Tag Archives : #AprilTeacherTalk

Some fun and engaging activities for you to do with your students during the month of April or whenever.

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Read Aloud Magic

By Renee Heiss of All American Teacher Tools

Add a little magic to your read-alouds by taking your students through a portal inside the book.

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5 Ways to Up the FUN Factor at the End of the School Year

The end of the school year can be difficult at best and disastrous at worst. Your students are ready for summer, and you are anxious to close the year out without incident. Here are 5 ways to up the FUN factor at the end of the year

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Make an Old Story New Again

By Charlene Tess of Charlene Tess

Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Rework a plot from a story you’ve read or a movie you’ve seen and make it your own.

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Junk Art

By Gini Musmanno of Reading Spotlight

One of the best things about teaching reading is that you can find anything to read about any holiday and make it teachable. When April rolls around, one of my favorite Earth Day activities is making art from junk and having students write stories about their creations.

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Let’s Play Bingo!

By Crystal Brown of Dr. Crystal Brown

Learn 3 ways to use BINGO in your math class.

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The Best Strategies for Keeping Students Engaged During Tough Teaching Times

Learn some of the best strategies for keeping students engaged during the most challenging times of the year.

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April Teacher Talk

This entry was posted in 10th Grade 11th Grade 12th Grade 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade 9th Grade FREE LESSONS & PRICED LESSONS - The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs and tagged #AprilTeacherTalk #bookclubs #ela #geometry #mistakes #mud #music #pbl #problemsolve #revisingwriting spring on April 8, 2019 by Deann Marin (updated on April 8, 2019)

It’s April already, the school year is almost over. Now it’s time to look forward toward spring vacation if it hasn’t already come and gone. Stop by our blog linky and see what great tips and advice are there just for you.

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names.

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Spring Activities

Begin with mud and splash into fun learning this Spring.

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Music to Calm the Soul and Enhance Learning

By Gini Musmanno of Reading Spotlight

“Music is the electrical soil in
which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.” –Ludwig van Beethoven. Why
is it that for many of us, music is an essential part of our personal
lives yet when we go to work or school we turn it off?

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The Elephant in the Classroom

Where is the elephant in the classroom? The recent college admissions scandal might give us a clue.

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Scaredy Squirrel – Mentor Text

By Alison Monk of The Literacy Garden

What happens when Scaredy Squirrel visits YOUR home? This free writing activity will get your writers excited!

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I Feel Bad for People Who Say They Feel Badly

By Charlene Tess of Charlene Tess

Do you know how to decide between the words bad and badly? Many people don’t.

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7 Tips to Help Students Revise Their Essay

By Sally Hansen of Purposeful Plans

Try out these 7 helpful tips to guide your students during the revising phase. Your writers can use these tips throughout during the writing process.

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How to Start Book Clubs in Your Classroom

By Erik Arndt of Insights to English

Are you considering using book clubs in your classroom? Learn five things you should do before you introduce book clubs to your class.

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Make Mistakes on Purpose

When students have the opportunity to correct the teacher, it reinforces that language point, assesses the students’ understanding of that language point, gives the learner confidence, and teaches students to problem-solve.

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Exploring Patterns With Project-Based Learning: Rotations, Reflections & Translations

By Tracy Willis of Mossy Oak Musings

Explore 4th and 5th grade geometry concepts with project-based learning. It’s always surprising who excels with this type of project, and who finds them challenging. This one doesn’t disappoint!

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Whole Body Learning

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools

Geometry was a daunting subject for me in high school. So when I started teaching, I was determined to think of a way to teach geometry that was fun and interactive.

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Be sure to visit all of our teachers for some awesome ideas to use with your students.

April Teacher Talk

This entry was posted in 10th Grade 11th Grade 12th Grade 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade 9th Grade CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FREE LESSONS FREE LESSONS & PRICED LESSONS - The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs GRADE LEVELS HOME Kindergarten LANGUAGE ARTS LESSONS MATH LESSONS MISC. LESSONS PreKindergarten SCIENCE LESSONS SOCIAL STUDIES LESSONS SPECIAL EDUCATION and tagged #AprilTeacherTalk #bookclubs #coding #cstem #curriculum #ela #STEM Reading spring STEAM Tone on April 16, 2018 by Deann Marin

It’s April already, the school year is almost over. Easter and Passover have come an gone, now it’s time to look forward toward spring vacation if it hasn’t already come and gone. Stop by our blog linky and see what great tips and advice are there just for you.

Turning my thoughts to sunny days and warmer weather!!! Can’t you just smell spring in the air? Daffodils beginning to bloom, Lilac trees starting to flower, and Lilies of the Valley popping up. I just love the aroma. Not only is my birthday in April but it brings us Passover, Easter, and one that you may never have heard of, can you guess? If you said Jelly Bean Day, you’d be right. I don’t know about you, but I looove jelly beans. They come in so many awesome flavors, no I don’t like the black ones, but I had an aunt who used to love them.
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STEAM: From Sandbox to Spectacular
By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning

How to take your STEM activities to the next level for upper elementary students.
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Tone
By Gini Musmanno of The Reading Spotlight

A message to Myself: My tone of voice has a greater influence on children than I might think. Remember the time…
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C-Stem
By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

Learn about C-Stem and tools for coding!
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The Hidden Curriculum
By Michelle Webb of Teaching Ideas for Those Who Love Teaching

Finding books to read with your class that tell more than a single story.
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The Teacher’s Role in Classroom Book Clubs
By Marcy Howe of It’s a Teacher Thing

Simplify using classroom book clubs by understanding the role of the teacher on meeting day. Learn key tips to ensure your classroom book clubs will run smoothly.
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Now that you’ve come to the bottom of the page, make sure you hop on over to read the rest of the posts in our April Teacher Talk.

April Teacher Talk

This entry was posted in 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FREE LESSONS & PRICED LESSONS - The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs LANGUAGE ARTS LESSONS MATH LESSONS MISC. LESSONS and tagged #AprilTeacherTalk #circle #languagearts #teachers ELL math poetry Writing on April 10, 2017 by socrateslantern (updated on April 12, 2017)

It’s April and so many groovy things are happening this month, Easter, Passover, spring vacation and so much more. Be sure to stop by and see what these teachers are doing in their classrooms and gather some great tips and ideas.

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If You Love Jelly Beans

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

Can’t you just smell spring in the air? Daffodils beginning to bloom, Lilac trees starting to flower, and Lilies of the Valley popping up. I just love the aroma. Not only is my birthday in April but it brings us Passover, Easter, and one that you may never have heard of, can you guess? If you said Jelly Bean Day, you’d be right. It’s April 22nd.

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Plan a Portfolio Party

By Sara Snyder of Snyder Classroom

Plan a celebration for your young writers as they bloom in the Spring!

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April Math FUN!

Make Math FUN this Spring! These spring math riddles are great for reviewing previous topics or practicing current skills. These riddles can be helpful in your classroom at this busy time of year. (And sneak a little fun into the classroom) I have made these math riddles to combine fun and learning for this time of year.

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How Many Ways are Words Related?

By Susan Berkowitz of Susan Berkowitz

Individuals who use AAC need to learn to take a conscious path to the words they need. If they want an apple, they need to think about how to navigate to categories -> to food -> to fruit -> to apple. SLPs can help them learn how to do this.

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6 Tips to Support English Language Learners in Your Classroom

By Kathy Simpson of Sunshine and Lollipops

Do you have English Language Learners in your classroom? If you do…you will want to take a look at this post and discover 6 easy and fun tips to support your ELL students. I am sure you will LOVE #1!

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Apollo 13: The Ultimate STEM Challenges

By Kerry Tracy of Kerry Tracy

The Apollo 13 mission shows how seemingly insurmountable obstacles can be overcome with scientific reasoning and problem solving. Specifically, the carbon dioxide filter fix shows why STEM Challenges are so much more than just “fun.”

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The Magic of a Circle

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools

Using only a circle, students fold and learn a multitude of geometric terms. This is a fantastic way to teach geometry and for students to experience more than just shapes!

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Increase Engagement and Maintain Rigor-Hands-on Fun in the Upper Grade and Middle School Classroom

By Tracy Willis of Wild Child Designs

Maintaining student motivation is important during any time of year, but it’s even more crucial when they return from a break. I save several of my “great” activities for those Mondays after a week off.

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Poppies & Pantoums: Poetry Comes Alive with Georgia O’Keefe

4th and 5th grade students explore the life of Georgia O’Keefe via a biography and her fabulous artwork. We look closely at the natural world using photographs and author Pantoum poems, a cool poetic form from Malaysia. We recuperate from our testing angst with a poppy craft.

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Painting Poetry: Children’s Voices

By Virginia Musmanno of Reading Spotlight

We hope that you will take one minute out of your busy day to enjoy a slideshow of our paintings of poems. We hope that you enjoy seeing them as much as we enjoyed painting them!

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Make sure you visit these great posts from some awesome educators.

April Teacher Talk

This entry was posted in 10th Grade 11th Grade 12th Grade 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade 9th Grade CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT COMMON CORE End of the Year FREE LESSONS & PRICED LESSONS - The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Kindergarten LANGUAGE ARTS LESSONS MATH LESSONS MISC. LESSONS SCIENCE LESSONS SOCIAL STUDIES LESSONS SPECIAL EDUCATION and tagged #AprilTeacherTalk #creativewriting #TeacherTalk #TeachingTips autism Reading on April 4, 2016 by socrateslantern

It’s April, only a few more months to go till the end of the school year. We have have so many things to share with you in this edition of April Teacher Talk. So sit back, relax and take a look at our posts.

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs and blogging buddies and our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names.

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April is Poetry Month

I just love teaching poetry and spring is the perfect time. For me, inspiration comes from being outside, perhaps walking on the beach inhaling the salty ocean air, or just walking through the woods with my husband and beautiful husky who is no longer with us. Oh and April is Poetry month.

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Make a Splash in April

By Kerry Tracy of Kerry Tracy

Step by step instructions for an art project to motivate students for “April is Poetry Month”.

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Scientific Method: Neglect & Regrets

Are your students mere collectors of data, or do they analyze & interpret data? This blog relates an epiphany I had that changed my science-teaching game for good!

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Autism & Learning to Use a Public Restroom: Tips for Parents and Teachers

By Thia Triggs of Print Path

Learning to use the bathroom in public places or at school can be a struggle for children on the spectrum. Read this post for tips on how to make the process of using new bathrooms fun, interesting, and successful!

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More Core in Shared Reading for AAC Users

By Susan Berkowitz of Susan Berkowitz

This post is about using core words and more descriptive teaching rather than referential teaching. Not only does this encourage higher level thinking skills, it means AAC users can more easily participate in comprehension activities.

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Don’t Let the Pencil Craze Get to You!

Mary Moore of Moore Resources

Are pencils driving you crazy? Students not having a pencil? Losing them? Breaking the tip? The pencil craze got to me too! It doesn’t need to! During my student teaching we had cups with pencils at each group that we sharpened every morning and ensured there were plenty in each cup, which was great! That was in first grade. Over the years, I became use to about 2-3 students per class not having a pencil, therefore, I always purchased a box or two at a time and handed pencils out to those students. This year was a little different for me and the pencil craze got me! So many lost pencils, broken pencil tips, or students just didn’t have a pencil. I felt pencil cross eyed! A solution must be found!!! After much thought I came up with my “Pencil Station”!

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Nothing Like Non-Fiction

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools

Using non-fiction will renew the love of learning in your classroom! Immersing students in reading & writing workshop: use non-fiction to teach note-taking, text features and formats!

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Calculator Challenges

By Shametria Routt of The Routty Math Teacher

Calculators are wonderful tools for the classroom and can provide valuable learning opportunities for our students. In fact, in the Common Core State Standards for Math, Mathematical Practice Standard 5 requires that students use “tools strategically.” To support this goal, this series includes 4 calculator-based activities that can be used to challenge your students in the mathematics classroom.

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EdTech Tips: Google My Maps

By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

Ways to use Google My maps in the classroom!

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8 Highly Effective Practices for Teaching Printing

By Thia Triggs of Print Path

Don’t have time to take to a class? Improve the effectiveness of your handwriting instruction with these easy to follow research-based tips!

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What I Have Learned on TPT-Part One

By Tracy Wills of Wild Child Designs

Advice from one teacher’s journey to becoming a teacher-entrepreneur on TPT. This four-part blog series includes strategies for finding help and feeling success.

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Georgia, Poppies & Poetry

This post outlines how to use sentence stems and visible thinking routines to respond to Georgia O’Keefe’s art. It includes some great picture book recommendations as well!

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April is Poetry Month

This entry was posted in 10th Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade 9th Grade End of the Year FREE LESSONS & PRICED LESSONS - The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs HOME LANGUAGE ARTS LESSONS SPECIAL EDUCATION and tagged #AprilTeacherTalk #collaborativegroups #ela #graphicorganizers #TeacherTalk poetry on April 2, 2016 by socrateslantern (updated on April 3, 2016)

I want my classes to experience the wonderful feeling of just being outside and creating. That’s why I teach poetry in April or May, new awakenings, flowers coming up, birds beginning to nest, and the warmth that replaces the winter cold. So I pick a sunny day, take the class outside and have them write a nature poem using all of their senses. I tell them to breathe in the fresh air, so we take some deep yoga breaths, then sit on the grass and listen to the sounds of nature with closed eyes, making notes of what they hear, the things they see, and what they feel.

We might also hug trees, smell flowers and listen to the sounds of insects while watching them complete their instinctual activities. One of my favorite things to do is to have the kids find a tree to lie under, to look up through the branches at the sky, or to watch the leaves fluttering in the breeze. To listen to the sound of birds and watch little insects buzzing about their business. I ask them to look at the colors and to pretend that they are the color, or the insect, or the bird, or the tree. I want them to feel the strength of the tree and realize how secure and grounded the tree is because of it’s roots that run so deeply under the ground.

My students have created some amazing poems from this activity and many of them have gotten published in a book entitled Celebration of Young Poets-Creative Communication, Inc. The web address is www.poeticpower.com.

This is an example of a poem that a 6th grade student wrote after completing this activity. To tell you I was blown away by this is an understatement.

Azure Drake

Azure blossoms at my feet

Beside the road smelling sweet

To the shade of a Sycamore tree

Swaying branches over me…..Whispering

Footsteps coming down the path

An ancient one with wooden staff

Long white beard and cloak blue smeared

Electric eyes not to be feared…Scintillating

A Druid friend from long ago

The magic words sure to know

Staff held high over azure flowers

Secret words of light and power…..Conjuring

Rustling in the indigo bed

Rising up scales, tail and head

Wisdom eyes, majestic wings

Breath of lightning, Dragon sings…..Thundering

Climbing on blue scaled back

Soaring on white cloud track

Snow capped mountains, Seas of sand

Born of air Free of land….Dreaming

by Sean Hayden

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Let’s Go Fly a Kite

This entry was posted in 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FREE LESSONS & PRICED LESSONS - The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs HOME MISC. LESSONS SPECIAL EDUCATION and tagged #AprilTeacherTalk #collaborativegroups #ela #graphicorganizers #kiteflying #MarchTeacherTalk #socrateslantern #TeacherTalk poetry on March 6, 2016 by socrateslantern (updated on April 2, 2016)