This quick video is a good review of what rational numbers are. Enjoy!
Citizenship is crucial to the success of our society. But it’s not part of any standardized test, so sometimes it’s easy to skip over it. I absolutely loved this lesson plan by Character Education Partnership. This lesson, called “Wrinkle on my Heart,” teaches about empathy, taking responsibility for mistakes when they happen and learning from them, and thinking before you speak/act. It’s very simple, but effective, especially when the teacher posts the wrinkled heart somewhere in the classroom as a reminder. Check it out:
Salt Brook Elementary School
Engage students in a discussion of the power of their words.
Hurtful answers may include: Tease them, call them names, hit them, gossip about them behind their back, ditch them, tell secrets about them
Continue until you have folded the heart up. Then ask the children, “What have our hurtful words and actions done to our classmate’s heart?” Answers typically include destroyed it and broken it. Ask how students think this person feels. Discuss.
Ask students, “Is there anything we can say or do to fix this heart?” As children give an answer unfold one crease in the heart.
Helpful answers may include: Apologize, say something nice, give a compliment, invite them over to play or eat lunch with you, listen to them, talk to them, be a friend to them.
After the heart has unfolded, ask the children, “How did we do? Did we fix this heart?” Usually you’ll hear a yes and then “Well, no, because it’s still kind of wrinkled.” Allow them to discuss this.
Ask how this person feels now. Lead their discussion to the idea that although we have repaired the heart, the scars are still there. Even when we say we’re sorry, people still remember the hurtful things we did. Ask, “Is it ok for people to do this?” Discuss with them that we all make mistakes and sometimes say or do something hurtful that we didn’t mean. Ask, “What can we do to try to prevent saying or doing something hurtful to someone else?” Lead the discussion to the idea that we can think before we speak.
Write on the heart: No one has the right to put a wrinkle on someone else’s heart. Hang the heart in the classroom, therapy room, or send home as a visual reminder to children.
Teachers can review the lesson with students as needed by prompting them to look at the heart displayed in the classroom.
Here are some excerpts from an article by Dr. Richard Curwin of David Yellin College describes how “fair” in a classroom doesn’t mean equal. He gives seven valuable tips for teachers. Click here for the original article.
There are two skills that separate great teachers from good ones. I explained that the first skill is the ability to reframe student behavior, to see it in new ways. Today I want to discuss the second skill: knowing how to treat students fairly by not treating them the same.
If you ask students what are the most important qualities they like in teachers, one of the universally top-mentioned is fairness. Teachers and schools strive to be fair and build programs and polices based on this value.
But what is fair? Many define it as treating everyone the same, but I would argue that doing so is the most unfair way to treat students. Students are not the same. They have different motivations for their choices, different needs, different causes for misbehavior and different goals.
Here’s how to put this concept into practice (*Read the original article for more detail on applying these ideas):
1. Everyone has the same rules.
2. Consequences are flexible.
3. Equal isn’t always fair.
4. Teach the concept of fair vs. equal to your class before implementing it.
5. Follow the basic tenets of great discipline.
6. Be willing to discuss your strategy with students.
7. Be willing to discuss your strategy with parents.
Being truly fair is harder and requires more work in the short run that just treating everyone the same. In the long run, it saves time and is more effective. And when it comes to treating everyone the same, every child deserves a lot better than that.
I LOVE this tape and canvas art project for kids. And it turns out SO COOL! Click here for the tutorial.
This language arts anchor chart seems so easy, yet so effective in displaying the differences between fiction and nonfiction. The teacher even included a picture of fiction vs. nonfiction to help younger learners the two. It could be a good assignment to have each student create a personal anchor chart like this, especially using pictures from old magazines, etc.
This gives a couple basic measurement questions for kids ( involving length and perimeter) and a chart of the Metric System. It would be a good whole class activity to create a chart like this (in math journals, on an anchor chart, etc.).
Click on picture to enlarge.
Roman numerals are hard for most Americans… mostly because we don’t use them very often. So here’s one way to help get your kids used to Roman numerals, and hopefully teach them a few: Refer to your tables using Roman numerals! If you were really excited about it, you could have each student learn their number in Roman numerals and have them write it as part of their heading on papers. In case you forgot Roman numerals yourself, here’s a nice chart to help you keep Roman numerals straight.
Here’s a quick review video about base 10 number systems…
Squarehead Teachers 