Minds in Bloom

Pinterest Summer Link Up: Tons of Ideas for Summer Learning and Fun!

2013-06-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

Yippee, summer break is here (or nearly here for a few of you). If you are looking for some new ideas for summertime activities, you already know that you will find a ton of them on Pinterest. That is why I have created this Pinterest Link Up! This link up will help you to easily find (and possibly follow) some of the best summer boards and even add your own. Here is my Summer Fun Board:

If you would like to add yours, please follow these rules:

This link up is for Pinterest Boards only (this means you may not link up an individual pin, a blog post, product page etc.)

To link up, your board must include at least 20 pins and be focused on summer activities for kids from a variety of sources.

Before you link up, pin this post onto the board you are planning to link. Boards that do not include this post may be deleted from the link up.

Please link just one board and please be sure it is a board that you own.

Feel free to pin this post on other boards as well and to share on your other social networks!

Happy Pinning!

Help Tornado Victims in Oklahoma and Get Tons of Great Teaching Resources!

2013-05-25T00:16:00.004-07:00

All of our hearts are hurting for those who lost their homes and loved ones in the tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma last Monday. Sellers at Teachers Pay Teachers have gotten together to create an amazing fund-raiser. For a donation of $25, you get over $100 worth of teaching resources! This deal is only available until Monday June 3. There are four different bundles to choose from and you can find out exactly what is included in each bundle by clicking below.

K-2 Bundles

Teachers Care for Oklahoma Fundraiser ~ K-2 Bundle 1 ~ ELA, Math, Common Core

Teachers Care for Oklahoma Fundraiser ~ K-2 Bundle 2 ~ ELA, Math, Common Core

3-6 Bundles

** Teachers Care for Oklahoma Fundraiser, 3-6 with Clipart Bundle 1 **

** Teachers Care for Oklahoma Fundraiser, 3-6 with Clipart Bundle 2 **
(one of my products is in this one)

100% of the proceeds for this fundraising event is being collected by TPT, and will be distributed by check to the appropriate Moore Oklahoma School District Representative earmarked to specifically aid the teachers as they begin the process of rebuilding. While many TpT sellers contributed, the bundles were put together by Dani of Crayonbox Learning and Viki of Special Teacher for Special Kids. Coordinating and creating this kind of product is a huge amount of work. One small way to thank them for the many hours they have put into this is to leave feedback on the product page when you purchase.

I sincerely hope you will participate in this fundraiser. Not only will be helping teachers and students in Oklahoma, but you will also get a plethora of wonderful resources to use with your own students.

Classroom Management - Share your Ideas!

2013-05-13T05:41:00.000-07:00

So I am moving this week! Thanks to all of you wonderful TpT buyers, I was able to purchase this awesome house for myself and my family (which consists of my daughter - a high school junior, my son a college sophomore who is only home on breaks, but still needs a room, my sweetie, and his two girls, ages 14 and 10 who are with us every other weekend, and a somewhat senile cat). It has a big daylight basement for the kids and is in a great neighborhood - we've already met the neighbors and they are so nice. And two of them are teachers! We are also just a few minutes ride from a fabulous bike trail - you can ride all the way into Seattle one way, or into Redmond (which I wouldn't have mentioned except that Bill made it famous) if you go the other way. Thank you all so much for making this possible. Beyond being able to buy a house, I am truly honored that you have chosen to use my products with your students.

But the real reason for this post is I was wondering if could help me out. Since I won't have time to blog for the next few days, I am hoping to crowd source some classroom management tips - either for the end of this year or for starting next year. I would be thrilled if you would leave a comment with your favorite classroom management tip. And of course, if you have a blog you are welcome to leave a link.

I'm looking forward to reading your tips and I am sure that other Minds in Bloom readers will find them valuable.

Data Standards: Common Core Style

2013-05-10T04:45:00.000-07:00

Lucky us, we have a math specialist guest posting today. Read her post to find out how to implement one of the trickier Common Core Standards.

In the common core, there is a measurement and data standard (MD.B) that I don't see being addressed in many programs at the third, fourth and fifth grade levels. It is all about students constructing and using line plots to further their understanding of fractions. I love how closely this data standard is tied into the fraction knowledge required at each grade level and it is a great way to incorporate fractions, measurement and data at the same time.

Here are the standards I am referring to.
Grade 3: CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.B.4 Generate measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an inch. Show the data by making a line plot, where the horizontal scale is marked off in appropriate units— whole numbers, halves, or quarters.

Grade 4: CCSS.Math.Content.4.MD.B.4 Make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit (1/2, 1/4, 1/8). Solve problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions by using information presented in line plots. For example, from a line plot find and interpret the difference in length between the longest and shortest specimens in an insect collection.

Grade 5: CCSS.Math.Content.5.MD.B.2 Make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit (1/2, 1/4, 1/8). Use operations on fractions for this grade to solve problems involving information presented in line plots. For example, given different measurements of liquid in identical beakers, find the amount of liquid each beaker would contain if the total amount in all the beakers were redistributed equally

These standards have great connections to science and would be easy to incorporate the data collection and line plot making into multiple science units.

I want to take you into my classroom for a look at how I am addressing this standard with a group of fifth and sixth grade students.

A Look Inside My Classroom

I wanted my fifth and sixth grade students to be measuring and making a line plot to the nearest eighth of an inch. Because I wanted our first attempt at this to be manageable in size, I chose to have us measure crayons. The reason for this is because when you are going to the eighth of an inch, you don't want to much spread in your data because it makes the line plot really long. I had 2 students grab a handful of crayons out of our class bin and then we passed out rulers. The rulers in this room are marked in sixteenths. Before I sent kids out to measure, we drew a quick diagram on the board and reviewed how to measure to the nearest eight of an inch.

Our quick sketch about how to measure to the nearest eight of an inch and what to do with the sixteenths.

The kids were then put in groups and given a small pile of crayons to measure. They had to agree on the measurements as a group and recorded them on a piece of scrap paper. When everyone was done measuring, we talked about how to draw our line plot and what numbers needed to be on it. It was a great discussion about how small and how large we needed to go and what the increments would be. Students worked with their groups to place their data on the line plot and had a great discussion about how large to make the X marks and how making marks of different sizes would change how the graph looked.

A Look at the finished product! As you can see, the students marked it in eights but only labeled the fourths. They tried labeling each eighth at one point but the numbers looked to "squished"

When the line plot was finished, it was our cue to begin a great discussion about our data. Here is where the strong connections to fractional thinking came into play.

I started by asking kids what they noticed about the line plot and what questions they could think of to ask their peers about the data. This resulted in a quite a few questions that I tried to put into different categories.

Because there are some sixth graders in this group and because we have been working on measures of center and other statistics with the group recently, the first set of questions they came up with were statistics type questions. Here is a peak at a few

The kids asked and answered each other's questions about the statistics visible on the line plot. The group decided that finding the average (mean) would be quite a bit of work and were happy to say that the answer would be "a little more than three"

These statistics questions are great for the sixth graders but not really what the common core standards I was hoping to address were about. So we tried some more questions. Many of these questions fell under the category of interpreting the representation. While they were great, it is still not the type of questions referred to in the common core standards.

These questions fell under the category of general representation interpretation. I could tell from these questions that my students know how to interpret a line plot.

I think the reason that my students didn't come up with the questions I was looking for was because they have never been asked to use a line plot in this way. After I asked a few questions, they got the idea and helped me generate a few more. Here is a list of the questions we came up with that really get at the common core standards.

How much longer was the longest crayon than the shortest one?

If we put all the crayons that are three and a quarter inches in a line, how long would that line be?

Are there any two crayons that could be put end to end and be the same length as another crayon?

Which line would be longer: all of the three and one eighth inch crayons lying end to end or all of the three and three fourth crayons lying end to end? How much longer would one line be than the other?

These questions ended up being a great review of the fraction operations we have been working on. Also, I was surprised how easy some of the questions ended up being for some of my students who struggle the most. The number line model really supported my students' thinking. I really like the way this standard integrated several different things that we had been working on. I can't wait to share this lesson with the science teachers and see how they can incorporate this standard into their own lessons. How do you plan on meeting this common core standard?

About the Author

Tara, aka The Math Maniac is a K-6 math specialist from a small town on Vermont. She loves learning about how her students think about math and is always impressed with the ways students can invent math for themselves. You can find her on Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers and on her blog The Math Maniac.

Teacher Appreciation Gift Bag and Teachers Pay Teachers Sale!

2013-05-07T04:01:00.000-07:00

Banner provided by: Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day! I hope your day is filled with kind words, flowers, yummy things to eat, and maybe even a gift card or two. Just in case you didn't already know, I have teamed up with four other TpT Top Sellers to make a terrific gift bag that you can get for free. Find out how to download all five of our free products right here.

Of course today and tomorrow (May 7-8) are also the site-wide Teachers Pay Teachers Sale. My entire store along with many others is on sale for 20% off and if you enter Promo Code TAD 13 at check out, you will get another 10% off! Now is a great time to get some of those products you've been wanting off your wishlist.

If you are looking for something brand new to use for next year, I just posted this set of Class Rules Task Cards.

If you are looking for more task cards, you can find all of them in the Task Card Section of my TpT Store.

Something new I have been trying lately is making PowerPoints from my some of my most popular task card sets. The PowerPoints are a great way to get focused practice on a specific skill. They can be used on their own or in conjunction with the matching task card set. You can find all of them right here.

Remember to pick up your Teacher Appreciation Gift Bag and have fun shopping!

Teacher Appreciation Gift Bag for You!

2013-05-05T04:38:00.000-07:00

How does one even begin to express appreciation for teachers? I am personally in awe of each and every one of you who continue to dedicate yourself to your students despite the current ignorant and often hostile political climate. Your work is invaluable and I hope that the students, parents, and administrations in your life make that abundantly clear every day, but especially on Teacher Appreciation Day.

Of course, I too would like to show my appreciation and to do that, I am collaborating with four of my favorite TpT sellers to create a gift bag for you! You will no doubt recognize their names because they are all TpT top sellers. We have each contributed one of our best-selling products that you will be able to download for free on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 7-8. This coincides with the site-wide Teachers Pay Teachers Teacher Appreciation sale during which each of us will be marking our entire stores down to 20% off. Use the TpT Promo Code TAD13 at check out and you will get an additional 10% off!

Banner provided by: Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs

Here is a little preview of what each of us will be giving away for the gift bag:

I am giving away my Vocabulary Task Cards. This set of 35 cards can be used with any list of vocabulary words. I selected this set of cards because they can be used again and again over the course of the year, and also because vocabulary is such a big part of the Common Core Standards. Each card features a different challenge. They would be great at a literacy center or you could require students to complete a given number of cards per week. There are also several different tracking sheets included.

Those of you who know me, know that I am a huge fan of Laura Candler from Teaching Resources. Everything she does is amazing - high quality, useful, and fun for students. Her Teacher Appreciation Gift Bag product is no exception. Laura is giving away her always popular and CCSS aligned Sentence Go Round. This resource is focused on helping your students write longer and more interesting sentences - and we all know how important that is! I especially like her detailed teacher instructions that will tell you exactly how you can use this resource.

Next up is Ashleigh Swinford who blogs at Ashleigh's Education Journey. I think Ashleigh's products are amazing. Everything she does is well-laid out, appealing, and so incredibly useful. A perfect example is the product she is contributing to the gift bag, Simplifying the Scientific Process. If I were still teaching in the classroom, I would be breathing a huge sigh of relief on discovering this product. There it all is, the scientific method in bright, colorful posters, along with graphic organizers, activities (including a foldable, that I love!) and so much more. Seriously, you do not want to miss this chance to get it for free.

One of the many things that I admire about Stephanie Moorman from Teaching in Room 6 is that she only makes resources that she can use in her own classroom - so everything she makes is kid-tested. Many of her products target those skills that kids need to review again and again, which makes them super useful! Stephanie is contributing her Time for Math: Clock Creativity, which is a terrific collection of math activities that are all based on the clock. I love the, "Time for..." printables as well as the bulletin-board worthy craft, which she explains beautifully with both text and pictures.

The first time I saw Jennifer Runde's products (who blogs at Runde's Room) was when she hit the top of the TpT charts with her Reading Comprehension Binder a few years ago. At that time I was awed by the quality and thoroughness of the product. Now that I know her a little better, I am still a huge fan. Jennifer loves hands on activities that get her students moving. Her Teacher Appreciation Gift Bag product, End of the Year Drama Circle Cards will do exactly that - and the timing is perfect! I am confident this activity will be a huge hit with your students during those last few days of school.

Now is a great time to take a peek at each of these products as well as each seller's TpT stores (because I know there are things you will want to put on your wish list). Then come back on Tuesday or Wednesday to grab the freebies and purchase everything on your wishlist at 28% off! Remember to use promo code TAD13 at checkout.

We'd love to have you share the gift bag with your friends and colleagues. The cute little girl at the top of this post makes a great pin! Wishing you a wonderful Teacher Appreciation week!

Reaching English Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom

2013-05-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

Many of us have English as a Second Language (ESL) students in our classes, who come to us with varying levels of English proficiency when they arrive, and in some cases, varying levels of education. I'm going to share a few tips for mainstream teachers who may be struggling with modifying instruction for English Language Learners in their classrooms.

Let's start by doing a little activity: Raise your hand if you've ever traveled to another country. Lots of hands! Now raise your hand if you've ever gone to school in another country. Fewer hands. Now raise your hand if you've ever learned math, science, or social studies in a language besides English in another country. Even fewer hands. That last example is what we are asking our ESL students to do: learn specific content-area vocabulary at their grade level, when in reality, they may not have the background education, knowledge, or experiences to be able to keep up with their classroom peers. So how can we make it easier?

Get to know your student

The ESL teacher in your school or district should be able to provide you with a report that gives that student's level of proficiency. About half of the states in the US, including NJ, use WIDA; check and see what your state uses. If you use WIDA, once you know your student's English proficiency level, you will be able to find a list of Can-Do descriptors for that student. I treat this similar to an IEP, in that now I know what I can absolutely expect the student to achieve in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Giving the student achievable work on his or her level makes learning so much more rewarding. Below is something the teachers at my school use to make the Can-Do descriptors a little bit easier to manage. If you use WIDA, hopefully it can help you too! It's a google doc-just click on the picture to download.

Build background knowledge with quality and quantity

Many students come to the US without the experiences that our students take for granted. Here's an example my students struggled with recently from their mainstream classroom basal reader:

Robert and his grandfather are going camping. They set out early with a tent, fishing pole, and hiking boots. What did they forget?

Here are the problems with giving ESL students questions like that:

They may never have been camping before.
They do not know what a tent, fishing pole, or hiking boots are if there are no illustrations.
I could go on and on!

But how do I fix it? Well, if I know that the selection for the week is going to be about camping, I could put together a 10 minute Powerpoint about common camping vocabulary for the benefit of all the students in the class. Maybe I can find a Youtube video to show to my small group of ELL's before reading the story during guided reading. Or, if I know of a native speaker who is an avid camper, I can have him/her "teach" the ELL's about camping and then partner-read the story together to answer questions as they arise. And, as I always tell my students, Google Images is our best friend.

Have one student be the "expert" to build background and enhance speaking and listening skills.

Make language personal

There are two kinds of vocabulary ELL's need to learn: social and academic. Most of the literature we read (Fountas and Pinnell) and the interaction they get with peers teaches them social language, so I supplement the academic language with cross-curricular activities When we come across a word we don't know when reading (even after building background!) I explain, make or find a visual, and then ask them to tell me about the word. Having the students use the word in their own sentence out loud makes them more apt to use it again and remember it when we are reading the next day. Looking for more ways to work on vocabulary with ELL's? Check out Marzano's 6 steps.

Use resources

If you have an ESL teacher for push-in or pull-out instruction in your building, set up weekly meetings either in person or via email to discuss a student's progress. You can ask that teacher to help you with ideas for making modifications for tests and homework. If you have a science/social studies textbook that is above a student's reading level, go to the grade level (or two!) below and borrow some of their non-fiction readers on the same subject- use those to supplement instruction.

How do you modify for ELL's in the mainstream classroom? Share your stories of success (or difficulty!) in the comments. Questions? Email me at everyonedeservestolearn@gmail.com

About the Author

Maria is a K-8 ESL teacher in New Jersey. She is the author of the Everyone deServes to Learn blog. She teaches reading, writing, listening, and speaking across the curriculum. She has been a French teacher and a Basic Skills teacher, but her teaching heart is in ESL. She has a Master's in Teaching ESL and is pursuing a career in administration. Visit her blog, Everyone Deserves to Learn and her Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Self-Publishing With Your Class

2013-05-01T04:25:00.000-07:00

I am so thrilled to host Susanna Westby from Whimsy Workshop! Her post will tell you exactly how to create a real book! Turns out it is easier and cheaper than I thought.

It's an old stand-by activity in primary classrooms - the class book.
If you're a primary teacher, you've probably done this many times: all students contribute a page, staple it together with a cover, and display it on the class bookshelf.

It's a great activity for encouraging young writers, but with modern technology at our fingertips, it's time for this activity to get a major update! Self-publishing your class books adds a new level of engagement and pride for students. For older students, they can become fully involved in the technical side of self-publishing.

Why bother?
First, publishing transforms the traditional stapled book into what is perceived as "a real book" - and that matters to students! There's something about seeing their work printed and bound that makes them identify as "real" authors, just like those they see in a bookstore.

Second, when you publish, each student can have their own color copy; seeing their faces while sharing their finished book with friends and families - pure joy and pride! In my class experience, parents order one copy (about $10), but when they see the final result, they rush back to ask if they can order several more to send to relatives and to save as family keepsakes.

More ideas:

Put a copy in your school library for others to sign out.
Share the pages (projected) at a parent night or assembly; each student can read aloud their own page.
Use the book as the springboard for other language arts or math lessons, just as you would for any author study.
Collaborate to create non-fiction book instead, based on any subject you are studying in class.
Create a class poetry anthology or short stories.
Older students could create a book for younger classes, following the structure of a specific picture book or author.
Create a time capsule book with each student writing about themselves and their hopes for the future; parents can tuck them away to read years later. If it's done each year, it's a nice keepsake for the teacher too, after many years.

If you'd like to give it a try in your class, here are the steps to follow. I'll use the example of my class book from this year called I Like Me.

Finding an Idea

Come up with a story that emerges naturally from class themes and discussions. We chose the topic of anti-bullying and assertiveness. Each student chose one animal, and we showed how that animal could be assertive after being "put down". It's a simple concept for a Grade 1 class.

Add Illustrations

Students illustrate their character; we used step-by-step drawing sheets, but older students could use photo references or create original drawings. More advanced students could create pictures digitally.

Drawing in progress. When students see the finished book, they understand why their teacher sent them back to add more details and color to their drawings!

When doing backgrounds there are three easy options.

Students can color the whole page, then simply scan it.
Students can cut out a single image and glue it to colored paper.
If you use an editing program, you can add the scanned images to a background you've made.

In all cases, you can simply drop your image into Powerpoint and use the text box option to add your text.

The main text is in black. A few more advanced students were challenged to provide non-fiction information about each animal, which makes up the lighter text framing the picture.

Print a Draft

The next important step is to print a draft of the book and read it aloud to the class; collaborate on changes to dialogue or plot. This sort of collaborative editing engages students in critical thinking, providing them with the opportunity to evaluate ideas, consider alternatives, and engage in higher level thinking.

This is the editing process in action! Students will notice details and make fantastic suggestions that you'd never think of!

Publishing
When everyone agrees that it's finished, there are a few options:

Save the powerpoint presentation as a PDF to send for printing to your local printers.
-Search for online printing companies submit your pages as jpegs.
In my case, I saved the pages as separate jpegs and dragged them into iphoto's "Book Maker" feature.

Click the "Buy Book" button shown in the photo. Books arrive in about a week.

When the box of books arrives in the mail, get ready for fun! It's one of the happiest and most memorable days. Students in my class have been quite emotional about it, and there's a deeper understanding and appreciation for collaboration and the creative process.

Why not try self-publishing with your class as a way to promote higher level thinking? Plant the seeds by walking them through the process, and watch their creativity bloom! Who knows how many future authors and illustrators you might inspire.

If you'd like to read our class book I Like Me, you can find it here.

And finally, here is a freebie for you: A PDF photoshop tutorial guiding you through the steps for importing student images into photoshop and making simple backgrounds.

Thanks to Rachel for providing the opportunity to guest post! I'd love for you to share any of your own comments or experiences with self-publishing in the comments.

About Susanna Westby

Susanna is a mother or two who has been teaching primary classes for 20 years near Vancouver, Canada. She received her B.A. in education, visual arts and literature; her post-graduate diploma focused on educational technology. In addition to creating children's illustrations, she sells both her educational graphics and a myriad of literacy products in her Teachers Pay Teachers Store. Since earlier this year she has also been blogging about her own classroom at Whimsy Workshop.

Create Engaging Assessments with Math Performance Tasks

2013-04-29T04:14:00.000-07:00

I am so pleased to host guest blogger Michaela Almeida of The Center Based Classroom. Her post just may revolutionize the way you assess math!

As a child, my feelings toward math were lukewarm at best. My distaste for math only worsened as I continued through school, hearing from teacher after teacher that math just "wasn't a strength of mine". I found math boring and I just didn't understand.

It wasn't until I started teaching that I discovered my love for math! I realized that I could approach math in a way that my teachers did not, in a way that deepens students' understanding and helps spark a love of math in them. I thought to myself, "if I can teach math in an exciting way, I should be able to assess math in an exciting way, right?!"

Math assessments DO NOT have to be boring! We know that teachers need to use a broad range of assessments to determine student understanding. I use a variety of formal and informal assessments in my classroom including my favorite, weekly performance tasks. The best part about these performance tasks (my kiddos and I call them challenge problems), is that they have no idea they're being assessed!

Every Friday morning, students will run up to me asking, "When are we going to do the challenge problem?!" It is their favorite activity of the entire week! Where can you find these performance tasks? The Sonoma County Office of Education has a HUGE list of MARS Tasks available for FREE! These tasks are broken down by grade level for grades 2 through high school!

You will find a large selection of performance tasks for each grade level. These tasks are aligned to the CCSS and include rubrics and an answer key. Here is a sample of one of the performance tasks for grade 3:

How I use them in my classroom
I choose a performance task that fits the topic we have been working on that week (you can also create one of your own - the pictures you will see are of an area and perimeter performance task I created). My students work in partners to complete these tasks. I choose their partners before each task, varying partnerships each week. Depending on the task, I group my kiddos based on ability or learning styles - this part is totally up to you! Set your students up for success! I don't just hand my students the tasks and hope for the best. Introduce the task by reading the problem together, underlining key words, and giving them a chance to discuss how they might solve it (our rule is that we only discuss options for solving the problems, but not the answer!).

After our introduction, students are sent off to work on the problem. I take on the role of facilitator, making sure the students are on task and guiding them if they get stuck. Each group has access to various manipulatives and can choose how they will go about solving the problem. They must explain how they arrived at their answers.

Once students have completed the task and explained their thinking, we come together as a class. Each group has a chance to share their thinking. This shows students that there are multiple ways to arrive at an answer. It never fails that one group comes up with a way even I hadn't thought of! It's so great to see their thinking - I learn so much about each child as a learner!

How can you create your own performance tasks?

Use the acronym GRASPS to help you! The acronym allows for teachers to provide a complex scenario that gives students an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and skills they've learned in authentic, real life situations. *These are meant to simulate authentic situations - The GRASPS outline is not intended to be real. For example, the audience is usually the teacher and other students in the classroom pretending to take on the role of "mayor", "principal", etc. GOAL - Establish the goal, problem, challenge, or obstacle in the task. ROLE - Define the role/job of the students in the task. AUDIENCE - Identify the target audience within this scenario SITUATION - Set the context of the scenario and explain the situation. PRODUCT - Clarify what the students will create. STANDARDS - What learning standards does this task address?

My creating performance tasks freebie will help you get started!

About the Author
I am a third grade teacher in Massachusetts. I am finishing up my M.Ed. in reading from Worcester State University, in hopes of becoming a reading specialist in the future. I am a also a newlywed! My husband and I were married in November, 2012, and are living in bliss in our little one bedroom apartment! When I am not teaching, doing homework, working on products for Teachers Pay Teachers, or posting on my blog, The Center Based Classroom, you can find my scouring Pinterest for recipes and crafts that I probably won't have time to try out, cleaning/organizing (I have a Type A personality), and relaxing with my husband, family, and friends.

Calling all Teachers Pay Teachers Sellers

2013-04-28T13:15:00.002-07:00

If you sell on TpT and you are active in the forums, you no doubt know the seller Over the Moon, whose real name is Rebecca Garrabrant. Rebecca has been posting the most amazing marketing advice, which is why I asked her to come blog with me at SoS on TpT.

SoS on TpT is a blog I started for new sellers a few years ago. There are some terrific posts there about setting up your store and creating products. Rebecca is going to post what she posts here in the seller's forums there as well. That will make it easy to find all of her posts in one place. Hopefully, having them on a blog will also help sellers who do not regularly visit the forums.

You can find her super-fun intro here. Or you can read my intro, which is not nearly as much fun, but does give some history about SoS on TpT.

She has just started posting the posts from the forum and will eventually get all of the past ones posted and then continue to add more content. She will of course continue to post here in the forums as well, so don't worry, I am not stealing her away from the forum.

While you are on SoS on TpT, you might want to follow the blog so that you don't miss anything.

Five Ways to Provide an Authentic Audience for Your Students

2013-04-27T04:33:00.000-07:00

I am so very pleased to host Brenda Martin from Teaching Dreaming Learning. You will add so much to your students' time in your classroom if you use even one of her ideas.

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The great teacher inspires.

--William Arthur Ward

As a classroom teacher, I want my students to look back on third grade with fantastic memories of our hands-on science experiments, our fabulous writing projects, interactive field trips, and our classroom community of 21^st century learners. I want this for them, but most of all I want them to leave knowing that they can make a difference in this world. They have a voice. I want them to be inspired. This year, I worked to inspire my students by providing them with an authentic audience, an audience beyond the walls of our classroom or even our school. This post is dedicated to teachers who work every day to inspire students to change this world…one project at a time.

Five Simple Ways to Provide an Authentic Audience for Your Students

Work with non-profits. Find a non-profit organization that your students are passionate about or one that connects with your standards. Encourage students to make a difference in this world by working closely with real life organizations. This might mean bloggingwith students in Kenya, Africa or raising money for victims of a weather disaster. Let your students choose and you will provide them with an experience they will never forget.

Contact the local news. Are your students proud of their accomplishments? Of course they are. Celebrate their work by bringing their projects beyond the school and inviting the local news to learn about their work. News organizations love hearing about great things students are doing and your students will see how their work is getting recognized. The more people who see it, the bigger difference they can make.

Mail or email their work to organizations. When students know they are writing a report or an opinion piece for more than just a grade, their work becomes so much more meaningful. This year, I had my students choose their topic for their non-fiction report and then choose their audience. They wrote their report for a classroom grade and then we sent it off to organizations all over the world including the Indian Embassy, local pet stores, even the White House. Guess what…many students got letters back. This simple addition to report writing showed my students that they have a voice in our world. Check out this project created by one of my third graders and sent to President Obama. I know this was a report she will never forget!

Contact your local museum. Whether it’s a history museum or a science museum, ask if you can share your student’s work for a seasonal display or even on the website. It’s a great opportunity for students to celebrate their achievements with an authentic audience of other museum goers and these organizations often love to showcase student work.

Give your students the gift of a digital portfolio. This is a simple way to share their work ALL OVER THE WORLD. Now Grandma from Tennessee and Aunt Tina from Mexico can view student work on their digital portfolio. Click on the image below to download this resource for free.

What have you done to find an authentic audience for your students? We'd love to hear about it. Please share with a comment.

About Brenda

I am a teacher, mom, and wife from Denver, Colorado, but not always in that order! I have been teaching in the elementary grades for over ten years. Over my years of teaching, I have become passionate about 21st century education and have become a trainer to help teachers transform classroom practice by incorporating critical thinking skills, communication, collaboration, and creativity into daily instruction. I work closely with my teaching partner, Ryanne VanSciver to bring these trainings to teachers across the Denver metro area. You can find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Teachers Pay, Teachers, and on our blog.

End of the School Year Ideas, Activities, and Freebies Link Up

2013-04-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

School doesn't end until mid-June in my neck of the woods, but I know some of you are done in May. If you are looking for ideas to help you in those last days, you have come to the right place. After you check out a few of my ideas, be sure to scroll down to the end of the page where other bloggers have contributed theirs.

End of the Year Reflection Questions
There are so many reasons to spend some time reflecting on the school year. Here are just a few:

Reflection questions help to solidify significant events and to create life-long memories.
Reflection questions are a great way to self-evaluate, which can lead to making better choices in the future.
Reflections questions can build self-esteem when remembering things that went well.
Reflection questions make great conversation starters or journal prompts.

Would You Rather Questions
Kids love these! Use them in class or send them home for students to share with their families.

Now it's your turn! Here are the rules for joining this link up:

This link up is for blog posts that feature end of the year ideas, activities and freebies. You may not link up a post that primarily promotes a for-purchase product or link directly to a product page.

Please put the name of your activity/freebie in the Name field.

One submission per person.

Please link your post back to this one by grabbing the End of the School Year Link Up badge above (and linking the image back to this URL) and/or including and in-text link. I periodically go through this link up and pin your posts. I only pin the ones that have linked back. I have nearly 40,000 followers on Pinterest.

And finally, it would be great if you would share this Link-up on Pinterest, Facebook etc.

Teaching Visualization Can Improve Academic Achievement for Students at Any Age

2013-04-24T04:44:00.000-07:00

It is always a treat to have an expert blog for Minds in Bloom. Dr. Erica Warren is an educationalist specialist who focuses on multi-sensory teaching. Visit her blog here.

Image credit: Truth Me

Most children have vivid imaginations and they have no difficulty visualizing make-believe scenes and characters. However, once they enter school, concrete learning methods often leave fantasy and self generated visuals out of the learning equation. What’s more, these little minds are overtaxed with the complicated tasks of basic reading, writing and math, leaving little to no “cognitive space” for them to visualize content and ideas. The sad thing is that many teachers don’t realize that visualization can ignite the “fun factor.” In addition, it enhances learning and improves reading, writing, memory, emotional regulation and more. The key, however, is for visualization to be trained to automaticity, so that students can access mental imagery while focusing on learning basic academics.

What Exactly is Visualization?
Visualization is the creating or recreating of imaginary or real scenes within one’s mind. However, the term "visualization" can be misleading, because visualizing involves more than just imagery. In fact, the more senses utilized, such as touch sound and taste, the more powerful the result.

What Does Visualization Look Like?
Many beginners expect to be able to see images on the inside of their eyelids, observe pictures in their mind like a dream, or project images into reality like a hologram. Although some can learn to visualize to this extent, many people do not. What I can assure you is that the more you practice this skill, the better you will get at it.

When Should Visualization Be Taught?
Ideally, visualization should be taught to a level of automaticity in early primary or elementary school, but it can be developed at any time.

Why Does Visualization Work and How can it Improve Academic Achievement?
Visualization works for a number of reasons:

Visualization stimulates the same parts of the brain as when we actually perform the same activity. In fact, we can fool our brain and body into believing visualizations are real. For example, take a minute and imagine the sight, smell and touch of slicing a lemon in quarters and then taking a big bite. You probably will find that your mouth starts watering because your body reacts to your visualization. So, if it is easy for you to learn from and remember things that you have experienced, visualizations can often be just as powerful.

Visualization communicates a lot of information. As the popular adage suggests, “a picture says a thousand words.” So, for example, visualizing a scene from history or a complex graph from math can help students remember and recall a plethora of details.

Visualization enhances attention because it keeps the audience focused on the subject matter. For example, when students visualize the content of a lesson or a passage that they are reading, comprehension increases dramatically. Many students report that they create a “movie in their head” and the visuals maintain their concentration and interest. In addition, when students visualize a scene before they write it, ideas tend to be more cohesive, their thoughts remain fluid and their stories integrate more descriptive language.

Visualization aids in memory. Tagging imagery to what is learned helps both the encoding and retrieval process, because it makes the learning multisensory. Many students that have mastered visualization even report that they can recreate their notes in their mind’s eye making test taking a breeze. One of my friends, who is an artist, shared that his visualizations are so strong that he can project them on a blank piece of paper and trace them.

What Can We Do to Help Children Master Visualization?
On the one hand, we need to define visualization for our students and teach the skill. When students need to develop their capacity to visualize, I have found that the best way to teach visualization is to break it down into 10 different skill sets. They must learn how to visualize color, size, shape, number, mood, perspective, background, direction, movement and other senses such as smell, touch and taste. To help with the process, you can ask students the following questions about their visualizations:

What are the various colors?

What are the sizes of all the details?

What are the different shapes?

How many details/objects are there?

What is the tone, feeling or emotion?

From what perspective are you seeing the imagery?

What are all the background details?

What direction are the details facing?

Is there any movement?

Are their any smells, textures, or tastes?

On the other hand, we need to share our own visualizations and encourage students to do the same. I have found that discussions and guided assignments can be very helpful. You can:

Ask students to dialogue about their own mental imagery after reading or while planning a writing assignment.

Invite your students to create and draw visualizations that can help them to memorize content.

Provide free writing opportunities for students to document visualizations.

Offer mindful, guided visualization activities, for example, before a test to relieve anxiety or after recess to calm the class.

Talking about and practicing these 10 skills as well as integrating discussions and activities on this topic will help to develop and enhance your students’ capacity to visualize. Please enjoy this free image of the 10 visualization skills.

You can also purchase my Teaching Visualization PowerPoint (Beginner) and Teaching Visualization (Intermediate).

About the Author

Dr. Erica Warren is a learning specialist, educational therapist and author of multisensory, and mindful educational materials. She resides in New York, where she works one on one with students as a “personal trainer for the brain” and an educational consultant/teacher trainer. Dr. Warren offers her materials at Good Sensory Learning and Teachers Pay Teachers. You can read her blog here.

Four Evil Math Wizard Spells that change Basic Math Problems into Brain Bending Challenges

2013-04-22T04:46:00.000-07:00

Yippee, more Common Core Math Strategies! I love this post from second-career teacher Deirdre Calhoun because it is not only well researched, but also so very useful. Be sure to see her four "Evil Math Wizard" spells below...and check out her blog!

They don’t call me the Evil Math Wizard for nothing. For over ten years, I’ve challenged my students to think and persevere when solving math problems. I don’t give them formulas; I start by posing real life dilemmas, and encourage them to develop their own way of solving them using math. Teaching math this way takes time and can be frustrating for some students, but the learning is strong and the knowledge is deep. I have maintained this philosophy even with unwieldy amounts of math standards. Now the tide is changing.

As teachers, we are at a critical juncture. Most states have adopted the new Common Core standards, which gives us a chance to recalibrate, refocus, restructure, and in some cases restart. Resources are scarce so we have to create our own materials. I relish the opportunity to teach Common Core standards that emphasize thinking. I also echo the sentiment of NCTM President Linda M. Gojak in her April address, “We have the opportunity to ensure that students will deeply understand the mathematics they are learning. Mathematics no longer needs to be experienced as a series of procedures and tricks by many students.” I understand this to mean that we need to teach students to think and then our students will have the skills to be able to solve problems without necessarily knowing shortcuts. I have found that true with my experience. When I give my students enough time to think, recognize patterns, and share ideas, my students develop skills that let them handle other math questions without even knowing the formal procedure.

We need to help students be thinkers, creative problem-solvers as well as be prepared for their futures. In March 2013, Thomas Friedman’s op-ed in the NY Times quoted Tony Wagner, author of the book Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World, Wagner observes that our K-12 and college tracks are not consistently “adding the value and teaching the skills that matter most in the marketplace.” Wagner also says “Young people who are intrinsically motivated — curious, persistent, and willing to take risks — will learn new knowledge and skills continuously. They will be able to find new opportunities or create their own — a disposition that will be increasingly important as many traditional careers disappear.”

We have the responsibility to prepare our students for the challenges of the future, but how do we specifically do that. We run the risk of boring our students with meaningless questions that only require regurgitation, especially when the questions are primarily designed to enhance test performance. (Please read Rachel Lynette’s March 8, 2013 blog post on “Why I Have Stopped Creating Test Prep Task Cards.”) Instead, we can have more engaged, confident, and excited students. It does take some thinking on our part so in a way, Common Core is also making us become more creative thinkers.

Here are four of my “Evil Math Wizard” spells I cast to turn traditional math problems into deeper thinking, creative problem solving, brain-bending challenges.

Apply the problem to real life. Just simply changing a traditional problem to a story problem increases the complexity and makes students have to use clues to figure out how to set up the problem. Before: Find the mean of 4, 6, 3, 3 After: In four games, Ben scored 4, 6, 3, and 3 goals. How many goals does he average per game?

Present the information in another way. Putting the information into a graph or picture also challenges a student’s way of thinking and requires them to find the necessary information. Before: Find the mean of 4, 6, 3, 3. After: See graph - or… In the first four games with the soccer team the Strikers, Ben has started the season strong. In his first game he scored four goals and in his last game he scored three. He has never scored less than three goals or more than six goals in his games, and he has averaged four goals so far. Identify the range, mean, median, and mode.

Reverse it. Instead of a student finding an answer, pose the answer, and have the student figure out the question. Before: Find the mean of 4, 6, 3, 3 After: Ben average four goals in the last four games, what are the possible goals he made in each of the four games. What are all the possibilities? How can you figure it out?

Hide something, aka: Algebra. Remove some information from the problem and ask students to come up with possible replacements. Before: Find the mean of 4, 6, 3, 3. After: Ben averages four goals in the last four games. In the first game he scored 4, the second game he scored 5, and 3 in the third game, but the coach lost the statistics for the last game. What did Ben score in that game? I hope that the intent of Common Core succeeds and that test scores do not drive it and that we engage our students in meaningful learning activities.

About Deirdre Calhoun

After a career as a product manager for a software company, I took a break to spend more time at home with my young daughter. When I began volunteering at her school, I saw a need for math lessons to have a more real-life, practical approach. I returned to school, became a certified teacher and just recently completed my master’s degree in Curriculum and Learning. I am passionate about math being practical and magical for my students; it should be fun! Please check out my blog as well as my Teachers Pay Teachers Store to see products that reflect this passion. (I do have some Mean, Median, and Mode Task Cards.)

Teachers Pay Teachers Top Ten Sellers in the News

2013-04-21T12:16:00.001-07:00

The Business Insider did a post about the Top Ten Sellers on TpT (of which I am currently #3). You can read the whole thing here.

This is Deanna Jump...she is the #1 Seller on TpT!

Some of us have been discussing this in Facebook. We are of course, disgusted some of the comments from clearly ignorant people who have no idea what teachers actually do. All of the teachers I know work incredibly hard and spend a significant sum of their own money on their classrooms.

We were also disappointed that they published the amounts we have made (which is all time, and before TpT takes its cut) and several of us have asked the reporter to remove it, but only the first people who asked got a response, so mine is still up there. Yes, the money is great, but we all love creating resources that help make teacher's lives easier and benefit students. It would have been nice if they had put some emphasis on that.

We also don't like the use of the term "Lesson Plans" as we feel it is misleading. We create resources, and there is a big difference. A lesson plan is exactly what it sounds like, it is the plan for the lesson, complete with goals, standards, activities, plans for differentiation, assessment etc. Resources include materials such as task cards, worksheets, center activities, educational posters, PowerPoints, handouts, etc. We don't give teachers a blue print for their days, we just give them tools to use - kind of like a text book, but way more engaging.

I am so incredibly grateful to all of you who have purchased from my store. I am honored that you have chosen to use my products with your students. You have changed my life and the lives of my children in ways you cannot imagine.

Using QR Codes in Your Classroom: It's Easier Than You Think!

2013-04-20T04:23:00.000-07:00

This awesome guest post tells you exactly how to use QR codes and there is a freebie too!

Hello! My name is Stephanie and I (occasionally) write on a little blog called MathTeacherTimeout. I am a middle school math teacher to students with special needs. On my blog, I share tips, tricks, and apps that I find useful in my little neck of the woods. I am here today to discuss QR codes with the lovely readers of Minds in Bloom!

I have been using QR codes in my classroom for about a year now. I know most schools don't have tons of technology, and I am very fortunate to have iPads for my students to use. But many schools are slowly transitioning to using iPads and/or allowing students to use the technologies in their pockets (a.k.a. cell phones) during school hours (only for educational purposes, of course!).

In case you didn't know, QR codes are short for Quick Response codes. You simply scan the code with your QR device (on most smart phones, iPod touches, and iPads) and it shows up as either plain text or a website. These codes are a great way to engage students and can be used in a variety of ways.
One of the easiest ways to get started is to create a QR code of a website you would like your students to visit. How do you make a QR code? Simply visit any QR code generator website (google search QR code generator and you will find tons of them). Here is my personal favorite. Once there, simply type the text you want students to see or copy and paste the web address you want students to visit. Click generate, and your QR code appears instantly.

I have been creating task cards for my students that include a QR code with the answer. Students solve the problem, then check their answer by scanning the code. This is great for students who need immediate confirmation of a correct or incorrect answer. This also allows you to help students fix mis-understandings before they complete 10 problems all incorrectly.

I have also been using lots of QR code scavenger hunts in my classroom. I do this by creating 8 cards with problems on one side. I then put QR Codes with answers on different cards. Students solve the question on one card, then scan QR codes until they match their answer. They then answer the question on that card and continue the search. This is a wonderful interactive activity that keeps students engaged and practicing those math skills!

Here is a little freebie, Money Word problems with QR codes embedded. Enjoy!

A huge thanks to Rachel for allowing me to guest blog for her! This was my first guest post, so hopefully I gave you guys some ideas to use in your own classrooms:) I would love it if you stopped by my blog sometime!

Three Great Pinterest Boards for Teachers to Follow (or Join!)

2013-04-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

Pinterest is such an amazing resource for teachers! I am constantly amazed at all of the incredible ideas I find there. Of course, I am an active pinner with about 75 boards for education (and more than 36,000 followers), but today I would like to share just three of these boards with you. These boards are especially useful because I have opened them up to other pinners. The collaborators who pin on these boards have agreed to certain rules (like pinning 4 useful posts or freebies for each for-purchase product and making sure to indicate with a product is not free), so the boards don't look like giant billboards of paid products. This makes them great boards to follow.

If you would like to become a collaborating pinner on one or more of these boards, just fill out this form and I will get you added. You don't have to be a teacher to pin. Homeschoolers, parent bloggers, and professionals who work with children are also welcome as long as your content is relevant to the topic of the board.

Classroom Management and Organization
This is my most popular board. Currently, there are over 130 contributors and more than 21,400 followers. You will find so many great tips and ideas for keeping your classroom and students organized, as well as for classroom decor and DIY.

Creative and Critical Thinking
This next board is all about one of my personal passions in education: creative and critical thinking. You will find so many ideas for how to get higher level thinking into your curriculum. This board as 53 collaborators and just over 11,000 followers.

Upper Elementary Tips and Activities
Finally, my newest collaborative board is full of pins targeting grades 3-5. This one has over 10,000 followers, but so far, only 8 collaborators. So, joining this one would be a great way to get your pins noticed.

You may also want to check out my Gold Star Pinner Post and see if you qualify to link up.
Remember, if you want to join one or more of these boards, you must fill out this form. Special thanks to Fern Smith whose awesome (and super easy) tutorial on how to embed a Pinterest board both inspired and made this post possible.

Rethinking Poetry: Fostering a Love of Poetry in Your Students

2013-04-18T04:22:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, we as teachers, get so involved in teaching students to write poetry, that we forget to teach them to love it. Rebecca Reid from Line upon Line shares some wonderful ideas as well as a huge list of favorite poems. The perfect post for Poem in Your Pocket Day!

I was a teenager before I got the point of poetry. I always thought of poetry as either stiff and boring or cliché and trite.

When I joined my mother at an English conference to hear the author Amy Tan speak, I also had the chance to hear the poet Andrew Hudgins speak.

I don’t know what he said or which of his poems he shared, but I understood poetry for the first time that day. The way he captured complex emotions in words and symbols seemed almost magical.

Since then, I’ve come to not only appreciate poetry, but actually love reading it. Now that I am a full-time homeschooling mother, I hope to embed that same appreciation and love into the lives of my children.

Where does a teacher begin in teaching poetry? What if you are one of those people who has never appreciated poetry yourself? Do you have to teach children poetry?

Trust me when I say, I understand. I always disliked poetry too.

In homeschooling, there is sometimes a need to “de-school” a child who associates learning with only negative things. This means to let go of a formal schedule for a few days or weeks so the child can get used to being home before a parent tries to sit down and institute a new schedule of learning.

Similarly, I think some of us need to “de-poetry” in order to get over our aversions! Step back from formal instruction. Simply spend some time learning to enjoy poetry.

I believe that teaching poetry to elementary-aged children is easier than we realize. Before we dive in to analyzing the parts of the poem or writing a diamante, we need to embrace the natural poetry in our own language. I believe finding poetic elements all around us is natural.

Poetry is a natural part of language for young children. I sing my infant daughter to sleep with a gentle (sometimes silly) lullaby. But even before that, we read a favorite bedtime story, like Goodnight, Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, a poem that ties together familiar items in a lilting rhythm. We read it over and over again, so that the familiar refrain of “Goodnight stars. Goodnight air. Goodnight noises everywhere.” becomes a lullaby in its own right.

My son, not I, is the one in our family finding rhymes around him, exaggerating (hyperbole: I’m going to die I’m so hungry!), and finding similarities (metaphor and simile) in his life, whether it is finding Mickey Mouse inside of his pancake or “snow” in the powdered sugar he drizzles on top.

We live in an age where poetic concepts do not need to be expressed in a formulaic way, such as a sonnet or haiku (although there is a place for learning and embracing those as well, after the poetry aversion is gone). When we teach our children poetry at an elementary level, I believe poetic concepts should be the focus. It can be very fun.

Parents and teachers can build on this natural love for poetic concepts. Before children lose their love for natural poetry, let’s embrace it. Here are some ideas on how to start fresh in approaching poetry. These ideas may be helpful for anyone who has a poetry aversion or who is teaching someone who does.

Start basic
I firmly believe students can and should learn to appreciate poetry long before the time comes when they must analyze poetry. Their first baby step toward analyzing it is to hear it, to find something to appreciate in it, and to share it. What is their favorite picture book? What is their favorite song?

Talk and think poetically
I do not mean to begin speaking in Shakespearian “thee’s” and “thou’s.” What I mean by “talking poetically” is to find the ways you use language poetically. I suspect you do so more than you realize. (This traffic is as slow as molasses! This room is a pig pen!)

Listen to poetry
Put on a poetry audiobook while you drive in the car. Listen to a dramatization of a poem. Or play a favorite song that your kids like.

Have poetry available
This can be as easy as listening to a song. But the more poetry that is available, the better! Have a variety of anthologies with different types of illustrations to browse through.

Although I love poetry, I am not an expert. I like reading it and enjoying it. That’s the joy of poetry: it can speak to each reader individually.

Every poem touches a person in a different way, but maybe one of these will touch you or the children you teach. Two poems I believe help the poetry-averse better understand poetry are by Billy Collins: “Introduction to Poetry” and “On Turning Ten.”

You can find more of my favorite poems on my long list 150+ Poems to Enjoy. For most of the poems on the list, I have included a link where it can be read online.

When someone tells me they do not want to teach their elementary-aged children poetry at all because they, the teacher, dislike it, I feel a bit sad. I believe that for the most part, you don’t have to teach poetry to children that age! Just read it and experience it together. Observe things in a poetic way and with poetic terms if you want, but don’t force the issue. The time will come to analyze and identify. If we focus on the poetic concepts and the enjoyment factor of those concepts in our lives and in the language we use, then we will not have to deal with poetry aversion so much later on, when we have to introduce more formal study. Rhythm, rhyme, and metaphor will be second nature.

About Rebecca

Rebecca Reid is a full-time homeschooling mother to two, Raisin (a brilliant five-year-old) and Strawberry Shortcake (an almost toddler). She has a Bachelor’s degree in English, with a focus in editing. Since 2008, she has blogged on the books she reads (classics, nonfiction, and children’s literature) at Rebecca Reads. Since earlier in 2013, she has been blogging on the complexities of homeschooling, education, and her love of life-long learning at Line upon Line. She also sells her products at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Test Prep with Pep: Fun Alternatives to Drill and Kill

2013-04-16T04:22:00.000-07:00

This guest post from Samantha Harrell of Riveted Little Readers is a MUST READ for any teacher giving standardized tests.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year"...said no teacher EVER! State mandated testing...those words - can be fighting words I tell ya! No matter, state mandated testing is a necessary evil that we face every spring. How do we make it through this time with as little turmoil as possible? I have heard parents say that their children lose sleep, can't eat...all because of the stress brought on by the TEST. Not to mention the stress it puts upon us teachers! We don't want that. So how do we avoid it? Here's my take.

First of all, let's not drill, drill, drill with those test prep books! They are boring, they are not interactive, and they are just not conducive to learning. I know, I know. Students learn the format of the test from these books, they are aligned to the curriculum, and they are created by professionals who know this stuff! Well who knows our students' needs better than we do? We are professionals! We know the curriculum front and back, and yes,we can prepare our students for the big test without over-relying on those expensive, boring test prep books. How? We want to make test prep fun, we want to engage our students, and we want them ready. Well, we've prepared them all year long, right? So now, all we have to do is review.

For the record, let me state that I am not totally against the test prep books. They can serve a purpose...we can use them to show children how the test will look...show them what to expect. A little practice from the test prep books is fine, but we don't want to overdo it. What can we do instead? Here are some ideas...some activities my third graders have enjoyed!

Using Trade Books to Make Flipbooks
Here you see two of my little sweeties using books to find nouns. Later on, they found pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions. Earlier in the year, we made separate books for each part of speech. But I am amazed at our forgetfulness, even though we review regularly! So that's why we made this quick and easy review flipbook which helps them quickly review the parts of speech in a fun, interactive manner. I helped them make the flipbook so that we had six equal parts. They wrote the name of each part of speech on the front. On the first inside flap, they wrote the definition. For example: On the front of one flap we wrote NOUNS. On the first inside flap, we wrote PERSON, PLACE, THING, IDEA. On the second inside flap, they found and wrote examples from their books.

We also used COLOR. I gave them brightly colored paper, and they used markers to make their flipbooks. The brain LOVES color!

White Boards
Kids also LOVE using white boards. I got these handy little hands for free using my bonus points from Scholastic. Here, you see us using our white boards to review parts of speech. This is a biggie in the new Common Core standards for third grade, so I tried to review it in as many different ways as I could. I told the students I would call out a sentence, and I wanted them to write the verb on their hands. Here, you see them holding up the word "flew." The sentence I called out was, "A huge flock of birds flew high in the sky." In each sentence, I tried to use as many parts of speech as possible to ensure exposure to them all. I also had my students tell me what a verb was, and if it was past tense, present tense, or future tense.

My students loved playing this game. White boards and Expo markers can be used in a variety of ways for a quick review. I've even seen where teachers would use the test prep books in conjunction with white boards. Instead of writing the answer on a sheet of paper, they would write A, B, C, or D on the white board. Now that's a great way to review the format of the test!

Task Cards

Task cards are another great tool that we can use to review concepts in preparation for the big test. I know Rachel has many quality sets available. A co-worker friend of mine has a freebie task card set on idioms that my students loved. They are St. Patrick's Day themed, but who cares?! She also has several paid sets available in her store. Kids love using task cards, and I love that I can use the recording sheets to quickly see who has the concept down, who needs extra support, and take a quick grade if need be!

I Have...Who Has Cards

I think I have...who has cards may be my kids' favorite game ever. You can review all sorts of concepts with these cards! To play this game, you pass out the cards, and the person who has the first card starts it off by reading his card. The person who has the answer then reads his card, and the game continues in the same fashion until you reach the last card. We play the same sets multiple times, and it really helps cement those concepts in their minds. It also encourages listening and speaking skills. They really have to speak clearly, and loudly enough to be heard. They also have to listen carefully, so they will know if they have the next card. They get so excited about this game!

Here, you see us playing my noun set of I have...who has cards. With this set, we are reviewing collective, common, proper, singular, regular and irregular plural, possessive, and abstract nouns. While we're playing, I'll have them spell the singular/plural nouns and explain the rule. I also have them verbalize the apostrophe in possessive nouns, and explain what a possessive noun is. We also talk about proper nouns and the fact that we must capitalize them. I have another set (a freebie) to review pronouns, and am working on sets for all of the other parts of speech.

In conclusion, I hope you found this post useful and helpful! I hope you found some ideas you can use to make test prep less stressful. But above everything else, please remember this during this "most wonderful time." You have spent an entire school year educating these children. If you are reading this, then I will assume that you are one of the ones who does take your craft to heart, and that you are truly striving to make a difference. And I'll bet you are. And this is the best advice I have to give. Teach the standards *all year long* in a way that engages your students. And try not to let the stress of the test overwhelm you or your kids. They feed off of us, so if we are overly-anxious, they will be too. We've GOT this thing! Let's ACE that test!

Thanks so MUCH to Rachel for allowing me to guest post on her amazing blog! Loved having the opportunity to share! Please share your strategies for test prep in the comments below. We would love it if you would add a link to any blog posts that engage students in preparing for the big test!

About the Author:
Samantha Harrell is a third grade reading/ELA teacher in a small town down in Georgia. She received her M.Ed. from Valdosta State University in Early Childhood Education, and her Ed.S. from Nova Southeastern University in Brain Research/Instructional Leadership. She also has a reading endorsement issued by the state of Georgia. She is a single mom who enjoys spending time with her three boys, (12,11,5) and serves them pizza on a regular basis while she works on products for Teachers Pay Teachers and her posts for her blog, Riveted Little Readers.

Springtime Classroom Management Round Up: Tips and Freebies

2013-04-15T10:34:00.002-07:00

We all know how challenging spring can be for classroom management. Kids are getting restless as summer approaches and the classroom routines that have been a regular part of your day all year are getting a little stale. This is a round up of posts and freebies from Minds in Bloom, Teachers Pay Teachers, and Pinterest to help you through this challenging (but also exciting) time of year.

Switching things up

Changing your routines can grab attention and make things more fun. Here are some ways to do just that:

20 Ways to Keep Your Student's Attention

Get Out of that Rut

Beyond the Raised Hand: 10 More Engaging Ways to Respond

Discover the Power of Random Reward in Your Classroom

Attention Signal Ideas (be sure and read the comments too!)

Class Dojo - Awesome Classroom Management Tool

20 three-minute Brain Breaks

Advice from the OT: Why it's so Hard for Children to Sit Still and What You Can Do About It

Fun Fillers

Sometimes the best way to get your kids to focus is to take a break and do something different. This is a list of fun freebies that will get your kids thinking creatively and critically.

Freebies from TpT

Would You Rather Questions

End of School & Summer Would You Rather Questions

Analogies Printables

Frame Games

ABC Nature Walk

Chore Confusion Printable

7 Creative and Critical Thinking Activities

Friendship Social Skills Prompt Cards (because kids can get snarky this time of year)

Activities from Minds in Bloom

Try TriBonds

20 Quick and Fun Creative Thinking Activities

8 Ways to get Creative and Critical Thinking into your Busy Day

Spring Writing and Discussion Prompts

100 Brain Teasers

On Pinterest

Spring!

Classroom Management and Organization

Creative Thinking Activities and Ideas

Move to Learn

Teachers are Awesome (because you might need a reminder)

Have fun and enjoy the sunshine!

The Difference a Smile Can Make

2013-04-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

I am so very pleased to welcome Jeanie Sulfidge from A House Called Home to Minds in Bloom. Her post is a truly heart-warming reminder on what a difference teachers can make in the lives of students whose own lives are more challenging than most of us can imagine.

The short truth is: nobody. She has raised herself for the past five, seven, maybe ten years. And to be honest, she’s done a pretty good job. She has found ways to protect herself, provide for her needs (both physically and emotionally), and make it through another day. You wouldn’t want her life. Be honest. What she does is hard. What she does is brutal. She doesn’t seem to feel remorse. Does she care about anybody but herself? No, she doesn’t know how. She can’t give what she’s never received.

Unfortunately, her story is not as rare as it should be. Many children go to school each day undernourished, tired, hurting or scared. So what can we, as educators, do? While we might not be able to turn the tide for these kids, we could start by making today a little easier. What would that look like in a classroom?

I’m not a professional in this area. I can only share what I know based on what I’ve lived. I was not one of those kids, but I’m raising three of them. They aren’t those kids anymore either, but they used to be. Their insight has made me a better teacher; actually, it’s made me a better person. What is it like for a hungry student to sit through a math lesson? Do fractions really matter if I haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday? Will I be able to answer comprehension questions in social studies if all I can think about is what happened at home last night? Do I really care if the other students like me if I know I’ll only be at this school temporarily, until I get pulled from one foster home and put in another?

This is the reality for some of our kiddos. So back to our question, can we make today better for them and what would that look like in our classrooms? Start small. Start with a smile. That’s it. Decide to smile at that hard-to-like student when really all you want to do is glare. It’s easy to love the loveable ones, but loving the hard to love ones will change the world, even if it’s just their little world.

Smile? That’s it? Well, there’s more to it then just that, but it’s a start. Sometimes the biggest hurdle is the one that gets you past the hard feelings. The feelings that we would never admit to because it makes us look harsh and even a little mean. The feelings that surprise us because we never thought we would be able to dislike a child. It’s called grace. Give that child a little grace by flashing them a big, sincere smile. Ok, so maybe it won’t be sincere at first. It might be all you can do to use a soft voice and curl up the edges of your mouth (over gritted teeth, no less!). But, it’s a start.

Decide to give that student of yours a little grace. Remember, grace is never deserved. It is a gift. Starting tomorrow give your hard-to-love student the gift of grace through a smile. Never underestimate the power of a smile, especially to a kiddo stuck in a really hard place. Yours may be the only one they see all day.

My three girls came from three different backgrounds, three different sets of parents and three different schools. We now make up one family. Each one can remember a teacher who impacted their lives with grace. They know how tough they were on their teachers, how challenging it must have been to deal with some of their behavior, but what do they remember most? They remember the teacher who smiled at them anyway.

Do you have a student who could use an extra helping of grace? It might be difficult, but I don’t think it will be too long before you find your smile less phony and more sincere. Give it a try. Who knows? Maybe one day that smile will be returned!

About Jennie Sulfridge
A mom to three and a middle school science teacher, I am a passionate advocate for all things adoption and all things educational. After working with students stuck in hard places, I saw a need I could fill. In 2006 my oldest daughter, Hannah, joined me on this amazing journey we call life. In 2008 we welcomed Ashley and in 2011 Amy rounded out our family of four. We laugh together, cry together and most importantly, share ordinary, everyday moments together. We wouldn't have it any other way. Please join us on our adventure at A House Called Home. I also have a Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

Common Core Strategies for Teaching Math (and why they really are a good idea)

2013-04-13T06:45:00.000-07:00

I am so happy to host Mrs. BBZ's guest post because she does an incredible job of demystifying the strategies. As a child, I had no idea why I "carried the 1" when doing addition . I just did it by rote. These strategies would have helped me to actually understand addition and subtraction with regrouping rather than just following the steps. And that is HUGE!

When I think of Common Core math, I’m reminded of a conversation I had with a teammate during planning. Our school system had just begun the transition to Common Core, using Scott Foresman’s “Investigations” series as a core curriculum. We were knee deep in base-ten blocks, number lines and hundreds boards. She said -

At the time, I nodded vigorously and agreed – these “new” ways of solving problems were taking too long, and kids just didn’t “get” it. More accurately – I didn’t “get” it.

At the time, we were wondering why in the WORLD the Common Core recommends students don’t learn the algorithm for adding and subtracting until fourth grade. A lot of us were even throwing out those number lines and teaching kids the algorithm anyway.

It took a while to convince me, but I now strongly believe we shouldn't be throwing out the "new" ways of solving problems, just because they're time-consuming – there are actually some really important reasons why all these crazy strategies help kids in the long run. I promise.

We used to teach kids directly. We said, “These are the steps. Follow them and you will get the right answer.”

Maybe we even sang a cute song …

Sound familiar? When we teach this way, though, do kids really understand what they're doing?

Some students do understand, but many don't know what they're doing - they're just following the steps.

Just like we know that some kids are stronger auditory or visual learners, and most are kinesthetic – kids don’t all solve math problems the same way. They need a variety of different strategies that they “get” without having to memorize a series of steps. Check out some of those options (there are SO many more than just the good 'ole number line).

That's the other issue with the "old" way of adding and subtracting - if you forget any steps, you're lost. With the Common Core strategies, students develop their number sense incrementally along the continuum of learning. They are able to connect concrete objects to numbers. All of these "new" strategies offer opportunities to build up to ten, add tens, and truly understand how to compose and decompose numbers.

So … what about the grocery store? Are we still going to use a number line there? The answer is no. All of these strategies are building toward a crucial milestone: mental math. All of the work with the properties of addition and subtraction, counting off the decade and building to a whole ten – all of that is done so that students can accurately and flexibly solve problems in their head.

For a summary of these strategies that you can send home to parents, please download this freebie or check out this presentation

Of course, we're living in the digital age. While we practice and practice so that we can use mental math and solve problems flexibly and accurately, it's much more likely that our students will walk up to the cashier with the memory of their elementary teachers' words in their heads and ...

About the Author

Ms. BBZ is currently teaching second grade in Georgia, after teaching a Gifted and Talented immersion class at a Title I magnet school in North Carolina for several years. Her passions are conceptual math, integrated learning, and character education for students. You can find her online at her blog as well as her Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

BOOM! A Free Game to Use with Task Cards!

2013-04-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

It's fun, it's easy, and it is a great way to review. Just mix the BOOM! Cards in with another set of Task Cards and put them into a BOOM Bin. Players take turns drawing cards and answering them. They get to keep the cards they answer correctly. But if a player draws a BOOM! Card, he must discard all of the cards he has collected. The game would be great at any math or literacy center and can be played in pairs or small groups. Comes with Boom Cards, teacher instructions, and student instructions.

This game is best played with multiple choice or short answer task cards that don't take a lot of thought. The student should either know or not know the answer pretty quickly. So, if you are working with math task cards, you may not want to choose word problems or other cards that take pencil-and-paper computation. The instructions requires the player to give the card she draws to another student to read out loud and check the answer, but in some cases, the player may need to see the card. For example, if you are using these Round It! Task Cards, it would be difficult to answer the question without seeing the card.

The BOOM! Cards are the same size as most of my other task cards. If you don't want to create a BOOM Bin, you could just have the students place the cards face-down on a table. You can find a catalog of all my task card sets listed alphabetically, by subject here.

Tips for Great Performances: Class and School Presentations

2013-04-10T04:12:00.000-07:00

Sarah O Shea is our resident drama expert. Her post about class performances will be a lifesaver for those of you who need to get your class (or grade level, or school) ready for that much-anticipated school musical, concert, or play.

So you’ve graduated with the perfect credentials, secured your first teaching position and are thrown to the wolves. You know how to teach now and you’ve had a little teaching experience. But there are so many hats that we realize we are going to have to wear.

We become the counselor, the maintenance person, the Band-Aid keeper and applier, the sympathetic ear etc. Need I say more? The list is endless! We may have been given some pointers about dealing with topics that become everyday parts of our profession but if we are honest, many of us start off by flying by the seat of our pants!

Over the years, I have seen how disgruntled teachers can feel when they have to get their students to put on some kind of presentation. It’s extra work and extra stress. Let’s face it. Have you witnessed a class of students mumbling their way through some kind of performance whilst the audience is twitching like they have several million ants in their pants? If you’re like me, you will have cringed your way through many a skin-crawlingly bad presentation, but with a few pointers, you can make your class’s presentation into a star performance. And it doesn’t have to be stressful.

Writing for a performance:

If you’re writing the presentation yourself, be aware of the audience. If you are going to have students perform for an audience that includes younger children, keep it short, to the point, have some resources/work to show or a dance or song. Keep the show flowing so there is little time for people to get bored. Link play scenes with some background music to maintain interest.

Rehearsing

Leave yourself enough time to practice with your class. Too long, and your students will get bored and the performance may lack the spark you want. Too short and they won’t have enough confidence in what they are doing. If you have your class full time, two weeks should be enough time to practice a presentation lasting between five and fifteen minutes. A small amount of practice each day is better than long sessions a couple of times a week. And rehearsing in the morning tends to be more productive than in the afternoon when children’s concentration is beginning to tire.

Middle School students in rehearsals

Ensure your material is clear and easily understood by your students

If it is too ambitious, the students will not be able to do it justice and you run the risk of it not achieving the best results. Also, you have to ask yourself what the students are gaining by presenting work they don’t quite have a grasp on, or which is above their comprehension.

Have a sense of humor

Your audience wants to be entertained. Getting a point across in a light-hearted fashion (if possible) will grab them and keep their attention.

Students performing in a musical play

Incorporate some variety
Too much of any one thing, such as speaking the whole time, singing the whole time or dancing the whole time can get old very quickly. Change it up and introduce different elements to the performance. This also shows that you can be versatile. Show pictures, do demonstrations, add a poem/story, even a joke!

Give everyone a chance to perform

Even your most shy student may harbor a secret wish to be the center of attention but never push a student to stand up and do something they don’t want to do. It can hurt their self-confidence and you risk them refusing to perform when it comes to the crunch, leaving you with an empty stage and possibly, a slight panic attack! By all means encourage them and if you can see a little spark in someone who is hesitant, nurture it by offering to assist them in anyway you can to get them to take a risk and do a more high profile part.
Always be careful about typecasting. It’s very easy to do this but pushing students into a certain niche because their personality dictates it, is not always good for them. Sometimes that overly confident guy who is desperately seeking attention by having the loudest voice and who revels in the limelight at every opportunity, needs to be reminded that it is important to give quieter students the chance to shine in the public arena.

Pre-Kindergarten students performing a December holiday concert

To summarize:

DO: insist on everyone using loud and clear voices. Practice in the yard or hall. Stand at the other end of it (if it’s not too large!) and get students to recite their lines or sing their song so you can get a feel of how easily it can be heard.

DO: Get them to pronounce words more slowly and clearly. NO mumbling!

DO: Face the audience at every opportunity. Show them the difference between speaking facing the audience and speaking with your back to the audience. Showing facial expression is very important, especially if you’re acting out a play.

At the end of it all, remember that if parents are watching, they are going to love anything they see because their child is in it and that’s what they are focusing on. Be confident in your presentation and your children will be confident in it too.

Presentations are a great way to showcase the amazing work you do in your classroom. Instead of waiting for your turn to be asked, offer to do a short presentation to showcase a project, theme or season of work you have completed. Get some praise for your work!

Finally...

Principals love teachers who can do great presentations for parents because parents love to talk and it is free, easy PR for the school. And that’s priceless.

Take pictures/video to record what you do. You never know when you might need to look back on it for any reason. You might even be able to re-cycle it and do it in the following years.

Good luck and break a leg!

About Sarah
Sarah O’Shea is a teacher/songwriter and runs ‘Educasong’, a company which creates songs for classroom themes and musical plays for teachers to use in schools.You can find her at Songs and Plays for Children and follow her on Facebook.

Task Cards Infographic and Free Cards to Try!

2013-04-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

Click here to get Free Task Cards!