Encouraging Kids to Use Library Resources

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Squarehead Teachers

Here’s a super cute idea one elementary school librarian did to help encourage kids to use the library’s resources. It’s name is Zoinks the Answer Alien.

Every week, Zoinks asks a question that encourages kids to do research in the library. For example, the question might be “what year was Charlotte’s Web published?” or “what country is directly north of Moldova?” When the kids find the answer, they write it down with their source and “feed it” to Zoinks. If they’re correct, they’re entered into a weekly prize drawing. Such a cool idea! (Go to the Source for more info).

How Was Your Winter Break? (Report Writing Page)

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Squarehead Teachers

Another break away from school means kids have a lot to tell you and their friends! Help them share their fun news with this free Winter Break report printable. It’s a quick, easy way to capture memories of their holidays while doing some writing! Win-win!

Click here for the free PDF: Winter Break Write Up

Basic Fraction Practice – Winter Worksheet

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Squarehead Teachers

What do you do to add some fun to your classroom after the holidays are over? It’s to early to bring Valentines into the picture, so what now? I say continue to use winter themed stuff. Because we can! Here’s my “picture fractions” worksheet for winter. Basically, it teaches kids to focus on what they have (numerator) compared to the whole collection (denominator). Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Click here for the free PDF: Winter Picture Fractions

Winter Art Projects for Kids

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Squarehead Teachers

Winter provides an opportunity to see the world in a completely different way than the rest of the year. Help children capture the wonder of winter with winter-themed art projects! Here are some of my favorites:

Snowflake Art Trading Cards: Uses watercolor and salt (source).

Owls in the Night: Uses tempera paint and cardboard (source).

Winter Tree Silhouette: Uses masking tape and watercolor paint (source).

New Years Activities & Printables for Kids

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

I found a great page that’s got trivia, count-downs, puzzles and printables for kids! There’s always somebody who brings a kid to the New Year’s Eve party and you have nothing for them to do! Or you’re looking for a warm-up page to give your class the first day back to school… either way, this fun website is for you!

Number Forms Battle (for Kids)

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

One of the standards on the new Common Core is that students will be able to write numbers in various forms. One of these forms is to write out a number in word form. For example, the number 164 is “one hundred sixty four.” Here’s a game/activity for two students to do. They must try to get 4 squares in a row by writing the word form of the number printed in the square. Enjoy!

Click here for the free PDF: Number forms battle

Get-To-Know-You Math Activity

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

I recently saw this idea and thought it was really cool! At the beginning of the year, students make a poster introducing themselves using numbers! Shoot, you could do this activity at any point in the year, not just the start of the year. For example they might use shoe size, weight, height, number of siblings, birthday, class number, number of pets they’ve owned, etc. Here comes the challenge (for upper grades): then students use sticky tabs to cover the actual numbers (written in standard form) and instead write an equation. See the examples below:

Then display the posters and see if kids can figure out who is who. This is especially fun if kids have completed the poster as a homework assignment (so kids don’t see them making it). Either way, it’s a great way to build number sense and reinforce the idea that a number can be written many, many ways. Enjoy!

Paint Partners (Student Mixer)

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I LOVE the paint section at Lowes! All the colors are just way too fun. Also, there are times when I need students partnered randomly and I need a clever way to do it. So here’s my paint swatch student mixer idea:

Grab 2 of each of your favorite paint swatches. (Make sure the names aren’t anything that’ll be distracting. I didn’t notice that one of the pinks was called “Tuti Fruiti” and it was a major distraction the first time we used these. I ended up taking that pair out of the stack in the future.)
Glue each swatch onto a piece of white card stock.
Laminate the cards so they will last.
When it’s time go partner students, mix up the stack and hand out the cards. Give your kids a set amount of time (I used 1 minute) to find and sit next to their paint partner (the other student who has the same paint swatch as them).

Note: this idea requires time to let kids find their partner. I found this was a quick, effective break before introducing the new assignment.