Letter

After reading the book, have your students write a letter to the author Chris Van Allsburg (you can mail them). Students can ask him questions about the characters in the book or share their responses to the challenges the characters faced.

For more information on Chris Van Allsburg, you may purchase this short biography lesson on Teachers Pay Teachers about his life and famous books.

Concentration Game

Create a game of Concentration with the characters and events in the book.

Create 15 cards with names of characters and events in the book.
Duplicate each card.
Place all 30 of the cards facedown and play Concentration with a partner.

Character Perspective

Students choose three scenes from the book Jumanji and write a journal entry for each one. Each entry will be from the perspective of one of the characters in the book. This is a great teaching opportunity to highlight different characters’ points of view. Each entry should include details from the book, but students can get creative with characters’ perspectives.

Travel Brochure

This is a fun activity for your future artists. Have them create a travel brochure advertising the make-believe jungle in the Jumanji game. This activity works perfectly with your lessons on text features. Ask students to include titles, headings, captions, and graphic features in their advertisement.

Steps to Follow

Fold 8″ x 11″ white construction paper into a tri-fold.
Divide the paper into thirds using a pencil and ruler.
Fold the right side of the paper to the middle of the paper (1/3 of the way).
Fold the left side of the paper to the middle.
Choose three important images from the book to display.
Provide a title and caption for each illustration focusing on why a person would want to travel there.

Resources:

Teachers Pay Teachers individual unit: Pocket 02: Chris Van Allsburg: Jumanji (Caldecott Winners grades 4–6)
Literature Pockets: Caldecott Winners, grades 4–6

January 7, 2019
by Evan-Moor
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Our Top TpT Winter-Themed Lessons for Grades 1–3

Winter-themed lessons TeachersPayTeachers

Whether or not you have snow and ice where you live, these winter-themed lessons are a fun way to mix up your January lesson prep. These winter activities provide practice of reading comprehension, writing, science, and thinking skills. The themes of snow, winter weather, penguins, and winter animals are perfect for cold winter days in January.

Download your free winter calendar lesson here.

Check out this list of Evan-Moor winter worksheets, printables, and projects from Teachers Pay Teachers and discover your next lesson:

The Polar Bear
Reading and vocabulary
Grade 1
This story for emerging readers is about polar bears. The unit includes a reproducible minibook with a story dictionary, plus four activity pages on recalling details, working with the “-ear” word family, adding “-ing” to words, and finishing a crossword puzzle.

Mr. Snowman
Reading
Grade 1
This simple read-and-understand story is about making a snowman. The unit includes a 4-page minibook with a dictionary, accompanied by four activity pages on sequencing the story, creating compound “snow” words, rhyming words with “snow,” and writing about a snowman on a sunny day.

It’s Snowing
Reading comprehension
Grade 2
This one-page read-and-understand nonfiction story is about how snowflakes are formed. The unit includes five reading skills activity pages on story details, sequencing, word meanings, the sounds of “er”/”or” and “ow,” and directions to make a paper snowflake.

A Coat for the Water Pipes
Physical science/matter
Grades 1–2
This Read & Understand Science unit for grades 1–2 investigates the concept “Water expands as it freezes” (and how a person puts on heavy coats for protection and warmth). The unit includes a minibook on the concept, plus three student activities on comprehension, word families (-ap), and showing what to wear.

Literature Pockets: Caldecott Winners Ezra Jack Keats’ “The Snowy Day”
Reading, writing, arts
Grades 1–3
This literature pocket provides information and activities about illustrator and author Ezra Jack Keats and his wining title, The Snowy Day. This unit includes a biography, bibliography, and bookmark, an original story describing snow, and an activity to make an accordion book on sequencing.

A Polar Habitat
Science
Grades 1–3
This unit from the ScienceWorks for Kids series provides information, directions for activities, experiments, and a minibook about life in the polar regions, based on the concept “A polar habitat is very cold.” The unit covers polar plants and animals and ice/icebergs.

Building a Snowman Writing Center
Hands-on thinking
Grades 1–3
This unit includes directions and forms for creating an activity center in which students think of various kinds of snowmen they could build and how to keep a snowman from melting

Pocket Book for When It’s Winter
Life science
Grades 1–3
This extensive unit provides detailed directions, patterns, and ideas through which students create a “pocket book” about what happens when the season is winter (hibernation, migration, animals that change color, and what humans do to stay warm) that includes fact sheets, writing ideas, bookmaking and art projects, and more.

Theme Pockets: Penguins
Hands-on penguin projects
Grades 1–3
Three pocket projects help your students learn about these unusual birds of the Southern Hemisphere while they practice basic skills. Pocket 1: Penguins Minibook; Penguins Picture Cards and Report Form; How Tall Is a Penguin? Pocket 2: Where Do Penguins Live?; Where the Penguins Live Flap Book. Pocket 3: Survival; Where Penguins Lay Their Eggs; Emperor Penguin Life Cycle Wheel.

When It’s Winter
Pocket Book
Grades 1–3
Delightful pocket projects about how different animals prepare for winter!
Four pocket projects help your students learn about hibernation, changing colors, migration, and other ways animals and people adapt to harsh weather climates. Pocket 1: Some Animals Hibernate in Winter; Fascinating Hibernation Facts; Who’s Hibernating Here?; My Long Winter’s Nap. Pocket 2: Some Animals Change Color in Winter; Arctic Animals Flip Book; Wintering Over in Our Classroom. Pocket 3: The Monarch Butterfly Migrates to Warmer Places; The California Gray Whale Migrates to Warmer Waters; Snow Geese Fly South for the Winter. Pocket 4: How We Stay Warm Shape Book; Winter Clothing Graph; Color Me Warm.

Water, Weather, and Winter
Reading Paired Text
Grade 3
This paired text science unit focuses on helping students answer this Big Question: How does water affect our lives? This unit contains two lessons and a unit assessment. Each lesson includes teacher support pages, a dictionary, a reading selection, and a variety of written and oral activities, including reading comprehension, close reading, vocabulary, and text-based writing activities. The reading selections in this unit are: Water All Around Us (Level M) and Panika’s Favorite Season (Level O). An answer key is also included.

Animals in Winter
Nonfiction reading comprehension
Grade 3
A two-page nonfiction story about what animals do in the winter, plus six pages on comprehension (making comparisons, sequencing), vocabulary (word meanings), phonics (long vowels), and structural analysis (suffixes, comparative and superlative forms).

December 19, 2018
by Evan-Moor
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STEM and the Benefits of Failure

Over the last few years I have heard more and more about the benefits of failure. I realized that we needed to address this in our learning materials in 2015 when I attended ASCD Empower in Houston, Texas. One of the general session speakers was Sarah Lewis, author, curator, and historian. The title of her talk was The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery. She spoke about the mindset that is needed to engage in creative endeavors. She told us how play, grit, surrender, dismissed ideas, experiments, and follow-ups had led to breakthroughs for people.

Today’s Classroom

Having been a writer and editor for many years, I felt validated by her understanding of all the possible outcomes that creative endeavors can produce. I had experienced failure in my professional life. Some of the learning resources that we published didn’t sell well. We knew they provided valuable content, but for some reason, teachers did not purchase them. We needed to re-evaluate them. We needed to better understand what teachers wanted and needed and revise them accordingly. As the editorial team went through this process, we felt that we had failed; we hadn’t done a good enough job. But as we made our way through the design process, we were amazed to see that our revisions truly made the resources better. It was only then that I came to appreciate the benefits of failure and understand how important this mindset would be in 21st-century classrooms.

Importance of the STEM Process

As I learned more about STEM, the design process, and design thinking, I felt reassured knowing that students would learn how important it is to be in an environment in which they can take chances, dream, create new things, knowing that not all of these things would be the end result they envisioned. But that’s okay—the process of empathizing, problem-solving, communicating, and creating something to meet people’s needs is its own reward. It is in the testing, revising, and recreating that you can find satisfaction.

Motivation and Perseverance

So, as you bring STEM challenges and design thinking into your classroom environment, consider the mindset that you will model and share with your students. Consider the freedom one must feel in order to take a chance and create something that may fail, but will be amazing if it succeeds. What do your students need to feel in order to engage in those risks and have it motivate them instead of defeat them? STEM challenges provide the opportunity to help students adopt a mindset that will influence their work for the rest of their lives—their ability to persevere, to believe in the process, and to know that their success and self-worth are not determined by the outcome of the challenge, but are determined by their belief in themselves. We are part of fueling that belief. We are part of modeling the mindset that engages students in creative thinking. We are part of helping them understand that many times failure is one of the best stops on the road to success.

Additional Resources:

Evan-Moor’s STEM Lessons and Challenges teacher’s resource (grades 1–6)
Evan-Moor’s Smart Start STEM activity book (grades PreK–1)

Lisa Vitarisi Mathews is Evan-Moor’s executive editor. She has over 20 years’ experience in PreK–8 education, and has worked closely with teachers across the United States through Evan-Moor product training and workshops.

December 10, 2018
by Evan-Moor
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A Homeschool Review of Evan-Moor’s Skill Sharpeners: Geography

Evan-Moor’s Skill Sharpeners: Geography teaches kids about geography using topics kids enjoy. We reviewed Skill Sharpeners: Geography as a mid-year addition to our homeschooling, and we were delighted to use the activities for learning geography.

In this review of Skill Sharpeners: Geography, I will share:

the features of Skill Sharpeners: Geography
the layout and ease of use
how to use Skill Sharpeners: Geography in your homeschooling
the content in each grade level

Features of Skill Sharpeners: Geography

While doing a review of Skill Sharpeners: Geography, we found several features that worked really well for homeschooling.

The gorgeous photographs and full-color activity pages instantly grab and hold kids’ attention.

Each unit is organized by theme or topic, so it is easy to follow. The activities naturally build on each concept in the unit so kids can see a bigger picture about the world. (Click on the image for a closer view.)

The skills or concepts practiced in each activity are clearly labeled. This makes it easy to see what your child will be learning on each page.

The assignments are effective and short.

Most kids (including my own) enjoy the learning part more than the writing part of an assignment, and Evan-Moor knows that. The tasks are purposeful, yet don’t take a lot of time to complete. More time is spent learning than writing long answers – which keeps kids happy and wanting to learn more.

Skill Sharpeners: Geography includes hands-on learning activities that are a terrific way for kids to apply what they learned at the end of each unit. When kids ask, “Can we please do this activity?” it is a wonderful thing.

The answer key can be found at the back of the book. My kids can easily check their work. We discuss anything they didn’t understand or missed.

Layout of Skill Sharpeners: Geography

One of my favorite things about Skill Sharpeners: Geography is how the layout of each book is easy to follow.

Each unit is highlighted by a band of color that is visible from both open pages and the closed book.. This simple band of color helps my kids see their progress within both the unit and the entire book.

The unit theme is printed down the side of each page, so it is easy to stay focused on what we are learning.

In each unit, the pages have each concept or skill clearly featured at the top of the page.
The geography activities connect to other subject areas including reading, visual literacy, vocabulary, and writing.

Each unit concludes with a hands-on activity that uses what the kids have learned in each unit.

How to Use Skill Sharpeners: Geography in Homeschooling

While reviewing Skill Sharpeners: Geography, it was easy to see how it could be adapted based on a specific child’s needs. Each unit can be completed together or assigned based on what works in your homeschooling.

If your child needs support with reading the lessons and directions, the geography articles can be read aloud. The reading passages are short and filled with interesting information. This helps keep the kids engaged and focused on the lesson.

Once your child is reading, the clear and engaging layout of Skill Sharpeners makes it a great option for independent work. There is an answer key at the back of the book. My children check their own work, and we discuss anything they missed or didn’t understand.

A third option for using Skill Sharpeners: Geography is to teach the main concepts at the beginning of the unit, and then have your child complete the remaining activities independently.

With about 17 units in each Skill Sharpeners: Geography book, we typically complete a unit every two weeks. Of course, we adjust how many pages we complete each school day as needed. It is easy to be flexible with the entire Skill Sharpeners series, which you can check out here.

Solid Curriculum Content

Skill Sharpeners: Geography introduces knowledge and skills in units that are just right for each grade level. It gives me peace of mind to know that the curriculum is thorough and developmentally appropriate for the age of the child.

I wanted to share how much curriculum content is packed into each grade level of Skill Sharpeners: Geography. Here is a list of the themed topics for each grade level:

PreK:

Map skills
Landforms and bodies of water
Continents and oceans
Habitats

Kindergarten:

Map skills
Landforms and bodies of water
Continents and oceans

Grade 1:

Map skills
Places and regions
Continents and oceans
Habitats

Grade 2:

Earth’s weather
Places and regions
Habitats, environments, and physical systems
Human activities and cultures
Uses of geography

Grade 3:

Tornadoes
Earthquakes
Famous mountains
Rivers
Volcanoes
Deserts
Cultures
World travel
Native American history
Unique water formations
Early exploration

Grade 4:

Earth from space
Early explorers
National parks
Antarctica
Amazon
Glaciers
Rainforests
Ancient Greece
Roman waterways
Time zones
Large water systems
Protecting the environment
Future of Earth’s water

Grade 5:

Old and new navigation
GPS coordinates
Dinosaurs
Making mountains
Major volcanoes
Unique habitats
Human migrations in history
Indigenous peoples
World religions
World farming traditions
Modern transportation
National borders
Special animals around the world

Grade 6:

Storms on Earth
Special places on Earth
Iceland
Unique trees
Death Valley and deserts
Landform maps
Colliding plates
Altitudes
Immigration
Angel Island
UNESCO
Dealing with water
Scuba diving
Sea pirates
Sea travel

Conclusion
With an abundance of varying cultures and beautiful places, geography is an ongoing part of our life-long education. Evan-Moor’s Skill Sharpeners: Gography is a terrific option to expand our geography studies.

It is always great when lessons capture our kids’ attention. Plus, finding resources that teach information in manageable lessons is always a good thing. The Skill Sharpeners series consistently offers this ideal balance in our homeschooling.

We enjoyed reviewing Skill Sharpeners: Geography and have continued to use it. We pair it with Daily Geography Practice for a complete geography curriculum. Using these two books together gives us fun ways to practice map skills and learn about the world.

Have you tried Skill Sharpeners: Geography?

I would love to hear your thoughts about it!

Pin it here!

Amy Michaels is a certified teacher with 11 years of elementary classroom experience who is actively homeschooling her own children. Her mission is share the best teaching methods and resources with all homeschoolers. Amy supports parents through her podcasts, webinars, and online training for homeschoolers on her website www.thrivehomeschooling.com.

November 19, 2018
by Evan-Moor
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Holiday Gift Guide for Kids: Educational Stocking Stuffers

Holiday gift guide If your children are like mine, they open their holiday gifts in a frenzy of activity, spend two days playing with them, and then move on. Give yourself the gift that keeps on giving with fun educational stocking stuffers that will entertain your children for weeks. Perfect for holiday travels, indoor activities, and boredom busters, these hands-on activity books turn learning into fun and entertaining activities. Get creative and pair your activity book with a game or themed activity for the perfect gift duo.

Find your child’s favorite subject and plan away.

Science/STEM Theme

Activity Books

Skill Sharpeners: Science

Build your child’s understanding of physical, life, and earth science with colorful and engaging science activities. The short stories and hands-on activities will turn your child into an investigator.

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Skill Sharpeners: Science for grades PreK–6

Smart Start: STEM

Smart Start: STEM introduces important science concepts through science stories, activities, and STEM challenges. Each activity engages young learners in creating simple projects of their own unique design. Getting early learners ready to succeed in school has never been so fun!

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Smart Start: STEM for grades PreK–1

Skill Sharpeners: STEAM
Skill Sharpeners STEAM workbooks use real-world problems and project-based learning to teach critical engagement, empathy, problem-solving, and collaboration. Your kids will become real-world problem solvers all while creating fun, hands-on projects.

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Skill Sharpeners: STEAM for grades PreK–6

STEM/STEAM Theme Gift Pairings

Add critical and creative thinking games, toys, and puzzles for a fun STEM-themed gift. Keep in mind that STEM toys should be age-appropriate and offer longevity for long-lasting entertainment and creativity.

Here are some fun examples of STEM gifts that stimulate creativity and encourage learning:

Magna-Tiles or Magformers
The Gravity Maze
GoldieBlox Ruby Rails Coding Action Figure
Kanoodle
Creative Kids Flakes
Project Mc2 Chemistry We Heart Chemistry

Critical and Creative Thinking Theme

Skill Sharpeners: Critical Thinking

The variety of fun and creative activities in this series will challenge your child to use higher-order thinking skills based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. Every page provides a new and interesting activity that will help your children think outside the box and tap into their creativity. The interesting topics will keep your children coming back for more!

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Skill Sharpeners: Critical Thinking for grades PreK–6

The Never Bored Kid Book

This is my top gift pick for young children for an all-around educational gift that is also entertaining. Each full-color book provides mazes, riddles, hidden pictures, things to cut out, dot-to-dots, and other engaging, age-appropriate activities.

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Never-Bored Kid Book for ages 4–10

Critical and Creative Gift Pairings

Add age-appropriate games that involve critical and creative thinking and a set of art supplies such as:

Uno
Qwirkle
Shut the Box (dice game)
Dominoes
Sudoku Puzzles
Mastermind Game: The Strategy Game of Codemaker vs. Codebreaker
Markers
Paste
Scissors

Reading Theme

Activity Books

Smart Start: Read and Write
Give your kids a head start on next year’s reading and writing skills with Smart Start: Read and Write. Kids will improve their reading and writing abilities with alphabet games, spelling activities, word searches, and other fun learning activities.

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Smart Start: Read and Write for grades PreK-1

Smart Start: Sight Words
Improve reading fluency by teaching your kids sight words and high-frequency words with Smart Start! Through entertaining, full-color stories and interactive learning activities, kids will learn new sight words, high frequency words, and improve their reading abilities.

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Smart Start: Sight Words for grades PreK-1

Skill Sharpeners: Reading

Foster your child’s love of reading with colorful stories and activities. Accompanying activity pages provide engaging activities such as rhyming, word searches, and crossword puzzles.

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Skill Sharpeners: Reading for grades PreK–6

Learning Line: Beginning Sounds

Help your child learn to read with colorful activies and flashcards that teach them beginning letters and sounds. Pair a fun activity book with a set of flashcards for the perfect reading combo! Each flashcard set provides sturdy, colorful cards that practice basic reading skills, as well as ideas for games to use with the cards. As a bonus, each set provides a unique link to corresponding online timed tests for interactive practice!

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Learning Line: Beginning Sounds and Learning Line Flashcards: Word Families

Reading Gift Pairings

Wrap up the reading activity book or flashcards with a new novel, storybook, or book of poems such as:

Grades K-3

Arthur’s Christmas by Marc Brown
Franklin’s Big Book of Stories (Kids Can Read) by Sharon Jennings and Sean Jeffrey
Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman

Grades 2-6

Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection by Bill Watterson
Garfield Fat Cat by Jim Davis

Writing Theme

Activity Books

Skill Sharpeners: Spell and Write

Colorful themed stories and activity pages motivate even the most reluctant readers. Interesting reading topics tap into your children’s creativity and have them practicing important reading strategies without even realizing it.

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Skill Sharpeners: Spell and Write for grades PreK–6

Skill Sharpeners: Grammar and Punctuation
Using a variety of activities, from reading examples to word games to writing practice, kids will improve their grammar, punctuation, and overall writing skills!

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Skill Sharpeners: Grammar and Punctuation for grades PreK–6

Writing Gift Pairings

Wrap up the activity book with a writing journal or new game, such as:

Scrabble Junior
Bananagrams
Apples to Apples Junior
Lulu Jr. Illustory Book-Making Kit

Geography Theme

Activity Books

Skill Sharpeners: Geography

Engage your child in exploring the world while learning important map skills and geography concepts. The reading selections and activities take children beyond basic geographic understandings and into unique ecosystems, biomes, places and regions, histories, cultures, and social movements within our world. Your child will make personal connections to his or her learning by completing expository and creative writing activities as well as hands-on geography projects.

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Skill Sharpeners: Geography for grades PreK–6

Geography Gift Pairings

Wrap up the activity book with a new geography-themed game, map puzzle, kids atlas, or globe.

Gamewright Scrambled States
Children’s Illustrated Atlas
Waypoint Geographic GyroGlobe 4″

Math Theme

Activity Books

Skill Sharpeners: Math

Practice important math concepts with colorful games and puzzles. Topics cover grade-appropriate math practice in fun and engaging thematic formats. The fun games and puzzles included make practicing math facts so much fun your children won’t even realize they are learning.

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Skill Sharpeners: Math for grades PreK–6

Smart Start: Math

Make math fun with engaging and colorful learning activities that teach math using a variety of subjects and activities!

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Smart Start: Math for grades PreK–1

Learning Line: Fun with Math

Motivate early learners with engaging skill-specific practice in 32 full-color pages. Each book presents math skills practice through captivating, colorful activities. Your child will practice skills such as: simple addition and subtraction, telling time, and number sequencing.

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Learning Line: Fun with Math for grades K–1

Learning Line: Flashcards

Each flashcard set provides sturdy, colorful cards that practice basic math skills, as well as ideas for games to use with the cards. As a bonus, each set provides a unique link to corresponding online timed tests for interactive practice!

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Learning Line Flashcards: Counting 1–20 for grades PreK–1

Math Gift Pairings

Pair a math activity book with math and logic games and puzzles for a creative stocking stuffer.

Sumoku
Spot It
Set
Rubik’s cube
Math for Love Prime Climb
ThinkFun Zingo 1-2-3 Number Bingo Game

Take your gift buying to the next level and provide endless opportunities for your child to learn, grow, and play.

Jumbo Activity Book

Top Student

Discover a variety of entertaining and educational activities for children in the Top Student jumbo activity books. Hundreds of colorful and engaging activities allow children to strengthen their skills across all curriculum areas. The mindful moments activities and reward stickers create enjoyable and fun learning opportunities for children.

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Top Student activity book for grades PreK-6.

Gift Pairings for social and emotional learning and computer science

Help children learn to understand and regulate their emotions with these social and emotional games and activities! Plus, fun computer programing and science activities to keep little minds busy indoors.

Mindfulness Therapy Games: social skills game that teaches mindfulness for kids and communication skills 40 cards for play therapy
Learn, Grow, Succeed!: A Kids Growth Mindset Journal.
Playz My First Coding & Computer Science Kit
ThinkFun Code Master Programming Logic Game and STEM Toy
National Geographic Magic Chemistry Set

Parents, sign up for Evan-Moor’s monthly education e-newsletter to receive free learning activities!

November 15, 2018
by Evan-Moor
0 comments

A Review of Evan-Moor’s Daily Higher-Order Thinking

Since we use thinking skills to make decisions each and every day, teaching kids to use critical thinking skills is a priceless part of their education.

While reviewing Evan-Moor’s Daily Higher-Order Thinking, I was delighted to find many opportunities for kids to practice thinking skills in a variety of ways. The book features several thinking strategies and skills as they apply to topics kids enjoy.

In this review, I will share: The features of Daily Higher-Order Thinking

The layout and ease of use
BONUS: Money-saving tip

Daily Higher-Order Thinking is organized into 30 weekly units.

The weekly units have a short activity for each day of the week that can be completed in 15–20 minutes each day.
Activities are based on critical thinking skills including analyzing, composing, critiquing, designing, evaluating options, modeling, organizing, predicting, and problem-solving.

Layout of Daily Higher-Order Thinking
There are 30 weekly units in Daily Higher-Order Thinking that increase in difficulty as your child works through the book. Each day’s task is a full-page activity that should be completed in 15–20 minutes. These are not your typical workbook activities. Each page invites your child to use critical thinking skills to solve puzzles, problems, and other fun activities.

Both the weekly unit and day of the week are clearly labeled, which helps your child quickly find the assignment for each day.

The critical thinking skill used on each page is stated at the top of each page. We made sure to read the skill and definition aloud before beginning each day’s activity. This helps your child understand which critical thinking skill will help him or her solve each day’s task.

How to Use Daily Higher-Order Thinking in Your Homeschooling
Evan-Moor books are easy for both kids and adults to follow, and Daily Higher-Order Thinking is a great example of that.

With a clearly marked label for the daily task within each weekly unit, kids instantly know which pages they need to complete each day.

When reviewing Daily Higher-Order Thinking, we tried using it in various ways. Some weeks, we did one page a day for 5 days. Other weeks, we completed 1–2 pages a day. Finally, we tried doing all 5 pages in the weekly unit on the same day.

Each approach worked well for us. Having the flexibility to use Daily Higher-Order Thinking in different ways was a great option. As life happens, Daily Higher-Order Thinking could be adjusted as we needed.

Money-Saving Tip
If you are using Daily Higher-Order Thinking in your homeschooling, I recommend buying just the printed teacher’s edition since it has the answer key at the back of the book. The teacher’s edition also includes full-page student pages that can be used as a workbook for kids.

The reason I recommend the kids working with the answer key is simple. Since these activities invite your child to think differently, the answer key can be part of the learning process. The kids and I could quickly check their answers to make sure they were on the right track if needed.

It was also convenient to have the answer key at the back of the book so the kids could check their own work. If they happened to get the wrong answer, they used the answer key to find the correct answer. This gave them a direction to redo their work. We would discuss what they did incorrectly and how to fix it.

We found that using the answer key as part of the learning process actually helped my kids keep learning if they were struggling. It actually helped them to use even more critical thinking skills to evaluate their own work!

Download a free sample of Daily Higher-Order Thinking here!

Conclusion
After reviewing Daily Higher-Order Thinking, I was reminded how important it is that kids are guided in using critical thinking skills. Often these skills are not taught directly, yet they are a vital life skill. I highly recommend using Daily Higher-Order Thinking with your kids.

Did you know that Daily Higher-Order Thinking is part of the popular Evan-Moor Daily Practice series? You can check out the other 9 subjects here.

November 5, 2018
by Evan-Moor
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Easy Indoor Recess Ideas

Indoor recess can create a long day for teachers and students. Everyone needs a little time to work out their wiggles and take a break from the formalities of the classroom. Instead of turning on a movie, give students some fun activities that will get them moving, thinking, and learning.

Check out these easy and fun ways to let kids release their pent-up energy in a controlled way and play educational games. These indoor recess activities can also be adapted for classroom holiday parties to keep students engaged and focused.

1. Dance Videos
Need I say more? One of the perks of teaching in the 21st century is the abundance of kid-friendly technology. Hook up your computer and smart board and grove your way through recess. Go Noodle is a free resource for teachers!

2. Board Games
Hit up your local garage sales for used board games to keep on hand. Keep in mind that your students will have limited time to play, so time-sensitive games like Monopoly may cause some frustration.

Train your students to keep game pieces together and choose games that do not contain noise makers. Also, limit players for each game from 2 to 6 to prevent crowding.

Game suggestions:
Connect Four
Candy Land
Go Fish cards
Large puzzles
Uno
Battleship
Jumanji
Apples to Apples Jr.
Chess/Checkers board
Scrabble
Legos (A sign-up list may be required for this popular activity)

3. “Paper Chase” Measurement Activity
“Paper Chase” is a ten-minute indoor recess activity that combines movement with a learning activity. Teams of students measure lengths of paper hidden around the classroom; the group with the longest line is the winner.

Download your free instructions for grades 3–6 here.

Materials:
Scrap paper
Ruler
Yardstick/Meter stick

How to play:

In advance, cut up paper into strips of equal width but with varying lengths, from 2″ (5 cm) to 18″ (45.5 cm) or longer if you have paper of longer lengths.
Hide the paper lengths around the room.
Divide students into three or four groups.
Explain that you have hidden lots of paper strips around the room and that some are short and some are long.
Allow 3 minutes for groups to find as many strips as possible.
Designate an area for each group to lay out their strips end to end.
Measure the lines of the strips. The group with the longest line is the winner.

4. Heads-up 7 Up
This is an old school indoor game quiet enough to keep your students under control while still having fun.

How to play:

Select a small group of students (5 or so) to stand in the back of the classroom.
The rest of the class puts their heads down on their desks with their thumbs up. (no peeking)
The selected group of students walks through the classroom and each chooses one person. They gently touch the students’ thumbs and quietly return to the back of the classroom.
When each person has touched a student’s thumbs, tell the rest of the class they can sit up.
Students whose thumbs were touched must guess which of the students selected picked them. If they get it correct, they switch places and get to choose for the next round.

5. Simple Arts, Crafts, and Coloring
No matter how old your students get, some of them will still love art projects and coloring. You don’t need to drag out all your art supplies for students to enjoy themselves. Scrap paper, dollar store coloring books, recycled magazines and seasonal puzzles and worksheets are great to keep in your rainy day art bin.

If students need inspiration, suggest making a colorful collage:

In this activity, students can work together and cut and paste warm and cool colored pictures from magazines. Here’s a free printable from How to Teach Art to Children.

6. Dice Game Sixes
This simple numbers game will surprise you. My students loved playing this game and didn’t even realize they were practicing their number fluency.

Materials:
One dice per group
Paper and pencils

How to play:

Group students into groups of four or six with one dice. (or vice versa to match above; either is correct)
Each person in the group rolls once, trying to get a six.
The first person to roll a six takes the paper and pencil and begins to write the numbers 1–50 (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.).
The rest of the group continues rolling to try and get a six.
The next person to roll a six takes the pencil and paper and continues where the first person stopped writing the numbers to 50. The person who was writing gets to roll the dice again.
The person who writes the number 50 is the winner. (Even if someone else wrote the numbers 1–49, the person who writes the 50 wins.)

7. Indoor Recess: Invisible Recess
Practice dramatic play in your room with a classic game of charades.

List on the white board the equipment found on the playground, such as monkey bars, jungle gym, swings, slide, tetherball, and skill balls. (You can include items not found at your school.)
Ask students to imagine that they can play on any piece of playground equipment.
Call on a student to pantomime something he or she would do on the equipment.
The other students try to guess what activity is being portrayed.
The student who guesses correctly gets to do the next pantomime.

8. Hot Potato
This is a simple activity you won’t need to prepare for, but one that students enjoy playing.

Gather students into a seated circle.
Select one student to be the caller. The student must close his or her eyes (you can blindfold the student to make it fair).
Pass a beanbag or ball around or across the circle (gently thrown only).
When the caller calls out “STOP,” the person holding the ball must leave the circle.

Best Practices for Indoor Recess: Keep your classroom calm and organized during indoor recess, with an organized list of rules and expectations for this time period.

Rotate your game selections to keep students from getting bored.
Set up sign-up sheets so everyone gets a turn with their top choice.
Review rules such as noise level, inclusion, clean-up, and remaining at their chosen station.

For more free lessons and teaching tips, sign up for our monthly e-newsletter.

November 5, 2018
by Evan-Moor
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Fall-Themed Hands-on Thinking Activities

These free downloadable Thanksgiving-themed critical thinking centers will be sure to please your students! “Who Likes Pumpkin Pie?” and “Sensible Squash” are hands-on center activities that will keep students engaged, especially during the excitement of Thanksgiving festivities. Center activities are perfect as short time-fillers and as a Thanksgiving-themed classroom activity – while providing the educational benefit of boosting critical thinking skills!

Find time in your busy classroom schedule to incorporate critical thinking centers and logic puzzles. Logic puzzles strengthen students’ abilities to practice close reading and make inferences based on information given.

Who Likes Pumpkin Pie? Center Activity
Grades 1–3
Students use clues to figure out which person likes pumpkin pie.

Materials

containers of counters
crayons
reproducible page and center sign; download here.

Steps to Follow

Discuss strategies for working with a logic matrix such as identifying clues and what information they give. Does the clue eliminate someone or something? (Highlighting key words and phrases help students pinpoint important clues.)
Read the clues and put a counter on the correct box. If there can be no other answer for that person, make an X in all the boxes after that name. Since each person eats only one thing, make an X on all the other boxes under that food. For example: make an X on all the other foods in Ann’s row. Also make an X on all the other boxes under ice cream.
Explain to students that once they are happy with their answers, they are to remove the counters one at a time, coloring in the boxes they have marked.
If students have limited experience solving a matrix problem, have them work in pairs.

*From Hands-on Thinking Activities: Centers Through the Year, grades 1–3. This e-book gives you everything you need to create a wide variety of activity centers that build critical thinking skills. Activities include math concepts, science concepts, and language topics.

Sensible Squash Thinking Activity Center
Grades 3–6
Students follow a series of clues to find the color pattern in which the squash grew.

Materials

4 sets of colored squash cards (sets contain one of each red, green, blue, yellow, pink, and orange)
4 envelopes for storing the squash cards
small plastic bags containing one color of each crayon
copies of student record sheet; download your free printable here.

Steps to Follow

Laminate and cut out cards.
Place each set of cards in an envelope (you should have 4 envelope sets).
Encourage students to create more squash patterns and write the clues on the back of their record sheets.

*Hands-on Thinking Activities: Centers Through the Year, grades 1–3. This e-book gives you everything you need to create a wide variety of activity centers that build critical thinking skills. Activities include math concepts, science concepts, and language topics.

For more free printables and lesson ideas subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter.

November 1, 2018
by Evan-Moor
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Teaching Kids About Veterans Day: Activities and Books

Squeezed between Halloween and Thanksgiving, Veterans Day can feel like the forgotten holiday and go unnoticed by children and adults alike.

The purpose behind this national holiday is to celebrate and honor American veterans for their patriotism and service and to recognize the sacrifices that so many men and women have made on our behalf.

Teaching our children to understand and appreciate the cost of freedom instills in them an appreciation for their country, government, and national history. Take time to teach children why we observe this important holiday and to bring attention to Veterans Day with activities and books that help children understand its importance.

1. Know a Veteran? Thank a Veteran.
Children often do not recognize that veterans are not just individuals in uniform, but that they can be everyday people, such as teachers, doctors, and mechanics. Ask your children if they know someone who served in the military. Discuss what those individuals are doing now within your community. If possible, thank them for their service!

2. Read Books Aloud (for readability)
Check out Veterans Day books from your library on the history and significance of Veterans Day. Here are a few recommended books to read for Veterans Day:

Veterans: Heroes in Our Neighborhood
Valerie Pfundstein
Ages 3–7
A colorful rhyming picture book to help young children appreciate the individuals within our community who served.

The Poppy Lady: Moina Belle Michael and Her Tribute to Veterans
Barbara Walsh
Ages 7–10
This is the real-life story of Moina Belle Michael, a school teacher from Georgia during WWI, who established the red poppy as the symbol to honor and remember soldiers.

What is Veterans Day?
Margot Parker
Ages 4–9
This simple children’s book explains why we celebrate Veterans Day.

Klinger: A Story of Honor and Hope
Betsy Beard
Ages 8–12
Based on the story of a real horse who worked in Arlington National Cemetery, this heartfelt story tells the story of Klinger, a cassia horse who dreams of fame in the race track but finds fulfillment in honoring fallen soldiers. Beard is able to convey the solemnness and sacrifice of war in a context that young children can understand.

Tucky Jo and Little Heart
Patricia Polacco
Ages 4–9
This picture book tells the story of a WWII soldier and a young girl who helps him. Perfect for young children, this tale relates how the young soldier and little girl show kindness to each other during a difficult war.

3. Plant Red Poppies
Veterans Day, also called Remembrance Day or Armistice Day, is symbolized with a red poppy. Plant some red poppies with your children to honor the people who have served in our military. The flowers will provide a yearly reminder for your family. (This activity pairs perfectly with the The Poppy Lady.)
Learn more about the history of the poppy and Veterans Day here!

4. Veterans Day Art Project: Folded Paper Soldier
Have some artistic fun with this Veterans Day folded paper soldier and create a table decoration to honor Veterans or to present with a thank-you note to a veteran you know. Perfect for home or school, this Veterans Day art project is a great way to encourage children to celebrate Veterans Day in their home. To extend the learning, children can research different branches of the military or the history of Veterans Day.

Download your template for this folded paper soldier art activity.

Directions for Veterans Day craft:

Begin with a 9″ (23 cm) square of construction paper in the color of your choosing. Follow the steps to make the basic cross-legged form.
Cut out the head and the helmet and glue them to the body.
Cut out the military seal of your choosing and glue it to the uniform.
Cut out the Thank You, Veterans! poem and glue it to the front of the uniform as shown in the example.
Use scraps of construction paper, paint, crayons, or colored pencils to add details to the helmet and uniform.

Watch a video of the activity below.