Not too long ago, on the great ‘Pinterest’, I came across a great idea! Taking those fun, foam ABC puzzles that you can find at almost any and every dollar store (Dollarama forsure as that’s where I picked up mine) and creating a book! Simple to do and a fun activity to engage in to further encourage and motivate our young ones to learn all sorts of things such as the ABC’s or numbers or shapes and animals, etc. If your creating this for your classroom, be it for the JK’s or SK’s or even grade ones, twos…all depending on what your using the activity for, you can definitely come up with different ways to incorporate this great idea. As for myself, with a little one at home who is now just past 1 year and a half, I decided to take the puzzle pieces and glue them to a large bristol board. Doing it this way simplifed it for her in the sense that she is now able to see the entire alphabet. I then lay out all the letters (when we first started, we started with only a few at a time and gradually added more and more) and she then matches them with the corresponding puzzle piece. It is fascinating just how easily she has picked this up! From simply matching letters to puzzle pieces, we are now working on colors, sounds of letters, etc. This activity is fantastic and defintiely age appropriate – it’s never too early to start! Having said that, going back to basing this activity on the age group you are working with, you can do it with the bristol board, make a book….use it within a short lesson, part of a learning centre, as an independent and quiet activity, etc. You can take this idea in any direction! Try it out out and if you do so…let us know how it worked out for you or if you have figured out any other great ideas that we can try out too!!!

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I am so thrilled to be able to share the BEAUTIFUL and AMAZING artwork created by my students using the ink transfer onto canvas using a gel medium. We have been working on this project for a couple of weeks and I am so pleased with the final result.  We’ve hung almost all of them in the hallway outside of our classroom (a couple of students are adding the finishing touches to their work) and we’ve received TONS of compliments and praise from both teachers and other students who walk by.

In case you plan to complete this amazing art project with your students, here’s a timeline of how long it took us (for a complete and detailed breakdown of the project, click here):

Lesson 1: Students chose a quote that was meaningful or inspirational to them.  They then designed, reflected, and printed their quotes using Microsoft Publisher.  This took about an hour on average, as some students didn’t have much experience with Publisher.

Lesson 2: Students prepared their canvases by painting them with acrylic paint.  This took about 30 minutes.  We then let them dry for about 30 minutes and then we covered them with the gel medium and placed our quote (ink side down) onto the gel.  The gel needed to dry overnight.

Lesson 3: Students used water to remove and scrub off the paper from the dried gel.  This was very painstaking work and caused quite a bit of frustration with my artists.  A trick we discovered is letting the canvas dry for a bit because the wet paper became transparent; by letting it dry, it turned white again and allowed students to determine where to concentrate their scrubbing efforts. This took a couple of hours and then the canvases needed to be completely dry (overnight) before we touched up the acrylic paint.

Lesson 4: We covered the remaining white paper spots with acrylic paint using a dry brush technique.  Students then wanted to touch up the text using a permanent marker when the paint was dry.  Once the paint and ink were dry, students covered the entire surface with modge podge.  This entire step took about an hour.  The modge podge dried quickly and we then attached yarn to the back for easy hanging.

The entire art project took over a week to complete the process from start to finish.  It did require quite a bit of time and effort, but the final outcome is amazing! I have such talented (and patient) students!

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Curriculum Services Canada (CSC) “has a passion for, and commitment to, life-long learning. We recognize that people and organizations have unique learning needs and we believe that personal and professional growth is optimal when learning is context-specific, relevant, and highly engaging” (source).  CSC provides excellent, FREE resources for teachers on a variety of subject areas, professional development resources, and webcasts.

We are always on the lookout for resources to help us improve our teaching of mathematics and strategies to help our students become more engaged and enthusiastic about math.  CSC has an EXCELLENT array of resources for teaching math that would be beneficial to your teaching

The section on ENGAGING STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS includes:

- videos on sample lessons (lesson planning, the actual lesson, student learning, and teacher debrief)

- print resources on asking effective questions, communication in the mathematics classroom, and Bansho (board writing)

- graphic organizers for teachers to use while viewing/reading the material and then planning their own engaging math lessons

This is just a small sample of some resources available on curriculum.org!

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As per my previous post Media Literacy Fundamentals: Key Concepts,  I am outlining one of the lessons I prepared for my students.  In this lesson, students learn about how media has its own unique form to get your attention.  Students are exposed to the persuasive techniques used in advertising to reach a target audience.  Through an understanding of these techniques students start becoming aware of the messages found within media.  With this understanding, students critically think and question the world around them and the messages they are being bombarded with continuously.

Click on this link Media Literacy- Persuasive Techniques to access the lesson plan for this concept and the associated handouts.  Furthermore, here are the group activity sheets: Pathos Ethos and Logos.

Stay tuned for more lessons and activities for Media Literacy!

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In my previous post on Abstract Art, I mentioned I would post a few examples as they were done! Again, this is such a great, simple and interesting activity for your students! The Grade 5′s truly enjoyed doing it! We started off with making 6 straight lines across the page, leaving space in between each line. Once the lines were drawn, we began adding in circles. Most students chose to draw the same size circle a few times across their page but it would also be quite interesting if you take different size circles and draw them across your page. It would definitely add to the whole ‘abstract’ look! With two different colored pencil crayons or marker to start, begin coloring one section at a time, alternation between the two colors. The idea is to not have any two of the colors touching! It’s all about alternationg! Opposites! Take a closer look at the examples from the Grade 5′s! It looks confusing and abstract to the eye, yet so fun and simple to do!!! It definitely engages your students! Try it out

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Loriana previously posted about Concept Maps and their benefits for students.   But she also posted about how concept maps can inform our teaching.

In planning lessons for my students on a specific unit, I did just that! I created a concept map to help me visualize what the Language strand of Media Literacy entails.  At first I found it very overwhelming to address all the aspects of this strand.  My concept map has helped me streamline my thoughts and help me organize how I want to deliver the program.  Today, I am providing you my concept map.  In my next couple of posts, I will provide examples of classroom activities to address these key concepts for each heading.

Take this concept map, and utilize it for an introduction, or a summary of what Media Literacy is.  Use it for yourself or print it for your students.  You can use it as a poster as well!

Stay tuned for ideas on how you can address these key concepts in your media literacy lessons.

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With Earth day around the corner, there have been many ideas passing – from activities, to initiatives, to posters and more! While searching and making my through all of it, I came across a great pin on pinterest! A great Earth Day poster. This is just a simple idea to get you started on creating a poster of your own! Personalize it! Make it yours! Include some of the things you are doing with your own classroom…..with your students…..in your school….in your community! Work together with others to create a great, personal poster for your class or school! Another idea: Have the students each create one Either or works!!! It’s yet another item to add to your Earth Day ‘Ideas’ List!’

Don’t forget to check back with us next week for your Words to Live by Wednesdays!

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The three of us, here at Teaching Rocks, would like to share with all of you one of our most current accomplisments! Just last week, we were contacted on behalf of Scholar’s Choice whom might I add, has just recently launched an online community that includes blogs from both teachers and/or parents! We were asked to be part of this community! We were definitely interested in taking this opportunity in collaborating with Scholar’s Choice, as we are now contributing and sharing blog articles, resources and activities with a new community! We began working right away on our first article titled,‘Earth Day, Any day: 12 ways to celebrate all year round. Although Earth Day festivities usually take place during the week of April 22, you can definitely incorporate small activities on a daily or weekly basis. There are various ways in which you can integrate green initiatives into your classroom and school routines. Follow the link which will take you to Scholar’s Choice online community where you will find our very FIRST article which was just published on April 14. Again, we are just so happy and proud to be a part of this community and couldn’t wait to share our news with all of you! Take a moment and read the article – it’s a fantastic resource! Share the link with a friend!

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We are currently in the middle of an exciting art lesson. I’ve seen several pins on Pinterest showing the transfer of photographs onto canvas using a gel medium.  I thought that I could use this same concept to transfer text onto canvas as well.

A few things:

• I painted the canvas since I did not want a plain white background
• This art project takes several steps and a few lessons to complete (warn your students ahead of time that patience is key!)
• The gel medium is permanent when dry (so don’t use it on your kitchen table like I did…though I did get 99% of it off)
• Any image you transfer will become reversed (maybe not important with pictures, but super important with text)
• When I went to Michael’s (i.e. the place I go to almost every day), there were so many different types of gel medium.  I’m not very knowledgeable about the differences between the various types, but I used this one and it worked well:

Supplies:

• white paper
• laser printer (I don’t believe this works on ink jet printers!)
• Modge Podge
• acrylic paint and paintbrushes
• gel medium
• canvas

On to the process!

Designing and printing the text:

1. I chose a quote that I wanted to display.  I went with 1 Corinthians 2:9.  I used Microsoft Publisher to turn this bible verse into subway art (see Lisa’s post on subway art if you are unsure).  I did this by inserting a new WordArt text for each different font.  I really recommend this process as it gives you a lot of control with respect to size, font, and positioning. Keep the font black.

2. Once the subway art was created, I selected all the WordArt texts and grouped them together to created one selection:

3. When the ink transfers onto the canvas, the image will be reversed.  To keep the text correct and legible, I then flipped the image horizontally:

4. I then printed this on my laser printer.

Painting and ink transfer:

1. I painted the canvas with the acrylic paint.  I went with yellow, pink, bronze, and red. This process was really simple and just required blending the colours together. Here’s my canvas and printout right before I applied the gel medium:

2. I then used paintbrush to apply a pretty thick coat of gel to the canvas.  Don’t skimp on the gel as you really want the ink to be absorbed well.  Flip your printout ink side down onto the gel. Press firmly and smooth out any wrinkles:

3. Step away from the canvas! Don’t be like me and start poking at it (I ended up messing up a couple of letters because I was too curious).  Just let the ink slowly seep into the gel and dry.  I let it dry for about 8 hours.

4. The gel medium is permanent and water-proof, so now you want to use water to remove the white paper from the canvas.  I kept a bowl of water nearby and completely moistened the white paper. I then used my fingers to scrub and scrape the paper completely off the canvas:

Prettying it up:

1. I could not get 100% of the white paper off of the canvas and this was really annoying me.  I brought my sample in to show my students and many of them liked the flecks of white throughout as it made it look “old” they said.  It still bothered me.  So, I took out the same acrylic paint I used at the beginning and used a dry brush technique (i.e. very small amounts of paint on the paintbrush, so that the paintbrush stays pretty dry.  This applied pigment onto the white paper flecks, but not enough paint to cover the black text).  This worked very well!

2. Once the paint touch ups were dry, I applied a thick coat of Modge Podge to seal everything and give it a nice sheen (I used the gloss finish):

3. I let it dry and ta-da!

At school, we have created and printed our subway art and painted our canvases.  We will be completing the gel phase next.  Once they are all done, I will share pictures with you all.  I have very talented and artistic students and their work is always beautiful!

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Many of you do not know that I have not been working in the classroom for the last 15 months. I have been recuperating from an injury I sustained and after all this time, I am mentally preparing (although I am not completely ready physically) as to how I would enter a classroom at this point in time in the year and take the reigns.   I know that many of you out there have done this, either returning from a maternity/paternity leave, or a short term absence, and many of you have taken over mid way as well (on a contractual basis).  Therefore, who else to help me and others in this situation than you!  We all look to each other for support and assistance, so let’s get this conversation started.  What are your best techniques, strategies and ideas in entering into a classroom at this point in time?  What would be your first plan of attack?  What do want to have on hand prior to entering the classroom (realistic or ideal)? How do you address the diverse classroom management style between the exiting teacher and yourself?

I will start it off, add in your comments and help us all out, especially me!

1) I would definitely need to see the daily schedule for the classroom.  This will help me understand the classroom logistics and what happens on a daily basis.  Having this item ahead of time would definitely streamline transition times in the first few days.

2) I would ideally prefer to have the opportunity to converse with the current teacher, regarding programming and which curriculum has been completed and what still needs to be completed.

3) The completed grades for all students, and an understanding of the upcoming assignments and  their respective due dates.

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Tomorrow, I will be working on Abstract Art with the Grade 5 students – something I know they will definitely have fun with! A great, easy technique enjoyed by most, as you can do just about anything with it! It’s all about the lines – drawing them straight, across, intertwining them, adding in circular lines, etc. The best part for most students, in which I think explains the reason as to why they enjoy it so much, is that it doesn’t HAVE to look like something. In other words, their finishing picture does not need to represent a house, or an animal, or a thing per se. Rather, it’s simply about creating something original, different and interesting! As an idea from a fellow colleague, we decided to pull an activity from a great link called ‘Teach Kids Art’ .  This site has great resources for teaching kids art, along with various activities in which you can easily engage in with your students! If you click on the picture above, it will direct you to the activity in which I will be working on tomorrow! I will be sure to post pictures once we are done! Enjoy!

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We have been hard at work once again.  Today’s post provides our latest science unit for Gr. 4 Science.  Our past units have had great success and have been inspired once more to keep creating complete units that address the Ontario Science Curriculum in a cross curricular approach.

Today’s unit addresses the Understanding Structures and Mechanisms: Pulleys and Gears.   With this unit you do not need to search for other resources.  It is a complete unit that will fully engage your students in a variety of ways.

Here is an overview of the unit:

Learning centres: students work in small groups or individually to rotate between three centres over the course of the activity (four types of centre activities: technology, reading/writing activity, creative response, and a fun or hands-on activity);

Whole class lesson/discussions followed by either small group activities or whole class activity

Cross-curricular integration with other subject areas, including Language Arts (Reading, Writing, Oral Communication, Media Literacy), Drama, Physical Education, Art, and Health

A focus on Assessment For and As Learning through student self-assessments and group assessments, KWL charts, exit slips, anticipation guides, and project planning sheets;

Reading strategies addressed include making connections, determining important ideas, drawing conclusions, and cause-and-effect;

Differentiated Instruction is achieved through Learning Centres, group work and a variety of hands-on activities and labs

The entire unit, including lessons, assignments, assessments, printables, and centre activities comes to over 120 pages!

Need more?  Just click on this link: Demo of Gr 4 Pulleys and Gears

If you have not seen our other COMPLETE units that address the Ontario Science Curriculum, then use the links below to find further information:

Gr. 4/5 Pulleys, Gears, Forces & Structures

Gr. 4 Habitats and Communities

Gr. 4/5  Habitats and Communities & Human Organ Systems

Gr. 5 Human Organ Systems

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Continue to remind your students or let them know, if you haven’t already, that they not only have to think about what they can do, or simply know about what they can do, they have to actually do it. Same thing with our hopes and dreams. We have so many dreams about what we want to do, or what we wish we could do, yet we never really do stop to think that if only we actually started, we could do it! Tell you students this, each and every day. If they want to do something, they have to do it. If they have dreams, they have to begin acting on them! In doing so, you will begin to hear more ‘I CAN’ as oppose to ‘I wish, I dream, I can’t’ !

Click, print and post! Most importantly, reflect !

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Over the next few weeks, The Tuesday 12 will be taking on an environmental twist as we look at various activities focused on the environment. Just click on each link below!

1. Earth Day Canada: A great website that has tons of resources to get you focused on celebrating Earth Day! There are activities for kids, classes, and families, so you can find everything you are looking for in one place.

2. Earth Day Network: An international environmental movement group that provides tons of articles, activities, resources, action plans, and initiatives for everyone worldwide.

3. Think Green: Tons of Earth Day resources for teachers organized by grade level and are cross-curricular.

4. Environmental Protection Agency—“Pick five for the environment”: The EPA has a section of their website devoted to taking environmental initiatives in your life when you “pick five” and become committed to protecting the environment.  The resources are divided up into home, work, school, shopping, the community, and on the road.  Each category then has tons of resources to help you become more green and committed to making a change.   

5. Saskatoon Public Schools: A huge list of teacher resources for Earth Day, including literature, lesson plans, and printouts.

6. TeacherVision: A great collection of lessons, printables, and resources covering every curriculum area. You are able to view seven resources at no cost, but then you must subscribe for full access.

7. TeachersFirst: A very comprehensive collection of classroom resources from a variety of websites like The Nature Conservancy, Disney, WWF, National Film Board of Canada, etc.

8. EducationWorld: I love so many of the ideas on this list! So many resources that would be great in the classroom, like planting seeds/growing plants, various garden activities, math projects, upcycling art, and social justice projects!

9. Kaboose: This website can help you complement your classroom, home, and family initiatives with its range of resources.

10. DLTK’s Crafts for Kids: Not only does this site provide a great breakdown of the history and purpose of Earth Day, but it has links to tons of resources that would be great in the classroom.

11.TES (Climate Change Resources): If you are teaching high school students, tes connect has tons of primary and secondary resources that can be used to learn about climate change.

12. Earth Day Worship Resources: For those who want to look at the religious aspects of Earth Day and being stewards of creations.

Don’t forget to check back next week for another edition of The Tuesday 12!

The post The Tuesday 12: 12 Exciting and Educational Resources for Earth Day! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

One of the novels that I absolutely love to teach is The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.  I have yet to encounter a student that did not love this novel!

Since the story is set in the 1960s, I go through various activities to help my students understand what life was like in the 1960s. We usually begin with a whole class discussion where students share anything that they know about the 1960s and we record contributions on the board.  As more students share their ideas, we begin to build a concept map where we attempt to categorize the contributions and make connections between ideas. When students begin to struggle, I use prompting questions to get them to discuss possible answers (e.g. “Do you think students had calculators in the 1960s?”).  Once we have had a great discussion, we work on two main activities:  group and individual presentations.

The group presentations are pretty straightforward: students work in small groups to create a multi-media presentation on one aspect of the 1960s in greater detail and then present it to the class.  We determine the topics for the presentations from the concept map we created during our discussion.  This year, our topics were: fashion, politics, entertainment, television, sports, music, cars, and technology.

The individual presentations integrate drama into Language Arts.  I had my students research influential people from the 1960s and each student had to choose one person to research more in-depth. To keep things interesting, no two students were allowed to research the same person.  Once they researched and chose an influential person from the 1960s, students were then to “become” this person and be interviewed on a talk show.  Students were given about three weeks to prepare for their interviews and they were to focus on content, costume/props, voice and delivery, gestures, and presentation.  I provided students with a graphic organizer to help them record their research and prepare for their presentations.

We had our talk show on Thursday and it was amazing! I wish I could share pictures to show you all the fantastic and creative costumes by students came up with!  This was such an engaging experience and both my students and I had a wonderful time and learned so much!

In case you are reading a novel with your students that is set in the 1960s, I have included the worksheet here for your use.  Just click on the link!

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As promised yesterday, we have samples of what students manually created for the Easter Subway Art.  These samples show how students can develop meaning and understanding through an artistic approach, by hi-lighting key words and concepts.  Furthermore, students can express  their thoughts and feelings in a variety of fashions.  Lisa’s students did a fantastic job!  Take a look!

For many the Easter season is a very important time of year.  I have found that many of my students understand Jesus’ passion, what the significance of the season is, but do not know what the connection is to some of the symbols used throughout this season.

For example, many students think that the Easter egg is not really a religious symbol.  Granted it has morphed into a commercialized egg but the symbolism is very important.

I hope the following helps your students understand some of the Easter symbols and their significance.

Easter Eggs & Baby Chicks: Eggs and chicks symbolize new life. Eggs have been a symbol of Spring since ancient times. An egg also is a symbol of the rock tomb out of which Jesus emerged when he arose again. The chick, hatching out of the egg, symbolizes new life or re-birth.

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Today with the grade 5′s, I decided to let them explore with different fonts, styles, colors, etc. They keep asking about our monthly subway art posters (virtue of the month) and how it is done and if they can try. We have tried wordle and even tagxedo (both great sites to check out!!!) but we haven’t tried subway art. We mostly see subway art on the computer and yes, it would be fun just the same to have students create them using some of the many programs out there such as picmonkey (the one I use), but I decided for today to have them do it hands on! I showed them various examples which demonstrated a number of different fonts they could choose from or colors and sizes etc. We brainstormed a bunch of great words in connection to the season and occasion – they came up with fantastic words, and this truly helped them get started! I will definitely take pictures of the finishing product and will post some in the next few days. Down below, I have included one of the examples shown to the grade 5′s in which they really liked and used many of the styles from! There’s still time left to squeeze in that fun and easy art activitity!

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Loriana posted a bunch of great activities in last weeks Tuesday 12, one of which I found really neat and decided to do with my class for Easter. I refer to it as string art! This activity is great for students of all ages. Simple, fun and a great finishing product. Although you can google images and find plenty of examples on the one and only ‘Pinterest’, you can definitely go anywhere with this activity, not only for Easter but other occasions and holidays as well. For Easter, the simple string art activity can be turned into a really interesting and creative activity. From wrapping string around a balloon and popping the balloon, leaving you with a string egg, a great extension would be to create something out of this egg. For example, add some ears, nose, mouth, feet and other details to create a chick or bunny. Possibly cut out an opening to create a small basket for chocolates or candies (such as shown in the picture). Another great idea is putting wrapped chocolates in the balloon so that once you wrap the string around the balloon and pop it once dry, you are left with a string egg with chocolates inside. I’m telling you, the possibilities of this simple activity are endless. There are so many ideas out there! As for tomorrow, I will be starting this activity and will begin with the simple egg design (wrapping string around it, waiting for it to dry, then popping the balloon); But I am almost certain there will be plenty of students who are finished and want to move on to something else. This is where the extension comes in! Add details and create a fun, cute looking animal, basket or treat shaker! It really all depends on the students, grade and ofcourse, their interest! Try it out!

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Yes…indeed, it is the FIRST day of Spring today. It definitely may not seem as so, nor does it look as though it is. It’s snowing out there, it’s freezing cold, and the winds just simply do not remind us of the spring. It’s somewhere out there…it IS coming! For all of you today, here is a subway art poster with great spring colors to remind you of the Spring and to let you know that although it’s cold, spring is near. Think happy colors, think warmer weather, think sunshine! As Easter is coming up, and spring that has now arrived, we are all thinking of some activities to do with our students. Whether it be Jk or gr.8 or somewhere in between, there are tons of ideas out there. You may have already tried a few that you will want to revisit this year with your class but how about trying something new? Since subway art is so popular, and is simply everywhere, I thought maybe creating it as an activity would be a good idea. I was looking through some sites and blogs, only to come across a variety that can be printed for FREE! Down below I have attached one for you that will bring you drectly to the site where you can click and print. I have printed a few to bring into my class to show them as an example. In turn, I think it would be fun to have the students create their own. You may want to start with brainstorming some great descriptive words for both Easter and Spring (especially for the younger students), show them some examples using different colors, fonts, styles and designs…then send them on their way to create their own interesting, unique and fun subway art posters! Have fun!

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In this week’s edition of The Tuesday 12, we’ll be providing you with a variety of resources you can use to help prepare your students for Easter. Just click on the links below!

1. A fun and colourful {free} Easter Subway Art printable! This printable focuses more on the fun aspects of Easter, including egg hunts, jelly beans, and the Easter Bunny.

2. {Free} Easter Subway Art in a choice of four colour schemes! This printable has a religious focus on Jesus’ resurrection.

3. Tons of ways to decorate Easter eggs! From sequins, to shaving cream, to pastels, this site has you covered!

4. Free Easter digital paper and clip art to help decorate your classroom worksheets!

5. A beautiful Easter egg garland that can be made with string, balloons, and a starchy liquid!

6. Planning on giving your students an Easter treat? How about using the Jelly Bean Prayer? Follow this link to get a free printable to provide your students with a meaningful Easter treat!

7. Free Easter Worksheets to coordinate the Easter season with your math classes!

8. Older students can learn or review the Stations of the Cross by taking on a individual or group projects. 

9. A wonderful and reflective resource on forgiveness that includes reflection questions, stories, quotations, art, music, and prayers.

10. For art, stained glass crosses look beautiful against your windows.  I’ll be sharing this activity on Friday!

11. Catholic Teacher Resources has many free resources, but if you purchase a membership, you have access to so many more resources that you may find useful in your classroom.  I purchased a membership and have been using the Easter resources with my students and I am happy with the quality and variety of resources.

12. And, finally, there are so many free printables on this site! From Easter, to Lent, to the sacraments, to various saints, there are so many resources to explore!

The post The Tuesday 12: 12 Easter Resources! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

We meet again! I’m sure you can say the same when we say the march break was a busy one! Whether you spent time catching up on things, spending time with friends and family, doing things you rarely get the chance to do and so on, the march break definitely kept you and us busy! And now after a week, we are back to school! Back to the stories from the students about how their marck break went, to reminding the students of the classroom rules (even though it is arch, after a week break, we all need reminders), to picking up where we left off, realizing there isn’t much time left in the year! All of a sudden your feeling the pressure…the sudden ‘I have to do so much’ feeling! Well, here we are to spread a few words across all our fellow teachers to help motivate you. As much as our students need to be motivated and encouraged on a daily basis, we too, need the same. Especially after a week away, we need a few words of encouragement to get us back on our feet. Just a few simple words to remind you about what you do, who you are, and why continuing is so important! Yes, your probably wondering: what day is it today? It’s definitely Monday, not words to live by Wednesday! However, it’s a great day to start the week off right!

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My son recently asked what was healthier to drink.  It took us on a discovery mission about the sugar content in the drinks we have in our home and drinks we tend to sometimes consume.  As we were doing this, I thought to myself that this little discovery activity would be a great way for our students to develop an understanding about their diets and healthy living.  I searched the internet and there is a lot of information, but wanted something that impacted the viewer visually.  I have found two that stand out that I am writing about today.

The first one is an info graphic that clearly compares sugar content in different drinks.  Jamie Oliver, a famous chef and activist for eating healthy, has posted it.  I have found it as a great visual for my son to be able to compare the quantities of sugar. Click on the image below to be brought to the PDF version.

A great way for students to understand this content could be to create a comparison board about what they have learned.  Below, you’ll find an effective, yet, simple visual aid to help your students begin to understand what we are consuming. This image has been shared so many times over Facebook; however, the original source is not listed.  If you do know the original source, please leave us a comment!

The Vancouver Island Health Authority actually has an entire activity centered on this topic!  Included in the FREE PDF is a lesson plan, activity, resources, and images to create your very own display!  Just click on the link above to be taken to the free resource.

If you and your students are really serious about making healthier drink choices, you can actually take the Rethink Your Drink Pledge! Be sure to check out this website for additional resources to help you and your students learn more about the hidden sugars in our drinks!

Hoping that this information helps you and your students.  If you do have your students create their own visuals, then please share as we would love to see what brilliance they come up with!

Of note:  1 tsp is approximately equal to 4.2     grams of sugar

The post Sugar in our Drinks appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

This week’s Tuesday 12 post was on the topic of descriptive feedback.  We provided you with a variety of resources, but I forgot to include one! While browsing Pinterest (I really can’t stop!), I saw a great infographic that does an effective job summarizing descriptive feedback into one page.  When I read over this article, it gave me the idea to create a Tuesday 12 with a list of resources for descriptive feedback; however, I forgot to include the source of the inspiration!

Although I found this on Pinterest without a link to the original source, the article shows that the source is “The collective wisdom of authors published in the September 2012 issue of Educational Leadership: ‘Feedback for Learning.’ (Volume 70, Issue 1). Although I’ve never read Educational Leadership before finding this infographic, it seems to be an excellent resource and the September 2012 issue is devoted to descriptive feedback.

The post A Bit More on Descriptive Feedback! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

We all wonder what our students and children will face in the future.  How will they be successful, what kind of work will there be for them, what skills are necessary to be able to be successful?  These questions are at the heart of everything we do!  We know that students need to be creative, able to problem solve and think critically.  Also, we know that our curriculum and our classrooms should be inclusive of technology.  But what about understanding where it all stems from?  What are we doing about that?  We need to realize that computer software coding is an essential skill that will be necessary for success. We need to be able to address this in our classrooms.

Here is a link to a wonderful video, where world class athletes, musicians and great business people, discuss the importance to this very skill.

Well, what does that mean for us? Visit the website www.code.org and find out how students can learn to code in elementary schools, how they can develop their critical thinking skills and problem solving skills. Share with us what you think and what you have tried.  It is never too late for anyone to learn to code!

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One of my all time favorites: ‘Somewhere over the rainbow, dreams really do come true’. Not only do I love the Wizard of Oz, but I absolutely love this song. There are many different versions of it but I must say, my favorite version is by Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwoʻole (Click on the link and it will bring you to Youtube to listen to the official version). I have always loved this song and began to love it even more so when I was pregnant with my first. I used to listen to it all the time – I find that it brings me much peace. The song itself is peaceful, along with its beautiful, meaningful words. It’s a song that can not only be sung to children of your own as it carries such great meaning, but also to your students because at the end of the day, no matter how big or small, we all have dreams and it’s nice to hear that dreams really do come true

Stay tuned for next weeks Word to Live by Wednesdays!

The post Words to Live by Wednesdays: Dreams Really DO come TRUE! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

In this week’s edition of The Tuesday 12, we’ll be looking at resources to help teachers understand and incorporate descriptive feedback on a regular basis.  Just click on the links below to be taken to the resource.

1. “Descriptive Feedback” (video)

If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to view the abundance of resources on the EduGAINS website, then I highly suggest you check it out right away! If you are struggling with assessment for and as learning, then this site has so many resources for your teaching and learning.

2. “Descriptive Feedback Fosters Improved Student Learning” (article)

This short two page article illustrates the importance of feedback by telling the story of one school’s journey to apply meaningful feedback (aside: this school is part of our board!).  Tips are given at the end to help teachers incorporate descriptive feedback in their classes.

3. “Descriptive Feedback at Winona” (blog post)

In this blog post, three different tools are used to provide descriptive feedback: Livescribe Pen, Google Docs, and Snowball Mic.  I like how technology is being used as the vehicle for providing descriptive feedback.

4. “A Focus on Informed Assessment Practices Webcast #3” (slideshow)

If you’re still unsure about assessment for learning, this slideshow takes you through the six areas of assessment for learning and provides examples of effective descriptive feedback.

5. “Feed Back…Feed Forward: Using Assessment to Boost Literacy Learning” (article)

I found this article by Anne Davies effective because it uses an example of a teacher going through the process of providing descriptive feedback with her students and how they together develop a list of “what good readers do” and then they created a recording sheet together.  What a meaningful and engaging way to make students active leaners and contributors!

6. “Descriptive Feedback Examples” (chart)

This chart provides three sample teacher comments for three different Social Studies assignments.  You’ll notice that for each teacher comment, it is directly tied to the specific curriculum expectation.  The comments provide positive aspects of the students work, as well as points of reflection, next steps, and areas to consider.

7. “Teachers Demonstrate Effective Descriptive Feedback” (video)

A great video to display descriptive feedback in action!

8. “Types of Feedback and Their Purposes” (Chapter 2 in the book “How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students”)

Susan M. Brookhart provides detailed information regarding various dimensions of feedback, including timing, amount, mode, and audience. For each dimension, she provides examples of good and bad feedback with a discussion explaining each set.

9. “Do You Coach or Do You Judge?” (blog post)

A great article about the key differences between assessment for learning (similar to the role of a coach) and assessment of learning (similar to the role of a judge).

10. “Lucy West: Why Feedback?” (video)

You all know by now how much I love Lucy West! The first video on the page is about feedback, but I’d watch all of them if I were you…Lucy West is that great!

11. “Let’s Talk Assessment…” (newsletter)

This is absolutely fantastic! It summarizes everything you need to know about effective feedback!

12. “Teaching and Learning; What works best” (research article)

A very thorough research article that looks at the impact various teaching innovations and methods have on student learning.  It references John Hattie’s research in 1992, which shows that the “most powerful single moderator that enhances achievement is feedback. The most simple prescription for improving education must be ‘dollops of feedback’” (p.4).

Atherton J S (2011) Teaching and Learning; What works best [On-line: UK] retrieved 4 March 2013 from http://www.learningandteaching.info/teaching/what_works.htm
Read more: What works best http://www.learningandteaching.info/teaching/what_works.htm#ixzz2MdWsMCXP
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives

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Finally, it is here. I got so caught up on all the great posts from Pinterest that I completely lost track of time! This is the final lesson and review to our Money Unit for your grade 3′s. For those of you who have already completed the unit, I hope that our previous lessons and worksheets were helpful. Those of you who are working on it, hope you have had a chance to take a look at them and were able to use some of the previously posted worksheets. If you have yet to begin the unit, perfect. You can now click under Grade 3 or Math and you will find all the lessons and corresponding worksheets, including today’s post – Final Review. I am working on combining all the lessons and worksheets into one document and will post that as a freebie via teachers pay teachers and teachers notebook! I will definitely post an updated message shortly. As for now, click on the following images and print away!

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Like Lisa, I absolutely love scouring Pinterest for inspirational ideas. One of the images that I found was for “Draw Me a Song”, a beautiful website full of illustrated posters of song lyrics. I really want to order one, but I‘m having trouble deciding between “Imagine” and “Over the Rainbow.”

I thought it would be fun to let my students choose a song and illustrate it in this manner. We started off our lesson by looking at songs as poetry (so I could include some of my favourites) and then we discussed how and why songwriters express their feelings and experiences. Students were asked to choose a song that they found inspirational and illustrate it using various fonts (we looked at FontSpace for ideas) and then used some graphic design elements to illustrate their chosen section of lyrics. Once the illustrations were completed, students worked on a written response where they reflected on their song choice, the meaning of the lyrics, and why they found those lyrics inspirational. Since we are working on making connections for our TLCP cycle, I also had my students connect the song lyrics to one of their previous experiences.

My students did a phenomenal job and they all looked beautiful together:

Here’s a close up of a few of them:

Note: My apologies if this post showed up in your reader numerous times! I have no idea what happened and why it posted at least five times…but hopefully all issues have been fixed!

The post Song Lyrics as Poetry: Integrating Language Arts, Music, and Visual Arts appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

As we are in the season of Lent, many Catholic teachers are working with students and developing their understanding of this very special season.  How Jesus’ sacrifice and love for everyone, works within us to be better people and a better world.  But sometimes, no matter how much we discuss, students go out for recess or lunch and come back in with tonnes of issues that they could not resolve themselves.  If you teach primary grades, then you know this all too well.  But don’t be surprised when the same happens in the junior and intermediate grades!  We need to re-direct their focus, find the good, find the peace, and develop a sense of family within our students. For this lenten season I make the following suggestion.  As students come in from their breaks, have them record a positive occurrence in the school yard that they were able to experience.  Maybe not everyone will have one, but they will definitely start looking for the good instead of the negatives.  You can use this as part of a discussion on how people solve problems, help others, do good deeds, the list is endless!  Now what you do with these recorded items?  Place them on the Lenten Tree.  You can definitely create what you see in the image with branches and construction paper, or if you have the space you can create a Lenten Tree on your wall where students can tape it on.  Just ensure you have the materials all prepared for students to be able to record as soon enough your tree will be overflowing with good deeds!

Image from http://lillightomine.com

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True: We are what we imagine ourselves to be’. That’s all there is to it. Whether we imagine ourselves to be a pilot, doctor, veterinarian, teacher, electrician, engineer, painter, care taker, accountant, etc. – it is our imagination that will push us to strive, that will motivate us to work hard, and will encourage us to keep going. Our imagination can take us anywhere and everywhere. It’s up to us to allow it to!

Just click, print and reflect!

The post Words to Live by Wednesdays: ‘We are what we….’ appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

In this week’s edition of the Tuesday 12, we’ll look at 12 inspirational Dr. Seuss quotes.  For each one, I have linked you to a graphic that displays the quote.  Just click each quote to see the graphic!

1. “Today you are you, that is true than true.  There is no one alive that is youer that you”

2. “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

3. “Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting so…get on your way!”

4. “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”

5. “Think left and think right and think low and think high.  Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!”

6. “Young cat, if you keep your eyes open enough, the stuff you will learn! The most wonderful stuff!”

7. “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”

8. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”

9. “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

10. “A person’s a person no matter how small!”

11. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

12. “From there to here, and her to there, funny things are everywhere.”

Want more words of wisdom from Dr. Seuss?  Here’s a great graphic that lists so many more!

Don’t forget to check back next week for another edition of the Tuesday 12!

The post The Tuesday 12: 12 Inspirational Dr. Seuss Quotes! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Ofcourse it’s simple to just buy playdough, but if your keeping your toddler in mind or your JK’s and SK’s (even the older kids), your thinking more along the lines of using something that is safe and edible! As we all know, kids are curious and most often they explore things with their mouths. So, here it is – yet another great pin from my all time favorite: PINTEREST! Have I mentioned just how much I love it?! I am constantly finding great, new ideas for home, school, my little one, and just life in general! Since our previous posts on chalkboard paint and homemade finger paint were such a success in the making, I just had to add this one as well. I made the playdough using this recipe. I did have to add more flour and I will suggest that you do the same, to create a thicker dough, otherwise your in for a sticky mess! You definitely have to try this! It is so easy to make, takes very little time and is inexpensive as well!!! Again, we had a blast playing with it, making tiny creations, rolling it, stamping it, squishing it – the works!!! Have fun!

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Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital is “Canada’s largest children’s rehabilitation hospital. [Their] vision is to create a world of possibility for kids with disability.  [They] pioneer treatments, technologies, therapies and real-world programs that give children with disabilities the tools to participate fully in life.” (source)

Our school has a Multiple Exceptionalities (M.E.) Class for students with special needs.  Our school’s goal is to allow these students to have a safe and nurturing space to grow and develop to their full potential and learn essential life skills, all while having the opportunity to be integrated with their peers as often as possible.  We are lucky and honoured to have an M.E. class at our school because we are given the opportunity to see first-hand how much our students CAN do and the amazing goals they achieve each day.

Our students are even luckier to have such dedicated, caring, and supportive people working with them.  Their teacher (Michelle) and educational assistants are so proud of their achievements that they have entered them in Holland Bloorview’s filmpossible 2013, an online video and photo contest to bring visibility to disability .

The theme of their video (WE CAN) is to show the world all the things our students CAN achieve, instead of focusing on things that they can’t do. It is truly inspirational.

Please consider voting for their video, so that they are able to win filmpossible 2013! To vote, simply go to filmpossible.ca, sign up for an account, click on “WE CAN” video, and vote each day!

Thank you so much!!

Please click on this link to vote!  “WE CAN” VIDEO

Voting for Round 1 is open until March 25, 2013. Please consider voting for “WE CAN” as often as possible!

The post Filmpossible: Bringing Visibility to Disability! View and Vote Please! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

As we all know, bully prevention month has come and gone.  We talked about how students should not be bystanders, and what immediate steps can be taken.  In this month of Love, we need to not forget that students who are bullied have lasting psychological effects for that experience that may or may not have stopped.   Love them, completely and unconditionally.

We also provided a Tuesday 12 list of books on the subject of bullying, and here today we share with you an amazing new find!

The poet Shane Koyczan, created a poem about bullying but took has taken it a step further.  He enlisted the help of 20 animators to create segments to represent his poem.  The result is absolutely incredible.  The account of his personal experience and of others is at times overwhelming.  The visuals are chilling, a truly amazing short film.  This video is truly beautiful and powerful.

Take the time to watch it, and be the judge about who you share it with.

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An essential lesson to teach your students and your very own children : Make every day your Masterpiece. I can not express enough just how important I believe encouragement is… and not just sometimes, but ALL the time. I believe that it guides our students, motivates our students and gives them what they need to keep their heads up high, to keep on trying and with that, to try their best! For some student’s, or all students at some point or another, trying their best is only necessary or relevant during examination, during final projects and/or even during presentations. We need to continuously remind them to try their best each and every day. As John Wooden has stated: ‘Make every day YOUR masterpiece’.

Click and print!  

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I have seen this on numerous boards on Pinterest, and quite frankly, I think it is an amazing idea!!! Kids love chalk!  Driving by houses in the summer, you see kids out writing on their driveways, on the sidewalks – they love it! How many of you have students who just can’t resist doodling or writing on the board and will do so any chance they get?  Let’s face it, most of our students particiapte in answering questions and sharing their answers with the class simply because they want to write on the chalk board! Well, at least I think so for many of them! As a mother looking for ideas to keep my toddler busy, I came across this great idea of chalkboard paint. Yes, you can definitely buy it at the store, such as Michaels Crafts store, but here today, I have provided you with the site that tells you how to make it from home. Best part is, all you need is 2 ingredients: Any color paint and Non-Sanded Tile Grout! Imagine that! Inexpensive, creative and fun!! My next project is to pick up a table from Ikea and paint the table top with chalkboard paint, so that especially during these cold days, we can sit inside and doodle and write with chalk! My little one is going to love it!

Click on the image above and read on! Give it a try and let us know how it goes!!!

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It’s the long weekend here in Ontario, and most of us are trying to catch up on our backlogged items as well as have some fun.  If you are a teacher, you  are definitely still thinking of next week!  That’s what we do!  If you are a parent, you are thinking of how to find ways to entertain your kids.    We have  found a great recipe for finger paints and we must tell you all about it!  It works fantastically well,  and is natural and most of all inexpensive!

First and foremost, you will need containers.  Small glass jars would work!  They have lids to keep the paint fresh! So here goes:

• 3 Tbsp of sugar
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1/2 cup of corn starch (keep some extra on hand in case mixture is too runny)
• 2 cups of water

That’s it!!  All you do is combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan, stir until the mixture thickens.  Once it cools, pour it into containers.  Add food colouring to create your desired colours!  Now for an all natural, use natural food colouring (can be found at Natural Food stores).  If the mixture is too clumpy, then you can definitely add water.  But do remember this is finger paint so it should be thicker!

We would love to see your results!  Do share and definitely do enjoy!

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A few years back, I purchased these excellent Post-It Notes that were pre-printed with various reading comprehension strategies.  For each strategy, a checklist was provided for students or teachers to check off while reading over the student response.  These Post-Its were very useful, but also very expensive.  The other problem I had was that I really wanted to use Post-Its for other reasons, so I really wanted to find some way to customize them.  I found a really great product on Teachers Pay Teachers that allows you to customize Post-It Notes.

Janice Malone has three {FREE} templates to print on Post-It Notes depending on the size of your notes:

Standard

Mini

Large

The process is super simple:

• pen up the template
• print off a blank copy (this will be used to place the blank Post-It Notes)
• type or place a picture in the blank area of each box
• place the Post-It Note covered template into your printer
• print!

I used this template to create a checklist for my students to go along with our Article of the Week assignments. 

I love Post-It Notes, so the possibilities are endless!

The post Making Life Easier! Post-It Note Templates appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Our previous posts have discussed Why School is important? and School as Total Institutions.  If you have not had time to read those, just click on the links and have  a read! Todays post is the final in this series.  Please comment and share your experiences.

Schooling offers students the opportunity to learn through reading, researching, and critically thinking about what the world around them presents.  Students interact with others and the result is that students are shaped and re-shaped, a process through which they gain a sense of identity.    For students to be successful in society, they must learn to interact with others in healthy, positive and productive manners.  Schools promote social interaction, and educators monitor social skills to ensure that students understand and accept differences and diversity.

Socialization in school impacts safety as well as interpersonal interactions because students with poor social skills are more likely to demonstrate aggressive or violent behavior without being able to successfully self regulate, and accept help or ask for help from others.

The benefits are endless, but it is an inclined path.  Students are immersed in the school system but their family values, thoughts, and traditions are consistently with them.   Schools need to incorporate as much of the student body traditions within their walls as possible.  Schools should demonstrate how to blend home values with society.  Collaboration and out reach are key.  If we make families involved, invested and open minded, then the results will be tremendous.

How can schools connect with families?  One way would be multicultural nights.  Presentations from students and parents (who wish and can be involved) about their culture and traditions is a fantastic way.

What other ideas do you have or you have used?

Share your experience with us!

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Your friend’s here at Teaching Rocks would like to wish each of you a very Happy Valentine’s Day! This day is filled with love, candy, sweets and fun! Between School dances and classroom fun, your students will have a blast! As a quick and neat activity, have them get on www.tagxedo.com where you can create tons of cool posters just like the one we created for you down below! Create one for Valentine’s Day – they can make one for their friends, family, etc. A different way to say ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’!

Check back with us next week for your ‘Words to Live by Wednesday’s'!

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During the month of February, The Tuesday 12 will be featuring 12 FREE resources available on TPT! Click on the title of each resource to be brought to the TPT listing.  You need a TeachersPayTeachers accound to download the free items.  If you don’t have a TPT account, what are you waiting for?! It’s free!  The description for each item is taken from the listing description on its TPT page. Don’t forget to check out the other awesome resources from these teacher sellers!

1. “Going on a Matter Walk” by Martha Sosa

“{FREEBIE} This product was one of my top sellers! Now it’s free for you and your students to enjoy! Students use this booklet (copy front to back) to record the solids, liquids and gases they observe while on a discovery walk around the school.”

2. “Life Cycle Sequencing Cards—Butterfly, Frog and Ladybug!” by Curriculum Castle

“These sequencing cards are a great visual aid for children who are just beginning to learn about the life cycles of a butterfly, frog or ladybug! Simply have them color, cut and arrange the cards in the correct order. They can even make a mini book about each animal’s life cycle.
These simplified cards are perfect for Pre-K and K students!”

3. “Weather Unit (Science Fun for Pre-School – 3rd Grade)” by Living Life Intentionally

“This Weather Unit is intended for Preschoolers – 3rd Grade. It includes a wide variety of activities, experiments, worksheets and more:
- Water Cycle (including experiments)
- Seasons (including creative writing)
- Temperature (differences in sun/shade, morning/afternoon, here/other countries)
- Weather Graphing
- Hot/Cold
- Hibernation
- Clouds (including experiments)
- Wind (including experiment & activity)
- Disaster Preparedness (including drill ideas)
- Preschool Skill Practice (letters – upper/lowercase, shadow match, counting, pre-writing, colors, numbers, which is different, fine motor scissor skills, addition, sentence structure, and more)
Kids learn best when they are having fun!! My goal is to provide a fun way to reinforce, review and teach sight words to kids.”

4. “Polar Bear Science” by Crayonbox Learning

“A fun science experiment where the question “Does ice melt faster in salt or fresh water?” is answered. Geared toward ages K-2nd grade.
This freebie includes a teacher guide, pocket chart graphing including header card and answer cards, tally mark sheet, record sheet, observation sheet, polar bear facts, polar bear writing practice!”

5. “Super Science Experiments” by Sparkles Smiles and Successful Students

“Looking to spruce up your science curriculum, or have an AWESOME science fair project well you have come to the right place!
This collection of truly Super Science Experiments is just for you! It contains chemistry experiments, experiments on matter, physics, and much more1
Includes:
- 70+ science experiments and demo guides
- detailed descriptions
- pictures of experiments
- material lists
These are only the experiments I thought would be the absolute coolest ones and that students would enjoy doing!”

6. “Penguins” by Penny Waddingham

“Interactive Penguin story along with science activities,recording sheet and physical education game.”

7. “Scientific Method for Young Learners” by Wild About Teaching

“Young students love to act like scientists!
This pack includes posters, 1/4 page cards to sequence and a generic science experiment recording sheet.
If you enjoy this pack, check out my other science packs I have available!”

8. “Science Acrostics Freebie” by The Science Penguin

“Thanks for checking out this file, Science Acrostics Freebie! I hope that these 12 pages will help your students use their higher order thinking skills to find phrases that describe each item. With an acrostic poem, you use each letter of a word as the first letter of a phrase.
Ideas for Use:
~ Create a bulletin board with your acrostics.
~ Use along with a craft.
~ Use after a lab activity.
~ Use after reading the textbook or a read aloud trade book.
~ Use as partner work in a center.
~ Fold and include in science notebooks.
~ Use as review before a quiz.”

9. “Science Fair Project Planner” by Upper Grades are Awesome

“This science fair project planner is designed for group science fair projects. In the past my students struggled with each component and how to put them together to design and create their science fair project. Using this as a guide students are more confident through the process and complete higher quality work. Included is an agenda of target due dates that the students fill in to help keep them on track. Each step of the science fair project is included with a brief description/directions and a space for students to fill in. Students will also benefit from guidelines on putting together their science fair board. Finally, I have included the scoring rubric (based on the one my district uses).”

10. “Trash to Treasure—Free Activities & Lesson Using Recycled Items” by SciPi

“This FREE Trash to Treasure handout is an eight page booklet that features clever ideas, fun and engaging mini-lessons in addition to cute and easy to construct crafts made from recycled or common, everyday items. In this resource, discover how to take old, discarded materials and make them into new, useful, inexpensive products or tools for your classroom.
Learn many out-of-the-ordinary ways to use milk lids for math. Did you know two plastic beverage lids can be made into card holders for kindergartners or for those whose hands are disabled? Discover how to use butter tubs to create a fun indoor recess game that practices math skills. How about practicing math facts using egg cartons?
Because these numerous activities vary in difficulty and complexity, they are appropriate for most classrooms, and the visual and/or kinesthetic learners will love them.”

11. “Biology Lab: Simple DNA Extraction” by Science Stuff

“This is one of my favorite labs/activities that I do with my Biology I students. It doesn’t take long to do, it uses very simple, household materials, and it works every time! There is no number crunching or data analysis, but just a fun activity that your students will really enjoy.
NOTE: This product is also available in a bundled product called Biology Labs: 15 Must Do Labs for a Biology Class .
You will use ordinary Dawn dishwashing detergent and alcohol to extract the DNA from the cells of wheat germ. The download will include a lab handout that is ready to be copied and passed out to your students. Includes: Title, Introduction, Purpose, Safety Precautions, Procedure, and Follow Up Questions.
I have also included a “Teacher Preparation” page with answers to the questions and some additional set up information.
I use this with my high school Biology students, but this activity can easily be done with middle school students.”

12. “Luring Leprechauns—A Simple Penny Experiment” by Jamie Woodward

“This science activity includes directions and explanations for the experiment, two recording sheets and a place mat for the pennies. This science experiment can be completed as a whole group or in small groups. Your students will love “luring leprechauns” into their classroom. I would love your feedback!”

Don’t forget to check back next week for another edition of The Tuesday 12:  February Freebies!

The post The Tuesday 12: Feel the Love with 12 Fabulous February Science Freebies from TPT! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

It definitely has been some time since we last posted a lesson in correspondance to our Money Unit for your grade 3′s. Today, we have included a review which only means we have the test left to post. We hope you find this review helpful for your students. Feel free to add or remove to this review in order to meet the needs of your students. The test will be posted shortly!

The post Adding and Subtracting Money : A Review! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

In our previous post Why is School Important?, we discussed how school is a primary agent of socialization.  Todays post discusses the diverse ways schools attempt to de-socialize and re-socialize children.  When schools work to do so, they are termed  “total institutions”.

Total Institutions have four distinctive characteristics with respect to education.

First: teachers supervise all aspects of daily life; going to school means being separated from family and becoming a part of a new environment. Students are no longer under the supervision of a parent, rather under that of a teacher whose rules differed from those at home.

Second: the school is a rigid system which provides students with a standardized and organized way of life; At home, schedules are not as stringent or fixed as it is at school where events are scheduled for certain times.

Third: formal rules and daily schedules dictate when, where, and how students perform virtually every part of their daily routines; as previously mentioned, the rules in the classroom differ from those at home. Rules at school are in place to control what students do, how they do it and when they did it, as well as, with whom; whereas at home, routines are a little less structured.

Finally: a single rational plan exists to fulfill the particular goal of the institution.

‘De-socialization’ is the idea that individuals can ‘un-learn’ ideas and values, which most often takes place within the educational environment. This occurs when children, who share different traditions, beliefs and cultures, begin to unlearn what they have learned in the home.  Students are eventually able to recognize “bad” values, such as racism and sexism, and unlearn them. School helps students do this by exposing them to these topics and issues and re-teaching them.

We see this process in our schools but what happens to students who immigrate and have not been exposed to western culture? Would this work when students have reached an older age or would the process of de-socialization and re-socialization still apply?

Let us know what your thoughts are on socializing students.  What methods seem to work?

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“Part of the reason my students have such a hard time reading is because they bring little prior knowledge and background to the written page. They can decode the words, but the words remain meaningless without a foundation of knowledge” (Kelly Gallagher)

In one of my previous posts, I explained how I use Kelly Gallagher‘s excellent resource, “Teaching Adolescent Writers” (2006), in order to help my students learn how to write effectively.  In our school, we run TLCP (Teaching-Learning Critical Pathways) cycles focusing on a particular reading strategy throughout the year.  Currently, we are focusing on making connections, where students are to read a text and then respond to it by either making a text-to-self, text-to-text, or text-to-world connection. I often find that students will only skim the surface when making connections and I really want them to work on making a deeper and more meaningful connection to the text. Students have a difficult time making meaningful connections to texts because they lack sufficient experience and background knowledge.

Kelly Gallagher has developed an excellent strategy to assist with this dilemma: the Article of the Week.  The premise may be simple, but the effect is profound. Each Monday, students are given an article to read.  At the top of each article, Gallagher provides the following strategy:  “1. Mark your confusion.  2. Show evidence of a close reading. Mark up the text with questions and/or comments.  3. Write a one-page reflection on your own sheet of paper” (from kellygallagher.org/resources/articles.html).  At the end of each article, Gallagher provides possible written response topics.  A new article is provided each week with the same framework.

In my opinion, this strategy is perfect in every way:

1. Students are provided with an article on a high interest topic that will capture their attention and motivate them to read (hopefully!)
2. Topics can change each week and can reflect current events, student interest, or connect to other curriculum topics
3. The reading strategy is consistent with each article (the three steps provided at the top of each article)
4. Students are provided with a consistent task, where they apply their skills on a regular basis
5. Students and teachers can easily monitor student progress by reviewing weekly responses over a certain time period
6. Students will be building their knowledge base and be provided with the background to make meaningful connections when reading other texts
7. This activity can easily be scaffolded with teachers slowly removing direct support when students become much more sufficient in breaking down the text and responding to it
8. Differentiated instruction is easily attainable, as students can receive different articles on the same topic but at different reading levels or teachers can continue to provide more support to struggling students, while other students are able to work more independently
9. Assessment for and as learning are addressed on a regular basis, as teachers can keep track of student comprehension, learning, and skill development, while students can use self-assessment to determine how well they are applying their reading comprehension strategies over time.

Kelly Gallagher has provided years worth of archives for the Article of the Week. The Articles of the Week are further subdivided according to the grade level Gallagher taught when that article was used. Since Gallagher teaches high school English, many of the articles are a bit too difficult for my grade 7 and 8 students.  Not a problem, as I have been scouring various sources for interesting articles that I can use in my own classroom.  Even if you do not teach high school English, this approach will work with your students, as the framework is extremely effective and focused on improving student reading comprehension in a regular and methodical manner.

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Schooling is a fundamental part of all of our lives. Not only is it present in our everyday lives, but it is also viewed as one of the primary agents of socialization. From the time children enter school, until the time they leave, the socialization process continues. In addition, schooling broadens a child’s social world to include people with social backgrounds that differ from their own, while simultaneously meeting other individuals who may share similar interests, social positions, or age.

Socialization is defined as the process through which we learn to become members of a society or a community. Simply, it is the general process of acquiring a culture. Through this process we learn the language of that culture, patterns of behaviour, issues related to the community, rules and ideologies of society, forms of spirituality, as well as, other social processes as we advance. This learning process starts shortly after birth and continues throughout our lives, especially as we enter the schooling process.

As students enter and develop within the school system, they are pushed to re-analyze and sometimes disregard what they have learned in their home to be more accepting of the environment and diversity around them.  This attempt to socialize students into the mainstream means that schools must develop methods to de-socialize and re-socialize children.

What have you seen in your school, classrooms, or community to attest to this?

Next time, we will be discussing Schools as Total Institutions.

The post Why is School Important? appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

During the month of February, The Tuesday 12 will be featuring 12 FREE resources available on TPT! Click on the title of each resource to be brought to the TPT listing.  You need a TeachersPayTeachers account to download the free items.  If you don’t have a TPT account, what are you waiting for?! It’s free!  The description for each item is taken from the listing description on its TPT page. Don’t forget to check out the other awesome resources from these teacher sellers!

1. “Writing Prompts 1 (Addresses Emotional Intelligence Skills”)” by Beth Hammett

“Need two weeks worth of writing prompts get students writing? Try the ten slide PowerPoint which addresses learning styles and emotional intelligence skills such as goal setting, time management, anger management, stress management, and study skills. Just put up the slide, play some music, and let students write then share (if desired). You’ll be amazed at the reflective responses!”

2. “Martin Luther King, Jr. Dream Speech & Activities” by Tracee Orman

“This is a great activity to share with your students in celebration of Dr. King’s life and dream. Activities are aligned with the Common Core Standards for grades 6-12 and include:
a copy of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech with figurative language questions, general questions, social studies research project, writing prompt, word scramble, reader’s theatre (theater) script example, service project, and additional activities to use in class.
Great resource to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday in January, Black History month in February, Anniversary of “Dream” speech in August, any speech/communications course, non-fiction reading, poetry units, or connections to novels like To Kill a Mockingbird, Cry the Beloved Country, Invisible Man, Number the Stars, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Native Son, Seedfolks, and more.”

3. “Heart Train of Multiple Meaning Words” by Kristine Lamb

“This FREEBIE activity has been created by Kristine Lamb @ www.livelovespeechkl.blogspot.com. I hope you all enjoy!!!!
Included:
Train game board
32 Cards: Multiple meaning words
8 Wild Cards
How to play:
Place all cards face down.
Students take turns choosing cards and state at least two meanings for each word the on the chosen card.
If two or more meanings are given, students roll a dice (any dice will do!) and move the appropriate spaces.
If chosen, follow the directions on the included wild cards.
The first student to the end of the “heart train” is the winner!”

4. “Make Your Own Magnetic Poetry Kit” by Runde’s Room

“Make your own magnetic poetry kit with this resource and a few basic supplies. You will need magnetic paper and a cookie sheet or metal sheet. Simply print out the word list, cut out the words, and start to create poetry! This kit makes a great center activity, collaborative poetry activity, or even a fun indoor recess activity.”

5. “Teaching Dialogue in Writing” by Miss Nannini

“This free pack is sure to help you through your writing dialogue unit! In this pack you will receive:
-Rules to edit/punctuate dialogue correctly posters
-Practice editing/punctuating dialogue passages with answer key
-Book ideas to teach dialogue
-Student center/group activity and recording sheet to practice putting together a quote with the correct punctuation.”

6. “Free Set of Making Connections Anchor Charts” by Irene Hines

“A Free Set Of Making Connections Anchor Charts:
~Text-To-Self
~Text-To-Text
~Text-To-World”

7. “Comprehension Graphic Organizer—Fits ANY Fiction Book” by MrHughes

“This handy little 2-page graphic organizer is just the thing you need to help your students stay focused during read-aloud. It also works great for book clubs, book reports, and independent contracts. The sky is the limit! Suggestions for use included!
Skills practiced:
-Connections
-Visualizations
-Responding to the Author
-Vocabulary
-Setting
-Plot
-Respond to feelings about the story
-Provide feedback and recommendations after reading
-And More!”

8. “Out of This World Similes” by The Peanut Gallery

“This 22 page simile unit is FREE and features fun and creative ways to involve and motivate students while teaching similes. The pages included are:
1. Simile Definition Poster
2. I Sense a Simile- student activity and sample
3. It Came From Planet Simile- simile/art activity (includes three different versions to suit grade/ability level)
4. Simile, Sweet Simile- identifying similes
5. Simile Haiku Poetry- writing haiku
6. Strange Similes- correcting mixed-up similes
7. Simile Scrambles- two different versions included”

9. “Free Bio Poems Made Easy” by Laura Candler

“A bio poem is a simple poem written about a person, and it follows a predictable pattern. You can have students write Bio Poems about themselves, but later you can have them write about famous historical figures or book characters. This lesson includes directions, a graphic organizer, a template, an example bio poem. Lesson created by Laura Candler.”

10. “Writing Unit…Creating an Author Talk” by Jen Bengel

“This two-week unit is so fun for students! For a super exciting writing piece this year, students create an author’s talk about what they know as writers. They share their writing tips, inspirations, and ideas. We videotape the author talks and use them throughout the year and with future students. The kids really begin to see themselves as writers and they absolutely love watching other students talk about writing!! Included in this download are 6 mini lessons, a reflective form for students to complete, and the rationale and goals behind the lessons. There is also a smart board document with these lessons and author talks that is available for purchase in a separate download.”

11. “Character Sketch—Fun Practice with Creative Writing” by Addie Williams

“A fun creative writing activity and great practice with characterization! Students are given a picture of a “character” to create a story about. Two pictures are included on the worksheet and students pick one. By answering a series of questions, students create a persona for the character and then write a character sketch.
Includes two version of the worksheet and a note sheet on Characters to use with any novel.
The characters I’ve included are stereotypes – another opportunity for learning! I challenge the students to write a character sketch that’s the opposite of what you’d expect based on the character’s appearance.”

12. “Build a Leprechaun Trap and Creative Writing Activities” by Smart Chick

“A super fun and creative set of sheets to use on St. Patrick’s Day! Students must build a leprechaun trap and then write about how their leprechaun ended up in the trap. There is also a facebook page layout for the leprechaun as well as I-Phone texts and a twitter page for the “leprechaun” to fill out!”

Don’t forget to check back next week for another edition of The Tuesday 12:  February Freebies!

The post The Tuesday 12: Feel the Love with 12 Fabulous February Literacy Freebies from TPT! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

While studying Physical Geography, students in grade 7 should be able to “explain the concept of sustainable development and its implications for the health of the environment.” (Ministry of Education, Ontario Curriculum Documents).  Concepts as these sometimes become too difficult to understand because students have not had many life experiences outside their community let alone rural life.  As I program plan, I have found that visuals and videos are helpful tools.  I would like to share two wonderful videos that I have just recently found.  Both videos demonstrate key concepts about farming, sustainability, human factors and activity and the connection to them. I know I will be using these videos to elaborate and start a conversation about these concepts.

The first video is entitled “Pickering Lands”.  This video is a presentation about the Pickering Lands close to Toronto, Ontario.  It delves into how and why the lands were expropriated and the loss it has presented over the years for the farming community and all the communities around it.  Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWwHJ5mH3mg

The second video I found on Facebook, it is a fantastic video with great visuals and concise information about importing and exporting food and the farming industry.  Here is this video:

Let us know what you think of these videos and if you have any other ones, do share!

The post Farming & Sustainability appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

I read an article recently, which stated that vision is learned.  Being a mom of two, I knew that children develop their vision as they grow but I did not know that we can help develop and improve their visual skills.  Three essential skills that are important for children are eye focusing, eye calibration and eye tracking.  Students can practice these skills to improve overall vision skills.

Eye Focusing is the skill of being able to look at something that is near and then quickly and accurately switching to something that is far away.  Immediately I think of students referencing something on the board, or overhead with their notebook.  This skill can be practiced simply with a pencil and a calendar on the wall.  Standing about 10 feet away, have the students hold a pencil about a foot away from their eyes.  The students are to switch their focus between the pencil and the calendar.  Instruct students to not switch to the other item until the one they were looking at initially is in focus.   Repeat 10 times.

Eye Calibration is the ability to move the eyes inwards in order to focus on a very near object.  This mimics the same movement of the eyes when reading.  If students do not have this skill developed, then they will tire quickly after doing “close” work (reading a book, measuring, worksheets,  word searches are some examples).  To practice this skill all you need is a pencil and a partner.  Hold the pencil vertically about 16 inches away from the nose.   Have students focus on the eraser of the pencil and move the pencil slowly closer.  The partner is to watch the eyes and see when one of the eyes turns in or out.  Have the student note at what distance that is.  Then slowly move the pencil out/away from the nose.  The eyes are to both be staring at the pencil eventually.  When this occurs the partner is to note the distance.  Note that a student with normal eye calibration would be able to keep both eyes focused on the pencil until about 3 inches away from the bridge of the nose and can regain both eyes on the pencil at about 4 inches.  Repeat 5 times.

Eye Tracking is the skill that allows students to read sentences without losing their place or reversing the order of letters.  Furthermore, this skill is part of hand and eye co-ordination (playing sports).  Eye tracking allows students to follow a moving target smoothly.  If they do not have this skill developed, then students could have jerky eye movements, overshoot or undershoot targets or lastly could move their head side to side when reading instead of using their eyes.  Using a string and ball (and a partner) can develop this skill.  Attach the ball to the string and put a sticker on it so the student can focus on the item.  Three different activities can be done:

1) Swing the ball back and forth and have the student follow;

2) The partner is to swing the ball side to side.  The student should follow the ball without moving his/her head;

3) Have one student lie on the floor (on their back).  Have the partner swing the ball in a large circular motion.  The student on the floor is to follow the ball circulating until it comes to a complete stop.  Again, instruct students to follow with their eyes and not their head.

I hope this helps students and you recognize that their vision skills are essential and need to be practiced.

The post Focusing on the Eyes: Visual Skills Can Be Developed appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Science is one of my favourite subjects to teach.  Although I love Language Arts, I really enjoy teaching math and science because students have so many opportunities to take part in fun, engaging, and educational activities that allow them to discover concepts and investigate different ideas.

As Elita previously mentioned, we have created another science unit to address the Ontario science curriculum when teaching a combined grade 4/5 class.

The following investigative activity is part of that unit, but it would be a great activity to use with students from grades 4-8 either as a way to introduce or review simple machines and motion.  I think it will be a fun way to review some key concepts with my grade eight students before we delve into systems in action and students design, build, test, and present their own devices.

In this activity, students will work in small groups to investigate both simple machines and linear movement.  The activity begins as a whole class activity where simple machines are discussed, to a small group investigation.  First, students will examine the car and layout of the experiment to investigate several simple machines. Next, in order to observe linear movement, the car will be allowed to travel down a ramp.  Finally, students will demonstrate how changes to the mass of the cart will then affect its linear movement.

Just click on the image below!

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It is essential for students to keep practicing concepts that have been introduced to them during class time.  A fantastic way is through centre activities and games.  Here is a great game for students to keep practicing the concepts of place value.  Included is a place value chart (from Millions to Thousandths), 24 cards with numbers in written form and an answer key.  It could easily be used as a game between students, friendly competition is a great motivator!  It could also be used as a means for independent practice.  Laminate the cards so they can be used continuously and will withstand wear and tear!  We hope that you will find this product useful!  Just click on the image above to be brought to the product page.

Just a reminder that we have other centre activities available for your classroom as well.

The post Place Value for Middle Grades appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

A great quote to share with you this week from Albert Einstein: ‘What is right is not always popular, and what is popular is not always right’. Many of our students, including us adults, can surely connect to this quote. We try to teach our students and continue to remind ourselves that we need to think about what is right for us, what is right for others and plain and simple, what is right in that particular moment and that specific situation. However, it is so easy to fall back and steer in other directions, as we tend to consider what others would do and whether it is different from what we would do. More often then not, we do things because that is what others want us to do, or would do themselves. For our young students, for example, although they know and have been taught that letting a teacher or an adult know if or when someone is being hurt or bullied or disrepected is the right thing to do, they also know (and more importantly) that this may not be deemed the ‘right’ thing to do by their friends. This is just one of many examples. We have a lot of students gearing away from doing the right thing because it is not seen as the ‘right’ thing to do by their peers. We have to focus in on this closely and continue to model for our students that the right thing to do is always what we, ourselves, feel is right and not what we think others may think is right or what others will think if we choose the right thing to do. We need to remind our students that what is popular is what they feel is right! Share this with your students, invite discussion and encourage self reflection!

The post Words to Live By Wednesday : ‘What is right is not always popular’ appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Brrrr! It’s cold and snowy here…how is it in your area?  Even though it would be nice to remain all warm and toasty indoors, now is the perfect time to get your students outside in the cold, crisp air for some frosty winter activities!  Be properly dressed is essential—warm winter jackets, boots, gloves, hats, scarves, and snow/ski pants are imperative!  If it is especially sunny, a pair of sunglasses really help out too.

1. Make bird feeders.  There are so many winter birds in this area and it would be a great idea to provide them with a much needed meal!  Use pine cones, seeds, peanut butter, nuts, dried out gourds, hollowed out oranges, popcorn, dried cranberries, and string to create bird feeders.  Sit quietly with your binoculars to view and identify your feathered friends.

2. Snow sculptures…how creative can your students get?  Younger students can work on building a snowman, while older students can be creative and make more elaborate scultpures.  Instead of sandcastles, how about snow castles?

3. Play capture the flag, flag football, or soccer in the snow.  Students will have tons of fun running around and sliding into the snow!

4. Go on a nature walk!  In the famous words of Robert Frost, “the woods are lovely, dark, and deep”…a winter nature walk will help students experience the beauty and tranquility of

5. Geocaching or scavenger hunt.  Hide “treasures” in the snow and give students a map to find the location.  Either go high tech with GPS geocaching or stay classic with a compass and a map!

6. Art with food colouring…fill up water bottles with food colouring.  Top them with either a spray or squirt nozzle and have students use the snow as their canvas!

7. Go skating! We usually go to our local, indoor rink, but try to visit outdoor skating rinks for a picturesque skating experience!

8. Visit an outdoor education center…there are so many in and around Toronto that have excellent outdoor education programs.  Visit during Maple Sugar Season for an extra sweet treat!

9. Outdoor picnic with blankets, hot chocolate, and hot soup! Have students spread out their blankets and enjoy warm beverages from a thermos.

10. Have a mini-Olympics! Set up various activities (tug of war, relay races, bean bag toss, snow ball throwing) and divide your class into teams or compete against other classes!

11. Take out different sports equipment for a fun and frosty outdoor phys ed class! Take out hula hoops, pool noodles, golf clubs, dodge balls, and hockey sticks to have a fun time!

12. Just get out and have fun! Build a snowman, construct a fort, make snow angels, and just have a good time!

Don’t forget to check back next week for another edition of The Tuesday 12!

The post The Tuesday 12: 12 Outstanding Outdoor Winter Activities for Your Students! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

We Are almost at the end of out posts for Math Lessons in correspondance to the Grade 3 Money Unit. Just a couple of days ago, we posted an additional lesson for Making change as this was an area in which my students in previous years had struggled with. Today, we have a review for adding and subtracting money. The more practice the better. This lesson works with the class as a whole and it branches off. Be sure to give out extra worksheets (even the same ones from our previous lesson: adding and subtracting money) as this will continue to help your students review what they have been learning over the past few days…weeks. Click on the lesson plan down below as always, and there you have it – a review! 2 more to go! Stay tuned!

The post Let’s Talk Money : Adding and Subtracting – A Review! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Last week we posted Lesson 5: Making change. As we all know, some areas require more attention. Having said that, we continue to plan and revisit, focusing on the same topic for longer, so to ensure all our students understand the content and material at hand. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this and completely expected more often then not! Remember, each of our students are different – they have different needs, learn at a different pace and are each at a different level. In my experience with teaching the Grade 3′s Money, I had to revisit ‘Making change’. I have included this lesson plan down below. You can also use the same worksheet as posted for the initial lesson, adding additional questions or you can use a completely different worksheet!

Be sure to check back with us as we still have a few more lessons and a review to post!

The post ‘Let’s Talk Money!’ – Making Change : An additional lesson plan! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

We have been hard at work!  Here is another great science unit for Grades 4/5.  Our first unit on Habitats and Communities and Human Organ Systems was a great success.  With great feedback from other teachers, we know that you find our products engaging, thorough and distinguished!

This new unit is a cross curricular Gr. 4/5 Science Unit  which allows teachers to meet the Ontario Science curriculum expectations all the while teaching a split grade!  Our science unit: Pulleys and Gears (4) & Forces Acting Upon Structures and Mechanisms(5)  combines the following overall big ideas:

• Machines, mechanisms, and structures are designed to improve efficiency or simplify tasks
• Forces act on and within structures and mechanisms
• Mechanical systems have various impacts on society and the environment

Our Lessons include the following:

• Learning centres: students work in small groups or individually to rotate between four centres over the course of the activity (four types of centre activities: technology, reading/writing activity, creative response, and a fun or hands-on activity);
• Whole class lesson/discussion followed by either small group activities or whole class activity

Our unit is cross-curricular and integrates the following subjects:

• Language Arts (Reading, Writing, Oral Communication, Media Literacy)
• Math
• 21st Century Learning
• Art

We have many activities that are both engaging and active.  Differentiated instruction is also key and diverse assessment methods are incorporated.  We hope you find this unit useful for your classroom.

Here is a preview of our Gr 4/5 Science Unit.  Click on the picture above and you will be taken right to the full product!

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To all of you Pinterest lovers – Isn’t Pinterest just the most amazing thing in the   world? I absolutely love Pinterest. From simply logging in and seeing fantastic pins on my homepage to using the search engine to basically look at anything and everything for ideas! I truly love it! I can spend hours on it – the perfect tool to help me sit down, relax and enjoy a coffee (for once)! Well, over the weekend, as I was looking through some pins, I came across a great poster to share with you all today for our ‘Words to Live by Wednesdays’. It fits in perfectly, as we have just started a new year full of desire to make changes, to be the change and to see change!

It’s Gandhi’s top 10 fundamentals for changing the world. A great list to share and discuss with your students. It is loaded with great advice, suggestions, motivation and strong words to stimualate the world of thinking! This is simply a great piece to use with your students in time of reflection – have them choose one of their favorite, most inspiring lines or words from the poster and write a response!  You can do so much with this! I have copied and pasted an image down below. Once you click on the image, it will direct you to the original site in which the poster was pinned from. From there, click on the poster and download (pdf format).

Don’t forget to check back with us next week for your ‘Words to Live by Wednesdays!’

The post Words to Live by Wednesdays: Gandhi’s top 10 fundamentals for changing the world! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

As I was strolling through Chapters the other day looking for new books for my sons, I came across several picture books that were distinctly Canadian in either content or authorship.  So, here’s a list of 12 excellent picture books that proudly proclaim “our home and native land!”

1. “The Hockey Sweater” by Roch Carrier (Translated by Sheila Fischman and Illustrated by Sheldon Cohen)

I bought this classic “Canadien” story for my sons.  Despite the NHL lockout, hockey is still a big topic of conversation and who can resist this tale of the little boy who receives a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey sweater instead of his beloved #9 Maurice Richard Montreal Canadiens sweater?

2. “Crosby’s Golden Goal” by Mike Leonetti (Illustrated by Gary McLaughlin)

A great story about a boy who abandons hockey, a game he loves so much.  After witnessing Crosby’s golden goal at the Vancouver Olympics, he returns to the ice and the sport he loves. Other famous stories about hockey heroes by the same author include Wendel and The Great One, The Rocket, and The Mighty Tim Horton.

3. “The Salmon Twins” written and illustrated by Carroll Simpson

A visually stunning book that celebrates Canada’s First Nations by looking at the groups of the Pacific Northwest. Although it would be perfect for the grade 6 social studies curriculum, the theme of community values makes this a great addition to any classroom library.

4. “A Promise is a Promise” by Robert Munsch and Michael Kusugak (illustrated by Vladyana Krykorka)

Together, Munsch and Kusugak take you to the Northwest Territories to tell the story of Allashua, a little girl who encounters the qallupilluit, Inuit monsters that live below the ice.  In this book, children learn the importance of listening to their parents, keeping their promises, and Inuit story-telling traditions.

5. “Goodnight, Canada” written and illustrated by Andrea Beck

A wonderful book that takes you through the Canadian provinces and territories, while saying goodnight to children living in these different locations.

6. “M is for Moose: A Charles Pachter Alphabet” by Charles Pachter

This is a beautiful book that is filled with tons of visual information about Canadian history, pop culture, and heritage.  A stunning book! Also, check out “Canada Counts: A Charles Pachter Counting Book”

7.  “Picture a Tree” by Barbara Reid

I still remember reading “Have You Seen Birds?” with my grade three class and making our own plasticine bird pictures in Barbara Reid’s distinctive style. “Picture a Tree” is a great book to use during Earth Week, learning about the environment, and helping students develop respect, appreciation, and stewardship of our Earth.

8. “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Robert W. Service (Illustrated by Ted Harrison)

I love this poem and teach it to my students each year.  The illustrations are beautiful and remind me of the Group of Seven. It would be great to integrate an art lesson with this poem and book by creating oil pastel drawings of the Northern Lights.

9. “Alligator Pie” by Dennis Lee (Illustrated by Frank Newfeld)

“Someday I’ll go to Winnipeg
To win a peg-leg pig.
But will a peg-leg winner win
The piglet’s ill-got wig?”

What’s not to love?! My son and I love reading these hilarious poems before bed each night!

10. “Wishes” by Jean Little (illustrated by Genevieve Cote)

I’ve been a Jean Little fan since I read “From Anna” in grade 4.  I bought this book for my youngest son for Christmas It would be great to create a collaborative class book where each child writes and illustrates their own wishes.

11. “A Porcupine in a Pine Tree: A Canadian 12 Days of Christmas” by Helaine Becker (illustrated by Werner Zimmermann)

Another Christmas gift for my sons! Can you tell I buy a lot of books? A great twist on the classic Christmas song! My favourite verse? Ten Leafs a-leaping!

12. “M is for Maple: A Canadian Alphabet” by Mike Ulmer and Melanie Rose (illustrated by Melanie Rose)

A beautifully illustrated book that takes you from British Columbia to Prince Edward Island.  Filled with Canadian history, personalities, geography, and pop culture.  If you like this one, check out the province specific ones including “A is for Algonquin: An Ontario Alphabet” and “B is for Bluenose: A Nova Scotia Alphabet.”

Don’t forget to check in next week for another edition of The Tuesday 12!

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links

The post The Tuesday 12: 12 Distinctly Canadian Picture Books! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Yes, it has been a while since we last posted a math lesson in conjunction with our ‘Money’ Unit for Grade 3′s! Last we left off on Lesson 4 which leaves us to continue with lesson 5: Making change. If you are just checking in with us, be sure to check back to our previous posts for Lessons 1 through 4 on ‘Let’s Talk Money’. For today’s lesson, we have a included a complete lesson plan to engage in with your students, along with corresponding follow-up worksheets to do both independently, in pairs and then as a whole! Still to come are lessons 6-9 which include an additional lesson for making change, adding and subtracting money which is divided into two complete lessons, as well as a review to wrap it up! We hope you are finding these lesson plans and worksheets both useful and engaging!

Click on the images below and print!

The post Let’s Talk Money : Making change appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

In a previous post, I mentioned how my students have been learning about the circumference and area of a circle.  We have been doing several activities in our math journals, completing math centres for extra practice, and reviewing for our test.  Since this has been a really fun unit and my students have been doing well, I decided to have a fun and rewarding end of unit activity.

We will be investigating the radius, diameter, circumference, and area of a circle by measuring donuts! The following booklet contains the teacher resource, student booklets (two versions using “donut” and “doughnut”), and donut images if you cannot or choose not to use actual donuts in the activity.

Click on the image below!

The post Super Duper Donut Fun! Circle Investigations Using Donuts! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

This is the last part of a 3 – part post.  Music has always fascinated me and to understand that it has great value in the physical, cognitive and emotional development of a person makes it more intriguing.  My first two posts were entitled:  The Effects of Music on the Brain and Music and its Value in Education (click on the links to be brought to those posts), todays post discusses how Music develops the child socially and emotionally.   The basic reason that every child must have an education in music is that music is intrinsically woven into our daily lives and within society as a whole.  Every human culture uses music to carry forward its ideals and concepts.  Music possesses the ability to shape individual abilities and character and contributes to broadening the students’ understanding and appreciation of the world around them. Through music, educators can introduce students to the richness and diversity of the social constructs of the world.   It allows for the development of  “self esteem as a learner, long-term pursuit, empathy, self assessment, peer and parent collaboration” (New England LTM Conservatory, 2003, p.12).  Studying music encourages self-discipline and diligence, traits that carry over into intellectual pursuits, which lead to effective study and work habits. Essentially, we as educators must realize that music is about communication, creativity and cooperation and by integrating music within the school, our students will have the opportunity to build on these skills, enrich their lives and experience the world from a new perspective.

We hope that you find today’s post and the previous posts of value.  Have you attempted to integrate Music into your curriculum delivery?  What suggestions, advise or ideas do you have?  Share, so together we can grow and learn.

The post Part 3 of 3: Music and the Social and Emotional Development of the Child appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

The new year brings about the opportunity for our students to make new goals.  Perhaps they would like to try something new, improve their grades, or simply better themselves.  I’ve heard many of my students say, “But I’m just not good at it” when they are faced with a new experience or challenge.  It is vital that our students understand that anything is possible and they can achieve their goals…through a little work and perseverance.

Have you helped your students set goals for themselves?  If you are unsure where to start, we have provided a lesson, rationale, and student goal setting worksheets in one of our TeachHUB.com articles.  This worksheet allows students to break up a larger goal into smaller and more manageable tasks.

But sometimes, the process of reaching the goal is not the problem.  The main thing that may be hampering student success is their attitude—if they don’t believe that they can be successful, then they will not be successful.  It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.  So many of our students psych themselves out before even trying anything because they don’t have the self-confidence to believe that they can do it.  It is critical that we help our students believe in themselves so that they can dream and achieve their goals.

Here’s one of our favourite poem written by the one and only Shel Silverstein.  It’s simple, beautiful, and so true.

As always, click on the image for the FREE printable poster.

Don’t forget to visit us next Wednesday for another FREE classroom poster!

The post Words to Live by Wednesdays: Shel Silverstein appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Happy New Year!  This is our second day of school in 2013 and my students are refreshed, ready to work, and have new goals for the year (at least I hope)!  My students are making resolutions for 2013, so that had me thinking about 12 resolutions teachers should make (and keep!) for 2013! Of course, these are only my suggestions, so feel free to add in your suggestions in the comments section!

1. I will get out of my comfort zone and try something new!

It’s very easy to use the same activities, lessons, and units from year to year if you’re teaching the same grades.  I guess a lot of things in life are like that—we feel comfortable with things that are familiar to us.  But I am going to challenge myself—and you too!—to get out of my comfort zone and try new things.  Do you normally run the art club? Why don’t you try coaching a sport? Have you tried to incorporate new concepts in your teaching? I’ve challenged myself to leap into 21st century learning this year…there’s so much to learn, but I will try a little bit more each day.

2. Prioritize!

Teaching is a 24 hour job.  Even if teachers work 24 hours a day, there still is not enough time to get everything that we want accomplished.  With teaching, marking, planning, decorating classrooms, extracurriculars, professional development, and preparing for daily lessons and activities, it seems like my “to do” list gets longer and longer.  I am going to focus on what is important and prioritize my tasks! Not everything is mission critical!

3. Take time for yourself!

A refreshed, relaxed, and energized teacher is an effective teacher! Take care of yourself, eat nutritious meals and snacks, exercise regularly, get enough sleep, spend time with family and friends, and, most importantly, have fun!

4. Don’t let things pile up!

At the end of the day, it’s so easy to look at that small pile of assignments on your desk and convince yourself to let them go just one day…but then that pile starts to grow out of control!  Little things can quickly turn into big problems if you aren’t careful! I’m going to be on task this year! No more slacking

5. 21st century learning!

As I mentioned in my first resolution, I really want to try new things.  21st century learning seems like such a phenomenal and revolutionary change to teaching and learning! It seems a bit overwhelming and scary, but it is also motivating and exhilarating! This year, I’ve began to use Edmodo and Engrade in my classroom.  I want to incorporate technology, digital resources, and educational apps into my daily teaching more and more.

6. Make a 1 year, 3 year, and 5 year plan!

Did you reach all your goals in 2012? Did you even set any goals for yourself in 2012?  Are you where you expected to be in 2013?  Did you even imagine where you would be in 2013?

It’s very easy to just live in the moment, but it is essential to plan ahead and set goals for yourself.  I plan to make 1 year, 3 year, and 5 year goals for myself to keep me focused and on track!

7. Ask for student input!

I really want my students to be more actively engaged and involved in their learning…not just in lessons and activities, but I want their input in the types of concepts we cover, how we cover them, and how they’d like to learn.  Of course, we need to cover curriculum expectations, but there are so many ways for students to learn the curriculum, explore their learning needs, and become active contributors in your classroom learning community.

8. Simplify!

Sometimes I get a little too wrapped up in the little things when I should be focusing on the big picture.  Here’s an easy way to simplify your life a bit: get rid of your mark books and use an electronic mark book!  There are many free, online mark books or you can simply use an Excel spreadsheet…there is no excuse for wasting time calculating and tabulating final grades.  I use engrade.ca and I think it is phenomenal! Scared you’ll lose your work? I simply export or print my marks on a weekly basis and I’m worry free!

9. Form a professional learning community!

Do you meet with colleagues simply to plan lessons?  Or do you use this as an opportunity to learn from another and grow as a teacher?  If you don’t have a formal professional learning community, then make one yourself! Look to teacher blogs, teacher forums, Twitter, or Facebook to discuss education, teaching strategies, lesson plans, and student learning with teachers all over the world! How’s that for a global learning community!

10. Connect with every student!

Build a relationship with every single student in your class.  This may be difficult but it is so important! There are some kids that are shy, quiet, do their work, and don’t really stand out…it is easy for them to get lost in the crowd.  Don’t let this happen!  Help students join the classroom community and grow as individuals.

11. It’s okay to veer off your lesson plans!

I’ve said this before and I will say it again—it is okay to veer off your lesson plans! They are not written in stone! Some of the best class discussions I’ve had in my class occurred when we were off on some tangent.  It’s okay and there is time to go back and catch up.  True learning is spontaneous and cannot be scheduled into a thirty minute pre-determine block of time.  Be flexible!

12. Don’t forget that learning should be fun!

Learning should be fun…both for you and your students!  Try to use different tactics and tools to engage the students in your class.  If you are having a fun time, then your love of learning will be infectious and your students will be motivated and inspired to learn!

Good luck with your resolutions! I’ll report back on how I’m doing! If you have any suggestions or additions, please add them in to the comments.  See you next week for another edition of The Tuesday 12!

The post The Tuesday 12: 12 New Year’s Resolutions for Teachers! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

In my previous post, The Effects of Music on the Brain, we discussed how music helps develop the brain by building connectivity between the two hemispheres.  In this post, we discuss how this knowledge helps us to understand its value in Education.

Every stimulus that is inputted into our senses allows for us, as humans, to interpret information and to generate new information.  We can use all of our receptors or only one, but regardless of which one, the brain will allow us to interpret, deduce, recall or create information ourselves stimulated by external variables.  Also, different people interpret, create, and process this information in varied modes.  As humans we relate it to our environment, our experiences and our life.  What I have experienced is quite different from what another experiences.  When I smell the sweet scent of gardenias, my mind transports me to a place and time that reminds me of where and when the smell of gardenias had an impact on me.  I cannot expect that anyone else would have the same experience as I.  This thought can also be transferred to Music.  I can relate a song to a specific event in my life that no one else has experienced. Maybe that event was a negative occurrence and therefore, I find displeasure in listening to a specific song.  Others have a different reaction to the same song as well.  If information has a certain significance to me, how do I determine whether that significance is personal to me or whether it is actually conveyed in the external information and therefore available to others who receive the same information? How do we communicate those aspects of our knowledge that are personal?  We rely on a system of symbols that helps us communicate, our language.

The successful acquisition of reading and writing in early childhood depends on a solid background in oral language skills. Oral language is an interactive and social process, and music is a natural way for children to experience rich language in a pleasurable way.   Young children are naturally at ease with sound and rhythm.  Besides providing enjoyment, music can play an important role in language and literacy development.  Strong social bonds are encouraged through music and songs beginning in preschool.  Toddlers can begin to experiment with grammatical rules and various rhyming patterns in songs and other written text.

Establishing a sense of rhythm can be used to increase a student’s awareness of rhyming patterns and alliteration in other areas of reading and writing.  Through music, “memory skills can be improved, and aural discrimination increased” (Chong & Gan, 1997, p.98). Music can focus the mind on the sounds being perceived and promote learning through an interactive process.  It is important in teaching early childhood students to be conscious of auditory and discrimination skills.  Music and songs help increase these listening skills in a fun, relaxed manner. As Wolf (1992) stated,  “Listening skills are key in singing, language and expressive movement, and later reading and writing” (p. 92).

Music has always been a way for children to remember stories and learn about the world around them.  Using music as a stimulus can effect one’s emotions and make information easier to remember.  Music also creates an environment that is conducive to learning.  It can reduce stress, increase interest, and set the stage for listening and learning.  As Davies (2000) has noted, “The similarities between literacy acquisition and musical development are many, therefore, teaching that combines music with language arts instruction can be the most effective ”(p. 327).  Furthermore, it is important for emergent readers to experience many connections between literacy in language, music, and in print.

Language in music and language in print have many similarities, such as the use of abstract symbols.  Both oral language and written language can be obtained in the same manner “that is, by using them in a variety of holistic literacy experiences, and building on what the students already know about oral and written language” (Clay, 1993, p. 232).  For example, emergent readers will attempt to read along in a shared reading of a familiar text, just as they will join in a sing along to a familiar song.  Similar to emergent reading and writing which are acquired to drawing and pretending to write, musical learning is connected to song and movement. According to Jalongo & Ribblett (1997), “Children instinctively listen to music and try to identify familiar melodies and rhythms, just as early readers will look for words that sound alike, have patterns, or rhyme” (p. 86). For example, song picture books illustrate how the use of familiar text, predictability, and repetition can encourage children to read.  Using songs put to print can expand vocabulary and knowledge of story structure, as well as build on concepts about print.  Repetition in songs supports and enhances emergent literacy by offering children an opportunity to read higher-leveled text and to read with the music over and over again in a meaningful context.  Print put to music also allows children to build on past experiences, which in turn invites them to participate in reading and singing at the same time.  Brain function is increased when listening to music and studies have shown that music promotes more complex thinking. Basic skills are generally regarded as reading and writing for the communication of thoughts and experiences. Music learned and appreciated enhances the basic skills of thought processes inherent in critical reading and writing.  The positive link that is apparent between reading, writing and music also extends to mathematics.

Rauscher, Len and Shaw, while studying higher brain function found a connection to the brain linking music with improved spatial temporal reasoning abilities.  While music is viewed as a separate intelligence, as per Howard Gardner, there is a high correlation between mathematics and music.  Music involves ratios, regularity and patterns, which are all mathematical concepts.  An example of this is the musical scale, which is a “neat logarithmic progression of frequencies” (Harris, 2002,  p. 3).  There are also similar connections between patterns of notes and patterns of numbers.  With such connections the concept of odd and even numbers are also interplayed. In addition, music enables students to learn multiplication tables and math formulas more easily and through rhythm students learn the concept of fractions at a quicker pace.  The research conducted by Harris (2002) found that “students who were taught using rhythm notation scored 100% higher on fractions tests” (p.8).  Music is able to stimulate children in order to make new connections among music, math, and science activities by encouraging them to probe into what Jeanne Bamberger (2003) terms “underlying conceptual structures and problem-solving strategies”(p. 34) shared among these core subjects. Essentially, concepts embedded in musical activities and their representations can be used in elementary schools to facilitate new understandings of fundamental concepts, processes and representational systems utilized in core curriculum.

Within all academic subjects there are fundamental concepts and processes, which are present within music. There is extensive literature with these correlations and I have highlighted the ones for Language and Mathematics.  The reason for this is due in part that Language and Mathematics are viewed as the back to basic core subjects.  Other benefits and correlations are found in Science, such as “utilizing experimental methods, research skills, systems analysis, investigation and discovery, observation, metamorphosis, cause and effect, and classification” (New England LTM Conservatory, 2003, p. 11).  Such correlations are extended to History, Social Science and Art as well.   Processes such as “time line event ordering, diverse social perspectives, interpretation of events, understanding diverse cultures, expressivity, form, character, colour, design, movement and composition” (New England LTM Conservatory, 2003, p.12) are all found within the context of Music.

Again, we hope that you find this information and research valuable.  The 3rd part of this series is on Music and the Social and Emotional Development of the Child.  Let us know what you think thus far.

The post Part 2 of 3: Music and its Value in Education appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

I have always been interested in Music.  As a child I participated in choir and then instrumental music. My early education was in Europe and when I moved back to North America, I was an ESL student.  I did not know a single English word but found that my language acquisition and mathematical skills developed quickly due to learning and participating in music.  Once I began studying to be a teacher, I was even more interested in how Music aids the learning process.  This post is from my research and will be a 3 part series.  I hope that you will find these interesting and of value as you plan your lessons for your students.

In Frames of Mind, Howard Gardner provides evidence that there are different aspects of intelligence.  He posits that every individual has a diverse learning style and that not all are being addressed in the context of the classroom.  Musical intelligence is identified as an independent intelligence without any association to linguistic, mathematical, or spatial intelligence.  Howard Gardner (1993) wrote “eliciting the use of musical intelligence the learner will be able to better acquire skills and knowledge since the framework of the mind is being utilized” (p.312).  Rauscher, Len and Shaw have brought this argument forward with their research project titled Music Exposure and the Development of the Child’s Brain.

Neurophysiology tells us that at birth, the human brain has 100 billion neurons, which are not connected to form a network.  Connections among neurons are formed rapidly in the early years of life as the growing child experiences and forms attachments to their surrounding world.  Huttenlocher (1984) discovered that if “these synapses are used repeatedly in a child’s day to day life, they are reinforced and become part of the brain’s permanent circuitry. If they are not used repeatedly, or often enough, they are gradually eliminated in the second decade of life” (p. 283).  In essence, as the child grows and the more connections made, opens the door to create a more complex, powerful system of neural pathways.  This is directly related to how the child learns and thinks, and greater academic success in the future. Rauscher, Len and Shaw tested children to discover if music would help create these pathways and discovered that through music instruction, even as little as four months, “children displayed a significant change in spatial temporal reasoning”(p.53).  At risk (low academics, and socioeconomic factors) children displayed a significant increase and other children displayed an above average increase in their abilities to complete tasks that measured recall, tactile and reasoning abilities. The research team also demonstrated measurements of brain activity using an electroencephalogram (EEG) machine, which showed that both the right and left hemispheres of the brain are responsive when listening and creating music.  “When listening to music, both sides of the brain are being activated, one side to follow the rhythm and the other to follow the melody.” (Rauscher, Len, & Shaw, 2002, p. 56). This provides proof that in creating the neural pathways as Huttenlocher described music would create more connections as it is developing the whole brain instead of one side.  Rauscher, Len and Shaw also discovered that “musicians who began their training before age six or seven have a larger left planum temporale and corpus callosum” (p. 32). These results infer that all musical engagements activate both brain hemispheres and involve cerebral cortex activity and memory retrieval mechanisms.   This is the basis for all academic success; having a developed and functioning brain in order to process higher level thinking.

So what does this all mean for us as educators?  See my next post : Music and its Value in Education.

The post Part 1 of 3: The Effects of Music on the Brain appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

When we return to school next week, my students and I will continue to explore the circumference and area of a circle.  We had begun to work on circumference prior to Christmas holidays and my students seem to be grasping the concepts well.  We did a GREAT activity in our math journals (I’ll post that soon) and that helped them to understand Pi, circumference, radius, diameter, and the circumference formula.  We will work on the area of a circle when we return.  After introducing the concept of area through a few math journal activities (more on the next week), we’re going to amalgamate, explore, and review these concepts through math centres.  I’ve created the following math centres to help students apply the skills and concepts they are learning about circles and have some extra practice activities.  Student worksheets are included in this package.

There are five math centres:

• Reviewing the Circumference and Area of a Circle
• Circumference Extra Practice
• Area of a Circle Extra Practice
• Calculating Radius and Diameter
• Circumference and Area Word Problems

Students will take part in the following activities:

• extra practice questions
• practice using proper problem solving format (record given information from the question, formula, calculations, and final statement)
• solving word problems
• working backwards using algebra to determine the radius and diameter when given the area or circumference
• developing their own word problems to trade and solve with a partner
• review sheets to aid in recapping and studying

Just click on the image below!

The post The Circumference and Area of a Circle: Student Learning Centres appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

As we start preparing to return to our classrooms, we fully understand that in some ways this is a completely fresh start.  Once we get back to our classrooms, we need to start delineating our rules, our objectives and also our expectations.  Granted most students have not forgotten completely what our classroom expectations are but still need to be reminded by clear communication.  At the beginning of the year, we suggested that students have personal learning goals set.  Check out our TeachHub article on setting goals, we provided a lesson plan along with a strategy and student forms where students can set up and work for their goals.  If you have done this throughout the year thus far, then this would be a great time to assess what new strategies are needed to obtain that goal or identify a new one.  If you have not, then a new year can mean a new beginning.  Harness that spirit of renewal and help students focus on their goals once again.  Make time for this in your first week back as it will help students re-connect with their own learning goals and help re-focus students on their academics!

The post A New Year, A New Beginning! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Here is an additional lesson (extension) in connection to our last post discussing ‘The Value of coins and bills’. Along with this lesson, just the same as our previous lessons, we have also included another worksheet. With some areas in the money unit, students require more time, additional lessons providing further examples, different ways of seeing things and so on. In my experience with this unit, the area of understanding the value of coins and bills needed to be re-visited and touched upon again, in a different way. This may be the case for you or it may turn out as so in a different area. Regardless, we have provided an additional lesson covering the ‘value of coins and bills’. If you don’t have to revisit it, check out both lessons and decide which one works best for your class!

The post Let’s Talk Money : The Value of Coins and Bills (Part 2) appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

(I had this entry ready last week, but couldn’t post it due to some technical difficulties. So while you are reading, please pretend that it is December 21st! Thanks!)

Today is our last day before Christmas and it’s hard to contain the excitement (both me and my students)! Our day is filled with movies, treats, a classroom party, and caroling and a liturgy with the whole school. It is a fun-filled and energetic day and there is lots to do! At the end of the day, students will clean out and empty their desks, so that we can all start fresh in January. Many of my students have asked with some fear and apprehension if they will be getting homework over the holidays. My students have just a couple of short homework assignments that were assigned yesterday and should take no more than one hour to complete. In fact, some students have already submitted their assignments to me via edmodo.com (aside: Do you use edmodo? I started using it about a month ago and really like it…I will post a full review in a few weeks).

I have heard from friends, family, and acquaintances that over the years, their children have received tons of homework and projects that had to be completed during Christmas break and were due on the first day back. These assignments ranged from simple homework review to full projects that required days of preparation. This got me thinking: what is the purpose of homework over the holidays?
The purpose of homework on any given day is to review the materials covered during the day’s lesson. It is a way for students to practice, apply, and review what they have learned, so that they are then able to ask the teacher for extra assistance if needed. Projects are culminating activities that allow students to integrate a variety of concepts and ideas in a creative way. There are some projects that I love to assign my students simply because the final result is awesome–they are able to apply their learning while allowing their personality to shine through. I’m always so impressed with the amount of creativity and effort some students are able to put into their projects. I have several of these types of projects slated for various times throughout this year.

That being said, I don’t think that Christmas vacation is the appropriate time for students to be completing tons of homework and intensive projects. During these next two weeks, I will be doing some marking and planning, but I will also be spending time with family and friends. I hope that my students enjoy their holidays and come back refreshed to begin again in January.

What are your thoughts? Do you assign homework and projects during holidays? Let us know in the comments!

The post Homework Over the Holidays? What Are Your Thoughts? appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Today we have a new lesson in connection to our two previous posts about ‘Money’. We posted an intro lesson: ‘What do we know? What do we want to know?‘ and a second lesson: ‘Recognizing money’. Today’s lesson is understanding ‘The Value of coins and bills’. We have also included a pre-lesson to engage in with your students as a whole, followed by a worksheet which corresponds to this great lesson! We hope you are finding these lessons and worksheets helpful! Let us know what you think and how your class is doing with them!

The post Let’s Talk Money: The Value of Coins and Bills appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Just a quick message as you get on your way to shopping, spending and enjoying your day!!!

Check us out next week for your ‘Words to Live by’!

The post Words to Live By Wednesdays : It’s Boxing day! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

We would love to wish you and your family and friends a very Merry Christmas.

May you be blessed with much love, joy, peace, fun, laughter and happiness today and all year round!

Enjoy time with your loved ones!

The post Merry Christmas from your friends here at Teaching Rocks! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Earlier this week, we posted a lesson plan (lesson one) based on inquiring ‘what we know’ and ‘what we want to know’ about money, followed by a worksheet encouraging students to ‘get to know their coins and bills in different ways’. Today, we are posting a new lesson based on ‘recognizing money’ using both pictures and words. We have included both a lesson plan and 2 correspondinf worksheets to follow up with your students following the lesson.  Use this in addition to what you are already teaching – the more practice, the better!

The post Let’s talk Money : Recognizing money using pictures and words appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Grade 3 teachers….looking for lessons on the ‘Money’ Unit? Different, interesting and fun ways to engage your students? Here it is – we have created a number of lesson plans all based on Money. Anywhere from getting to know your coins and bills to recognizing money, adding and subtracting money, etc. This includes both coins and bills. From complete lesson plans to corresponding worksheets and review… we have it all here for you and wil be posting it all within the next couple of weeks! As for today’s post, let’s begin with ‘What do we know and what do we want to know’ along with a quick worksheet ‘Getting to know our coins and bills in different ways’. Just click on the images below and print away!

The post Let’s talk ‘Money’ – What do we know? What do we want to know? appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

It’s not about the gifts we give and get that have been bought in stores or purchased online or have a cash value. Christmas is more then this – it is more then all of this put together! Two of the greatest gifts of Christmas is Time and Love. The time we get to spend with family – sharing memories, having great conversations, playing traditional games, sharing traditional foods, enjoying each others company. The love we share and exchange with both family and friends through the time we spend with them is irreplaceable. It works beyond what we can buy, give or get. We are lucky to have people in our lives whom we love and care for and whom love and care for us. This is what we need to focus on, this is where we need to devote our time. Family is the greatest gift of all and all it needs is time and love.

Print and post – most of all, share!

Visit us again next week Wednesday for your ‘Words to Live by’!

The post Words to Live by Wednesdays – ‘The Gifts of Time and Love…’ appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

In this week’s edition of The Tuesday 12, we’re looking at 12 merry and magical Christmas movies to share with your students!

1.  Elf (2003)

Buddy the Elf is one of my all-time favourite Christmas characters! What’s not to love?!

2. Frosty the Snowman (1969)

One of my favourites from childhood! A great way to remind students about the magic of Christmas.

3. The Polar Express (2004)

I love Chris Van Allsburg and this charming movie is at the top of any Christmas viewing list!

4. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

We just watched this today! I always tear up a little when Linus recites from the Gospel of Luke.

5. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

I hope that our students are able to appreciate this classic Christmas tale.

6. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

The classic puppet and stop-motion animation may seem out of date to our students in this age of digital animation, but I hope they can still find the value in this classic.

7. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

A great take on Dickens’ classic Ebenezer Scrooge story starring the lovable Muppets (and Michael Caine)!

8. Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)

Scrooge McDuck is a great way to introduce A Christmas Carol to your young students.  A touching and heart-warming version that is sure to be a hit with your students!

9. Home Alone (1990)

A hilarious look at how Kevin defends his home against would-be Christmas burglars! A laugh from beginning to end!

10. Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

I prefer this original Grinch movie to the one starring Jim Carrey.  A great way for kids to discover that Christmas cheer cannot be stolen.

11. The Santa Clause (1994)

Who doesn’t love to watch Tim Allen slowly morph into the man in the red suit?

12. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

In this fantasy, Jack Skellington wants to take over Christmas and redo it in his own Halloweentown way! May be a bit scary for younger kids, so preview to make sure it is okay for your students.

The post The Tuesday 12: 12 Merry and Magical Christmas Movies to Watch with your Students! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

I had another post for today, but it just seemed trivial…not meaningful enough after the tragic events that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday. How do you go on after something so unbelievably horrific? How do you talk to your students about tragedy? How do you answer their questions, comfort them, and try to quell their fears? I really don’t know and I am trying to get some answers ready for Monday (I’m writing this on Sunday) when I go to school and will, without a doubt, be asked many questions by my students.  My students are in grades 7 and 8 so they have a certain level of understanding regarding this event and their parents may have spoke to them about it.

We heard about the shooting late on Friday, as they were making their way out the door, but we hadn’t heard many details yet and weren’t aware of the severity.  But now that the weekend has passed, I’m sure they have all been made aware of the tragic and unimaginable events that took place in Newtown and they will want to ask questions when they come to school.

Here are some resources put together by teachersnotebook.com to help teachers talk to their students about tragedy: Dealing with Tragedy in the Classroom.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Sandy Hook Elementary School community and for all the families who have lost loved ones.

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There are so many different activities to engage in and create with your students to help them understand the concept of advertising and all that is included when creating specific items for the media. Between trying to make it appealing to including important facts such as nutrients to as simple as including a bar code. Ofcourse, before thinking of such activities to further build upon the concept of advertising, students first need to understand the word advertising, be able to give examples, understand important terms in connection to advertising, etc. Once students are clear, there is nothing more promising to help students learn then to let them create something hands on as a follow up activity. We have created a lesson plan, along with a starter activity and templates! Click on the images below to print the complete lesson, templates and starter!

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It always seems so easy to forget the true meaning of Christmas – the reason why we celebrate it. Between the big hype around Santa and presents and exchanging gifts and worrying about what to get this person and that, or writing a list of what we want, she wants, he wants…we simply forget. It is important that we continue to remind ourselves, as well as, our students that there is a reason why we celebrate Christmas, that it’s not about Santa and gifts and needs and wants and lists. Today, let’s begin with a quote that is short and simple….let’s begin with family….with friends…with being together and sharing traditions. Share this quote of the day with your students, and in turn, have them reflect and explain to you what this means to them and how important it is to them.

Check back with us next week for our ‘Words to Live by Wednesdays’.

The post Words to Live by Wednesdays : Christmas is a time… appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

On this week’s edition of The Tuesday 12, we have rounded up 12 festively fantastic Christmas activities from TeachersPayTeachers.com.  The best part?  All the resources are FREE! Enjoy!  I’ve included the product overview from the description for each resource to help you determine which products suit your students best. Also, don’t forget to check out the other awesome products these teachers have in their TPT stores!

1. Gingerbread Fact Family by Tina’s Teaching Treasures (for grades 2 and 3)

“A FREE product to help your students learn about fact families and the inverse properties of addition and subtraction!
Great for Related Facts, Fact Families, and Addition and Subtraction! Perfect for a winter center, Christmas center, or gingerbread unit!
Included:
2 Posters to explain fact families and leave up for student reference
2 sheets (1 sheet if you double side) for student practice
3 pages for “Craftivity”
Pictures of Craftivity
1 Page of flashcard templates”

2. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas-I Have Who Has by MrHughes (for grades 3-7)

“Who hasn’t heard the classic poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement C. Moore?
This fun and interactive activity will have your students begging to play again and again as they try to beat their best time by reading fluently and more quickly each time.
The poem has been divided into 28 cards in a “I have, Who Has” fashion. Students will have to listen carefully as they only get the 3 or 4 words in poem ahead of their lines.”

3. Christmas Elf Application by Kindergarten Squared (for pre-K to gr 2)

“This cute freebie has your little elves applying for 1 of 3 jobs in the: Elf Toy Workshop, Elf Bakery, or Elf Gift Wrapping. This is a great activity that ties in with the Common Core opinion/persuasion writing standard!”

4. New Year’s Resolution Friendly Letter by Primary Paradise (for K to gr 3)

“What a better way to talk about the New Year than to let your students make their own New Year’s Resolution, or goal!
Student will practice their friendly letter writing skills and will make New Year’s resolutions for the coming year. They can write to a friend, parent, or even to themselves!
This packet includes:
Directions on how to Use
A New Year’s Resolution Poster
Sample New Year’s Resolution Letter
Kindergarten Letter Formats in which students can draw first
First Grade Letter Formats
Second & Third Grade Letter Formats”

5. Snow Day Snowman Writing Mini-Pack by TeacherMomof3 (for K to gr 2)

“Students will have snow much fun with this little writing pack! Use in your writing center, for homework, or in small groups!
Contents:
~Page 3- Have students write a description or a story for the picture.
~Page 4– Extra stationery page
~Page 5- Finish the writing stem
~Page 6- students write what they think the snowman is saying in the speech cloud.”

6. Free Packet: We Are Kind Kids {Random Acts of Kindness} by A Year of Many First (for K to gr 8)

“Have your students learn all about the importance of paying it forward with this packet!”

7. Christmas Puns: Puns from the North—Santa Takes the Pole Position by Margaret Whisnant (for gr 4 to 8)

“PUNS FROM THE NORTH–SANTA TAKES THE POLE POSITION is a giggle-powered collection of riddle puns about Santa and his life at the North Pole. Youngsters will enjoy revving up their punnybones to go searching for each riddle’s pun-filled answer from a choice of four possible responses.
This activity has two parts with twenty items each.
Full answer keys included. Eight pages including the cover and links to other items.”

8. Christmas Holiday Logic Puzzle by Lindsay Perro (for gr 3 to 8)

“This fun activity will keep your students thinking as they try to figure out which gift each child received!”

9. Christmas and Winter Themed Word Problems by Runde’s Room (for gr 5 to 7)

“This file contains 14 Christmas and winter themed math word problems that cover a variety of concepts and skills. Each word problem is displayed on beautiful festive background. These problems can be projected from the computer or placed under the document camera for all students to see during bell work or in a lesson. They could also be laminated and used in a math center. Answers are also included.”

10. Christmas Freebie: 12 Point of View Improv Cards for Christmas by Krystal Mills (for gr 5 to 7)

“This download contains 12 point of view improv cards, each with a Christmas theme, to engage your students.
Students will love speaking from unique points of view with this fun improv activity. Through completing this activity, they’ll develop more of an understanding of what it means to write from different points of view. Hopefully they will then take this back into their own writing! It’s a fun, interactive activity to do closer to Christmas time.”

11. What’s Your Favorite Christmas Song? by Cooperative Learning 365 (for gr 3 to 8)

“Students decide on their favorite Christmas song and as a class graph the results. Students can then create their own graph and answer questions.”

12. Winter Holiday Write Away Writing Prompts by LittleRed (for gr 3 to 8)

“Winter Holiday Write Away! writing prompts. This set contains 25 different writing prompts, all related to winter holidays (e.g. Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, as well as general ‘holiday’ prompts).”

Enjoy! Tune in next week for another edition of The Tuesday 12!

The post The Tuesday 12: 12 Fun, Festive, and {FREE} Christmas Activities from TPT! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

During Halloween, we discussed Bitstrips - one of many great programs that you can engage in online with your students. This site allows you and your students to create fun, personalized characters which you can then further create a comic strip for. Aside from fun activities for Halloween, Bitstrips also has some really interesting activities for Christmas that you may definitely want to consider introducing to and engaging in with your students. Anywhere from creating a holiday scene to creating your own greeting card and more. Plus they continue to include and add more, new props to add to your favorite holiday scene and greeting card! You can find it all on Bitstrips!

Yet another fun thing to do with your students during the Christmas season! While you are there, I am sure you will find many other great uses for this program, especially once you see just how much your students enjoy it! Have fun!

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We have been hard at work and have prepared a new and exciting Science Unit!

This grade 5 unit meets the Ontario Science Curriculum Expectations for Understanding Life Systems Strand (Human Organ Systems). We strive to create units that are cross curricular and engaging for all students.  Furthermore, technology integration is key in meeting our 21st Century Learning Goals!

Here’s an overview of the unit:

Learning centres: students work in small groups or individually to rotate between three centres over the course of the activity (five types of centre activities: iPad integration, technology, reading/writing activity, creative response, and a fun or hands-on activity);

Whole class lesson/discussions followed by either small group activities or whole class activity

Cross-curricular integration with other subject areas, including Language Arts (Reading, Writing, Oral Communication, Media Literacy), Drama, Physical Education, Art, and Health

A focus on Assessment For and As Learning through student self-assessments and group assessments, KWL charts, exit slips, anticipation guides, and project planning sheets

Reading strategies addressed include making connections, inferring, determining important ideas, drawing conclusions, and cause-and-effect

Differentiated Instruction is achieved through Learning Centres, choice board for the end of unit project, RAFTS assignment, and a variety of hands-on activities and labs.

The entire unit, including lessons, assignments, assessments, printables, and centre activities comes to over 140 pages!

Want to see a preview? Click on this link!

We hope you and your students will enjoy learning about the Human Organ Systems! Just click on the image and you will be brought to the unit!

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“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists” (Eric Hoffer)

Today, all the teachers in our board participated in professional development centred around 21st century learning.  Each school sent a few representatives to the symposium, while the remaining teachers and support staff at each school logged in to a live stream and watched the presentation together.  I can honestly say that today’s symposium and speakers were amazing.  I have so much to write and think about, but I need to go over my notes to really do it justice.  So many excellent ideas were presented today and I really want to reflect on how to be a learner and a teacher, how to engage my students in innovative ways, and how to apply all this new knowledge to my teaching.

Here are a few things though:

• Ian Jukes, the author of Understanding the Digital Generation: Teaching and Learning in the New Digital Landscape, was captivating and provided so much information about teaching this “digital generation”
• Will Richardson, the author of Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections of Transform Education, asked us to rethink traditional classrooms and the purpose of education

I have so many thoughts running through my head regarding the questions raised today, but I have to try to formulate some sort of plan to address these ideas in the classroom.  One item that was mentioned today was teachers using blogs to get connected to students, parents, and other educators…on that note:

Here’s our latest TeachHUB.com article: The Importance of Teacher Bloggers! Please read our article, leave a comment, ask a question, or tell us about your blogs!

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links

The post 21st Century Learning: A Time of Change for Teachers and Students appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

This week, we wanted to share a great poster with you – one that you can print and add to your classroom decorations as you begin or continue to put stuff up in your class to represent and reflect the season. It is definitely a busy time of year between getting a number of things done academically, to concerts and meetings and the list goes on. During this time, sit back and reflect – remember that it is a beautiful time of year. One that we share with our loved ones. Aside from presents and Santa and stockings and lights, continue to remind your students the meaning behind Christmas and it’s importance….the reason why we celebrate it! Start with our poster that highlights many important words to guide you!

The post Words to Live by Wednesdays: ‘Tis the Season!’ appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

In this week’s edition of The Tuesday 12, we’ll be looking at 12 Fun and Festive Christmas Crafts!  As usual, click on the image to be brought to the image source and instructions!

1. I love the yarn wreaths for front doors, so now there’s a mini version for the Christmas tree!

2. A quick and simple Christmas craft for any age group!

3. This would be great with a clear plastic plate glued to the front for a 3-dimensional effect!

4. Such a great idea! I love the different paper designs used!

5. We usually paint Christmas scenes on glass ornaments using acrylic paint, but this is a neat idea—swirling paint around on the inside of the ornament!

6. Simple and pretty!

7. Trim a tree with some popsicle sticks, paint, and stickers!

8. So many uses for toilet paper rolls!

9. So pretty!

10. A great gift for parents!

11. And my two favourite ones: the Rudolph wreath…

12. …and the Santa Claus wreath!

Check back next week for another edition of The Tuesday 12!

The post The Tuesday 12: 12 Fun and Festive Christmas Crafts! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Over the past few weeks, we posted a number of lesson plans teaching the young minds about The First Nations People. From clothing to transportation, food and religious beliefs, among a couple of others, we are now posting a final test to use with your students in correspondance to the lesson plans and worksheets. You will find that this test sums up all the important information that your students would have learned and should now know about The First Nations People. It will further allow you to see just how much they have learned and whether there are specific areas you may need to return to, to touch upon. Feel free to alter the test – add to it, remove, make any changes to better suit your students and class as a whole!

The post Learning about the First Nations People – Final Test appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Right now we are working on the novel “Shakespeare’s Secret” by Elise Broach.  It’s a great novel filled with Shakespearean/Elizabethan history, references, and intrigue…but that’s not really the topic of this post.  As we read the novel, we work on various activities, one of which is chapter written responses.  I’m not a fan of a bunch of short answer questions for each chapter or a chapter synopsis, as I’d prefer to give my students 1 or 2 “meatier” questions to work on…something that would involve higher order thinking, analysis, and application.  The problem I have, however, is that a paragraph answer is too brief for this type of analysis, while a five paragraph essay is simply too long.  My solution is a one page response, but my students have some trouble determining a main idea and finding supporting details. Since I love the P.E.E.L. framework, I’ve created a simple graphic organizer to help them layout their main idea, supporting details, and text-based evidence. As I explained in a previous post, instead of including the “L” as a link to the next paragraph, we use “L” as linking to a connection (text-to-text, -to-self, or -to-world) and my students tend to prefer “explanation” then “evidence” in their writing (and I agree with them).

So, simply click on the image below for the free printable.  Students simply record their ideas in the chart and then write out their written response.

Would you like these PEEL posters for your classroom? Just click the image below! They’re FREE!

The post P.E.E.L. Graphic Organizer to Help Students with Written Responses {FREEBIE!} appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

It’s December and the holiday season is approaching quickly.  If we calculate (assuming your school closes on Dec 21), then all that is left are 15 school days!  This is a crazy time, but also a fun time.  Most of us will do many activities based on the holidays within our classroom.  But have you considered social activism?  This is a time that students can be easily drawn into the whole commercialization of the holidays.  Students are caught up with what they want to get but we need to help them understand that this is a time for giving and caring as well.  Most of the time, students and their parents are also wondering what they can purchase for you.  You have heard of those AHA moments, and this is one of them!  Students learn by example, and we could be the greatest example during this holiday season.  Have a discussion with them about how important it is for you to help others.  Why not ask them to avoid purchasing something for you (if they intended to) and utilized that money and donate it to help others.  This could be done in many ways.  Here are some suggestions:

1) As a class go to a food bank and volunteer your time.  Students who were planning to purchase something for you can use those funds as donation, or could purchase non perishable items to bring along. This is great for students who would not normally be purchasing anything due to financial constraints or just do not do teacher gifts but still would like to help others.

2)There is an organization that helps with Gifts of Hope.  There are gifts as little as $10 and if that is still too much students can pool their funds together.  Visit the website www.plancanada.ca/givehope with your students and show them how something so small can create positive change in the world.

3) Visit a local nursing home and have students prepare songs to perform.  Students can use their funds in order to subsidize transportation

4) Create a Holiday Hamper.  This is a collaborative project where people donate food, clothing and other essential needs to a family in need.  Your school Social Worker, Administration and local church can steer you in the right direction with proper information to ensure items are appropriate but still maintaining the privacy and dignity of the family.

What is important to remember is that all it takes is a small change to make a big difference!  We are including a link to a fantastic video to generate discussion with your students and see that they too can make a difference! Click on the link below for the video.  We would love to read about what you have done for others in your school, community and local areas.  Wishing you a wonderful December!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHbL-Fh9t4I 

The post Holiday Giving: Teaching about Social Activism by Example appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Inferring is a difficult critical thinking skill that all readers need to develop in order to deepen their understanding of written literature.  Scaffolding skills are essential in order for students to build their understanding.  Utilizing picture books or illustrations will help build this essential skill.  Furthermore, this strategy can easily be used for ELL students!  Clicking on the image below will connect you to a lesson plan that can easily be used in the middle grades as well.  Also, the lesson plan utilizes a fantastic book  ”The Mysteries of Harris Burdock” by Chris Van Allsburg to be used for student practice!

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This weeks Words to Live by Wednesdays brings you a few words to inspire, motivate and encourage your students in more ways then one. It always seems as though as we approach the Christmas Holidays, attitudes begin to change and with that, so do work and study habits, as well as, in class concentration! As a result, students forget about homework, forget to try and forget to do what they have to do such as handing in those last minute assignments or studying for a test. Today, we begin to remind students to keep on going…to keep trying….to continue doing their work and keeping up their good grades that they have been working hard towards! More to come within the next few weeks!

The post Words to Live by Wednesdays: Laugh every day… appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

In this week’s edition of The Tuesday 12, we’re looking at some excellent digital resources for your classroom! There are so many great sites out there that would be beneficial to both teachers and students, but here are 12 that we can’t live without! Just click on each name to be brought to its website!

1. ClassDojo

This is a classroom behaviour management tool that allows you to track each student in your class.  You can either use the predefined behaviour categories or create your own.  I have created the behaviour categories to match the learning skills we use on the Ontario Report Cards.  I think it will be great to keep students on track (you can even set it so that it tracks group behaviour) and to help teachers with anecdotal comments. I’ve just begun using this app and so far, so good! I’ve downloaded the app for my iPhone, so it’s really convenient and easy to use!

2. Glogster

So what is a “glog”? Well, according to Glogster, a glog is an interactive poster loaded with text, graphics, music, videos and more, while being a space to express emotions, ideas, and knowledge online.  What I like about glogster is that it is great to watch…students will be captivated by the interactive, multi-media lessons making them much more engaged in learning.

3. Wordle

I’ve already told you how much I love Wordle! Create word clouds about any topic.  So easy to use!

4. Tagxedo

Similar to Wordle, but you are able to make your word clouds look like various images and create various shapes. Check out the ones that Lisa has created!

5. storybird.com

According to their website, “Storybirds are short, art-inspired stories you make to share, read, and print.” Students can create a free account, choose the images that they would like, and then start writing a story, poem, comic, or anything else they’d like.  Just like the photo and image prompts that are often used in creative writing, the digital images found here are a great springboard to help students get writing!

6. Gizmos

As Elita previously explained in a post, Gizmos are interactive online simulations for math and science topics.  There are a variety of fun, engaging, and interactive activities on many different science and math topics, such as dividing fractions, predator-prey relationships, and genetics.  The activities are scaffolded, so students work on increasingly difficult tasks to fully comprehend the concepts.  Although it is not free, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial, but you can always see if your school or school board is interested in obtaining a subscription for their teachers.  Our school board has a subscription, so teachers and students are able to enjoy this great resource!

7. Bitstrips

As Lisa has previously mentioned, Bitstrips is a great site to help your students create their own comics. So cool and the kids love it!

8. Pinterest

Oh, Pinterest, how I love you! We just love spending hours on Pinterest finding great ideas and resources for our classrooms! If you haven’t already, follow our boards!

9. LiveBinders

This site allows you to create a digital binder of the your favourite web resources! Instead of adding them all to your Favourites, you can create various binders to keep track of sites and resources you love! You simply add the “LiveBinder It” tool to your browser toolbar and then surf the web like you normally do…when you come across a great resource, you can quickly and easily add it to one of your binders.

10. Edmodo

I’m going to start using Edmodo with my class very, very soon. It seems like a combination of Twitter and Facebook to me, since you can post pics, chat, vote, and send messages that are 140 characters or less. What I really like about it is the privacy…teachers sign up for a free account, students sign up for a free account, and then teachers provide their students with a code to join the group.  This way, the classroom information and messages are kept private.

11. Prezi

A great way to create cool, multi-media presentations! Simply sign up, login and begin adding in your information.  You can add video or audio clips, images, websites, and other resources to your presentations.  Why can’t I just use PowerPoint, you might be asking…well, Prezi makes the presentation so much nicer and more fluid as the ideas flow from one section to the next.

12. Easel.ly

Love infographics? This site allows users to create their own infographics by choosing, selecting, dragging, dropping, and editing vhemes directly onto your canvas. This would be a great way for student to consolidate learning, create mind or concept maps, visual key concepts, and share their learning with their peers.

Don’t forget to check back next week for another edition of The Tuesday 12!

The post The Tuesday 12: 12 Awesome Digital Resources for Your Classroom (Word clouds, comics, infographics, math, classroom management, and so much more!) appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Last post, we included a lesson plan and worksheet/answer sheet for reading and writing to 100. Today, we are posting a lesson about the big number ’1000′. How much is 1000? For our grade 3 students, this is a large number….a number that gets them thinking about all sorts of interesting things. Have you ever read the book ‘How Much, How Many, How Far, How Heavy, How Long, How Tall Is 1000?’ In just one book, your students will begin to understand just how big, small, long and tall 1000 really is! It is definitely a neat book that both you and your students will enjoy….and with that, it will definitely guide you in teaching your grade 3′s all about the number 1000! Click on our lesson plan below which is based on this great book and more. You can get creative and create interesting worksheets for your students to work on as a follow up activity!

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Check out our TeachersPayTeachers and Teachers Notebook stores for a fantastic sale!

We are discounting all of our products by 10%!!!

But wait! There’s more!

ON SATURDAY, SUNDAY, AND MONDAY: head on over to our Teachers Notebook store to receive an additional 10% off automatically at the checkout!

ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY: head on over to our TeachersPayTeachers store to receive 10% off your purchases if you use the coupon code CMT12 at checkout!

Happy shopping!

The post CHECK OUT OUR TPT AND TEACHERS NOTEBOOK SALES! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Here is a lesson plan for your grade 3 students to teach them how to read and print whole numbers from 1 – 100. It includes a ‘getting started activity’ that allows you to work with the class as a whole, further encouraging and focusing on interaction, participation and cooperation and it also includes independent work – a worksheet to be done independently as a follow up activity! We have also included an answer sheet to save you the time! Just click on the lesson plan below to get the complete lesson plan and click on the worksheet to get the 2 page worksheet and answer sheet!

The post Writing to 100 – A lesson plan and worksheet for your grade 3′s! appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

Understanding what Bullying Looks and Sounds like is essential to helping students help themselves and others.  Dr. Michele Borba (www.micheleborba.com) writes that “Bullying is a cruel and/or aggressive act that is done on purpose.  The bully has more power (strength, status, or size) than the target, who cannot hold his own. The hurtful bullying behavior is not an accident, but done on purpose. The bully usually seems to enjoy seeing the victim in distress and rarely accepts responsibility and often says the target “deserved” the hurtful treatment.”

In a previous post (Reporting vs. Tattling), we stated that others are present when this bullying happens.  What is coming to light, according to Dr. Borba, is that these students suffer emotional distress when seeing these acts against their schoolmates occur.

As educators we need to proceed to make it safe for all in the school environment.  We need to teach them the tools to want to make a change.  But, before we teach them those tools they need to understand what to act on and how to act on the particular situation.    Dr. Borba breaks bullying down to particular situations and students should understand when it is bullying and when it is not.

We have created a poster based on Dr. Borbas information of what bullying could be.  Use it as a printable or a discussion point with your students and other colleagues.  By addressing these, students will come to truly understand the real definition of bullying.

The post Bullying and its Many Forms appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

It is Thanksgiving tomorrow for many, which gives us perfect reason to add a quote to our list about Gratitude. It is so important to be grateful for what we have, yet the majority of us find it difficult to do so. We spend more time thinking about what we don’t have, and thinking about what we want that we simply forget about all the great things we do have. Today’s quote is a simple one….one that helps us stop for a minute and reflect. Stop and think about all that you have and be grateful for it, for although it may be harder to do so, it is much more important as there are many who do not have anything.

Print todays quote and be sure to stay tuned for next weeks ‘ Words to Live by Wednesdays’.

The post Words to Live by Wednesdays: “Gratitude consists of being…” appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

With Bully Awareness Week on hand, todays Tuesday 12 is a list of books that can be used in the classroom to open discussions and develop conversations as a community. Through discussions students can develop an understanding of what bullying is and what it looks like.  Through their discussions, students will develop an understanding for methods of preventions.  Remember, students can be great agents of change.

1) Don’t Laugh at Giraffe, Rebecca Bender

A lovely story from the perspective of a giraffe and a bird who like to rile each other up.  But one day it goes a little too far and bird needs to rectify the situation.  

2) Have you filled a Bucket Today, Carol Macloud

This lovely book focusses on the effects of our actions and words on others.  Through positive behaviours, daily acts of kindness students understand how they can be agents of change.

3) How full is your bucket today? For Kids, Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer

This story geared towards a younger audience helps children understand that acts of kindness are for the good of others and for themselves too.  The metaphor of a bucket is a great way for young people to visualize the meaning.

4) Confessions of a Former Bully, Trudy Ludwig   

A great story written in a very matter of fact way!  The perspective of a former bully is a different view that most students have never experienced.  With this perspective, students can identify and relate to relationships that are hurtful and how to change that behaviour.

5) The Bully Blockers Club, Teresa Bateman

How about eliciting the help of your students?  Here is a great book to discuss how students can help rid bullying in the school yard!  Students are our greatest asset and challenging them to be the leaders will help the whole school.

6) Say Something, Peggy Moss

Another great book that takes a different perspective!  Not the bully, not the victim but the bystander.  This story helps students understand that just watching also helps the bullying.  There are some suggested activities at the back of the book in order to help your classroom discussions.

7) Each Kindness, Jacqueline Woodson

A great young child book where learning about making others feel welcome is the central message.  The development of the story is based on the belief that each kindness makes the world a little better.

8)Teammates, Peter Golenbock

A fantastic story about Jackie Robinson becoming the first coloured man to play baseball and the strength of friendship superseding fear and ridicule.

9)The Bully Goat Grim, A Maynard Moose Tale, Willy Claflin

The story of a Bully Goat and a Baby Troll.  It is a high flying story with lots of characters and a funny story.  At the heart of the story is the essence of being strong willed and loving yourself enough to stand up for yourself.

10) Way to Be!  How to be Brave, Responsible, Honest and an                   All Around Great Kid, Mary Small

A wonderful book showing how one’s character counts.  There are many examples on choosing right from wrong with a text that is easy to understand.

11) Colours of Me,  Brynne Barnes

A child’s interest in the colors of the world around her, help her develop an understanding that it is great to be anyone of them.  An inspiring perspective in acceptance of differences.

12) Don’t Laugh at Me, Steve Seskin and Allen Shamblin

A sweet book for young children helping them understand diversity is acceptable.    Furthermore, it builds on language skills for students to use in order to stop teasing.

We hope you find our list useful in your classroom.

The post The Tuesday 12: 12 Fantastic Books to Discuss Bullying with your Students appeared first on Teaching Rocks!.

We have been posting a few lessons over the past couple of months and are now on post 6 of ‘Learning about First Nations People’. Just last week we posted Lesson 5: Transportation. This week we are adding Lesson 6: Religious Beliefs. Again, we hope you are finding these lesson plans and corresponding worksheets helpful within your classroom. Let us know if you have tried any or all of them, and the experience you had with your students. We always love to We would love to hear back from you. Let us know what you think. Share your experiences.

For this weeks Lesson, just click on the link : http://teachingrocks.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/first-nations-lesson-6.doc

…and for the lesson plan, click on the image below and print!

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With all eyes and ears on bullying and anti bullying initiatives, we are also facing the same challenges in keeping our ears to the ground so to speak.  We cannot be in every place for every situation but yet we need to address them.  What we need to understand is that every time someone is being bullied there is always someone else that is present.  We do not want to imply that they are culpable, but when they just stand around and observe or watch, they help perpetuate the bullying behavior.  One of our greatest assets in diminishing and preventing bullying is the help of other students.  But, what I have found is that other students do not understand they have the power to be or to make that difference.  They believe they cannot make a difference and sometimes do not possess the strategies necessary to make that difference.  We have to help them identify these strategies and understand that the safety of others is of essence and they are responsible for their own and others well being.  One key factor is having students understand the difference between telling and reporting.

Telling: When a student is telling a person of authority about an action or situation, in order to get the other student(s) in trouble when there is no safety concern for self or for others.

Reporting: When a student tells a person of authority about an action or situation in order to prevent the emotional and/or physical safety of others.

Students need practice through demonstrations to be able to understand the difference.  They need to be able to identify situations and how to address them.  That is, if they speak to a person of authority about that situation, would it be telling or reporting?

Below you will find a link to a presentation (5 slides) that can be used as a short handout, or worked through as a group.   Don’t get fooled though, a lot of discussion will be generated!

To begin students will be able to identify who the trusted adults in their surroundings are and who will be able to help.  The presentation stresses personal safety and the safety of others as paramount.  After identifying the adults who could help, students will brainstorm the difference between telling and reporting.  Lastly, 3 different scenarios are provided for group discussion.  At the end of the presentation, it is time to proceed to different teaching strategies.

Some strategies to help students further understand that they cannot just stand by and watch unsafe situations happen are as follows:

1)   Have students role – play different scenarios (student developed) as a great way to recognize their actions and how to act appropriately.

2)   Another way is to build understanding through visuals. Students can create posters for a variety of audiences.

3)   Get technology involved! Students can create digital presentations (Powerpoint or Prezi are fantastic tools)

4)   Students can get even more creative by developing songs, videos, news/podcasts, or commercial.

Reporting vs Telling Presentation

We hope that starting off with small steps will begin to make a difference in your schools.

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Concept maps are an effective way for students to organize ideas, link new learning to previous experiences, and make connections between various concepts.Not only are concept maps great for students, but they can be used by teachers as well.

I like to use concept maps myself when I am planning units, essays, assignments, or simply projects that need to be worked on. At first, I did not realize that I was using a concept map to organize my ideas—I simply saw it as a way to record all my brainstorming using pencil and paper, as I do not like using technology to organize lists and brainstorming, but that is just a personal preference. I like to see my concept map grow by adding on new ideas as they come to mind and then connect these new ideas to other parts of the map. I can easily see how this works in the classroom, as it is an effective way to activate prior knowledge and lay out any and all preconceptions that students have in order to increase the students’ understanding of the subject matter (Novak, 1996, p. 38). Novak (1996) made an excellent point that concept maps can be used for recall, synthesis, and evaluation if students are asked to add in additional concepts and relationships (p. 39). I like the idea of creating a concept map and then adding in new terms and relationships as each lesson is taught; at the end of the unit, students will have an all-encompassing concept map that relates the key concepts from the previous lessons. Likewise, teachers can add on to their own concept maps as the unit progresses to reflect on lessons, student understanding, successes, areas for improvement, and next steps.

Teachers can use concept maps to inform their teaching practice, which would be assessment for learning. Novak (1996) gives the example of using concept maps to help teachers determine students’ misconceptions and to aid in facilitating learning in hopes of changing conceptual understandings (p. 38). Teachers can have students work on a concept map at the beginning of a unit, collect the maps, and then look for any inconsistencies in student thinking, misconceptions, or gaps in knowledge/experience to address during the unit. Teachers can also use concept maps to facilitate group activities and discussions; for instance, students can work on a concept map individually and then work in small groups to merge their individual concept maps into one collaborative concept map. This type of activity would require robust dialogue, debate, evaluation, and interesting connections being developed between concepts (Novak, 1996, p. 40). Concept maps would be a great visual way for teachers to see the preconceptions students have and how they may change throughout the course of a unit.  Not only would the concept map help students to record their ideas, but teachers would gain a better understanding of what topics they need to cover or re-teach.

Do you use concept maps in your teaching? Do you use them to inform your teaching practice?

Work Cited:

Novak, J.D. (1996) Concept mapping: a tool for improving science teaching and learning. In: Treagust, D.F., R. Duit, and B.J. Fraser (Eds.) Improving teaching and learning in science and mathematics. pp. 32 – 43 London, Teachers College Press.

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