Monthly Archives: May 2015


FREE LESSONS & PRICED LESSONS – The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative

49 FREE LESSONS!

Click on the links below to see the 

free lessons, priced lessons, sales, promotions, and articles 

by the best teacher entrepreneurs on the Internet!

The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative

Go to The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs blogs 

for more free lessons!

The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs

The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs II

The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs III

Join The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative at

http://www.thebestofteacherentrepreneursmarketingcooperative.com/2014/01/the-best-of-teacher-entrepreneurs.html

and get THOUSANDS OF PAGE VIEWS for your TpT products!

Go to http://www.pinterest.com/TheBestofTPT/ for even more free products!


Language Arts & Math – “Back to School Mega Monster Fun”

by Readable Creations
Two Versions:
First Grade
Second Grade

This first grade, monster-themed, back-to-school resource unit can be utilized over the first few weeks of first grade. (It would also be suitable as an end of year thematic unit for kindergarten.) The literacy and math worksheets / activities reinforce kindergarten academic skills while inspiring motivation and awareness of the students’ own talents, features, and abilities. The ‘Alphabet Game’ fosters an increased awareness of classmates’ characteristics. All the included activity sheets are listed below.

Contents:
My First Day in First GradeReadable Creations
My Second Day in First Grade } integrate graph (page 57)
My Third Day in First Grade } integrate graph (page 58)
My Fourth Day in First Grade } integrate graph (page 59)
My Fifth Day in First Grade } integrate graph (page 60)
About Me
My Favorite Things
Alphabet Game
Description Cards – for the game (including blank template)
I’m a Star at School
I’m a Star
My Teacher
6 Word Story (summer vacation)
Compare and Contrast (monsters) – Venn Diagram
Compare and Contrast (classrooms) – Venn Diagram
We like reading. (Dolch Pre-Primer & Primer word wall)
I like reading. (Dolch sight word bank)
Color by Word
We know the letters of the alphabet and their sounds. (poster)
I know the letters of the alphabet and their sounds.
I can write the letters of the alphabet. (Uppercase)
I can write the letters of the alphabet. (Lowercase)
Make a new word by changing one letter. (including blank template)
Make a new word by adding one letter. (Short to Long Vowel Sounds)
I spy with my little eye something beginning with…Back to School
Alphabet Memory Game
1, 2, 3…Count How Many
School Transportation Graph
Eye Color Graph
Class Pet Graph
Class Birthday Graph
1, 2, 3…Count How Many Monsters
Circle the odd one out in each row.
Addition to 10
Subtraction to 10
Missing Numbers
Trace, Color, Cut, and Paste
Monster Cards (for addition and subtraction)

TpT Store
Facebook
Pinterest


Sudoku Fun

Sudoku puzzles are a fun thinking exercise involving numbers or symbols. The objective of the game is to have a different symbol in each box, row, and column. Here are six fun and challenging puzzles for bright, young children. $3.25

 

If you like to challenge your kids with critical thinking activities, please stop by my store where I have a multitude of lessons.


Fun Summer Lists – Writing for Real Purposes!

Fun Summer Lists cover.png - Copy

Many children today do not have much appreciation for the world of paper and pen. The electronic world is far more seductive and even the adults in their lives are likely spending time on laptops or smartphones. Guilty as charged over here.

While building writing skills may come easily to some children, it can be overwhelming and exhausting to others. What is in it for them? They simply must see a point to it for real-world purposes, and receive positive feedback.

Kids do see us make lists – even if we make them on our smartphones. And kids do what we do (not necessarily what we say!)

For our purposes today, writing will mean any communicating in print. We’re talking about Kindergarten to grade two or three students of varying abilities.

Our goal is to help them understand why they are learning to write, buy into it and know that they are contributing members of society, who are appreciated for the contribution they are making by doing so!

Think of the possibilities for planning a day trip, or vacation….

Packing Lists…


5 Stuff to pack blank - Copy 6 Stuff to pack lined - Copy

7 Food list blank 8 Food list lined - Copy.png

11 Things to pack for Water Fun 12 Things to pack for Water Fun - lined

The Social and Wish Lists…


1 Summer Bucket list blank.png - Copy 2 Summer Bucket List lined - Copy

4 Friends - boys.png - Copy 3 Friends - girls.png - Copy

9 Guest List blank - Copy 10 Guest list lined - Copy.png

Lists about stories and games…or anything really!


16 Fav Stories 18 Stories I want to read 17 Books I read this summer

13 Games I really like 14 Games I really want 15 Apps and Games that help me learn

Whether our child / student draws or pastes pictures, dictates to us while we scribe, prints in hieroglyphics, or phonetically spelled words, we need to make this real world connection and commend them for making the effort. Especially in the summer!

Fun  Summer Lists is included in a WRITING FOR REAL PURPOSES bundle called Summer Literacy Fun Pack, with Summer Fun: Reading and Writing through Play pictured below.

These products were inspired by a post I wrote last summer (also pictured below) and by the effectiveness of these types of activities with my own children and students. I hope you enjoy them. Think Summer! It’s just around the corner!

Best wishes to all of you as we head into the final month of school!

I.M.

That Fun Reading Teacher 

Th TpT Store Prof pic circle


WRP Summer Bundle Long pin Summer Fun - Reading and Writing through play! cover.pngSumWrite

Some 

(almost)

Summer

freebies!

Th 1 Father's Day cover 300 Th Label the lifeguard - Colour


THREE $100 GIVEAWAYS of TpT Gift Certificates!

Follow these directions to enter to win SECOND and THIRD $100 GIVEAWAYS of Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Certificates… 

 

 

 

Congratulations to Rebecca for winning the FIRST $100 TpT Gift Certificate!

Directions on how to win the

SECOND $100 TpT Gift Certificate:

All new members and members who have renewed their membership in The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative from March 24, 2015 – June 1, 2015 at 11:00 P.M. Pacific Time will be entered to win the SECOND $100 TpT Gift Certificate.

“Since joining  TBOTEMC in January 2015, in just four short months, I have seen my TPT earnings increase by 350%! Besides learning how to best market my products, I have also joined a blog collaborative, a weekly Pinterest cooperative, and have met many teacherprenuers who share the same vision as me. Joining TBOTEMC was one of the best business decisions I have made for my TPT store!”

-Juliette Roman

The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative may no longer be sold at TeachersPayTeachers.com because it is more of a “marketing service and not an educational resource.”  You may purchase the $50 annual membership to TBOTEMC at http://www.thebestofteacherentrepreneursmarketingcooperative.com/2014/01/the-best-of-teacher-entrepreneurs.html.

Directions on how to win the

THIRD $100 TpT Gift Certificate:

All members of The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative will automatically be entered to win the THIRD $100 TpT Gift Certificate on June 1, 2015.

The three winners will be announced at my blog, The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs – http://www.thebestofteacherentrepreneurs.net.

Feel free to email me at vleon999@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

Wishing you the best,

Vicky


The BFG

Everyone loves The BFG, but what do you do when this wonderful book charms your students? My BFG power point covers the entire novel With multiple discussion questions, vocabulary activities, achievement test question, projects, plus research and writing assignments.

Check it out:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Literary-Unit-for-the-BFG-in-Power-Point-1213819

or

If you teach using a Promethean Board, I also have this unit available for active software.

Part I (The First Half of The Book)

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/BFG-First-half-of-bookPart-I-Literary-Unit-for-Promethean-Board-1106481

Part II (The second half of the book)

I also have a set of math problems related to The BFG for only $.100.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/BFG-Math-Word-Problems-1103128

If your class is working on a different novel, please top by my store. I have a lot of Literary Studies on multiple books and book themed math printables.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Gifted-And-Talented-Materials-By-Joyce-Lansky

 


Subtracting Fractions with Regrouping


Imagine you work at a pizza parlor, and you have three slices of pizza and nine whole pizzas in the warmer. A group of hungry kids dart into the shop and want more than three slices. What are you going to do? This power point walks students through the process of borrowing fractions.

 

     

Students will practice the skill with multiple problems.




or 

if you’d like to purchase this lesson for the Promethean Board, you may find an active software program at:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Subtracting-Fractions-with-Regrouping-Explained-for-Promethean-Board-968629

 I have a lot of math lessons, 

so please stop by.


A Memorial Day Tribute

By Deann Marin at The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs

 

Socrates LanternHeader Graphic small

Offering for Educators, Comprehensive Teaching Aides. If you’d like to see what else I have to offer please visit my store

 

This Memorial Day, I would like to dedicate the post and my Memorial Day Tribute Literary Bundle for Grades 4-7, to a former student, Capt. Andrew Pedersen-Keel, who gave his life for our freedom. He and Staff Sergeant Rex L. Shad were killed in March of 2013, when an Afghan policeman opened fire on U.S and Afghan forces inside police headquarters in eastern Afghanistan. He was attached to Company B, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C., and was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

I cannot speak highly enough of Andrew, PK as many called him. I remember with fondness that day, years ago, when he first walked into my classroom. He was a charmer with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, and I knew right away that I liked this kid. He was smart, in our top group, with such kindness, human warmth, and sincerity that made him unforgettable. The other kids in the class respected and liked him. Due to heart problems, a young girl in my class struggled to carry her books, so Andrew volunteered to tote them for her. This selfless act meant so much to her that years later, at his wake, she shared it with his mom.

We have lost a true hero, struck down at the young age of 28, who made the ultimate sacrifice to make the world a better place. I know that I am a better person for having known  him. The solace that we have is that he was a part of our life and he will live in our hearts forever. I salute you Capt. Andrew Pedersen-Keel.

If you would like to know more about Andrew, please visit this website.

http://www.soc.mil/Memorial%20Wall/Bios/Pedersen-Keel_Andrew.pdf

————————————————————————–

Included in this literacy bundle is a timeline of the history of Memorial Day. There are comprehension questions to be answered as well as writing prompts, plaques and pictures to color. I hope that you and your students enjoy using this.

Why Memorial Day is Important 8x8 Cover

Click on image to visit Socrates Lantern’s Tpt Store.

                              

For Teachers:……………………………….Page 4

Dedication to Capt. Andrew Pedersen-Keel..Page 5

Memorial Day Historic Timeline…Page 6

Comprehension Questions…Pages 7-8

Writing Prompts

Paragraph about Memorial Day History..Pages 9-10

Memorial for a fallen soldier………….Pages 11-12

Write a letter to a soldier……………..Pages 13-14

Memorial Day Speech by President….. Pages 15-16

Design a Plaque& Pictures to Color

Design a Plaque Honoring a Soldier……….Page 17

Animals are Heroes Too Make a Plaque……Page 18

Our Heroes, Pictures to Color………….Pages 19-20

Grading Rubrics………………………Pages 21-22

Answer Sheets……………………….. Pages 23-24

Resources…………………………….Page 25

Contact Page……………………………Page 26

Sharing is Caring Elite Bog Hop Collaborative

sharing is caring

See what these awesome teachers have to say about Memorial Day in their classrooms

Please Visit Socrates Lantern’s

Social Media Sites





 


All About Memorial Day!

Hey all! This weekend we are celebrating our American Heros! Check out what these teachers do to teach kids about Memorial Day!

Memorial Day

by Mary Carr of Carrberry Creations

Memorial Day is an important day to remember those who gave their lives in service to our country. What do we as teachers do though when we are faced with comforting a grieving student in our classrooms? Be as prepared as you can be by reading this article, and accompanying links.

 

Memorial Day Tribute

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

Memorial Day is an important day to remember those who gave their lives in service to our country. What do we as teachers do though when we are faced with comforting a grieving student in our classrooms? Be as prepared as you can be by reading this article, and accompanying links.

Why Memorial Day is Important 8x8 Cover

 

All About Memorial Day

By Nikki Heiman of Creative Inclusion

Memorial Day is not just about BBQs and spending time with friends and family. Kids need to learn about the sacrifices that others have made for our freedom. Open the lines of communication on this important topic by doing some fun activities!

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*Image of the food is originally from the fantastic blogger,Tip Junkie. Check out her stuff here!

Brought to you by:

Sharing is Caring

 

 
[inlinkz_linkup id=529211 mode=1]


LANGUAGE ARTS – “FREE SUMMER READING PASSAGES”

By Christina L

Grades 1-3

Slide1 Slide3 Slide4 Slide5 Slide6

 

Free Summer Reading Passages with Comprehension Questions

Cover all the important days, events and themes of each month with my monthly reading passages.
This is a small example of my monthly reading passages.
They can be used as a quick warm up, in reading centers or for homework.
It includes 4 reading passages with 3 comprehension questions each:
• Flag Day
• Buzzing Bees!
• Popsicles! (The Invention of the Popsicle)
• Great White Sharks
Also included is one worksheet for recalling 4 facts they have learned.

Check it out here.

 

Thanks for looking!

Christina L

My Store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Christina-L


Run On Sentences

Those run on sentences seem to pop up all over kids’ papers. This power point will help students learn how to fix these sentences and to practice their new skill. Not bad for $3.00.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Run-On-Sentences-Fixing-Power-Point-Chart-767685

or you may purchase an identical product for the Promethean Board at:

Run Ons – Active Software

Plus, if you want to give your students more practice, here are printables that allow students to work on this important skill. These also sell for $3.00. Check them out.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fixing-Run-On-Sentences-Practice-Pages-736765

If this is not what your after, feel free to stop by my store for a variety of teaching materials for bright students. With 363 products, you’re sure to find something.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Gifted-And-Talented-Materials-By-Joyce-Lansky

 


FREE MISC. Lesson – Kindergarten End of the Year

High school seniors are not the only ones that will be wearing caps and gowns this May and June!  Did you know that some kindergartners will be dressed as little graduates too?  They wear these for the closing ceremonies at the end of the school year.  But . . . technically, they have a few more years of school before they can get a high school DIPLOMA!

FREEBIE ALERT!  I made 4 printables with a few kindergarten skills in mind.  I know that you have worked on these types of skills all year long!  It’s a “Cap and Gown” theme.  There are two language arts review sheets and two math review sheets.

The printable in the photo shown below is a coloring activity.  The children read the color words and color each gown appropriately.

end of the year kindergarten gowns

Identifying Color Words

The next printable will review with the hard /c/ and hard /g/ sounds.  Children look at the picture and circle the letter that has the same beginning sound as in the word “cap” or as in the word “gown”.

beginning-sounds

Caps and Gowns

How many times did you practice counting this year?  Here’s a printable to practice that skill once again!  Children count the number of caps within each group and circle the appropriate numeral.

counting-objects

One to One Correspondence

The last sheet is a graphing activity.  Children create a horizontal bar graph to show more caps than gowns.  They answer a few basic questions about the graph they made.

kindergarten-graphing

Graphing Caps & Gowns

 

If you’re a kindergarten teacher, I hope your students will enjoy using these printables during one of their last days of school this year.  To get the freebie, click on the image shown below.  Then download and save it to your own computer or flash drive.

free-end-of-the-year-kindergartenPost created by Molly McMahon, Lessons by Molly

Lessons by Molly’s Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Lessons by Molly’s Blog

 


Stories to Keep Students Engaged

Now that school is winding down, teachers often find themselves looking for that extra reading passage to keep kids engaged. I wrote these five original stories, which come complete with activities. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Short-Stories-for-Classrooms-Complete-With-Activities-1763051

In this bundle, you will find the following:


Nonfiction Sports Story With Expository Writing Activity 

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
This nonfiction story depicts Josh Pastner, coach of the University of Memphis Tiger Basketball Team. His motivational story is quite impressive and provides a great model for kids. I have also provided directions for kids to write an essay about what they read in the story. Nonfiction writing is high on the common core expectations, and this activity is perfect for providing high interest curriculum and current events.

Help! I’ve Misplaced My Modifier. Humorous Story to Explain Misplaced Modifiers 

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

This humorous story helps students to learn about misplaced modifiers. Students are given the task of finding the misplaced modifiers in this story about a child’s birthday party. Answer key included.

Electromagnetic Energy Story (Creative Writing Activity about Science) 

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

This creative story shows the path of electricity from a neutron’s point of view. Students are asked to write their own stories that relate to a scientific topic.

The World’s Most Loyal Dog: A Nonfiction Story With Questions 

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

I am an author as well as a teacher, and I wrote this story about Hachiko, the amazing Japanese dog who spent about a decade waiting at a train station for his master who had died. This story comes complete with vocabulary and comprehension questions.

Beware of Cooties 

Here’s a bonus story that one cannot buy individually on TPT. I fear it will never find a home due to its shocking ending, but none-the-less, it’s one of my favorites that must be shared. If you dare to share it with the kids, I promise they’ll get a laugh. Enjoy!

I have plenty of stories and reading activities at my TPT store. Won’t you please stop by?  

 


32 END OF THE YEAR FREE LESSONS!!!

Download 32 free lessons to use in your classroom at the end of the year or have your students do during their summer vacation!

TBOTEMC WP End of the Year Free Lessons Pinterest Logo PNG

End of the Year Free Lessons By The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative – 2015

18 FREE LESSONS

End-of-the-Year Games and Reflection Activities

End of the Year Bulletin Board FREEBIE!

End of the Year Mystery Person (Freebie)

Graphing Your Way to Summer 

Popcorn and Movie Day!  Theme Days for End of School!

Printables: A Summer Bucket List 

Summer Homework

Summer Time Math Centers: 10 More 10 Less

You’re O-Fish-Ally a _____!  Student Gift Tags

End of the Year Baggie Toppers {Freebie!}

End of Year Reflections

End of School Memory Book

Free Graduation Clip Art from Charlotte’s Clips

My Year In…An End of Year Memory Book

 

Join The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative at

http://www.thebestofteacherentrepreneursmarketingcooperative.com/2014/01/the-best-of-teacher-entrepreneurs.html

and get THOUSANDS OF PAGE VIEWS for your TpT products!

 


CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH – READING PASSAGES AND COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS!

GRADES 4-7 AND HOMESCHOOL

SARAH PETERSON

HANDS ON HISTORY

 

CHECK OUT MY LATEST

READING COMPREHENSION PRODUCT!

 rc cal gold cover

READING COMPREHENSION:

THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH

 

This product is great for Social Studies (History) and Language Arts (Reading Comprehension).  The product contains: SEVEN one-page passages of informational text on The California Gold Rush (LEXILE 930-1010); SEVEN pages of reading comprehension questions (one for each passage); and the teacher’s keys.   Questions are true or false; multiple choice and open ended, and include both literal and inferential questions.  The reading passages can be used for CLOSE READING with other non-fiction graphic organizers as well!

 

THIS PRODUCT IS GREAT FOR A QUICK SAMPLE FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS!   It may be used for Independent Reading, Homework, or as a Supplemental Homeschool Worksheet.

 

TOPICS INCLUDE:

Discovery of Gold at Sutter’s Mill

The California Gold Rush

Camps and Claims

The Daily Life of a Miner

Methods of Mining Gold

Merchants During the Gold Rush

Lasting Impact of the Gold Rush

 

Click here to download the preview! 

Please note:  The Informational Text also appears in my Wild West Career Lesson Plan; however, the reading comprehension questions are not a part of that lesson plan.

 

Visit my store to check out my other history related products! 

 

 


Celebrating one year of Fine Motor Gains!

Watch this Awesome Guy show us his amazing growth in hand skills in one year’s time.  

It all began here when he learned to isolate his index finger, but take a look at him now!


Also learn an Occupational therapist’s trick for teaching pencil grasp to a child with low muscle tone and poor hand strength!

Read More:

Capitals First Blog from Print Path

Print Path @ Teachers Pay Teachers


Critical Reading

A successful author should be able to control what one gains from reading his or her story, but what if  the meaning on the page is unclear? Voila! Here you have two critical reading stories which are perfect for group discussions and, that often sought after, accountable talk. Although the stories have a strong plot, the message is purposely written in a vague manner to trigger different interpretations.

In “The Fog,” Taylor leaves work only to hit something in the road . . . or does he? Perhaps, Taylor is not a he at all. Students are asked to answer questions after the story with a True, False, or Can’t Tell. Next, the students debate the answer. 

“The Fog” may be used with multiple grades. Although I originally wrote it for fifth graders, I had a blast listening to the discussion from a high school group. They took my little story to an entirely new level.  

This would be a great activity once the textbooks are collected. Critical reading stories sell for $1.25.

If “The Fog” is a bit too advanced for your students, here is another critical thinking story about a ride failing at Disney. “A Day at Disney” works well with your bright primary students as well as elementary kids. It is also a gateway for accountable talk. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Critical-Reading-A-Day-at-Disney-Accountable-Talk-1486335

If you’re looking for short stories for your kids, please stop by Slide1


FREE MISC. LESSON – “End of the Year Free Lessons By The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative – 2015”

by Victoria Leon

Pre-Kindergarten – 8th Grade

Download eighteen free lessons to use at the end of the school year or have your students do during their summer vacation. Enjoy these lessons by members of The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative:

* Summer ABC 123 

* Ice Cream Sundae Summer 

* A Calendar filled with Fun & Motivating Speech-Language Activities 

* My Book of Numbers: 0-10 

* How to Draw Using Lines & Curves: Free Sample Tulip, from Print Path 

* School’s Out 

* Summer Bucket List Pennant Banner Worksheet 

* Free End of Year Who is Who in My Class and Autograph Booklet 

* Year End Balloons

* My Vacation Memory Book

* Summer Slide 

* End of the Year Scoot

* 1 – 2 Review 

* End of the Year Writing Activity Freebie

* School Memories Grades 3-6

* What Will Life Be Like in 5,000 Years? 

* Presidential Wall 

 

Join The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative at

http://www.thebestofteacherentrepreneursmarketingcooperative.com/2014/01/the-best-of-teacher-entrepreneurs.html

and get THOUSANDS OF PAGE VIEWS for your TpT products!

Go to http://www.pinterest.com/TheBestofTPT/ for even more free products!

 


Logic Problems to Last The Year

Logic problems are a fun way to keep kids engaged, especially at the end of the year. My store is packed with these that may be purchased for a dollar a piece or in bulk for a discounted price. Why not plan ahead and take care of all the holidays at once with one of my logic problems to last the year packets.


This original packet was made to challenge students in third through fifth grades, but some of these problems are tough and most likely would meet the needs of older students in the regular classroom. 


The booklet contains twelve logic problems from the first day of school until the Tired Teachers at the end. Along the way, students will tackle challenges centered around Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas (2), Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, April Fools Day, Easter, and Mother’s Day. Right now it’s set at a reduced price of $8.75, so please check it out.   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Logic-Problems-to-Last-the-School-Year-IG-1264788

If you teach younger kids, no worries, I have the materials for your kids, too, with Logic Problems to Last the Year (Book II) for grades 1 – 3. This mini version of the original book contains six logic problems surrounding the holidays of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and our American Independence Day. These matrix logic problems contain one grid to challenge our bright younger students, but once again, they could also challenge an older child in the regular classroom. Book II sells for the reduced price of only $3.95. 


https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Logic-Problems-to-Last-the-Year-Holiday-Logic-for-Bright-Kids-1859149

If you like logic or any activities to challenge bright students, please check out my store at:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Gifted-And-Talented-Materials-By-Joyce-Lansky

 


10 Ways to Keep Students Learning Over the Summer

 By Deann Marin at The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs

 

Offering for Educators, Comprehensive Teaching Aides. If you’d like to see what else I have to offer please visit my store.

 

Summer is the time for fun, fun, fun! School is out no more hitting the books. The only problem is that much of what was learned during the school year is forgotten, “out of sight, out of mind.” Not so with these ten fun educational activities that will keep the children looking for more and not even realizing that they are learning.

 

1.   Have your child, if he/she is old enough, take pictures of different things that you do over the summer. This will be especially exciting if you travel somewhere. They can put their photographs in a nice scrapbook and write a few  sentences about them. Make sure correct punctuation and grammar are used. What a great memory to look back on. When the school  year begins, this book can be shared in class.

2.   Help your child make a summer calendar for June, July, and August. They can use crayons, pencils, paint, rulers to color them in and add special things that they did over the summer. This will help to reinforce number recognition and counting. An effective way to work on addition and subtraction would be to say: “How many days till we go to the beach? or how many days ago did we go to see grandma and grandpa?’ even “How many days till you go back to school?”(of course they may not want to think about that!)

3.   Make  musical instruments from materials that are found around the house. Use towel/toilet paper rolls decorate them with paint, then put small pebbles inside. Close each end with cloth, or paper then glue them on or secure with rubber bands. This can be used as a rattle or rain stick.  Other instruments that they can make are drums, a box guitar, or a maraca, etc. This is a helpful websitd:  http://www.howcast.com/guides/841-how-to-make-musical-instruments-  for-kids/

4.   Cooking and measuring the ingredients help with math skills. They will have to read the recipe and measure the ingredients correctly.These recipes look yummy: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/packages/recipes-for-kids/cooking- with- kids.html

5.  If your child likes the computer or tablet, take advantage of it. Have him/her become a web ranger. They will go on quests and learn about national parks. It will help enhance skills in history and geography because they will be asked to solve mysteries and puzzles, play games and more. Check it out on this website: http://www.nps.gov/webrangers/ 

6.  Start a family garden. Decide what type of garden it will be, flower,vegetable, herbs or a combination. Then read up on it. Learn about the particular plants that will be used, find out where they should be placed, in the sun or shade. What types of soil are best, etc.  They can use some math measuring skills to figure out how far to space each plant. They can also measure plants to estimate the growth.  They might also try a science experiment to see if seeds grow faster in sun or darkness and keep a written record.  You can go to this website for more information. http://www.kidsgardening.org/

7.  When riding in the car have your child read signs, names of cities, towns, parks, or look for license plates from different states and figure out what states are the farthest away from them, or they can count the number of license plates they see from the different states. Another game that is fun when traveling is to start with the letter A and name a city, state, or country that begins with that letter, go through the entire alphabet. A variation of this would be to say a state, city, or country name and the next person has to come up with a name beginning with the last letter of the place just said. Austin/Nebraska, Anchorage/Evansville, and so on. Everyone in the car plays to make it more fun.

8.  For those would be scientists, start a rock or critter collection. See how many different rocks/ critters they can discover and find information about them in a book or on the web. They can make a scrapbook with photographs and information about the rocks or critters that they have collected.This is a great site for rock collecting, your child will have loads of fun while learning. http://www.kidsloverocks.com/html/guide_to_collecting.html This is just right for collecting those critters. http://www.kidactivities.net/category/Science-Kids-Collecting-Insects.aspx

9.  Have a scavenger or treasure hunt. You will have to write out directions as to where to find something and your child will have to read it in order to find the prize. This website has printable check lists, 10 ideas for scavenger hunts as well as tips and tricks.http://www.mykidsadventures.com/scavenger-hunt-ideas/ This pinterest page has loads of ideas on this subject  https://www.pinterest.com/tiffanymoore2/scavenger-hunt-ideas-for-kids/

10.  Plan a family fun day. Have your child write everything down from the menu to the games that will be played.

Here are some ideas that can be written down

  • Describe the activity. What will you do? Will you play games, go for a swim, watch a movie?
  • How will you prepare ahead of time. Will you need tickets, a picnic lunch, or a reservation?
  • What supplies will you require.
  • How much will it cost?
  • Who will be invited?

Make sure that you or your child takes pictures and then he/she can make an online photo album, write a few sentences about each image and email it to all of those who attended.

 11.  You can play word games such as scrabble, to work on spelling skills, board games like Yahtzee to help with math skills, card games like war which will utilize number skills, or word bingo.  I’ve also included some items that you can purchase through my Tpt store to help reinforce math and word skills learned in school.

 

 

End of the Year addit,subt,mult,div board game for grades 2-4  8x8 Cover

Click on image to visit Socrates Lantern’s Tpt Store.

 

 

Click image to visit Socrates Lantern's Tpt Store.

Click image to visit Socrates Lantern’s Tpt Store.

Click on image to visit Socrates Lantern's Tpt Store.

Click on image to visit Socrates Lantern’s Tpt Store.

 

Click on image to visit Socrates Lantern's Tpt Store.

Click on image to visit Socrates Lantern’s Tpt Store.

Click on image to visit Socrates Lantern's Tpt Store.

Click on image to visit Socrates Lantern’s Tpt Store.

Click on image to visit Socrates Lantern's Tpt Store..

Click on image to visit Socrates Lantern’s Tpt Store..

 Check out these blogs for more ideas from some awesome educators

Blog Hop

1. DIY Farmwife-Sharing is Caring- Fight the Sum

2. Carberry Creations- Keeping Students Learning All Summer

 

 

 

Please Visit Socrates Lantern’s Social Media Sites





 


Sharing is Caring – Fight the Summer Regression!

Sharing is Caring

 

Check out these great posts!

What is the greatest way to fight summer learning loss? Click the following to find out some GREAT ideas!

10 Ways to Keep Students Learning Over the Summer

Summer is the time for fun, fun, fun! School is out no more hitting the books. The only problem is that much of what was learned during the school year is forgotten, “out of sight, out of mind.” Not so with these ten fun educational activities that will keep the children looking for more and not even realizing that they are learning.

By Socrates Lantern

10 Things to keep students learning throughout the summer 8x8 Cover

 

 

 

Keeping Students Learning All Summer

Fight the summer slide this year with tips from Carrberrycreations.com

By Carrberry Creations

 

Summer-slide-300x270

 

 

 

Don’t Let Summer Learning Slip and Slide!

Keep up the higher level thinking skills with children this summer! The #1 way to help your child succeed in school after summer break!

By Nikki Heiman at “Creative Inclusion”

 

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Check out the Linky here:

 

 


Summer Fun For Kids

Here in the south, we’re looking at the last week before it’s off for summer vacation. Before you get too green with envy, please note that teachers started this school year in July. Luckily, the powers that be got some sense, and we won’t see our classrooms until August this next school year.


Being a lover of summer, I never understood the concept of, “I’M BORED!” over the summer; however, we all know kids who yearn for things to do. Why not send your kids off with my Boredom Busters at the end of the school year? Once they take up your text books, you can even keep them happy with these fun puzzles to challenge minds.


This booklet is for the young minds in grades 1 – 3. It contains three summer themed logic puzzles, a sedoku, a maze, and a quote puzzle. It is targeted to gifted and talented students and I’ve marked the price down to $3.95 this week. That’s a real bargain since I sell my puzzles individually for $1 a piece.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Summer-Boredom-Busters-Puzzles-to-Keep-Bright-Minds-Challenged-Over-The-Summer-1855292

For those older intellectually gifted kids in grades 3 – 5, I made the original Boredom Busters. Inside, you will find three logic problems, a sedoku, a quote puzzle, and a funny story, “Beware of Cooties,” that is guaranteed to bring a chuckle. This, too, has a reduced price of $4.25. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Summer-Boredom-Busters-Puzzles-to-Keep-Bright-Minds-Challenged-Over-The-Summer-1845582

I’d love for you to stop by and check out  these products or others at my store.

If logic is your thing, my store is loaded with it!

 [contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form] So how about it?


K/1 Memorial Day Learning Activities…

PatrioticBlog:Pinterest

Save $5.00 on this K/1 Memorial Day Bundle Value…

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Memorial-Day-695197

MemorialDayBundleTN1NEWbestbest

Thank You:

Linda Post: The Teacher’s Post

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Linda-Post-The-Teachers-Post


Keeping Students Learning All Summer

 photo Summer slide_zpsv4rcg9nl.png

Preventing the summer slide is such a big issue  for teachers and schools. Personally I hate sitting down with parents at beginning of the year conferences and informing them that their child has a lower reading level at the start of the year than they had at the end of the previous school year.

When I was first asked about how teachers can keep kids learning all summer, I thought… adopt? After all, children spend their summers away from us, and out of our control unless they are our own. Thinking about it a bit more though, honestly the answer is to adopt, but not the children, adopt the parents. Adopting the parents means cultivating an excellent relationship with the parents of your students, and making yourself available to them at any time. How far you go with this depends on your personal comfort level. At the start of every school year I create a private blog for parents and I to communicate on, hand out my school email, and personal cell phone number to parents. I send postcard though the mail, make regular phone calls, and even do home visits. When the school year ends I still have parents checking in on our class blog, sending me texts from vacation, and email asking for how to help their child over the summer.

It is not too late though, to increase parent communication and prevent the summer slide. Check out my top 10 tips below which will all be on my classroom blog, but can be sent one in a newsletter at the end of the year. Read on


End of School Craziness

Perhaps you’ve seen the owls circulating Facebook.

I am totally the owl on the right; so to celebrate all of us losing our minds, I’ve created a logic problem about us at the end of the year. It’s called Tired Teachers, and it might give your third through fifth grade students a chuckle when they read about what exhausted teachers do in May.

You may purchase this little gem for just $1 

 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Tired-Teachers-Logic-Problem-End-of-School-YearPre-vacation-Humor-1212723

Plus it comes complete with an answer key-a necessity because let’s face it,

We’re Tired!

If you like logic, please check out my store. I have 

plenty of problems to challenge bright kids.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Gifted-And-Talented-Materials-By-Joyce-Lansky

End of School


Language Arts – “Verbs”

By Christina L

Grades 2-4

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These Verb Activities include games for literacy centers or early finishers plus many word challenges, word hunts and other fun worksheets that cover Present, Past and Future Tense Verbs.

***Newly Revised April 20, 2015!***

Includes:
Games
Sort: Is the Verb Regular in the Past Tense or Irregular in the Past Tense? (24 cards) + Answer Key +Worksheet to record the past tense of the verbs in the sort
Sort: Nouns or Verbs? (24 cards) + Answer Key

8 Worksheets
• 1 A to Z Verb Word Hunt “Can you write a verb for each letter of the alphabet? Write your verbs below.”

• 1 Verbs – Word Hunts “Look for verbs in your book. Write them down in the correct column.”

• 1 Action Verbs “Write three action verbs that each of the following characters might do.”

• 1 Write a Sentence – Past Tense “What did these students do yesterday? Write a sentence about each picture using a verb in the past tense.”

• 1 Matching: Present Tense and Past Tense

• 1 Verbs: Present, Past, Future “Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs below.”

• 1 Write a Sentence – Present Progressive “What are these students doing right now? Write a sentence with a helping verb (am, is, are) and a verb in the progressive tense (-ing).”

• 1 Verb Word Challenge (Have students work individually or in pairs to come up with the most unique answers.)

Check out the preview here.

Also available: Adjectives, Nouns and Parts of Speech Bundle.

Thanks for looking!

Christina L

My Store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Christina-L


FREE MISC. LESSON – End of the Year Alpha-Numeric Codes

“Have a safe summer”, “See you next year”, “Don’t forget to practice your multiplication tables!”  These along with many goodbye hugs are the send-off messages teachers and principals use on the last day of school.  By the time children are in the third grade, they can easily finish these farewell messages for you.

Students LOVE solving alpha-numeric codes!  My latest FREEBIE combines end-of-the-year expressions with alpha-numeric codes.  These can be used with grades first through third.

end of the school year expressions

End of the School Year Messages

Here’s how it works.  Students are given an alpha-numeric key.  The letters from the year-end message are included in the key.  A letter is used once in the key regardless of how many times it is used within the message.  Then, the letters are assigned numerals.  One numeral is positioned above each letter.

end of the school year activities

Read Lots of Books!

Blank lines are printed below the key.  There is one blank line for every letter within the message.  Blank lines are grouped together to spell one word.  Space is placed between groups of blank lines to separate words.

alphabet-numeral codes

Last Day of School Send-off Messages

Students use the alpha-numeric key to find and write the appropriate letters in the blanks.

end-of-the-school-year-activity

An End-of-the-Year Message!

The finished work reveals the end of the year message which the children can then read!

We want our students’ activities to be rich and meaningful.  In order for alpha-numeric decoding activities to transcend to that level, we MUST provide students with the opportunity to CREATE their own codes!  Otherwise, it’s just a fun activity without causing higher order thinking to take place.  Included with this freebie is a page where students finish writing the numerals above the designated letters.  The numerals can be written in random order or a number pattern such as skip counting could be used.  Then, they write the numerals below the blanks to create the coded message.  They trade papers with a classmate and solve the message.

make your own code

Finish the Code and Plot the Message

Get your FREEBIE by clicking on the image shown below:

end-of-yearIf you have students that are ready for the challenge of creating a coded message with little on no support, you can also grab the page shown below.  It will provide students with detailed directions on how to create a coded message.  Due to the level of difficulty, this page is not included in the file above.  If you have advanced students that are gifted in this area, they will eat this up!

end-of-year

Make a Coded Message

Post created by Molly McMahon, Lessons by Molly

 Lessons by Molly’s Teachers Pay Teachers Shop

Lessons by Molly’s Blog


Language Arts – “Narrative Writing”

By Christina L

Grades 3-5

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This product includes all you need for a writing center and can also be can be used with a whole class when teaching Narrative Writing.

Includes
• 20 Task Cards with Narrative Writing Prompts
• 3 Graphic Organizers to choose from
• 1 Poster “Narrative Writing”
• 1 “Steps to Writing a Narrative”
• 1 “Narrative Writing Checklist”
• 2 Cheat Sheet lists “Transition words and phrases”

Check it out here for a better look!

Thanks for looking!

Christina L

My Store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Christina-L


Sight Words Hide and Seek BUNDLE

Sight Words Hide and Seek BUNDLE

Sight Words Hide and Seek BUNDLE

You can view this FUN resource HERE!

Purchasing the bundle saves you 12% off of the total of all 4 sets.

You can find individual sets with previews at the links below:
Sight Words Hide & Seek (Set 1)
Sight Words Hide & Seek (Set 2)
Sight Words Hide & Seek (Set 3)
Sight Words Hide & Seek (Set 4)

This 100 page bundle includes sets 1, 2, 3, and 4. Each set includes a page for each of 25 high frequency sight words listed below. Students are given directions to write each word, color the sight word a particular color, and write a sentence with each word. Students are to make it a game of “hide and seek” as they look to find (tag) the directed sight word on each page. The sight words on each page are randomly placed for finding and coloring.

The sight words included in each set are below.

Set 1:
the, of, and, a, to, in, is, you, that, it, he, was, for, on, are, as, with, his, they, I, at, be, this, have, and from

Set 2:
or, one, had, by, words, but, not, what, all, were, we, when, your, can, said, there, use, an, each, which, she, do, how, their, and if

Set 3:
will, up, other, about, out, many, then, them, these, so, some, her, would, make, like, him, into, time, has, look, two, more, write, go, and see

Set 4:
number, no, way, could, people, my, than, first, water, been, called, who, oil, sit, now, find, long, down, day, did, get, come, made, may, and part

These sight word hide and seek activities can be used for introducing sight words, reviewing sight words, homework, morning work, interventions (RTI), literacy centers, and much more.

To add more skills and to include different levels of activities, students can flip to the back side of their paper and write more sentences with each word.

I hope your students enjoy this game of hide and seek as they learn to recognize sight words.

You may also like:
Sight Word Practice (Sets 1, 2, & 3) (77 Sight Words)
Sight Word Practice (Set 1) (Common Core)
Sight Word Practice (Set 2) (Common Core)
Sight Word Practice (Set 3) (Common Core)

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Thanks!
Sherry Clements