The Joy of Teaching – Page 7 of 46

December 15, 2021
by Evan-Moor
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Celebrating Three Kings Day (Día de los Reyes Magos)

Día de los Reyes Magos, or Three Kings Day, is celebrated on January 6th every year. This holiday, also known as Epiphany, is widely celebrated in Latin American and Hispanic households.

What is Día de los Reyes Magos about?

This holiday celebrates the arrival of the wise men to the manger after Jesus’s birth. They traveled a great distance, following the North Star, to bring gifts to Bethlehem. Though the holiday celebrates a religious story, it has evolved into a cultural holiday for the Latino families who celebrate it.

How do people celebrate?

On January 5th, the eve of this holiday, children will leave their shoes out to be filled with candy and treats by the wise men, much like how children leave shoes out for St. Nicholas in other parts of the world. Many families also wait until the eve of the holiday to add the three wise men to nativity scenes. Some families leave out hay or straw for the wise men’s camels.

On the actual holiday, some families will exchange gifts. There is also usually a big feast, where families come together to eat and celebrate. The feast is also usually accompanied by a King’s Cake, or Rosca de Reyes, which is a sweet, oval-shaped cake that’s usually decorated with dried fruit.

The baker hides a small, plastic figurine of Jesus inside the cake, and whoever finds it in their piece is designated to host the Candlemas celebration in February.

Check out these activities to celebrate Día de los Reyes Magos:

Free Three Kings Day Mobile Art Project

Read about Three Kings Day and create a fun paper mobile. Click here for this free Evan-Moor activity.

Handprint Camel Art Project

This simple and fun art project is easy for all grades and doesn’t require many materials. You’ll need:

Construction paper
Markers/crayons/colored pencils
Brown paint
Googly eyes (optional)

Directions:

Have students paint their palm and fingers with the brown paint, then stick their freshly painted hand on the construction paper. Have them press firmly, then pull their hand away straight up to leave a painted handprint.
The four fingers will be the four legs of the camel, the thumb will be the neck. Students will then paint a head, hump, and tail on the camel.
(This can also be done by tracing a handprint on brown construction paper if paint won’t work for your classroom.)
Students finish by drawing a face on their camel. Googly eyes or other decorations can be added to the project!

North Star Art Projects

This art project can provide many different art options. You can create origami stars, painted stars, or construction paper stars. Regardless of your medium, creating stars for your classroom will be a beautiful decoration and on theme.

If you use colorful translucent paper, you can hang your stars in the window of your classroom or home for a greater effect!

Simply fold, cut, or color your paper into a star pattern and then paint or color accordingly! Add glitter, sparkles, or other artistic elements to make your star original!

Toilet Paper Roll Three Kings

Gather empty toilet paper rolls from your home or school, or have students bring them in. If you don’t have enough for three each, put students in groups of three and have them collectively make the Three Kings. For this project you’ll need:

Toilet paper rolls
Construction paper
Markers, crayons, colored pencils, sharpies
Googly eyes (optional)
Scissors
Cotton balls (optional)
Glue sticks

Directions:

Wrap your toilet paper roll with construction paper and glue it into place.
Cut construction paper into a crown shape and glue it to the top of the toilet paper roll.
Use the cotton balls or cut out construction paper for the beards.
Decorate the wise men with facial features using the other art supplies.

You can also bake a King’s Cake as a class or review the recipe together and bring in one to share. Don’t forget to hide a little plastic figurine in the cake—and be careful when eating!

Whether or not you normally celebrate Día de los Reyes Magos, this day is a great opportunity to learn about cultural traditions from across the world.

For more free holiday lessons and activities, read Lunar New Year Activities for Kids.

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 26, 2021
by Evan-Moor
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Real-World Writing Free Lessons and Activities

It’s a common misconception that students’ academic writing only benefits them in the classroom. With real-world writing projects and instruction, students will learn how to apply their writing skills in authentic career settings! Weekly Real-World Writing is a classroom resource that supplements writing instruction with applicable, real-life examples and activities.

Why is Real-World Writing Important?
While developing students’ writing skills is critical for their academic success, it’s also a vital part of their interaction in the “real world.” What this resource aims to do is demonstrate how students can use the skills they’re learning right now—in their everyday lives, outside of school.

Students will learn new skills, as well as how to apply what they already know in realistic, engaging ways. They will also be encouraged to engage in the world around them and use their personal skills and strengths to make a difference.

Motivating Reluctant Writers
Real-world applications of writing are also an opportunity to motivate students who may be reluctant to write. Students who dislike writing probably haven’t experienced writing about something that really interests them. With realistic opportunities, students can apply their skills to topics or forms of writing that engage them personally and show writing as a skill outside of the classroom.

Motivate students to write by offering creative outlets and real-world topics that apply to them, as well as encouraging the idea of “no wrong answers” with writing assignments.

Download these free writing activities here!

Each unit includes:

Teacher overview
Examples
Graphic organizers
Two writing prompts
Additional extension activities

Invitation-Writing Activity Grades 1–2

Teach students how to write an invitation with this free writing unit.

Each unit includes lesson instructions, visual examples, graphic organizers, and two writing prompts (one for beginning writers and one for more-experienced writers).

After reviewing writing examples and learning how to organize information, students will have two writing tasks where they can write invitations to a graduation party and a Valentine’s Day party. They can use their new skills to write the invitation on the template provided, and then decorate the invitations too! The extension activity allows students to get creative and make up their own holiday, event, or party they want to invite friends and family to.

Meal-Review Activity Grades 3–4

This evaluative writing activity challenges students to learn about restaurant reviews and write their own. Read the teacher page to understand how restaurant reviews impact our everyday lives and to understand each component of this lesson.

Students, after having read the example restaurant review, will get to discuss whether they’d eat at this restaurant based on what they read. Then, they’ll use the creative graphic organizer to describe their thoughts on their meal and the restaurant and give an overall rating.

In the writing tasks, students are challenged to write two restaurant reviews based on the information in the prompts; the two prompts vary in information so students must think critically and creatively to write their reviews. The extension activity asks students to write a real-life review about their favorite restaurant using the skills they just learned.

Writing a Blog Activity Grades 5–6

Students can also practice their creativity and express themselves with writing a blog! This teacher page discusses the components of writing a blog, as well as how to be internet safe with blogs or vlogs, before overviewing each part of the unit lesson.

Then, students will read a blog entry example and be able to identify different components of a blog post before crafting their own.

In the graphic organizer section, students will identify their ideas for the focus, details, organization, and graphics of their blog post, along with a helpful proofread checklist that will keep their work error free.

The writing tasks challenge students with writing two blog posts, one about Food and Fitness, the other about Public Transportation. The prompts challenge students to think and write creatively, while also using critical thinking skills and other writing skills.

The extension activity lets students write a blog post about anything they want! This sparks interest, engages students, and motivates reluctant writers.

Real-world writing helps students make connections between real-life situations and the skills they are learning within the classroom. The activities within Weekly Real-World Writing not only provide the writing practice students need, but the lessons also include creative outlets that teach important skills for every type of learner in the classroom. Not everyone will become a writer in a future career, but every student will need real-world writing experience to succeed.

October 18, 2021
by Evan-Moor
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Free Elephant Learning Activities for Kids

Did you know that elephants are the world’s largest land animals? Or that you can differentiate between species of elephants by looking at their ears?

Unfortunately, around 90 percent of African elephants have been wiped out in the last century from ivory trading, leaving the species endangered. Hunting and habitat loss have left most species of elephants endangered or critically endangered. Learning about them is the first step toward supporting groups that save the elephants.

Introducing thematic learning into the school week is a great way to inspire children to learn through interest-led activities, but it also helps them make connections and transfer knowledge across the content area.

Learn more about these amazing animals with these free activities and ideas.

KWL Graphic Organizer

A KWL chart is a great way to start a thematic unit. This type of graphic organizer captures children’s interest in a new topic by activating prior knowledge and helping them to learn how to organize new information. Display the chart and continually add to the information as children learn new facts about elephants.

K: What I already know
W: What I would like to know
L: What I learned

Fun Elephant Facts

Start your elephant unit with these fun and interesting facts!

An elephant’s trunk is the most sensitive organ found in any mammal—and has around 15,000 muscle units!
Elephants communicate a few different ways, one of which is seismic signals (vibrations) that they detect through their bones.
Calves can stand up within 20 minutes of being born and can walk within an hour!
Elephants are known for their excellent memory, which can be attributed to their temporal lobe being larger and denser than a human’s.
Elephants are herbivores, meaning they eat plants and plant-based food.
An elephant’s habitat varies depending on the part of the world it lives in. African elephants populate wetlands, savannas, forests, grasslands, and deserts, whereas Asian elephants live mostly in forests and grasslands.
Elephants are very social, and typically form female-led groups. They play together often by wrestling and playing chase.

Project Ideas

Create a Diorama and Research Report
Dioramas are a fun DIY way to re-create an animal’s habitat. Using a shoebox for the base, and then construction paper, markers, scissors, glue, and other art materials for the interior, you can create a miniature model of an elephant’s home. Encourage children to get creative without using store-bought materials.

Research your elephant species and its diet, habitat, and endangerment status.
Collect plants, rocks, and other outdoor materials
Create your own elephant figurines using playdough or clay
Paint the inside of your shoebox to match your elephant’s habitat.

Have children write a research report on the type of elephant they chose. Some details to include are diet, habitat, behavior, dangers, and current population.

Researching Solutions to Save the Elephants
Research solutions and organizations that are helping elephants. Find organizations that dedicate themselves to saving elephants and see what you can learn from their websites. Researching solutions, donating time or money, and spreading awareness are just a few ways to start helping elephants. This is a great opportunity to show children how their actions and decisions can make a difference.

Free Elephant Activities

These free printable activities provide hands-on activities and reading units to help children learn about elephants.

Paper Tube Elephant Art (Grades K–3)

For this project you’ll need paper towel rolls, gray construction paper, and gray markers or colored pencils. For full instructions and the accompanying patterns, check out Paper Tube Zoo, an Evan-Moor activity book with reproducibles.

Cover the paper tube with gray paper.
Color the elephant patterns gray.
Cut out the patterns and glue them to the paper tube to create your paper tube elephant!

Download your free elephant art here.

Elephant Shape Book (Grades K–2)
Read all about elephants with these book recommendations and then conduct writing exercises of your own! This activity provides a few different prompts for different writing levels and a shape-book elephant craft to present the writing!

Download your free elephant writing activity here.

Check out The Ultimate Shape Book for other animal-based activities.

Elephants Live Together (Grade 3)

This learning unit provides reading, writing, and other learning components all about elephants and how they live. The nonfiction-based unit also provides reading practice, followed by reading comprehension, to teach students real-life concepts and lessons.

Download your free elephant writing activity here.

Find other units like the one above in Nonfiction Reading Practice.

Paper Elephant Craft (Grades 1–6)

This fun paper craft only requires colored rectangular paper (5.5”x10”), black pen, scissors, and glue! In just a few simple steps, you can create a paper elephant!

Fold the rectangle in half, hamburger style.
At the bottom of the paper (the uncreased side) cut out a rounded section to create two legs, and a slanted line in front of it for the trunk.
Use the rounded scraps as ears, and glue them to the top of the folded paper. Fold up the trunk and glue it into place.
Cut a small slant at the top of the creased side for the tail and bend it up.
Fold up the bottom of the legs for the feet, then use the pen to draw eyes.

Download your free elephant writing activity here.

For more folded-animal paper crafts, check out Folded Paper Projects (Grades 1–6).

Have fun learning about elephants, doing crafts, and learning about how we can save this endangered species!

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October 15, 2021
by Evan-Moor
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Holiday Gift Guide for Kids: Educational Stocking Stuffers

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 books 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 with our educational holiday gift guide:

Science/STEM Theme

Wrap up these activity books with a science kit for a fun gift idea for kids!

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.

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 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 Skills 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.

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

Brain Games and Activities

Over 80 games and brain teasers provide screen-free fun to boost critical and creative thinking skills! Keep kids engaged with activities that include sticker activities, logic and reasoning, word play, puzzles, mazes, graphs, hidden pictures, tongue twisters, and more!

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Brain Games and Activities for Ages 4–11

Critical and Creative Thinking Skills Gift Pairings

Wrap up age-appropriate games and art supplies with the activity book to boost kids’ critical thinking skills. Examples include:

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

Reading Theme

These activity books along with a favorite story book or novel make the perfect gift to nurture a love of reading!

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

Listen and Learn: Animals

Help your child learn to read with the help of fascinating animals! From chameleons to kangaroos, the beautiful animal photographs and stories in this activity book will take little learners on an animal adventure around the world, while they practice reading and writing skills.

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Listen and Learn: Animals for grades PreK–6

Reading Gift Pairings

Wrap up the reading activity book with a new novel, storybook, flashcards, or book of poems. Some holiday favorite books, include:

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

Fun activity books, journals, and games that build vocabulary are wonderful educational gifts for kids of all ages.

Skill Sharpeners: Spell and Write

Colorful themed stories and activity pages motivate even the most reluctant writers, while also building spelling skills.

Shop at Evan-Moor.com: Skill Sharpeners: Spell and Write 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

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.

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

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: 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.

Sudoku
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 Books

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.

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

View all Evan-Moor activity books for kids here: shop now.

Happy Holidays!

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 13, 2021
by Evan-Moor
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Bread Around the World Thematic Learning

How does bread relate to learning? Through thematic units! A thematic unit is a style of teaching that uses one central theme (in this case, bread) to teach multiple subject areas. This gives teachers an opportunity to include math, science, reading, and more—all while staying focused on one specific topic.

Why are the benefits of thematic units?

By centering several subjects around one theme, students will obtain an in-depth understanding of the subject while also having fun learning about it! Other benefits of this style of learning include:

Helping students learn to make connections between subjects
Developing both strengths and weaknesses in cross-curricular learning
Engaging students fully on the themed subject
Encouraging curiosity and asking questions
Teaching students how to apply what they learn to real-life situations

Above all, thematic units are fun for students and teachers!

All About Bread

Bread has been a staple food item throughout human history. It has taken on many different forms, shapes, sizes, and tastes as technology developed and people discovered how to bake with yeast in order to make bread rise. Even today, bread can appear to be very different, depending on where in the world it’s made.

Check out this free download to learn more about the history of bread and how it was a part of society in Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cultures—and more!

Bread Activities Across the Curriculum

Math Activities

Counting and Estimation
Estimate the number of slices in one loaf of bread.

Have students estimate the slices in one loaf of bread, then count the slices to see if they were close.
Do this with multiple loaves of bread of about the same size or weight to see if the number of slices is similar.

Then, challenge students to figure out how many slices of bread would be needed to make a sandwich for each student in the class.

Have the class share their answers and explain how they got to that number.
Go around the room and see if anyone got their answer using a different method.
To further challenge the students, ask how many loaves of bread would be needed to make the sandwiches for the entire class.

Geometric Shapes
This activity includes different types of bread that come in different shapes. For example, regular bread slices, bagels, pita bread, crackers, etc. You can also cut bread slices into other shapes if you can’t find a variety.

On construction paper, draw a few different shapes, like a rectangle, a triangle, a circle, a square, etc.
Divide students into groups of four and supply each group with a piece of construction paper (with shapes drawn on it) and a bag of bread that has a variety of shapes.
Have students sort the bread into the correct shape category.

Writing Activities

Sequencing: How-to
Practice sequencing by having students write out the steps to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It can be vague or incredibly detailed, depending on the grade level.

Writing Descriptions
Have students write a description of their favorite form of bread. They should aim to be as descriptive as possible, including:

How it looks
How it tastes
How it smells
What they eat it with

To turn this into a game, have students read out their description to the class (or a partner) and see if they can guess the type of bread being described.

Science Experiment: Yeast

Yeast is the component of bread-making that makes bread rise. Demonstrate this through a fun hands-on science experiment! For this experiment, you’ll need:

One pack of dry yeast (per experiment)
Flour
Sugar
Warm water
Six Clear containers
Spoons

Directions:

Set up the containers and label them based on the ingredient combination inside. Use nine parts water to one part dry ingredients.
In the containers, mix the following ingredients:
1. Flour and water
2. Yeast and water
3. Sugar and water
4. Flour, sugar, and water
5. Sugar, yeast, and water
6. Flour, yeast, and water
Have students create and stir the mixtures, noting what they look like when they first mix them.
Leave the containers to sit, undisturbed, for two hours. You can have students examine them every once in a while, to see if they’re changing. Bubbles should form in the mixtures with yeast. After two hours, the sugar and yeast mixture should be the most drastically changed.
To extend this experiment, make two batches of dough with students, one with yeast and one without. Examine the differences between the two.

Art Activity: Bread Collage

Collect magazines and newspapers (or have students bring them in) that have pictures of food, especially bread. Divide students into pairs or groups, or it can be an individual activity if you have enough magazines. You’ll also need:

Construction paper or butcher paper
Glue
Scissors

Directions:

Have students collect more than enough material to cover their entire page.
Have them trim or tear pictures to various sizes.
Explain that they can arrange their photos on the page until they have an arrangement they like, so pictures overlap on the page.
Glue down the photos on the page one at a time.
After the collages dry, have students trim any overlap pictures that hang off the page.

Reading About Bread

Include this fun read-aloud book in your bread study unit.

Tony’s Bread is a short story about a baker named Tony, who dreams of being the most famous baker in Northern Italy, while his daughter dreams of being allowed to marry. Both dreams seem out of reach until Angelo comes into their lives. This folktale is a great story to read aloud in class while learning all about bread, and then you can make Tony’s famous panettone as a class!

Bread Baking and Tasting

Of course, one of the best parts of learning about bread is baking and eating it! Buy or make several different types of bread (or have students bring in different types of loaves) and have a tasting day as the cumulation of your thematic unit!

Check out this free recipe for panettone bread.

Discuss with the class what kinds of bread they’ve tried before and list all of them on the board. This can include raised bread (such as rye, wheat, or sourdough), flatbread, crackers, etc. Share with the class some other kinds of bread they haven’t tried and what those breads may be used for.

Tasting Day
In preparation, bring or make (or have students bring) as many different types of bread to class as possible. You’ll also need:

Paper plates
Napkins
Plastic cups for water, milk, juice, or something to taste the breads with
Knives to cut bread into tasting size

Also prepare a chart (either on the board, using a projector, or on notebook paper) that lists the types of bread for tasting in the left column, followed by two columns for “like” and “don’t like” to record the class’s opinions.

Directions:

Show each type of bread to the class and ask if they know what type it is, what it’s used for, and if anyone’s tried it before.
Discuss what it’s made out of (like what type of flour, if it uses yeast, etc.)
Have students find the bread type on their tasting tray and taste it.
Have students discuss their thoughts and opinions within their pairs or groups or with the class.
Ask students after each bread tasting to raise their hands if they like that bread. Record their answers in the chart. Do the same for those who don’t like the bread.
Discuss the results of the chart. Which bread was most liked? Most disliked? What kind of bread was it, and how is it most often used?

For more individual units that can be hand selected to build additional fun thematic units like this one, consider an Evan-Moor TeacherFileBox subscription!

Sign-up for our e-newsletter for more great teaching tips and ideas!

September 24, 2021
by Evan-Moor
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Fifteen Ways to Incorporate SEL into Your Busy School Day: Free SEL Printables

Social and emotional learning carries a powerful boost of success. Children who benefit from SEL instruction are not only better equipped to manage stress and obstacles as an adult, they also have increased academic and relationship outcomes (Durlak et al., 2011). Social and emotional learning can help create adults who are able to cope with stress in life and have empathy for others. CASEL’s Ready to Lead Report states that including SEL instruction increases student achievement scores by 11 percent.

With the mounting evidence citing support for social and emotional instruction, the question remains: How do teachers fit it into an already packed schedule?

Five Domains of Social and Emotional Learning

Incorporating SEL into subject-area lessons is a simple way to weave social and emotional learning into the busy school week. Merge the five domains of social and emotional learning into writing, reading, math, social studies, and science lessons to stay on track during the school year.

Self-awareness
Self-management
Social awareness
Responsible decision making
Relationship skills

Download these free SEL printables from Evan-Moor’s Social and Emotional Learning book! These creative and cross curricular SEL activities keep children practicing important skills all year long.

Discover more social and emotional learning activities below.

Self-Awareness

Helping children learn to identify their emotions is the first step to helping them manage them. Building self-awareness can be as simple as checking in with students throughout the school day. Check-ins can be quick or can take more time.

Morning greeting: Greet students as they come in the classroom and ask them how they are feeling. This simple act of acknowledging and allowing children to express their emotions is the first step in helping them learn to manage them. It can also provide insight into specific behaviors children may exhibit throughout the school day.
Morning meeting: Create a short morning meeting for the first 15 minutes of the school day to check in with students and provide them with an opportunity to share how they are feeling and choose a goal they have for the week. Morning meetings are a wonderful opportunity to foster empathy and relationships between students. Allowing an open door for expressing anxiety and stress can help students realize they are not alone in their fears and can also foster empathy for classmates who may be dealing with serious issues at home.
Journal write: Ask students to respond to reflective writing prompts in their journals. Prompts could include:
- What is your greatest talent?
- Write down five things that define who you are. Write them in “I am_____ ” statements.
- Write about a time you did something you were afraid to try. How did you feel afterward?
- Write about a person you admire. What qualities do you have in common with this person?
- What do you do when you see a classmate struggling with something?

Self-Management

Helping children manage their emotions throughout the school day can be daunting. Teaching them positive habits and strategies for managing stress can help students learn important life skills.

Portrait of child doing yoga with friends in the park

Take five deep breaths: Include breathing breaks throughout the week to demonstrate simple and easy calming techniques. A wise teacher once told me that showing your students how to manage conflict and stress will carry more weight than simply telling them how to. Before raising your voice in the classroom, take a minute to breathe deeply and then address the class. Your students will notice a difference.
Yoga stretches: Incorporating a few yoga stretches after a long period of desk sitting provides students with a moment to clear their mind. It can be as simple as reaching for the sky and touching toes. These physical movements are a great addition to help children understand the connection between their bodies and their minds.
Create a calm corner: Create a quite space in your classroom where students can go when they feel angry, anxious, or stressed.

Social Awareness

Teach students to have empathy for others by consistently asking them to take a walk in a different pair of shoes.

Read-aloud reflections: After reading a story, ask students to think about how they would react when confronted with obstacles that a character has faced. Helping children practice walking in someone else’s shoes is great practice for developing lifelong empathy for others.
Student sharing: Provide opportunities for students to share their emotions in class. The more students know about each other, the easier it is for them to understand actions and emotions that arise during the school year. One year my daughter came home from school very upset. She had learned during a class sharing that a girl she disliked had a very difficult home life. This simple insight into this student’s struggles helped my daughter develop empathy for this young girl and ultimately led to a lovely friendship.

Responsible Decision Making

Provide opportunities for students to learn about and practice positive decision making in your classroom. Here are some ways to help your students become thoughtful and engaged decision makers.

Play the Would You Rather game: Have students decide between two different scenarios and support their decision with relevant facts.
Brainstorm decisions: Practice responsible decision making as a class by working out important decisions together through this model. You can decide on real issues or create make-believe scenarios.
- Think about choices
  Consider the consequences of each choice (pros and cons)
- Make a decision
- Review the decision
  Example: Kasey overheard her friends saying hurtful things about her friend Joel. What should she do? What advice would you give her?

Relationship Skills

Building positive relationships within the classroom sets the tone for quality relationship interactions throughout the school year. Provide students with the tools to manage their friendships by modeling correct speech and providing opportunities for students to practice.

Positive speech poster: Provide visual examples of correct peer speech in your classroom.
For example: Instead of saying “Move out of my way,” say “Excuse me.”
Group work: Include plenty of opportunities for students to work in partners and groups and practice collaborative speech and decision making.
Bucket fillers: Create individual student buckets (can be construction paper pockets too) and provide opportunities throughout the week for students to write compliments and encouraging notes to place in other students’ buckets. This is a great activity for primary grades and helps children learn to “build up” their peers rather than criticize them.
Cooperative learning games: Include fun games and activities that require students to work together and that also encourage having fun in the process. (It is even better when you pair up students and provide opportunities for children to work with different personalities.)
- Picture Talk is a fun game to play in the primary grades. The teacher begins to tell a story based on the picture he or she is holding. Then each student gets a chance to continue the story using the picture for inspiration.

Support students throughout the school year with easy-to-incorporate cross-curricular lessons and activities from Social and Emotional Learning Activities for grades PreK–6. These creative activities are fun for students to do, and they provide real-world examples to help children learn positive solutions to manage relationships and emotions. The cross-curricular lessons help teachers fit SEL instruction into the busy school week. Each book includes activities that incorporate:

Real-world scenarios
Mindfulness activities
Communication activities
Creative writing
Mazes, puzzles, and games
Art projects
Critical thinking and problem-solving

September 21, 2021
by Evan-Moor
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Whale-Themed Classroom Activities

Have you ever been whale watching or seen a whale up close? They’re amazing creatures to see in their own habitat, but if you don’t live near the ocean there are still plenty of ways you can bring whales to the classroom!

Check out these fun facts, free downloadable activities, and other projects to learn about whales! Click here to download all of the free whale activities listed below.

Fun Facts about Whales:

Whales are marine mammals, which means they require oxygen, are warm-blooded, and feed milk to their young.
Whales can hold their breath for more than 20 minutes.
Blue whales are the largest known animals to ever live on the planet—reaching 110 feet in length.
Whales migrate in order to feed and mate.
Humpback whales communicate through complex whale songs.

Whale Shape Book, Grades K–2
This shape book unit provides five reproducible forms in the shape of a fat whale, directions for students writing at three levels, a three-line poem, and literature connections. (From The Ultimate Shape Book)

Pocket Book on Whales, Grades 1–3
Students create a “pocket book” about toothed and baleen whales. Includes picture cards, whale haiku, minibooks, size comparison chart, and additional activities. You can pick and choose activities or have students complete the entire book. (From Theme Pockets, September e-book)

Whale Activity Pages, Grades 1–5
These ready-to-use pages include illustrations of ten types of whales, a whale skeleton, and a whale writing form. (From Giant Science Resource Book)

Life in the Ocean Pocket File Folder, Grades 3–6
This unit provides ideas, directions, and patterns for creating a science report about a marine animal, adaptable for whales. It includes ideas for a pop-up page, a minibook, a word web, and other activities. (From Easy File Folder Reports e-book)

Whale Bulletin Board
This link includes teacher directions and caption letters to create a fun bulletin board to display students’ work. (From Bulletin Boards Every Classroom Needs)

Whale Watching

If you do live near the ocean, in locations where whales live or migrate through, you may be able to go whale watching and see some real whales up close!

Measuring Whale Lengths

In a hallway, or on blacktop or another outdoor space, gather students to measure various lengths of whales. Using a measuring tape, chalk, or some other marking method, have students draw out and label the following whale species and their lengths:

Pilot whale – 20 feet
Gray whale – 40 feet
Humpback whale – 50 feet
Sperm whale – 55 feet
Finback whale – 70 feet
Blue whale – 100 to 110 feet

Compare the lengths to other things, like the classroom length, car lengths, truck lengths, etc.

Whale-Blubber Activity

Many marine mammals have blubber to keep them warm in the extreme cold. Whales are no exception to this! You can make your own blubber glove and test it out in cold water with this activity! Check out this hands-on STEM blubber glove project from Evan-Moor.

Egg Carton Whale Art Craft

For this simple and fun craft, you’ll need the following materials:

Egg cartons
Light blue paint
Paintbrushes
Light blue construction paper
Blue pipe cleaners
Googly eyes
Black markers
Glue
Scissors

Directions:

Cut the egg carton into individual sections. (You may need multiple egg cartons depending on the number of students.)
Paint each individual carton piece light blue and let dry completely.
Carefully cut or poke a hole at the top of the egg carton for the whale’s blowhole. Cut an X if possible, or just poke a small hole.
Cut a blue pipe cleaner in half. Then take each shorter piece and bend that in half, intertwining the bended portions together and placing those in the blowhole so that four ends of the pipe cleaner stick out at the top. Bend those pieces to look like a water spray!
Cut a whale tail shape and fins out of the construction paper and glue it onto the egg carton.
Glue on the googly eyes and draw a mouth on the front of the egg carton whale.

Whale Reading Recommendations

In addition to hands-on activities and lessons, you can read about whales in the classroom. Check out our book recommendations for a variety of reading levels:

A Whale Is Not a Fish by Melvin Berger (Grades 1–2)

The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson (Grades Preschool–2)

Humphrey the Wayward Whale by Ernest Callenbach and Christine Leefeldt (Grades 1–3)

How the Whale Got His Throat by Anna Milbourne (Grades K–2)

If you can’t go to the whales, bring the whales to you! Turn your classroom into a whale watching unit with decorations, lessons, activities, and more!

These whale-themed units were pulled from Evan-Moor’s online lesson library, TeacherFileBox. There are many more available, including whale-themed units from Reading Informational Text, Daily Science, Creative Writing Ideas, and more. Take a look!

For related ideas and free printables, see: Under the Sea Classroom Theme and Activities.

September 3, 2021
by Evan-Moor
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Top Writing Tips for Grades 4–6

Help students enjoy writing with clear lessons and activities that simplify the writing process. As a writing tutor for university students, I see a lot of common mistakes that originate in early writing instruction. Grades 4–6 is an important time for students’ writing development, specifically in developing their own writing voices.

Correcting common mistakes in early writing instruction will benefit children as their writing progresses. Learning how to break down the writing process into simple steps will prevent students from getting overwhelmed by longer writing assignments as they get older .

Here are some things to focus on for writing in grades 4–6:

Organization

Organization is one of the most important pieces in writing longer paragraphs or essays. Well thought out planning and organization can make an essay really stand out.

Preplan writing structure with graphic organizers – Graphic organizers help children plan out the structure and purpose of their writing so it has a consistent introduction, supportive statements, and conclusion. It also helps them stay on track during the writing process. Check out these free note-taking outlines and graphic organizers from Writing Fabulous Sentences and Paragraphs below:

Download this free note-taking guide for narrative writing.

Plan out paragraphs individually – Students should plan out paragraphs, whether they are separate from their overall outline or within it. Writing out topic sentences, claims, and supporting details will help them combine their paragraphs when they’re actually writing. This outline from Writing Fabulous Sentences and Paragraphs is a great example of how to help children organize information before starting the writing process.

Write your body paragraphs first – While it may seem counterintuitive to start in the middle, the body paragraphs of an essay are the most important parts! The intro and the conclusion should reflect your whole essay and are often easier once an essay is written.
Practice different types of writing – Narrative, informational, and persuasive writing are the three main types of nonfiction writing that students will learn in elementary school. Each style requires different types of organization; check out the graphic organizers for each kind below:
- Narrative Writing asks children to write a true story about a real event that happened to them.
- Informational Writing is written to inform the reader about a specific person or topic.
- Persuasive Writing is written to persuade others to agree with the writer and take action.

Grammar and Punctuation

Simple grammar mistakes, especially homophones and similarly spelled words, can be the deciding factor between a good essay and a great essay. Teaching these grammatical concepts early on will save students from making these mistakes in their writing.

Then vs than – Then is used for time or sequencing, and than is used for comparison.
- I put on sunscreen, then jumped in the pool.
- I like mint chip better than vanilla ice cream.
You’re vs your – You’re is a contraction of you are, while your is used to show possession.
- You’re the fastest runner in the class.
- You dropped your lunchbox.
Their, there, they’re – Their is used for possession, there is used to show location, and they’re is a contraction of they are.
- The blue backpack is their backpack.
- That backpack over there is blue.
- They’re excited about their backpack.
Two, to, and too – Two is the number or amount, to is a preposition, and too is used to say in addition or also.
- I have two brothers.
- I am going to the store.
- Do you want to come to the store, too?
Affect vs effect – An easy way to remember this is: Affect is the action, and effect is the end result.
- The weather will affect our plans tomorrow.
- The weather had an effect on our plans.
I vs me – I is used as the subject of the sentence, and me is used as the object or recipient in the sentence.
- I went to the store earlier.
- John got me ice cream at the store.
It’s vs its – It’s is a contraction of it is, and its shows possession.
- It’s the first day of school tomorrow.
- The cat hurt its paw.
Semicolon vs colon – Semicolons are used to join independent clauses. Colons are used to show something like a list or quotation is following.
- I need to go to the store today; I also need to go to the dentist.
- I need to get three things from the store: milk, ice cream, and bread.
Properly using commas – Commas are used in a variety of ways in writing. They are used between items in a list, to separate dependent phrases and clauses that aren’t necessary to the sentence, or to join independent clauses. Here are a few examples:
- I need milk, ice cream, and bread from the store. (list)
- I have a friend name Robert, who goes to a different school. (dependent clause)
- I went to the store, but they were closed today. (conjoining comma)
Eliminating run-on sentences – Being able to identify and correct run-on sentences will make students’ writing more concise. A few ways to break up run-on sentences are with semi-colons, commas with conjunction words, and periods.
- It’s the first day of school tomorrow; I need a new backpack.
- It’s the first day of school tomorrow, I need a new backpack.
- It’s the first day of school tomorrow, and I need a new backpack.
- It’s the first day of school tomorrow. I need a new backpack.

Other Tips and Recommendations

First drafts are just a draft – Students often stress about their first drafts not being good enough, without realizing that a first draft is just that—a draft! It’s much easier to revise and edit a draft than to start from scratch, so embrace first drafts! Whether the draft is fully written, half prose/half outline, or just a detailed prewrite, it’s better than nothing!
Substitute for more academic words – In first drafts, don’t stress about word choice and diction. As students revise and edit, encourage them to substitute for words like “really” or “very” and find synonyms that sound more academic or are more concise or descriptive. Provide students with a child-friendly thesaurus and challenge them to replace three words in their essay!
Let students write about their interests – You can’t fake enthusiasm in writing! When students write about things they care about, it shows in their writing and makes essays or longer writing assignments more interesting for everyone.
Write Often! – This can’t be stressed enough! The best way to encourage strong writing is to write often and in a variety of ways. From journaling to essay writing to poetry to freewriting—any type of writing will encourage students and improve skills. Check out these seasonal daily writing prompts!

20 October and Halloween-Themed Writing Prompts

Winter-Themed Writing Prompts

Teaching the writing process is a long marathon throughout elementary school, beginning with simple sentences in first grade and ending with multi-paragraph essays by sixth grade. Guide students through this process with step-by-step lessons and practice. Encouraging correct grammar and punctuation, clear organization, and a love of writing will propel students forward in their writing as they continue through middle school and beyond.

For more writing tips and ideas check out: Ten-Minute Language and Writing Activities for Grades 4–6

August 10, 2021
by Evan-Moor
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Free Lesson Checklist Bookmarks to Improve Students’ Focus and Motivation

Help children stay focused and motivated lesson checklist bookmarks! Evan-Moor’s free customizable bookmarks are a great way to help children stay-on-track with independent activities. Help children stay on task and find their places easily with bookmarks created just for them! Choose from eight different colors of bookmarks organized by weekly units or create your own lesson checklist. Discover new ways to use these free and customizable bookmarks below.

Download your free bookmarks here!

Organizational bookmarks help to:

Quickly find your place between lessons
Keep children focused and motivated
Save time and teach organization skills
Use the variety of colors to color code by subject or child
Keep track of weekly progress with checkboxes
Organize multiple subjects
Encourage independent study by having children keep track of their own progress

Watch this video and see how a homeschooler uses bookmarks to keep her kids organized:

Keep track of weekly assignments

For resources that come with preplanned, week-based lessons, like Daily Geography Practice, the pre-printed bookmarks help children keep track of their weekly progress and save their place. They can check off each week and use the bookmark to keep their place so they can easily pick back up where they left off.

Customize bookmarks

If you’re using a workbook that comes in units or individual lessons, like Skill Sharpeners: STEAM, you can customize and print your own bookmarks so children know which lessons or units to complete that week. They can keep track of their own progress and know exactly where to start and stop. These bookmarks can also encourage independence by having children fill-out their own weekly and daily plans! Alternatively, you can use these for customizable units, such as History Pockets, which may not fill an entire bookmark by itself.

Build Your Homeschool Curriculum with Evan-Moor

Evan-Moor’s TeacherFileBox printables are a great tool to help you organize your homeschool curriculum. With over 80,000 lesson units available across PreK–6 grades, TeacherFileBox makes it easy to create your curriculum around your child’s interests and learning needs. TeacherFileBox includes lesson units across the curriculum in math, language, writing, science, geography, social studies, STEM/STEAM, SEL, and more! Save your favorite printables in your personal account and print lessons or project them onto a screen. Try TeacherFileBox for free for 14 days and browse reading printables and activity ideas.

With Evan-Moor’s Homeschool Curriculum Bundles you can pick and choose your options! Choose from complete homeschool kits or “mini bundles” for spelling, math, social studies, science, writing, STEM, phonics, reading, vocabulary, and language! Each bundle provides the right amount of flexibility to help you to build your schedule around your family’s needs. (These bundles are 25% off here.)

Stay organized and on-track this year with these easy-to-use free bookmarks and curriculum options from Evan-Moor!

For more tips and ideas, sign-up for the Evan-Moor’s free e-newsletter here!

Amy Michaels is a former teacher turned homeschooler. She creates fun learning activities based on popular children’s books. Connect with her at BookBrilliantKids.com.

August 6, 2021
by Evan-Moor
0 comments

What is a Copyright and Why is It Important to You?

Thank you for your interest in Evan-Moor materials! We appreciate how hard teachers, parents, and homeschoolers work to provide quality instructional materials to give children the best learning experiences. Today’s media has created wonderful opportunities for individuals and businesses to become creators and consumers of content. With this new influx of online content comes a greater responsibility for authors and purchasers to understand and follow important copyright laws. In this article, we want to provide relevant copyright information, as well as tips on how to practice ethical purchasing and content creation. We hope that the information we provide here will serve as a resource for you to build your knowledge on how to use Evan-Moor materials in your home or classroom.

Did You Know?

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What Does Copyright Really Mean?

What Is a Copyright?

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What Are Evan-Moor’s Copyright Rules?

Evan-Moor’s Copyright Rules

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Lisa Vitarisi Mathews serves as Publisher of Evan-Moor Educational Publishers. 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.