Whenever one of my kids gets back from a vacation, they always want to talk about it. The other day, I used this opportunity to write about what makes a fun vacation. This free writing project worked out well since it allowed everyone to be creative and share vacation stories through their writing. Some kids took this further and made entire essays about a specific vacation and dedicated a whole paragraph to each idea if what made the vacation fun. 
Maybe you’ve heard about “flipped classrooms” on the news… maybe you haven’t. Either way, here’s what you need to know about flipped classrooms:
Infographic from Knewton.com
One of the most important parts of school is teaching kids to monitor their own progress. Here’s one way to help kids keep track of their own writing progress. We made a giant pencil with different sections (one for each step of the writing process) and laminated it. Then we added velcro strips down the side and to little tags that had each student’s classroom number on it. When kids finish one step of the process, they move their number tag down to the next step. This also helps kids know when they can get up from their seats… I’ve also seen charts where kids move a numbered popsicle stick from pocket to pocket to indicate progress through the writing steps. How have you helped your students keep track of their writing progress?
I recently saw this in a classroom and I thought it was pretty clever. I’m calling it “the ABCs of problem solving” (because calling it “the ABCDEFs of problem solving” sounds lame).
A- Analyze
B- Brainstorm
C- Consider options
D- Decide what to do
E- Evaluate if itworks
F- Figure out another way
Many schools have a spirit week with themed days like wacky hair day, PJ day, etc. What are some days your school has done or that you’ve heard of?
(thanks in advance for your ideas!)
Kids love aliens. I catch kids drawing them all the time when they’re supposed to be doing something else. So why not turn the idea around and make it an assignment to doodle an alien… and write about it! This writing project could turn into a story, a persuasive essay (convince your parents to let an alien stay at your house, etc…), a poem, etc. Do this activity as a fast finisher, as a seat work assignment (10 times!), or give different versions to different kids in your class so there’s even more variety!
Click here to download the PDF set: Finish the Alien pages – complete set
Click here to download the PDF set: Finish the Alien pages – complete set
Click here to download the PDF set: Finish the Alien pages – complete set
I just learned a new game today and I’m really jazzed about it. It’s called Switch, and here’s what you need to know:
First, players stand at the corners of the window and at the intersection in the middle. The 4 players on the outside corners try to run and switch places with each other. The person standing at the center intersection tried to get one of the corner spots while the others are switching. If the players on the corners make 3 switches, the person in the middle is bumped out and a new player enters the game (standing at the center). If the center player succeeds in stealing one of the corner spots, the player who lost their spot is out, the center person claims the corner spot, and a new player comes into the center.
Why I love this game: 1.) There’s no equipment necessary! Many schools have these 4 square lines painted on the ground already, but it’s as easy as getting some chalk if you don’t. 2.) Anyone can play. The group I was playing with today had kids ranging from kindergarten to 5th grade and we were all playing happily together.
The player on the far right sat down to tie her shoe, but other than that, this gives you a decent picture of how players should stand. The boy in the white shirt is trying to steal a corner spot during a switch.
Teachers today are expected to teach EVERYTHING!
But there’s just not enough time! As money for fine arts dwindles, kids are getting less and less music in school. I could quote any of a million studies that show music helps with academics and character development, but I won’t. Instead, I present my “Musicians To Know” series. It’s 10 single-page grammar practice activities that teach kids about the most influential musicians of all time. The activities involve identifying parts of speech, prepositional phrases, dependent clauses, using a dictionary and thesaurus, etc. There’s even a little simple math thrown in. Appropriate for 5th grade and up is my guess, but I don’t know your class, so you be the judge.
Musicians to Know grammar series PDF
Information from classicsforkids.com, makingmusicfun.net, and KA Piano Studios.
Squarehead Teachers 