A set of 28 A5 fact cards that give key and interesting facts about the Titanic and its voyage. Teachers also have the option to use this set as a vocabulary word wall as each fact card has a keyword heading related to the fact and topic.
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Music has always been very near and dear to me so this is a great topic to write about. From day one of my teaching career, I used music in my classroom. Even though I’m not a musician, by any means, I can plunk some notes on the piano, and play very rudimentary guitar chords and notes.
My first job, I was working wit
h mentally challenged teenagers who had very low IQs. I began playing songs on the piano to help them learn, each day we would sing the alphabet song, low and behold they were learning their alphabet letters. They just loved when I brought the guitar into school so we could sing together. Of course, they were the only ones that I would play the guitar for, they didn’t realize that I really couldn’t play. We did have fun.
Each day at 10:00 I would turn on the TV show the Electric Company. I felt that the class would learn more by listening to the catchy little tunes and lyrics for words, letters and numbers, than they would if I used the usual methods for teaching reading and math. Don’t get me wrong, I did use phonics, etc., but for these kids who would never progress much more than a 2nd or 3rd grade level, it worked. They loved it.
A few years later, I had a self-contained class for children with severe psychological problems. They were too disruptive to remain in the regular classroom. Talk about challenging!!! Well, music does calm the savage beast. I would play classical, or quiet tunes and the kids, for the most part, would calm right down. As a reward, I would let them bring in some of their own music to share.
On to middle school to teach 6th grade which is my true love. The language arts program has songs to accompany each new unit.For the beginning of each ELA class they always asked me to put on the CD so that they could sing the song that went with what was being taught. The kids especially loved the Noun Song, the
lyrics and tune was very appealing. They would even walk down the hall singing it and I would hum it to myself. I guess the point that I’m trying to make is, music really helps kids learn and they don’t even realize it. I would also play music during study hall, or while the kids were taking a test to help them relax.
Another interesting way to use music in the classroom is to have them write poetry or do creative writing to classical music. First, have them close their eyes and listen. Tell them to let the melodies take them to a special place. They can then describe it in their work, they can say how it made them feel, or who if anyone was there, what happened, etc. My classes just love this activity and they also like sharing their creations with each other. This also makes for a good bulletin board.
I so enjoyed directing plays with elementary and middle school children. As I said before, I don’t really play an instrument, so I sought the assistance of the music teacher who was more than willing to help. Wealways had a great time and it amazed me to see how talented some of those kids were. They just shined during the performances and were able to belt out the songs which always gave me chills. Talk about dancing, that was another thing that blew me away. It was awesome to see them move and groove to the tunes. Talk about America’s Got Talent, well, these kids sure had it.
So, as you can see, music can be used as an introduction to a lesson, as a way to help children learn and memorize things. Students can do research about musicia
ns, composers, directors, and write reports about them. They can learn about music throughout history as part of an ancient history unit. If you’d like to see more ideas about how to integrate music into the curriculum. Here is a link to a great website:
http://www.songsforteaching.com/suefenton/extendingsongs.htm
I’ve created a Back to School Binder that will be using the song“Getting to Know You.” from Rogers and Hammerstein’s hit musical The King and I, as a stepping stone to help make students feel at ease while getting to know each other.
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I finally finished updating this Back to School Binder for Grades 4-7 and Special Education. I love music so I’ve incorporated the theme “Getting to Know You,” from Roger’s and Hammerstein’s The King and I. You can use the included YouTube video link to the song as well as a copy of the lyrics. This binder has everything you need to begin the school year such as name tags for the bulletin board, for the kids to wear and even to place on desks. I’ve added 6 writing prompts with a grading rubric, family trees, cards with questions to answer as ice breakers, a crossword puzzle, and more. This is a growing bundle, when I think of more things to add, I will let you know. If you think of more things for this binder that would make your life easier, just comment. I hope you like it.
What’s Inside
Complete lesson plans …………………4-6
Getting to Know You,
YouTube Link and Lyrics………………7
Large apple information and
name tags for bulletin board…………8-15
Small apple information and
name tags for student to wear………16-19
Name tags for desks……………………20-32
Cards with questions……………………33-36
Apple homework questions…………….37-42
Writing prompts…………………………42-49
Writing Rubric……………………………50
Family trees……………………………….51-58
Crossword puzzle……………………….59-60
Crossword puzzle answers…………….61
Contact information…………………….62
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These task cards are great to help support students with Prime Factorization. My students always need a ton of extra practice with this skill. Here are free task cards that I made to use this fall.
You can find these cards for free HERE!
I place task cards around my classroom, give my kids the response sheet that is provided, then they walk around the room answering the questions. They will love it. One thing that I’ve found is that task cards really help differentiate between high and low levels of learning. The high students will get to answer all of the cards. The lower students, you can take time and walk with them helping them.
Thanks for viewing!
Sara Oberheide
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A set of 12 A4 posters that give useful information on persuasive writing. Includes: title poster, persuasive writing, persuasive techniques, alliteration, repetition, groups of 3, exaggeration, personal pronouns, emotive language, facts and statistics, rhetorical questions and criticism.
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With a title/ explanatory poster, here is a set of 15 A4 posters comprising of different metaphorical sentences. Each poster has eye-catching visuals to help students understand metaphors in a simplistic way.
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Management of a classroom is challenging, whether you teach special education or regular education, there are always a few children that are problematic to say the least. It is not always necessary to set up a behavior modification plan for the entire class. For some children, it is enough to give them a look, a tap on the shoulder, or just say something to them quietly. For others it is not so easy.
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I’ve found that a little humor, warmth, caring, understanding, and empathy for everyone in the class goes a long way. If they see you treating everyone with respect and kindness, it will rub off on them. They need to know that you’re human too and when they realize that you care about them, they are yours for the rest of the year. This will alleviate many of your discipline problems.At the beginning of the year, it is important to be firm, not too friendly, and no smiles. Keeping a straight face was always difficult for me. But, I kid you not, this works, especially later in the year when a child or the class becomes hard to handle, you can say, “Remember how I was at the beginning of the year, do you want me to be like that again?” They usually say NO!!!!
Decide what you want to accomplish for the year and set up the rules, you can do it with them, or ahead of time. Make the rules positive rather than negative. This is the type of behavior that I expect from my 6th graders. I have a poster with the following:
Of course, consequences for ones actions must be spelled out clearly. I use the three strikes and you’re out rule. This applies to everything, from homework to disruptive behavior. They get 3 chances, by the fourth one, they are out. Out means that the student/students will bring a note home letting their parents know that I will be keeping them for a detention.
The child will be required to write his/her name, I will write my name and their parent will sign the form. If it is not brought back, the parent will get a call while the child is present. If this fails, there is a school detention that is longer than mine. No one likes having a school detention.
Usually when someone is kept after school, they must read or do some type of work, ie: write a short paper about what happened and why they are here. You could include, what they did and how they could have handled the situation better. If they were disrespectful, they might write a letter of apology and deliver it to the person. I have made a problem solving sheet for them to fill out, this has proven to be quite effective for most kids. What I like about keeping them after school, is that it gives me a chance to talk to them and find out what issues they might be dealing with. This is effective because, if the teacher has a good rapport with the student, they want to talk about what’s going on. On a side note, homeroom period was utilized not only for
homework help, but time for me to sit and talk with each child. They all loved having their own time to speak with me. It helped to make them feel important.
Unfortunately, there are those students that need more than this. You might try separating them from their classmates, if this is ineffective, you need to figure out what else you can do. An individual conference might help. You can set up goals with them and find out what they want to achieve for the rest of year. That way they have input and feel they have some control over their destiny. They sign the paper, I sign the paper, you can have the principal sign, as well as anyone else that is involved, and their parents. The child brings it back to school and you keep it on file. Of course, this is only between you and the student. If this doesn’t help, you may need to set up a PPT to discuss what else can be done.
If the class trusts you and knows that you care about them, they will want to help to stop disruptive behavior. You will have them eating from the palm of your hands, so to speak. and effective learning will occur. Most kids want to learn and don’t like it when a student acts out or interrupts and they will let him/her know. The best thing they can do is ignore what is happening, they shouldn’t laugh or respond in any way. They can be rewarded for doing this.
You could also reward good behavior either weekly or monthly. Friday afternoon could be game day they could play Yahtzee, Multiplication War Card Games, Bingo, chess, checkers, educational computer games, etc. Since I work with another teacher, we put those who have earned rewards into one room to play games, use the computers, or watch a movie, we give out candy, or popcorn, etc. While those who have homework to finish, or have been disruptive, have to go to the quiet room. It doesn’t take long for them to realize that inappropriate behavior gets them nowhere.
If you are working in a self contained Special Education program, or you have students that are mainstreamed, this is a horse of a different color. You need to set up specific goals, behaviors and consequences for their actions. A time out area, someplace in your room, or if you have an assistant, he/she could take the child to a predetermined area and stay with them until they are ready to come back to the classroom.
You might want to set up whole class rewards such as beads, tokens, smiley faces, check marks, stars, etc. Appropriate behavior is awarded while negative behavior is ignored. In the past, when I taught children with severe psychological problems, each child had a sheet on their desk, I would come by every 15 or 20 minutes and give them a star for good behavior. For example:
They need to get a certain amount of stars to earn a reward which is given out at the end of the day. Make sure you’ve set up about 1/2 hour for them to enjoy their earnings: ie, extra computer time, play games like cards or board games, play with toys, candy and gum also work. You should discuss this with the class ahead of time to see what they would like.
If you don’t want to do this daily, you could do it weekly. Decide how many points they need to earn and on Friday afternoon, those who earned enough could play games, or watch a movie. You might also want to use this monthly. Another thing that I did was purchase inexpensive toys, pencils,notebooks, etc. from the dollar store. Let them know how many points they need to get the object that they want. They really liked this.
No matter what grade you teach, everyone likes to hear encouraging words. Make sure you say something positive to the class as a whole or call a child over to your desk and let them know how proud of them you are for work they have done, or for finally understanding how to do a math problem, use your discretion. You might say, “I loved the way you stayed on task and got your work done,” You really helped Mary, that was so nice of you, or I noticed that you had some trouble with English, how can I help you?” Taking a little time for that personal touch goes a long way and will truly make your life easier in the end.
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http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/printables/forms.html
http://kids.lovetoknow.com/wiki/ADHD_Behavior_Charts
http://www.pbisworld.com/tier-2/behavior-contract/
http://vig.pearsoned.com/store/login/0,,12240,00.html
https://wwwhttp://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/free-resources/behavior-management/individual-plans .teachervision.com/classroom-discipline/resource/6283.html
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Take a look at what these other wonderful educators have to say about the subject
A display of 9 A4 posters showing how to write an explanation text. This set comprises of a title poster, using a title, structure, present tense, diagrams and pictures, connectives, examples, using paragraphs and interesting facts.
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1) Word Search= 27 words (For example)
AMERICA ,BETSY ROSS ,BLUE
ENGLISH, DEMOCRACY, FIFTY
FIVE POINTED, FLAG, GLORY
HOME OF THE BRAVE, HOPE, NATION
HORIZONTAL ,JUNE ,PEACE
3)Flag Bookmark- Great keepsake for their summer reading.
A set of 16 A5 fact cards that give fun and interesting facts about fathers for Father’s Day. Teachers also have the option to use this set as a vocabulary word wall as each fact card has a keyword heading related to the fact and topic. A wonderful resource for discussing, displaying and activities!
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Click Here for Interactive Notebooks
Before using Interactive Science Notebooks, students got lost in note taking and not comprehending the science. The INBs allow the students to keep a neat, interactive, functional, and yes; fun notebook.
A lovely set of 17 A4 certificates that comprise of the main subjects. Each certificate is color-coordinated with a symbolic washout picture. Great for awarding students for their work within a specific area of their learning.
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The Great Kapok Tree- This Amazonian Tale to your class. Your students will be delighted to hear all the Amazonian animals speaking to the young man. Inspire your students to create their own rain forest.
GREAT SUB PLAN FOR JUNE The Rain forest project was designed to allow your students to cut and color 14 animals creating their own Rain forest drawing. They can replicate the scene from the Great Kapok Tree and surround the young man with the animals of the Rain Forest.
Lesson Plan
1- Distribute drawings to students. Provide a piece of 12X14 construction paper. Students should cut and create a Rain Forest drawing and label each animal.
2- Students complete the color/noun simple sentences writing prompt. For example. The ant is red. They can also make compound sentences. The ant is red and big
3- Collect and provide feedback
4-Ask students to submit project and final prompt
5- Students can work in both word search and bookmark
SUGGESTION RUBRIC
Drawing: You can grade 14 animals and labels = 28 +2 for creativity & neatness = 30
Prompt The 10 sentences X 2= 20 points
Total scales will be 30+20= 50/50
This will be an easy way for them to succeed in the project. Project will require at least two days.
SUB PROJECT
Have students work on Rain Forest with a sub. If they finish early have them work on bookmark and Word Search.
This interactive End of Year Lesson will allow you to have a fun project with your class. The lesson was to introduce AR/ER/IR verbs and combine it with a list of summer activities that your students will be engaging on during summer break. It is a great review of verbs and daily activities. It also can be used to increase conversational skills as students can introduce each other in five minute presentations that can be read straight of their posters or Power Points.
It contains
– Summer Vacation activities including the translation keys
– Writing prompt in conjugated in the first person to create poster
– AR/ER/IR Word Search
-AR/ER/IR Cross Word Assessment
Objective
1- Allow students to create a presentation in Spanish describing their
Summer plans
2- Develop Speaking proficiency as students read their presentations to the class
3- Develop Listening skills as the students hear other students’ presentations and take notes
Lesson
1- Go over activities vocabulary page with students. Let them work on translating themselves using dictionary /notes.
2- Ask students to complete the Writing prompt for all the statements. Explain to students that names of shows, artist, place and people do not require translation.
3- Ask students to pick 10 activities and to create a Power point slide for each activity. If they wish they can also do a poster using drawings, magazines cutout or clip art to represent activities.
4- Each student will share their Power Point for 5 minutes with the class. They can either show the Power Pointpresentation or show the poster. Grade the poster.
5- The class takes notes and students take turns to translate each presentation. Notes can be in English.
6- Collect projects and grade.
7- Students can compete for Word Search. Divide in small groups and first group to finish gets homework pass.
8- Criss Cross Puzzle- You can use it as a Quiz
Feliz Verano!
This FUN 20 word Word Search is the perfect Morning Work Search for June 5. National Doughnut Day is on the first Friday of June to commemorate the “doughnut lassies” who served fresh doughnuts to American soldiers during World War I.
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VISIT MY STORE 
Gifted and Talented Materials by Joyce Lansky is having a sale now through June 4th. I have 267 products on sale for 10% off.
Your best savings will come from my many literary guides or book units.
But I also have a lot of math lessons and logic. I have it all!
Please stop by my store to take advantage of savings of 10% off these next few days.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Gifted-And-Talented-Materials-By-Joyce-Lansky
by – Connie Casserly
Grades 7-12
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Are you still in school? Is your brain showing a Needs Charged light? Need a fresh idea or three to swing you into summer vacation?
If you answered, “YES!” to any of these questions, check out the following three FREEBIES that will act as energy bars for your students during the remainder of the year.
1. Comprehension & Writing Activity – “Taking a Break”
This free activity is great for an end of the year recap to assess Middle and High School students’ comprehension, understanding, and analytic skills of the material that they read, or for any time during the year prior to a vacation.
For this activity, students are going on a dream vacation. To keep them company on this trip, they ask three characters from books that they have read for school assignments that year to go on the trip with them. Who will they take? Why them? Where will they go? How will these people help them have a perfect trip? They are to answer these questions as they relate vacation plans.
Download from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Comprehension-Writing-Activity-Taking-a-Break-248681
2. Comprehension and Writing Activity: Carry On!
Other than hairstyles, few physical adornments show more about people than the clothes they choose to wear and their accessories. This FREE Common Core and Bloom’s Taxonomy aligned activity not only focuses on the type of purse/attaché case/tote/ backpack, etc. that a character would choose, but also the items he/she would keep in it.
After brainstorming what type of accessory celebrities would choose, as well as what items they would put in it, Middle School and High School students will do the same for their teacher-assigned character.
Download from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Comprehension-and-Writing-Activity-Carryon-710857
3. Comprehension – It’s Good to be Me…It’s Good to be You
Here are two activities when teachers need a few go to lessons for exploring the elements of literature, in this case-Character.
These engaging activities will hook Middle School and High School students into reading and writing about the text that they are studying.The two activities will check off two of your, “Need to Do” boxes.
Not only will they engage students in their character exploration of the people they meet in their reading, but they will also allow your charges to reveal their own personalities and thoughts.
Download from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Comprehension-Its-Good-to-be-Me-Its-Good-to-be-You-859283
Bonus: Hand out this FREEBIE – Summer Comprehension, Thinking & Writing Activities: A Summer Bucket List – to your students and their parents at the end of the year. Students will be so engaged in the activity (-ies) of their choice, that they won’t even realize that they are keeping their comprehension, computing, higher lever thinking and writing skills strong.
Make these final days, Teach It Now Days with these activities.
Have a restful and relaxing summer.
Connie
TEACH IT WRITE – BUILD POWERFUL ACADEMIC HOMES
49 FREE LESSONS!
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The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs
The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs II
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GRADES 4-7 AND HOMESCHOOL
SARAH PETERSON
HANDS ON HISTORY
CHECK OUT MY LATEST
READING COMPREHENSION PRODUCT!
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!
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
* End of the School Year Self Assessment for Students and Teachers
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By Deann Marin at The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs
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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
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.
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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..
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
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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.
I found that having children work in small collaborative groups made learning fun for both myself and the class. Interpersonal development is essential for students as they need to learn how to relate to each other in a positive way, small group activities allow them to do this effectively.
Group Structure: As I approach the new school year and get ready for my class, I look at last year’s teacher’s recommendations to help figure out levels, once that is done, I make groups with one high level child, two with average ability and one lower level child. I also try to have 2 boys and 2 girls in each group. That way there is diversity in abilities and they can all help each other. I found that the best arrangement for groups is no more than 4 so if I have 25 students I will make 6 groups of 4 and one with 5. Each group remains the same for one semester, and then we rotate. We would change groups 4 times throughout the year since we had 4 semesters. I liked having them work together for at least two months, getting to know each other, cooperating and allowing each child a chance to be heard. Of course there are always one or two kids that have a hard time working with others. If that occurs, you might pull them from the group and have them work on their own, esp if they are disruptive, until they can prove that they are able to work within a group. Setting up the rotations takes a bit of work since you don’t want to have the same kids in the group more than once. *See diagram.
Participation: Each child in the group has a particular job to do: leader, complimenter, secretary, person to pass things out, person to clean up, presenter, etc. Make sure that you let them know exactly what is expected of them. Depending on the lesson, we play the pencil game, one person holds a pencil and it is their turn to do the talking, when they are done the pencil is passed to the next child, and so on. Everyone has a turn. Sometimes they will write a group report and to make sure that everyone contributes, they have to initial the part that they have written.
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Since it is important to put 1 high level, 1 low level, and 2 average students in each group, you might want to assign them a color and a number. For example: Jane is a bright student, assign her blue 1: Kathy really struggles, assign her blue 4; John and Adam are average students, they would be assigned blue 2 and 3. When you do each rotation, you would need to make sure that they are with different classmates and labeled accordingly. Keep the number code to yourself, the class should know their color code.
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Classroom set up: I make two rows of horseshoes. Two members of the group are in front, the other two sit in back of them. So when it is time for group work, the front row only has to turn their desk around to face the other two. Of course, this takes a bit of practice, but they eventually get it. When we begin group work, it can become noisy, so I have to remind them to use inside voices, I might hold up a finger, ring a bell, or hold up a QUIET sign. You can also reward the quietest group with something that they would like. Since it is important to put high level, 1 low level and 2 average students in each group, you might want to assign them a color and a number. For example: Jane is a bright student, assign her blue 1; Kathy really struggles, assign her blue 4, John and Adam are average students, they would be assigned blue 2 and 3. When you do each rotation, you would need to make sure that they are with different classmates and labeled accordingly. Keep the number code to yourself, the class should know their color code.
If you’d like to see a complete lesson using this technique please see my bundle, What is it Like to be an Archaeologist?
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This post is part of a blog hop called Sharing is caring. Please take a look at these awesome blogs from some amazing educators.
A great group of educators
1. DIY Farmwife: Kids Can Collaborate! Here’s How
2. Heart 2 Heart Teaching: Role Playing in Groupwork
3. RCL: Collaborative Groups That Work
4. Socrates Lantern: How to Make Effective Collaborative Groups
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Grades 4-7 and Homeschool
Sarah Peterson
Hands on History
THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD
This product is great for Social Studies (History) and Language Arts (Reading Comprehension). The product contains: NINE one-page passages of informational text on The Transcontinental Railroad; NINE 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:
EAST COAST TO WEST COAST
THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD
THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK
LIFE ON THE JOB
WHO WERE THE WORKERS? CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD
WHO WERE THE WORKSERS? UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
PROMONTORY SUMMIT
INTERESTING FACTS: THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD
Grades 4-7 and homeschool
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.
Click Here to Download the Preview!
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Happy Learning!
Sarah
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.
Spring has sprung the grass has riz, I wonder where the birdies is? This is what was going through my mind as I made this item. It is a spring grammar bundle for grades 4-6. Included are worksheets to help reinforce the 4 types of sentences (Interrogative, Declarative, Imperative and Exclamatory), Contractions and Possessives.
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Contents
Pages 3–4 Teacher Instructions
Pages 5-7 Four Kinds of Sentences
Pages 8-10 Spring into Contractions
Pages 11-13 Spring into Possessives
Pages 14-19 Answers
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Graphics by My Cute Graphics
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Copyright© 2014 Deann Marin (Socrates Lantern)
All rights reserved by author. Permission for downloads to copy for single classroom use only. Electronic distribution limited to single classroom use only. Not for public display.
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Grades 2-6
These easy-to-use, printable mini grammar books are ready for use. There are ten mini books that feature the parts of speech. Each page contains printed headings that can be used to organize notes. 
Students can create their own reference mini books to use when they’re learning to use different grammatical concepts.
By using the books for writing assessments, quizzes, journal prompts, and practice, students strengthen note taking skills. Students also go back to their own text to check for understanding.
So many ways to strengthen student engagement between grammar and writing!
Check out more on Mini Grammar Books at Just Add Students
Mary Pat
