The Joy of Teaching

Playing games during class is a sure-fire way to keep students engaged, and can benefit learning and retention, if the content relates to your lessons! Short, interactive activities from every subject in Evan-Moor’s Ten-Minute Activities, can help fill class time with productive learning games.

Reinforce important math concepts with interactive games that keep students’ minds engaged and learning. Check out our favorite short math activities below.

Playing Card Games for Addition

There are several card games you can play to improve addition skills for grades 1–3. For each of the games below, you will need cards numbered 0–9, two or three sets per student. You can make these cards by hand or use a deck of cards (removing the face cards) which is enough for two students.

Go-Fish for Tens

Divide students into groups of 2–4. Each group will need a large pile of cards.

1. One player deals 7 cards to each player, and puts the rest of the cards in a stack.
2. Players will look at their cards and lay down any pairs that result in 10.
   For example: 4 and 6, 8 and 2, 9 and 1,7 and 3
3. Starting with the dealer, one player will ask another for a card that allows them to make a sum of 10. If the player being asked has the card, they must give it to the first player; if they do not, they say “Go Fish” and the player who asked must draw from the stack of cards. If the player can make a sum of 10 from the card they draw, they get another turn. If not, the next player goes.
4. Keep playing until one player has made all their cards into pairs or no more pairs can be made. The player with the most pairs wins.

Say it Another Way

1. Divide students into pairs. Give each pair a pile of cards.
2. Each student takes 7 cards, leaving the rest stacked between them.
3. Player 1 takes the top two cards from the stack and lays them face up in between both players. The players calculate the sum.
4. Players look at their own hand of cards and try to create combinations that equal the same sum. For example, if the two cards had a sum of 12, players could use a 6 and a 6, or even 4 and 2 and 3 and 3.
5. Cards equaling the sum are placed in a discard pile.
6. Two more cards are turned over and the players continue.
7. The first player to use all seven of their cards wins.

Clapping Sums

No materials are required for this quick and simple math activity!

1. Students can sit at their desks or in a circle for this activity.
2. Call out a simple addition problem; for example, 2+3.
3. Give students time to calculate, then call out “go” or “answer” to signal them to start.
4. Students will then respond by “clapping” the answer; for example, 5 claps. (This works best if you’ve practiced or demonstrated a steady, rhythmic clapping beat so that students clap at the same time).
5. For variation, try this with subtraction.

Generate a Sum

For this activity, you will need numbered cards 0–9, like in the card game activities. You will need two or three sets per student.

1. Divide students into pairs and give each pair a pile of cards.
2. To play, each student turns over the top two cards in their pile and adds them together.
3. The student with the greatest sum keeps all four cards in a new pile.
4. The Play continues until one player has no more cards left.

Whether you’re encouraging independent learning or looking for productive time fillers, these math games from Ten-Minute Activities will keep students engaged and learning.

For Ten-Minute Activities for Grades 4–6, check out this article.

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.

Whether you’re looking to fill an awkward time gap in the classroom or looking to find a fun, engaging game for grades 4–6, Ten-Minute Activities is the resource for you! These short, interactive activities and games for every subject reinforce class content while also practicing independent learning and engaging students in the material.

Check out some of the activities that practice language arts skills featured in Evan-Moor’s Ten-Minute Activities for Grades 4–6:

Context Clues

For this activity, you will need a list of vocabulary words for your grade level and chart paper or overhead transparency paper.

1. Write one of the words from your list on the board or on your overhead. Try to use words that your students are unfamiliar with.
2. Read it out for your students, then use it in a sentence. The sentence must provide enough clues so students can guess the meaning of the word.
   
   1. For example: clamorous…The clamorous students yelled, screamed, and ran out the door.
3. Have students write down their best guess on the words’ definition or discuss it with a partner.
4. You can turn this into a game by having students write guesses on white boards, keeping a tally of how many words students get right.

Main Ideas Poster Play

This activity requires posters or large pictures (calendar pictures), paper, and pencils.

1. Display one picture at a time.
2. Tell students they have 30 seconds to write a title for the poster or picture that clearly expresses what it is about.
3. After 30 seconds, remove the poster and show the next one.
4. After four or five posters, display all the pictures on the board together. Have students share their titles with partners, a group, or the class.

Phenomenal Partner Paragraphs

The required materials for this topic sentence/supporting details activity are an overhead projector, paper, and pencils.

1. Divide students into groups of 4 and assign each student in the group a number 1–4.
2. Give each group a piece of lined paper and a pencil.
3. Pick a topic from the list below or choose a topic from class material and write it on the board for the groups to see.
   
   1. Bananas, spaghetti, autumn, clouds, recess, shoes, balloons, exercise, snow, kites, worms
4. Student 1 writes a topic sentence on the paper and then passes it to Student 2.
5. Student 2 reads the topic sentence and then adds a supporting detail.
6. Students 3 and 4 will also add supporting details.
7. Groups will read their paragraphs and revise before sharing with the class.

Get ‘em Hooked

Practice story beginning with this activity, for which you’ll need paper and pencils.

1. Share an example topic and topic sentence for the class.
   Topic example: A Thrilling Ride.
   Topic Sentence: As the car started to accelerate down the steep hill, Harry realized that the brakes were gone!
2. Tell students that a good topic sentence grabs the reader’s attention.
3. Choose a topic and write it on the board. Some examples are: best friends, zoo animals, my favorite holiday, relatives, a sport, time travel, weather, school…
4. Challenge students to write an attention-grabbing topic sentence!
5. Allow students to share their sentences with partners or groups, revise, and share with the whole class!

These language arts activities are quick, engaging, and interactive! Ten-Minute Activities are excellent time fillers or just extra fun practice for students grades 4–6.

For Ten-Minute Activities for Grades 1–3, check out this blog post.

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.

Not all great resources come with a hefty price! Evan-Moor offers free downloadable printables for science, STEM, math, reading, language, and social studies curriculums. Try out these award-winning resources for the classroom and home with these free sample activities.

You will need to provide an email address to receive the free PDF of activities, but Evan-Moor will not share your email.

Social and Emotional Learning Activities for grades PreK-6: 

Support students by helping them identify and practice positive behaviors and develop empathy with Social and Emotional Learning Activities. Download these free cross-curricular SEL printables here. 

Weekly Real-World Writing for grades 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6: 

Help students explore real-world purposes for writing with activities that demonstrate thoughtful and effective writing strategies. Download the free writing activities here. 

Skill Sharpeners: STEAM for Grades Prek–6:
Practice STEAM concepts by applying them to real-world problems with these fun and hands-on units. Download it here.

Skill Sharpeners: Geography for Grades 1–6:
Explore geography concepts and improve map skills while learning about different countries, regions, and places! Get your free download here.

Daily Summer Activities for Grades PreK–8:
Fill your summer with fun, educational activities that will prepare your child for the next grade level. Access the free activities here.

Skill Sharpeners: Grammar and Punctuation for Grades PreK–6:
Improve writing skills by practicing grammatical concepts like capitalization and punctuation with fun games and activities. Download it here.

Smart Start: STEM for Grades PreK–1:
Give early learners a head-start with these colorful activities that build critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Download free activities here.

Daily Practice Resources

Daily Word Problems for Grades 1–6:
Practice problem-solving and common core math skills while applying them to real-world contexts. Get a free download here.

Daily Language Review for Grades 1–8:
Using short 10–15-minute daily lessons, this workbook practices key language skills like grammar, punctuation, and more. Check out the free sample here.

Daily Handwriting Practice Grades 1–6:
Help your students master handwriting through focused activities that cover the alphabet, capital letters, days of the week, and more. Download a free sample here.

Daily Math Practice for Grades 1–6:
With short daily units, this workbook provides practice in all the foundational math skills your student needs. Access a free sample here.

Daily 6-Trait Writing for Grades 1–8:
Improve students’ writing by practicing concepts like main idea, organization, word choice, writer’s voice, and more. Get a free sampler here.

Building Spelling Skills for Grades 1–6:
Students will surpass surface-level memorization and learn language and spelling concepts like antonyms and synonyms, compound words, and homophones. Click here for a free sample.

Reading, Math and Language Teaching Resources

Reading Comprehension Fundamentals for Grades 1–6:
Improve reading comprehension skills like main idea, cause and effect, compare and contrast, and more through units that feature both engaging reading segments and corresponding activities. Download a free sample here.

Math Fundamentals for Grades 1–6:
Practice problem solving and critical thinking skills through focused units that cover different foundational math concepts. Get a free sample of this workbook by clicking here.

Language Fundamentals for Grades 1–6:
Help your students master language conventions for their grade level and prepare them for the coming year with these focused lessons and activities. Click here for a free sampler.

Text-based Writing for Grades 2–6:
Practice non-fiction writing and reading comprehension with these lessons and activities that include diverse reading selections. Download a free sample here.

Science and STEM Teaching Resource

Science Lessons and Investigations for Grades 1–6:
Study scientific concepts from different areas of science, including physical, earth and life science, in these hands-on STEM units. Click here to access to a free sample.

STEM Lessons and Challenges for Grades 1–6:
Using creative and critical thinking skills, students will apply STEM concepts to real world problems using a hands-on, project-based approach. Download a free sample here.

These free samples are a great opportunity to see how students learn best and to test out resources for the classroom and at home.

View all the free sample lessons from Evan-Moor here.

Flip through the complete books on our website at evan-moor.com.

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.

All children have their own learning styles; some are strong auditory learners, others prefer visual or writing activities. Combining different learning modalities into your lessons is a wonderful way to ensure that children have lots of opportunities to learn information in different ways.

One of my favorite quotes about the importance of learning modalities is from William Glasser, an internationally recognized psychiatrist.

Easy Hands-on Science Experiments

Science is a great subject for learning by doing because most science experiments are project based. Here are some fun ideas to include:

Baking Soda and Vinegar Volcano

This fun volcano science experiment is from Skill Sharpeners: Science Grade 4! Learn all about composite, shield and cinder volcanos and then create your own! 

Materials: 

• 6 cups of flour 
• 2 cups of salt 
• 4 tablespoons cooking oil 
• 2 tablespoons baking soda
• Dishwashing detergent
• Red food coloring
• Vinegar
• Warm water
• Bowl
• Disposable baking pan
• 2 liter soda bottle 
• Safety goggles

Directions: 

• Mix the flour, salt, oil and 2 cups of warm water.
• Stand the soda bottle in the middle of the baking pan.
• Mold the dough around the bottle in the shape of a cone volcano.
• Fill the bottle most of the way full with warm water and red food coloring. 
• Add 6 drops of detergent to the bottle.
• Add the baking soda to the bottle. 
• Slowly pour the vinegar into the bottle and watch what happens.

Integrate science, technology, math and engineering with STEM! 

 Include sensory experiences with this blubber glove STEM activity from STEM Lessons and Challenges grade 3! Click here for instructions. 

Design a Marble Roller Coaster with Recyclables 

In this STEM challenge from Evan-Moor’s STEM Lessons and Challenges, students will learn about the physics of roller coasters and how they work, and then get to design their own marble roller coaster! Students will use items like paper towel rolls, construction paper, pool noodles, and more to build their track. The unit guides your child through the scientific process and activity.

Download it for free, here.

Science, STEM and STEAM Resources

STEM Lessons and Challenges
This classroom resource focuses on teaching STEM concepts through hands-on activities and creative problem-solving. Creative questions challenge children to think deeper about science topics and observations. Collaborative learning groups provide opportunities for children to teach and learn from one another.

Download a free sample of STEM Lessons and Challenges for grades 1–6 here.

Skill Sharpeners STEAM
STEAM presents a new approach to STEM that includes an art component for a well-balanced learning approach. The STEAM tasks focus on creative problem solving with reading, writing and hands-on projects.

Download a free sample of this full-color activity book here.

Science Lessons and Investigations
Study earth, life, and physical science using this teaching resource with hands-on activities and other cross-curricular activities. Every unit includes higher-order thinking questions that challenge children to create and answer their own questions.

Download a free sample of Science Lessons and Investigations for grades 1–6 here.

Take advantage of the hands-on activities and immerse children in the learning experience! Learning-by-doing offers engaging and immersive lessons, as well as allowing for students diverse learning styles.

For more great activity ideas and educational lessons, subscribe to our free e-newsletter here.

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.

Summer camps are often the highlight of kids’ summer breaks but they can also come with a hefty price tag.  Why not create a backyard summer camp for your kids! Check out our tips, ideas, and themes for at-home summer camp:

Getting Started

The first step in making your own at-home summer camp is deciding how structured you want it to be. If you have the availability, you can pencil in daily activities to give you and your children something to look forward to! You can also forego a full schedule and let your schedule (or your kids’ schedule) dictate how many activities you do a day.

Activities and Games

Mini Olympics
Combine all your favorite backyard games and activities for an at-home Olympics! Pick a country for each team and play backyard games like:

• 

  Egg-on-a-spoon race
• Cornhole
• Pool relay race
• Slip-in-slide race
• Spikeball or other backyard games
• Paper airplane contest

This can also be a fun culturally educational opportunity! Have your kids do some research on the country they pick for their Olympic team to see what they can learn.

Backyard Camping
Got a tent or some sleeping bags sitting around? Pull them out and set up camp in your backyard! This can also be done indoors (build an indoor fort) if you don’t have yard space.

Go on a nature hunt in your yard and collect an assortment of plants and insects. If you have a craft lover at home, create this grasshopper and dragonfly art activity!

Grasshopper and Dragonfly Craft
Using basic art supplies, create a paper-based grasshopper and dragonfly! Follow the templates provided in this free activity to create these cute summer bugs.

Include other camping activities such as:

• Nature walks: teach your kids about the environment around them
• Making Smores
• Telling spooky stories
• Stargazing

Build your own Obstacle Course
Gather some outdoors obstacles like boxes, cones, jump ropes, tunnels, hula hoops and anything else you can think of and build a backyard obstacle course! Design it to challenge your kids, or let their creativity take over and have them build it for themselves! Challenge them to beat their best time, complete it while hopping on one leg, or any other twists to make it more fun!

Scavenger Hunt
Set up a scavenger hunt for your kids, either in your backyard, indoors, or in your neighborhood. You can also do a hiking or nature walk scavenger hunt, and take photos of the things on your list instead of collecting them.

Check out this free pirate-themed scavenger hunt from Evan-Moor.

Neighborhood Triathlon
If your kids are active and feeling cooped up, set up a form of triathlon in your neighborhood for them! Walk one section, bike as a family for another, and then either swim (or do something else fun, like hopscotch, wagon rides, or obstacles) for the last section! You can adjust the length or time of each section according to your kids’ capabilities.

Make it more fun by holding an awards ceremony with participation medals, snacks, and celebration treats!

Fun Science Experiments for Kids
Turn summer camp into science camp! Check out these fun and easy science experiments for kids that will be engaging and educational!

• Underwater Fireworks
  
• Making your own Slime – mix an 8 ounce bottle of Elmer’s glue, 2 Tablespoons of contact or saline solution, 1 tablespoons baking soda and food coloring to get your own slime mixture! Knead the mixture until it holds together.
• Mentos and Soda exploding bottles – using a 2 liter soda bottle of your choice (I’ve heard Diet Coke works best), set it up outside, away from anything you don’t want covered in soda. Have your kids stand back (eruptions can happen fast), then drop about half a roll of Mentos into the bottle. Step back quickly and watch!
  
  • Tips: The goal is to drop all of the Mentos at the same time. One tip is to unwrap the Mentos roll and place an index card at the bottom, then remove the index card when you’re dropping the Mentos to create a kind of funnel.

Arts and Crafts

Tie Dye
A classic and fun summer camp activity, try tie-dying white clothes. You can do t shirts, sweatshirts, socks, or any other clothing that needs some color! There are even tie dye kits to make things easier!

Painting Rocks
Gather rocks from your backyard or outdoor spaces (preferably flat-top ones) and paint fun designs on them! You can paint flowers, initials, patterns, and other colorful designs! Add some mod podge craft finish on top of the paint to preserve it for longer.

DIY Bracelets
Make your own jewelry this summer as a fun and productive activity! You can braid string together to make woven bracelets or use a beading cord and colorful beads! You can also buy lanyard supplies and make friendship lanyards!

Paper Airplanes
The world of paper airplanes is fun and exciting! Challenge your kids to create different planes with different materials. You can create a contest to see who can fly theirs the farthest, or have an airshow and challenge the kids to do tricks with their planes. For a guide on how to create different planes and turn it into a STEM activity, check out this Evan-Moor blog.

If you have the time, you can make each week a theme to make it more like a summer camp! Kids will love these interactive activities that they can do in their very own home! For more summer learning  ideas, check out the Evan-Moor resources below:

Daily Summer Activities: This workbook series prepares your child for their upcoming school year using fun and exciting summer activities. Download a free sampler of lessons here.

Top Student: With over 300 activities that cover a variety of subjects, this series of activity books will help your child excel.

Skill Sharpeners Creativity meets academics in this fun activity book! Hands-on STEAM projects integrate science, technology, engineering, art, and math. The Skill Sharpeners series is available in 8 different subject areas. Download a free sampler of STEAM projects here.  

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.

Whether you’re new to homeschooling or a veteran homeschooler looking to reinvent your space, we’ve got some tips for you! Evan-Moor asked the homeschoolers that use and love our resources to write some advice and tips for homeschool organization.

Check out these tips on how to organize your homeschool curriculum and daily schedule.

Top tips include: 

• Print and prepare materials for each month
• Use magazine holder for book storage
• Combine answer keys into one binder
• Create weekly folders for every week
• Use colored tape to organize multiple children’s resources
• Create workboxes for each child’s lessons and materials
• Use bookmarks to save progress in books
• Adapt your home to fit your learning styles and locations
• Use rolling carts to organize materials so children can learn in any location
• Create a digital filing system of your materials and back it up
• Organize your lessons with hanging file folders or crates

Evan-Moor Tip:

Using bookmarks helps kids quickly find their next lesson in their curriculum books. Download FREE Evan-Moor bookmarks.

Organizing your Materials

Easy and effective ways to store your homeschool materials.

De-Shaun from Little Learner and Mom says:

My son loves all the Evan Moor books. The one thing I find helpful because we have a TeacherFileBox subscription, is printing out all the geography maps for the month for Daily Geography. I put them in his folder for the month, and he grabs his Daily Geography book and doesn’t have to flip back and forth for the map. This has made life so much easier!

Check out Little Learner and Mom’s instagram page here.

Alecia from Savant Learning Academy says:

I take my Evan-Moor Reading Comprehension workbooks, and I rip all the pages out. Then I put each story in a sheet protector. I tab and assort by skill and place all the stories in a binder for each child. Then when they need extra help in certain skills, I have it ready to go.

Click here to check out Savant Learning Academy.

Arlene (@arleneandcompany) says:

Every weekend, I set up both of my kiddos magazine holder organizers with the materials they will need for the week. This is set up at their desk and set aside for easy retrieval. Reducing the time searching for the workbook needed or lesson to open to. While also minimizing distractions or frustrations. I flag the page we are working on, and also have their writing materials, or supplies needed for the week set up separately in a bin.

This little bit of prep time really helps us from being overwhelmed as we jump between subjects. They always know where to find what they need, including blank books for added creativity.

Find Arlene’s Instagram page here.

Becky from A Place to Nest says:

My best homeschool organization tip is to combine answer keys into one binder. By keeping all of the answers together, I’m not constantly pulling out different books when it’s time to grade. Plus, it makes grading on-the-go even easier!

Check out A Place to Nest on Youtube for videos and tips!

Tanya from Project Happy Home says:

We split our workbook assignments into weekly folders so that it’s easy to stay on track without juggling multiple workbooks every day. This way, we can grab our weekly folder and take it with us on park days, long drives, or vacations. If I need my husband to take over our homeschool for the day because I’m sick or at an appointment, the kids can manage their assignments without any trouble.

Find Project Happy Home on Youtube for more tips and videos!

Amy from Book Brilliant Kids says:

We use colored tape to keep our curriculum books sorted by child. It’s a quick way for each child to find her assignment for the day AND put it back in its place when she’s done!

Check out Book Brilliant Kids on Youtube!

Robbie from Purposeful Homeschool says:

Workboxes! Workboxes can be done several ways – with crates, with tiered rolling carts, with drawer carts, with desk drawers… but creating ‘workboxes’ achieves several things:

1. It organizes your curricula so you know exactly what materials get priority each day.
2. It compartmentalizes materials so it’s not so overwhelming visually or mentally.
3. You have the freedom to swap out materials in the workboxes at any time, but having only one thing at a time in the workbox for each subject helps us keep our focus and gives the student independence.

See Robbie show off his workboxes on her youtube channel, here!

Organizing your Homeschool Space

Transforming your homeschool space can also benefit you and your learners! Here are some tips and tricks on how to approach your learning space:

Jessica from Intentional in Life says:

My best homeschool organization tip is to define your learning space. Take some time to really observe where your learning happens and be intentional about defining your space. If most of your reading happens in the living room, provide a space (I love baskets) for books by your couch. Math for us usually happens at the kitchen table, so I make sure that our manipulatives are handy and stored close by. If you have nature journals that are being used, tuck them away in a cool basket by the door or window for easy access. And add a tin can of colored pencils inside the basket as well. Intentionally defining and organizing your children’s learning spaces will simply organize your supplies…I promise!

See more from Jessica on the Intentional in Life site, here!

Emily from Our Little Slice of Heaven says:

Stay flexible with your organization. While I’d like to have everything in its place all the time, that’s just not realistic for our busy family. So we use a rolling cart to store items we use daily. This keeps our shelves and desk clean. Then we can move the cart throughout the house as we learn and not worry about scattering supplies or books. Everything goes back on the cart and we organize it once a week.

Check out the Our Little Slice of Heaven website!

How to Create a Filing System to Organize Materials

Lastly, creating a system to organize materials for yourself and your learners can be incredibly useful and relieve some stress on you as a homeschooler. Here are some tips:

Crystal from Castle View Academy says:

Create a logical digital filing system as well as backups of all your resources. This doesn’t mean you should have every item duplicated five times in different clouds because that causes more disorganization and chaos. Consolidate and build a system that works for you before it’s too late and you lose everything.

Check out her website, Castle View Academy, here.

Kaylinn from Full Purpose and Heart

Eliminate the stress of week-to-week planning by putting together all your curriculum in an easy filing system. All you need are hanging file folders, a drawer or crate, and enough folders for your students. Then, at the start of the school year, simply organize what assignments/work pages your child will complete week to week. It’s an easy way to have everything ready ahead of time for your school year. You can schedule in breaks and holidays and still have the confidence in knowing you’ll finish all you need to by year’s end.

Find Kaylinn on the Full Purpose and Heart Youtube channel!

Hopefully these tips have helped inspire your homeschool organization! If you have additional tips on how to make organizing materials easier, let us know in the comments!

Check out the blogs below for more homeschool tips and resources!

How to Homeschool: 5 Steps to Get Started Homeschooling 

Homeschool Curriculum Ideas for Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science

How to Plan Your Homeschool Curriculum in 5 Easy Steps

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.

Supplement your spring lesson plans or at-home learning with individual lessons and bundles available on Teachers Pay Teachers! TPT allows parents and teachers to find activities, lessons, and other teaching materials that will help fill in curricular gaps or make planning lessons towards the end of the school year a little easier!

Click here to visit Evan-Moor’s store on TPT and keep reading for our top 15 TPT lessons for spring.

Evan-Moor E-Books on TPT

In addition to individual lessons, Evan-Moor has entire e-books available on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Daily Reading Comprehension: Practice essential reading and comprehension skills with these reproducible teacher’s editions for grades 1–8. The skill-based units include fiction and nonfiction texts and provide in-depth analysis of reading skills and strategies. Find it on the TPT site, here.

Daily Language Review: Designed for short 10- to 15-minute lessons, this teacher’s edition e-book for grades 1–8 provides practice of fundamental language skills. Topics provide review and practice of punctuation, vocabulary, spelling, verb tense, and more! Purchase it from the Evan-Moor TPT store, here.

Building Spelling Skills: This teacher’s edition e-book for grades 1–6 provides 30 weeks of spelling practice, including new vocabulary, reproducible practice pages, and a guide on how to study spelling words. The fun practice pages and easy assembly reduce lesson prep. Spelling words are organized by word families and phonics patterns. Click here to find it on TPT.

Daily Math Practice: With math practice designed to meet Common Core standards, students will improve their math skills. The short, daily activities include spiral review of grade level skills and include word problems to build students’ problem-solving skills. Find this teacher’s edition e-book for grades 1–6 here, on TPT.

Daily 6-Trait Writing: Designed to teach trait-based writing, this teacher’s edition e-book for grades 1–8 is great for teaching the fundamentals of writing, from brainstorming to writer’s voice! 25 weeks of practice activities help student become strong and successful writers with just 20- to 30-minute daily lessons. To find this e-book, click here.

Daily Paragraph Editing: Build a classroom of proofreaders and writers with these daily practice activities! This teacher’s edition e-book for grades 2–8 allows students to become editors with short, daily activities that target mechanics, grammar, and spelling skills related to editing paragraphs. Days 1–4 require students to read and correct short, themed passages, and day 5 requires them to write their own paragraph with a writing prompt. View it on TPT, here.

Daily Phonics: This teacher’s edition daily practice e-book for grades 1–6 is great for practicing basic phonic skills. Perfect for early readers and language learners, these daily activities help students master vowels and consonants and increase their reading fluency. Purchase it on the TPT site, here.

STEM Lessons and Challenges: Develop students’ creative problem-solving skills with STEM challenges! This teacher’s edition e-book for grades 1–6 targets life, earth, and physical science with hands-on activities. These easy-to-prep lessons guide students through the STEM process of plan, create, test, and redesign. Complete with reading articles, practice pages, and visuals, these STEM units are a great way to foster fosters students’ innovation, communication, and peer collaboration! Find it here, on the TPT site.

Science Lessons and Investigations: Includes 12 units, each of which follows the 5E science model: Engage, Explore, Explain, Evaluate, and Extend. This gives students a hands-on opportunity to delve into each scientific topic and apply their understanding in a creative way. This teacher’s edition e-book for grades 1–6 includes an answer key for vocabulary and comprehension activities, making it ideal for the classroom and homeschooling. Click here to find it on TPT.

Evan-Moor Bundles on TPT

Also available on Teachers Pay Teachers are bundled lessons, which are selected parts of whole workbooks. These are available on the Evan-Moor TPT site for all grade levels.

Daily Reading Comprehension Grades 2 Weeks 1–5: This bundle comprises five weeks of reading practice, and includes practicing skills such as compare and contrast, identifying main ideas, and other important comprehension skills. You may find additional five-week bundles for weeks 6–30. Find it and other grade levels here.

STEM Challenge: Airplane (Physical Science Concept: Air Resistance), Grade 3: This lesson is from STEM Lessons and Challenges and focuses on forces that affect movement. Students are challenged to design and create a paper airplane that goes a long distance with accuracy. This unit includes a teacher support page, science concept and visual literacy pages, a challenge page, a suggested materials list, and design and redesign process pages. Purchase it from TPT, here.

Daily 6-Trait Writing Bundle, Grade 6, Unit 5 Voice, Weeks 1–5: With 20 reproducible writing activities, this bundle supplies five weeks of writing practice, focusing on improving a different writing trait each week. You may find additional bundles activities for weeks 6–25. Click here to view it on the TPT website.

Daily Paragraph Editing, Grade 4, Weeks 1–6: This language bundle focuses on improving students’ writing and editing skills throughout 6 weeks of instruction on spelling, grammar, punctuation, and language. You may find additional bundles for weeks 7–36. Find it on TPT, here.

Daily Geography Practice, Grade 5, Weeks 25–30: Each week in this bundle practices geographical concepts, including map skills, using regional locations throughout the world. This bundle includes lessons about climate zones, the Arctic, NFL locations, and more! You may find additional bundles for weeks 1–36. Purchase it here, on TPT.

STEM Life, Earth, and Physical Science: STEM Challenges for Grade 5: This robust bundle includes 3 STEM Challenges, each centered around a scientific concept from either life, earth, or physical science. These hands-on activities are great for at-home learning or supplemental STEM lessons. Find it on TPT, here.

Discover more themed units and activities in the Evan-Moor Teachers Pay Teachers store below.

Greek Myths and Percy Jackson Lessons and Activities

How to Teach Time and Money

Learning Basic Map Skills with Cultural Maps and Sports Teams

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

Visit Evan-Moor’s store on Teachers Pay Teachers for more teaching resources and bundles to supplement your spring lesson plans.

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.

April is an important month for the Earth! Not only does it signal a change in weather, springtime showers, and begin the countdown until summer, it’s also the month we celebrate Earth Day and Arbor Day! Whether you’ve heard of both of these holidays or only one, there are plenty of ways you can celebrate them at-home with your family.

Check out our free activities, read-aloud book recommendations, and hands-on activities that celebrate our planet!

What’s the difference between Earth Day and Arbor Day?

Earth Day falls on April 22nd every year, and was founded in 1970 to raise awareness about environmental issues. People celebrate Earth Day in many different ways, whether it’s through nature walks, hands-on activities, or pursuing environmental justice.

Arbor Day is normally celebrated on the last Friday in April, but depends on the climate of the area. It was started in 1872 as an initiative to repopulate Nebraska with trees, and soon spread throughout the country. Though Arbor Day is mainly about planting trees, there are plenty of other ways to celebrate it.

Earth Day Activities

Free Earth Day Activity
This worksheet activity includes an information page, comprehension questions, and a fun word search with Earth Day terms! This free sample comes from Evan-Moor’s Seasonal Activities workbook, which is a cross-curriculum resource that celebrates fun seasonal themes.

Download your free Earth Day Activity here.

Free STEAM Sampler – Litter Machine: Incorporate a STEAM task into your celebrations with these free activities from Skill Sharpeners: STEAM. This first grade STEAM activity, “Dirty Beach,” teaches children about beach litter and how they can help. Children are asked to design their own litter machine. The activity walks children through the planning, design, and model-building process using comprehension questions and drawing activities.

Click here to get this free STEAM sampler. 

Plant a Garden: If you have the space in your backyard, plant a small garden! You can plant fruits, vegetables, flowers, or a mix of all three! Pay attention to the process and point out the different things that plants need to grow such as water and sunlight. If you don’t have room outside, get some small plants or succulents for indoors!

If you are in the classroom, fill an old container or planter with soil and have students plant flower or vegetable seeds. Create a weekly chore list for your students and assign a water monitor every week to care for the plant.

Make a Nature Collage: Gather things from outdoors, like sticks, leaves, and small rocks, and make a small art collage out of them!

Painting Stones: Find some medium-sized, flat rocks in your yard or outdoors, and paint fun designs on them! These can also make for great paperweights and decorations (or Mother’s and Father’s Day presents.)

Make Recycled Art: Gather materials like milk jugs, soda cans, water bottles, recycled paper, paper towel rolls, and any other recyclable materials. Use your imagination to create art out of it, whether it’s a sculpture, a 3D college, or using the materials for different paint textures. See if you can create multiple pieces and have an at-home art exhibition.

Paper Plate Planet: Using a paper plate, paint or colored construction paper, create a replica of Earth! You can use a variety of materials for this and make it your own! You can also add details like labelling continents, oceans, or adding tiny little people to the planet. Hang them from your ceiling to celebrate.

Earth Day Read Aloud Book Recommendations

The Earth Book by Todd Parr:
This picture book not only teaches about the earth, it’s eco-friendly itself! Made from completely recycled materials, you can read about ways to help the earth while helping it!

Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth by Mary McKenna Siddals:
This book walks you through what you can and can’t compost in a fun way! Learn all about how composting helps the planet, and how you can make your own compost at home.

My Friend Earth by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Francesca Sanna:
Check out this award winning read aloud book for ages 3-5, which teaches kids all about our earth, climate change, and how we can make a positive difference.

I Am Earth: An Earth Day Book for Kids by James McDonald and Rebecca McDonald:
This read aloud book introduces the basics of earth science to ages 3-5 and explains why it’s important to protect our home! These concepts come to life with colorful illustrations.

Activities and Books for Arbor Day

Free Arbor Day Activity:
This activity teaches students about Arbor Day and includes writing, art and history activities! You can find more activities like this one in Evan-Moor’s Giant Write workbook, which develops critical thinking skills, vocabulary, and writing skills.

Download your free Arbor Day Activity here.

Planting Trees: This one seems like a no-brainer, but isn’t always possible depending on yard space, climate, and other factors. Family, neighborhood, or city initiatives to plant more trees is one of the best ways to celebrate Arbor Day.

Family Tree: Combine Arbor Day with a family activity and make a family tree! Use art supplies to create the tree, and then write in family names, with the child’s name at the base of the trunk.

Recycled Tree Sculpture: Using recyclable materials, construction paper, and paint, make your own tree sculpture. You can use things like paper towel rolls for the trunk and paper plates for the leaves. You can even glue real leaves to the tree! Use your imagination!

Handprint Tree Art: Using brown and green paint and a piece of paper, paint your children’s hands and have them press it onto the paper to make a tree! You can use handprints for the whole tree, or paint the trunk with a brush.

Arbor Day Read Aloud Book Recommendations

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
This book tells the story of the Lorax, who stands up for the trees when they’re being cut down. It’s an inspiring and encouraging tale about doing the right thing for others and our earth.

Treemendous: Diary of a Not Yet Mighty Oak by Bridget Heos, illustrated by Mike Ciccotello:
Follow the journey of an acorn as it grows into an oak tree in this illustrated kids’ book. Perfect for ages 3-7, this diary-entry style book is engaging and educational.

Tall Tall Tree: A Nature Book for Kids About Forest Habitats by Anthony D. Fredericks, illustrated by Chad Wallace:
A beautiful book about the redwood trees of California, this book teaches children about trees and the habitats and animals they sustain. It also includes complementary STEAM activities for ages 3-8.

Take advantage of spring weather to celebrate Earth and Arbor Day! Show your appreciation for the earth by creating art, planting trees and flowers, or just going outside.

For more great activity ideas and educational lessons, subscribe to our free e-newsletter here.

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.

STEAM education helps children grow in the areas of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, and innovation. These four primary skill areas are a critical component of modernizing students’ curriculum to meet the demands of an ever- evolving technological world.

The acronym STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math and differs from STEM with the incorporation of art. By adding artistic components to STEM, children practice a holistic approach to learning by involving both sides of the brain. This inclusive approach to educational allows children to practice collaboration and creativity within different disciplines across subject matter.

How to Teach STEAM

The key to STEAM teaching is project-based learning, which stimulates both sides of the brain simultaneously as well as including different types of problem-solving and thinking skills. STEAM education teaches children the processes involved in becoming a critical and creative thinker. Through this discipline children learn:

• How to ask questions
• How to be innovative
• How to create

There are lots of resources available to help guide your STEAM teaching, including Evan-Moor’s Skill Sharpeners: STEAM Activity Book and STEAM Project-Based Learning teacher’s edition. 

Skill Sharpeners: STEAM is a full-color activity book that teaches STEAM with project-based activities for grades PreK-6. Each unit presents a real-world problem, followed by research, activities, and hands-on challenges for students to complete. There are not right or wrong answers within STEAM, just opportunities to enhance and revise projects.

Skill Sharpeners STEAM is organized around 9 real-world topics related to the environment, the Earth, people and cultures, and social and emotional learning. Topics ask children to use science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics and engage them in empathizing, thinking critically, collaborating, and coming up with solutions to solve real-world problems.

STEAM Project-Based Learning teacher’s edition for grades 1-6 encourages students to develop collaborative problem-solving skills. The engaging STEAM tasks provide meaningful learning opportunities for students as they work together to study current real-world problems and strategize solutions to help create a better world. Each robust unit includes a hands-on STEAM task that provides students with a problem to solve using the design process of Problem and Task, Research, Brainstorm and Design, Make It and Explain It.

Download a free sampler for STEAM Project-Based Learning here! 

Free Skill Sharpeners STEAM Projects for grades PreK-6

Check out this free sampler for Skill Sharpeners STEAM grades PreK-6. Highlighted below are some of the STEAM units included in this free PDF. Download this free printable from Skill Sharpeners STEAM for grades PreK-6!

Skill Sharpeners STEAM PreK
Tissue Box: PreK Engineering Connection
This activity is from the Germ unit in the PreK level, and challenges students to redesign a tissue box using art materials from around the house. Using both creative and critical thinking skills, students will complete this hands-on activity while also learning about germs and how to stay healthy. This activity is part of the engineering connection to the unit theme.

Skill Sharpeners STEAM 1st grade
Litter Machine Project: First Grade
This activity challenges students to design their own clean-up litter machine as part of the Trash unit. Students will be guided through the brainstorming process as they use critical thinking skills to describe their machine idea, and then can build a cardboard model or draw a picture of their imagined design.

Skill Sharpeners STEAM 4th grade
Cultural Board Game: Fourth Grade
In a unit focused on cultural differences, students will research different countries across the world and then design and create a board game that teaches players about these countries. This activity walks students through each part of the creation process, from research to brainstorming to designing. Students will learn more about countries across the world and then get to teach others what they have learned!

Skill Sharpeners STEAM 6th grade
Presentation Project: Music Education: Sixth Grade
Part of this unit, based on music education, tells the story of making a case for music education at a school. Following this story, students will conduct research, draft a speech, and create part of a presentation that aims to convince the school board to include music education in their middle school curriculum. Students will use both critical and creative skills to achieve their goal.

STEAM education is where creativity meets academics and directly prepares children for the challenges they will face in the future. Incorporate some STEAM into your curriculum and see your students become motivated, interested and inspired.

For more great activity ideas and educational lessons, subscribe to our free e-newsletter here.

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.

Children’s literature is one of the ways that kids learn important life lessons and skills, such as empathy, acceptance, and confidence. Providing rich reading experiences that introduce different cultures and represent different experiences is a wonderful method for opening children’s world views. From picture books to chapter books to YA novels, there are plenty of options and opportunities for kids to see diversity represented in the books they read.

Here are some of our favorite books that represent and encourage diversity for grades PreK-2 and 3-6 reading levels:

Grades PreK–2

Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie and Yuyi Morales (illustrator):
Thunder Boy Jr. doesn’t want to share a name with his dad, Big Thunder, anymore, so he sets out to discover a new name for himself. This is a great and colorful story about a young Native American boy and his father as they build his own confidence.

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman (illustrator):
This book is a colorful and descriptive story about children from all kinds of backgrounds as they go through their day at school. This is a great story about acceptance, diversity, and love.

Hair Like Mine by LaTashia M. Perry:
Follow the story of this little girl who wants to find someone else who also has naturally curly hair like hers. As she searches, she discovers that everyone has unique characteristics that make them who they are.

Festival of Colors by Surishtha Sehgal, Kabir Sehgal, and Vashti Harrison (illustrator):
In this beautifully illustrated book, learn about Holi, the Festival of Colors in Indian culture. Siblings Mintoo and Chintoo gather flowers and prepare for the festival in this colorful and educational story.

Sophia Valdez, Future Prez by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts (illustrator):
When Sofia’s Abuelo hurts his ankle at the local landfill, Mount Trashmore, she devises a plan to turn it into a park for the neighborhood! She prepares to pitch her idea to City Hall, but when that doesn’t work, she must find a new way to make a difference.

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard and Juana Martinez-Neal (illustrator):
This illustrated book tells the story of the connection between food and culture and demonstrates how Fry Bread is a big part of Native American culture and family. The book also includes a recipe for fry bread and notes by the author about the story.

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson (illustrator):
When CJ starts to ask questions like “Why do I have to ride the bus home with grandma?” and “How come I don’t have an iPod like other kids?” his grandmother shows him the beauty of their routine and the fun in the world around them.

Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts and Noah Z. Jones (illustrator):
Jeremy wants the shoes that everyone else is wearing, but his grandma explains the difference between “want” and “need.” As the story goes on, Jeremy realizes that he is grateful for what he does have, and ends up helping a friend out, too.

Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall:
This story follows Jabari, a recent swim lesson graduate, as he builds up the courage to jump off the diving board like all the other kids. With the help of his dad, he prepares to make the jump!

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi:
When Unhei moves to America from Korea, she’s especially nervous about fitting in and teaching the other kids to pronounce her name. She decides to choose a new name, and all the other kids submit suggestions in the name jar, which mysteriously goes missing on the day of her name choosing!

Grades 3–6

Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon:
Loosely based on Zora Neal Hurston, an African-American folklore author, this book tells the story of fictionalized young Zora as she tries to solve the mystery of the “half-man, half-gator” in her Florida town. The book also includes biographical information of Zora Neal Hurston, and is a great chapter book series.

The Skin I’m In by Sharon Flake:
This story tackles bullying with the story of Maleeka Madison, an African American seventh grader who struggles with poverty and self-consciousness about her dark skin. Winner of The Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent, this book is a wonderful story about self-acceptance.

Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan:
This classic chapter book tells the story of Esperanza as her life is uprooted, and she must move from her family’s farm in Mexico to a California labor camp. Esperanza faces new challenges as she and her family are not accepted in their new life. She must work hard to save herself and her family.

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt:
Ally works very hard to hide her dyslexia in each new school she attends, until a new teacher spots her creative potential and works to help her improve her reading skills. Ally builds confidence in herself and her reading ability and sees new opportunities for herself.

Front Desk by Kelly Yang:
Mia Tang isn’t like the other kids; she lives in a motel where her parents are cleaners, works the front desk, and helps her parents hide immigrants in the empty rooms. She also wants to be a writer, but her mother wants her to stick to math and science. Follow Mia’s story as she tries to follow her dreams and help those around her.

Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya:
Marcus, who doesn’t exactly fit in at school, takes a trip to Puerto Rico with his mom and brother to visit some relatives. Once there, Marcus sets off on a quest to find his father, who he hasn’t seen in years, and along the way learns about himself and learns a little bit of Spanish.

The House that Lou Built by Mae Respicio:
Follow Lou as she plans to build her own tiny house on her family’s property to get some space from her Filipino family, who live in a small apartment with her grandmother. When things go awry, Lou must fight to keep her family’s land and follow her dreams of becoming an architect.

The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez:
Malú faces her first day at a new school, and things don’t exactly go as planned, but her dad reminds her of the first rule of punk: be yourself. Malú sets out to assemble a band out of the other kids like her and teaches others to always be yourself.

The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi:
Follow Farah and her two friends as they become trapped in an old mechanical board game and must fight to find a way back out. This fantasy novel is great for imaginative kids and features a female protagonist of color.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio:
This beloved novel is about August Pullman, a boy born with facial differences that make it hard to fit in. The story follows August as he tries to make new friends and features the perspectives of those around him who are learning empathy, compassion, and kindness.

Incorporating a variety of authors and books into your library will offer great opportunities for children to learn about the world around them through fun and colorful characters!

Build a sense of community and inclusiveness in the classroom with culturally responsive teaching units that connect students’ cultures, languages, and life experiences with their learning. The creative activities from Culturally Responsive Lessons and Activities for grades 1-6 help children reflect on their personal experiences while also learning to consider other viewpoints. The robust units include inspirational stories, creative writing prompts, video journals, and hands-on art activities such as posters and painting projects.

Download free printables from Culturally Responsive Lessons and Activities here. 

For more great activity ideas and educational lessons, subscribe to our free e-newsletter here.

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.