The Joy of Teaching – Page 35 of 46

January 13, 2016
by Evan-Moor
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Hundreds of Ways to Celebrate the 100 Days of School: Ideas for Kindergarten and 1st Grade

Reaching the 100th day of school is a reason to celebrate and provides a springboard for learning! This blog features more than 100 ideas through printable lessons, blog links, and favorite Pinterest boards.

Evan-Moor printable activities for the 100 days of school:

Grade K: The 100th Day of School activities
This unit’s theme is “celebrating 100 days of school” and includes a read-aloud story, vocabulary, listening/speaking skills, comprehension (finish a picture), listen for short vowel sounds, and more.
From Everyday Literacy: Listening & Speaking

Grades K–1: Count by 5s to 100
Celebrate 100 days of school with counting fun! This math unit presents five activities in which students count by 5s to 100 (by connecting dots, following a path, filling in numbers on a grid, and others).
From Basic Math Skills

Grade 1: 100 Days of School thinking skills
This unit includes a variety of activities, such as filling in missing numbers, making 100 into a face, answering questions about cost, identifying vowels and consonants, and more.
From Critical and Creative Thinking Activities

$Brown bag math book, counting by 100s$ Grade 1+: Brown Bag Math Book
This project can be adapted for many grade levels and includes a writing template, picture patterns, and directions for how a class could make a math book by creating sets of 10 or 100.
From How to Make Books with Children

Other resources and ideas:

From Howywood Kindergarten blog

“When I’m 100 years old” activities: Here’s an adorable idea using brown paper bags and construction paper from the Howywood Kindergarten blog. Students can create self-portraits of what they would look like at 100 years old or dress up as if they were 100 years old.
Counting fun: This blog is chockfull of ideas for incorporating math into 100th-day-of-school celebrations. Be sure to see the links for creative ideas for classrooms and schools to bring math into 100 days celebrations.
Arts and crafts: This post provides a collection of 75 clever ideas to celebrate 100 days of school, including a 100 days of school crown, photo ideas, and other crafts.
Read-alouds: Here are suggested books for 100 days of school by Apples 4 the Teacher and 10 picture books about 100 to help young children count from one to 100. Suggested books include I’ll Teach My Dog 100 Words, From One to One Hundred, and One Watermelon Seed.
Get active: As individuals or teams, students can complete 100 jumping jacks or other exercise, bounce a ball 100 times, or run 100 laps (in a relay).
Build something: Students count 100 items and build a structure out of Legos, cups, blocks, or popsicle sticks. The possibilities are endless!

Evan-Moor’s Pinterest board includes dice games, crafts, and favorite read-alouds for 100 days of school: 100th Day Activities—Our Favorite Pins.

Please share your favorite ideas in the comments section or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter. Look for #100DaysofSchool.

Theresa Wooler has more than 10 years’ experience in K–6 classrooms as a parent volunteer and homeschool educator, has taught high school English, and is currently involved in education through Evan-Moor’s marketing communications team.

January 7, 2016
by Evan-Moor
1 Comment

He Changed America by Talking: Classroom Activities to Celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.

As we celebrate a national holiday in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., how do you help your students or children appreciate his life’s work and legacy? These Evan-Moor lesson ideas provide some insight into Dr. King’s poignant teachings, which are still relevant to our world today.

Save these ideas and PIN IT!

Evan-Moor printable activities:

Grades PreK–K: Martin Luther King, Jr., Activities
(From Seasonal Activities)

Grades K–2: Dr. King Writing Form
(From Writing Forms: Tops & Bottoms)

Grades 1–2: He Changed America by Talking
(From Read and Understand: Celebrating Diversity)

Grades 3–4: Biographical Article and Activities
(From Read and Understand: Celebrating Diversity)

Grades 4–8: Spanish/English Biography and Activities
(From Spanish/English Read and Understand)

Grades 1–6: The Handshake Book
(From How to Make Books with Children)

Grades 1-6: Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Additional resources

This Martin Luther King, Jr., Pinterest Board provides Evan-Moor lesson ideas and resources.
13 Civil Rights Picture Books for Kids

Hand-in-Hand for a Better Land bulletin board template and writing prompts (from Evan-Moor’s Seasonal Bulletin Boards):

What does it mean to stand “hand-in-hand”? Have your students tell about a time when they stood together for a common belief or cause. How did standing hand-in-hand make a difference?
Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream that all people would be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. Have students write about what makes up a person’s character.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (August 28, 1963)

Image of Theresa Wooler Theresa Wooler has more than 10 years’ experience in K–6 classrooms as a parent volunteer and homeschool educator, has taught high school English, and is currently involved in education through Evan-Moor’s marketing communications team.

December 2, 2015
by Evan-Moor
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How to Teach Inference with Picture Prompts

Making inferences is a higher-order thinking skill used across the curriculum, but it may seem like an abstract skill to teach. Fortunately, there is a method for teaching inference with pictures that makes inference more approachable for any teacher. Here’s a simple strategy to help students learn to make logical inferences based on clues that they infer from looking at a picture. This strategy works well because it engages students’ natural curiosity. You can also apply this same method for reading activities.

1. Show students an intriguing photograph or picture.

2. Ask students what they see in the picture and what they think is happening in the picture.

Depending on the picture, you can present this strategy as a mystery. Students solve the mystery for each group of inference pictures by examining clues to help them explain it. For example, ask students “How did the puddle get there?” and work together to provide clues.

A simple statement may help students focus their answer, such as:

“I see…” (describe what is happening in the picture)
“I think…or I infer” (describe what is happening based on clues in the picture)

For example: “I see a boy walking his dog. I infer that it rained because he is wearing rain boots and wants to splash in the puddle.”

3. Read a passage or short story and ask students to apply the same statement to what they’ve read. First, ask students to describe what is happening (“I see…”) and then provide clues to what they think is happening (“I infer..”)

For example: The short passages from this grade 4 Daily Reading Comprehension unit provide strategy practice. As students read the story, they are looking for clues to explain what happened. (See the reading passages for days 3, 4, and 5.)

Ideas for picture prompts:

Picture books are helpful for finding intriguing inference pictures or illustrations. This teacher blogger shares her favorites in 10 + 1 Picture Books to Teach Inference. Here are a few more suggestions from teachers:

In the Woods: Who’s Been Here? by Lindsay Barrett George
Looking Down by Steve Jenkins
Suddenly by Colin McNaughton
Zathura and The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg

Here’s another idea for collecting a variety of inference pictures. Ask students to clip funny pictures from magazines or bring in an interesting photo from home. You can fill a shoebox with potential picture prompts!

Other resources:

This thorough ASCD article outlines four strategies for teaching inference.

This Reading Rockets article provides additional lesson ideas to help teach inference across subject areas.

Daily Reading Comprehension, grades 1–8, teaches students reading skills and strategies, including making inferences. The short daily lessons are easy to integrate, and the comprehensive skills list helps you target instruction.

December 1, 2015
by Evan-Moor
0 comments

Festive Fingerprint Art Cards for Holiday Gifts

With a few simple art supplies, your students or children can create beautiful, custom-made holiday cards using their fingers to stamp or print a design. For the finishing touches, use markers, a pencil eraser dipped in paint, and ribbon or yarn. See this free printable Festive Fingerprint Art Cards for a materials list, step-by-step directions, and sample projects.

Other ideas:

Students can glue their artwork to colored construction paper to create a card for a family member or for a teacher gift.
Punch a hole in the corner of the print and tie with a ribbon to use as a gift tag.
Frame the artwork as a gift.
Create larger designs on white or brown butcher paper and use as wrapping paper for holiday gifts.

These ideas are from Evan-Moor’s Art for All Seasons, which has over 100 creative art projects for every season. The 28 projects for winter include a Santa bag, a reindeer card holder, a little drummer boy, a Hanukkah pop-up card, a kinara for Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year dragon, and a chain of hearts for Valentine’s Day.

November 20, 2015
by Evan-Moor
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Let’s Talk Turkey (Animal Research for Kids)

Do you have kids who enjoy learning about animals? When kids are interested in a topic, their motivation is golden!

One of my favorite ways to set kids up for success is to use sticky notes. I give each child 3 sticky notes and ask them to find 3 things about the animal they find interesting. Then each child can share his or her findings. Even non-readers can put a sticky note on interesting photos or illustrations they find.

Of course, you can give specific guidelines for the kids to research. Here are some ideas to ask the kids to find:

Where does the animal live?
What type of animal is it? (mammal, reptile, amphibian, bird, insert, etc.)
Does this animal live in groups or alone? What is the name of this animal’s group?
What is this animal’s offspring (baby) called?
What does this animal eat?
What is this animal’s size?
What unique features does this animal have?

We have been learning about several forest animals lately, such as squirrels, owls, and turkeys. We connected our research about turkeys with this Evan-Moor activity from U.S. Facts and Fun for grades 1–3. We learned how eagles and turkeys are different. Then we learned more about why the eagle was chosen over the turkey as the U.S. national bird.

Here are 5 kid-friendly websites we use as our “go-to” sources to collect more animal facts:

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/
http://kids.sandiegozoo.org/animals/zoo-animals
http://discoverykids.com/category/animals/
https://kidskonnect.com/animals/
http://www.kidsbiology.com/

Of course, you will find over 340 activities in Evan-Moor’s TeacherFileBox focusing on learning about animals. 60 of those activities are specific to researching, too!

BONUS: Here is a FREE printable to use for kids to record research (from Evan-Moor’s Giant Science Resource Book for grades 1–6.)

Do your kids enjoy learning about animals? If so, what animals are their favorites? Let us know in the comments section.

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 http://www.thrivehomeschooling.com.

November 19, 2015
by Evan-Moor
0 comments

How to Create a Gratitude Jar

It is the time of year when most families take the time to reflect on being grateful. Here is a fun way to get your children engaged in writing while learning gratitude. Sound too good to be true? It really is pretty simple.

To get started, choose a jar or bowl as your Family Gratitude Jar.

Each day, each family member takes a piece of paper and writes down one reason s/he is grateful. The piece of paper is added to the gratitude jar.

Continue each day through the holidays.

Then, starting in the new year, choose one piece of paper from the jar each day. Read it aloud to remember each thing that a family member is grateful for. Breakfast or family meal time is a wonderful time to think about gratitude.

Once you get your family started on thinking about gratitude, you can encourage them to keep adding to the jar all year long. Gratitude can change the attitude, right? Plus, it is a quick and easy way to get your children engaged in purposeful writing!

If you would like to encourage your child to write more about the reason s/he is grateful, Evan-Moor’s TeacherFileBox.com has a gratitude writing activity to try.

How do you encourage your family to show gratitude? Please share in the comments section!

November 10, 2015
by Evan-Moor
0 comments

Holiday Gift Ideas: Educational and Affordable Gifts for Kids

If you like to include mind-stimulating games and books for holiday gifts, take a look at Evan-Moor activity books and flashcards. Affordable and educational, these colorful workbooks entertain while presenting practice of grade-level skills. A win-win!

Here are a few holiday gift ideas and ways to wrap up activity books with related art, writing, or science supplies:

The Never-Bored Kid Books 1 and 2, Ages 4–9

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. 144–160 full-color pages.

Gift idea: Wrap the book up with new art supplies that are useful for the activities in the book, such as scissors, glue stick, colored pencils, or crayons.

Learning Line activity books and Flashcards, Grades PreK–2
Learning Line books: These colorful activity books provide little learners practice of essential reading and math skills with a variety of activities. Each book focuses on a specific skill such as sequencing, reading sight words, counting, and telling time. 32 full-color pages.

Flashcards: Each flashcard set provides sturdy, colorful cards that practice basic reading and 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! 56 cards.

Gift idea: Pair an activity book with a corresponding flashcard set, or use as a stocking stuffer! Activity books can be rolled to fit into a stocking.

At-Home Tutor, Grades PreK–2
These books are ideal for providing young children with basic skill practice in fun, engaging activities. Each book covers math or reading/language skills that children learn in the classroom in a colorful and inviting format. 96 full-color pages.

Gift idea: Wrap up math books with a set of math counters or manipulatives—marbles, counting bears, or a traditional wooden abacus. For the reading and language activity books, add a new pen/pencil case with fresh pencils and pens to complete the activities.

Skill Sharpeners: Science, Grades PreK–6
This series provides interesting reading selections on grade-appropriate science topics with follow-up activities and hands-on projects. 144 full-color pages.

Gift idea: You can use a topic covered in the book and provide a related science kit or simple supplies for a hands-on project, such as magnet sets.

Skill Sharpeners: Critical Thinking, Grades PreK–6

The fun activities in this book help children think outside the box. Puzzles, word problems, riddles, drawings, and hands-on activities encourage kids to use critical and creative thinking skills. 144 full-color pages

Gift idea: Wrap up this activity book with a puzzle, craft kit, or building toy that encourages creative and critical thinking.

Skill Sharpeners: Reading and Skill Sharpeners: Spell & Write, Grades PreK–6
Engaging stories and activities and delightful illustrations make these a child-friendly choice! 144 full-color pages.

Gift idea: Wrap up the activity book with a new novel or storybook, a book of poems, a journal, or a game that involves reading or spelling, such as Scrabble Junior, Bananagrams, or Clue.

Skill Sharpeners: Math, Grades PreK–6
Each title covers important grade-level math skills practice and includes test practice in a non-intimidating activity book format. 144 full-color pages.

Gift idea: Add age-appropriate games that involve math skills or counting, such as Uno, Qwirkle, Shut the Box (dice game), Dominoes, or Sudoku.

Other helpful sources:

This blogger provides a comprehensive list of top learning toys for building STEM skills.
Need an idea for a classic book to give a child? See this list of 100 great children’s books compiled by children’s librarians at The New York Public Library.
See all of the Evan-Moor at-home enrichment resources on this Pinterest board: Educational Gifts for Children.

November 4, 2015
by Evan-Moor
0 comments

Time-Saving Tips for Teachers and Homeschoolers

Do you like saving time? Most of us do! In today’s post, I wanted to share 7 time-saving tips that have made a huge difference in the quality of my children’s learning and in my teaching.

1) Know your intention. In a world in which social media share a bazillion truly great ideas, filtering all this information will save your sanity. Your filter is your intention. Personally, I write down my intention. It brings me back into focus after losing an hour to the picture-perfect online world. If you know WHY you are doing WHAT you are doing, it is much easier to stay the course and reach the finish line.

2) Plan less to learn more. “But WAIT!!” you say, “I already have so much to do, how does planning less increase learning?” It is as simple as the fact that the brain can only focus on and process so much at a time. Learning takes effort and can drain our energy. By planning truly quality lessons (rather than assignments to keep students busy), our children are more likely to stay interested longer and remember the lesson!

3) Combine 2 or more skills in each activity. One of my favorite time-saving tips is to combine skills within one activity. For example, while searching in a book for words with a /ch/ sound (a new skill), my child’s recording chart asked her to sort the words she found by the number of syllables in each word (which is a review for her). So she is actually practicing 2 skills (identifying words with a certain sound, and sorting words by the number of syllables) within the same activity. This allows us to save time and include review of skills while practicing a new skill.

4) Get the kids involved in planning, preparations, and clean-up. Do you ask your children what they want to learn? Kids are so smart and know their areas of strength and weakness. By asking them what interests them, you can choose activities that will help them stay focused and want to learn. This means less time spent trying to motivate and encourage focus.

Also, involving children in preparation for activities both builds anticipation and gives them a sense of ownership of the activity. Likewise, when children clean up after an activity, they are learning to be responsible. I know we all want responsible children!

When we take the time to train kids how to help, they not only save us time, but they take a more active role in their learning.

5) Use the power of the Post-it. Let me confess that I don’t fully understand the power of the Post-it. However, when I give my kids 3 Post-its to write down facts in a book, jot down ideas for a writing activity, or mark words they don’t know in a story, there has never, EVER been a complaint. Also, if you leave a stack within reach, Post-its make a great mini-book! ☺

Why does this save time? Well, I use this strategy to get kids quickly working on something that is less appealing (no pun intended) to them. They focus and are happy to complete the task (and usually ask for more Post-its to keep working!).

6) Keep a timer handy. It is so easy to lose track of time, and using a timer helps keep us all on track. I use a timer to remind us to eat a snack BEFORE the kids get grumpy. I use a timer to allow us plenty of time to clean up and prepare for the next day (see #4), since rushing around doesn’t typically create a joyful day at our house. I use a timer just to keep me aware of where we are in our schedule. However, just because the timer beeps doesn’t mean we stop our science experiment to do math. It just means that I am aware of pacing us to focus on our intentions (see #1).

7) Pick your battles by letting them choose. This strategy is great for THOSE days. You know… the days when everything is a battle. I learned this strategy from the behavior specialists. People, no matter if they are 3 or 83, like to feel they have choices.

You simply ask your child, “Do you want to do math or reading first today?” Both options will get done, but the child feels he or she has a choice. This is a win for you because both need to get done anyway, and it really doesn’t matter which is done first today. You can also use this strategy for snack choices, which outfit to wear, selecting a book to read, and many more.

The key is that all of the options you give them are good options. Then, you secretly keep everyone focused on those intentions and moving along the course. This saves you time (and likely some stress, too).

BONUS TIP: Search for your teaching resources using TeacherFileBox.com.

Have you tried TeacherFileBox? You can quickly search for quality Evan-Moor lesson plans and activities by grade level, subject, skill, and/or state standard! Finding great lessons quickly is an essential time saver!

If you like saving money, as well, TeacherFileBox is your one resource for lessons for grades PreK–8 for $12.99 a month or $99 a year. I bet you are spending more than that on curriculum already. Give it a try for free for 30 days by clicking here.

What are your favorite time-saving tips for teaching? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

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 http://www.thrivehomeschooling.com.

October 27, 2015
by Evan-Moor
0 comments

Feed a Growing Brain: Foods That Shape Up Brain Cells

One of the hallmarks of a healthy cell is a pliable, flexible membrane ready and able to drink in the nutrients critical for peak performance and jettison toxins and metabolic byproducts that may cause harm. A child’s brain cells are no exception and will thrive when nourished by a nutrient-rich diet.

Parents can help prime a child’s brain cells for optimal learning by focusing on nutrients essential for healthy cell membranes not only in the brain, but also throughout the body. One of these nutrients is omega-3 essential fatty acids.

The superstar omega-3
When it comes to brain health, two omega-3 fatty acids—ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid)—can lend a helping hand, but the star is DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). We must consume ALA in the foods we eat because our bodies can’t make it. But after we consume ALA, our bodies can summon a few enzymes into action to convert it into EPA and finally into DHA.

Why is this conversion so important? Both EPA and DHA influence the physical nature of cell membranes and cellular functions, while DHA plays an important structural role in the eye and brain. Trouble is, the rate of conversion is less than impressive. In fact, some researchers report that the body converts only about 15 percent of the typical ALA intake to EPA and DHA.

Now, we don’t have to rely on the body to convert ALA to DHA if we eat enough DHA-rich foods, but sadly, the typical American diet doesn’t come close to providing an adequate intake. For example, health experts recommend a daily intake of at least 650 milligrams for EPA and DHA combined. Yet, researchers report the typical American diet provides only about one-third of this amount—about 100 to 200 milligrams per day.

Good food sources of omega-3 fatty acids
English walnuts, flaxseed, green leafy vegetables such as purslane and spinach, and certain vegetable oils—canola, soybean, flaxseed, linseed, and olive—are particularly good sources of ALA. The only foods that supply substantial amounts of EPA and DHA are fish—particularly cold-water fish such as salmon, haddock, mackerel, tuna, anchovies, and sardines.

A word of caution
Some types—shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish—tend to concentrate higher amounts of the toxic heavy metal mercury. So, choose fish that are known to be lower in mercury more often. Think shellfish, canned fish, smaller ocean fish, and farm-raised fish. Or, consider supplementing with fish oil, which contains less mercury compared to fish meat. High-quality fish oil supplements meet strict standards to ensure low mercury content.
Kathleen & Lorna
Co-authors of Eating for A’s

Lorna Williams, MPH, RD, and Kathleen Dunn, MPH, RD, are registered dietitians who have been collaborating on health and nutrition projects for over 20 years. Together, they launched EatingFor.com, a fun and educational website focusing on child and teen nutrition, and co-authored Eating for A’s: A month-by-month nutrition and lifestyle guide to help raise smarter kids.

October 22, 2015
by Evan-Moor
1 Comment

One Teacher’s Story: My Morning Routine

This year I entered a new grade level and wasn’t sure what it was going to bring. I felt just like a student on my first day, that anxious butterfly feeling, not know what the day would hold for me. 32 bright-eyed sixth graders filled my classroom and were just as nervous and excited as I was. I was eager to use many of my new curriculum purchases and ideas that I had stumbled across over the summer.

This year I am using Daily Language Review and Daily Math Practice books to start my mornings off. When the students come in, the first thing they do is unpack, turn in their homework and then proceed to work on the review questions for the day. This entire process takes up the first 10–15 minutes of each morning. It is a great way to kick-start the morning and get that brain power going!

Daily Language Review practice incorporates grammar, vocabulary skills, language skills, and sentence structure that is all aligned to Common Core. What I love about this practice book is that it builds off of itself over the course of the school year. As the students learn skills, they are able to put them into practice each morning while working on the worksheets. After the students have completed the daily practice, I project the worksheet up on my ELMO projector. We correct the five questions together as a class, and I use equity sticks to have students come up to the projector and walk us through the answer that they got. It is a great way to get all of the students involved.

Daily Math Practice is also aligned to Common Core and provides math practice on skills such as multiplication, division, fractions, addition, subtraction, and word problems. It too, builds upon itself as the school year progresses. I follow the same guidelines as with Daily Language Review, but instead of correcting the problems together first thing in the morning, we take the first five minutes after recess to go over the math problems. On Friday, I use the problems that we have reviewed over the course of the week and give the students a quiz. It is a great way for me to check for understanding and make sure that they know the concepts that we are going over. If the students struggled with a particular concept, I supply them with additional worksheets for classwork and homework.

Both of these books have been very beneficial to my classroom routine and learning environment. The students are loving the worksheets and are getting great use out of them! I highly recommend these products to every teacher at any grade level. You certainly will not be disappointed!

Erin Sawyer has been an elementary school teacher for 8 years and currently teaches sixth grade. She has also taught third and fourth grades. Erin enjoys finding resources that will motivate and challenge her students to learn. She also serves as the student council mentor to the upper-grade students.