You are in the home stretch! The school year is almost over. Maybe you’ve had the most difficult year of your career or maybe it’s been a highlight. Either way, you’ve made a difference in the lives of the children who’ve come through your classroom this year and so it’s time to celebrate. Continue Reading
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Creative Thinking Critical Thinking Learning Commons Makerspace Our TpT Products Project Based Learning Science
Host a Maker Walk
Are your students using your Makerspace and now you want to show off their hard work? Host a Maker Walk. Picture a science fair, but so much cooler because it’s filled with the creations your students made in your Makerspace! Continue Reading
The most natural place to connect subject areas is by incorporating art into the lessons. It’s easy to think a little colouring will be enough art each week, but it’s important to create art projects that teach actual art skills. We created several lessons around the landscapes and geography we were studying about Canada while building art skills such as drawing, sculpting, painting and printmaking. Want to try it? Read on.
Creative Thinking Holidays and Seasonal Just For Fun Language Arts Our TpT Products Poetry Reading Seasonal/Holiday Writing
Poem in Your Pocket Day
We’re hosting a “Poem in Your Pocket” day as a celebration upon completing our poetry unit in Language Arts. It coincides with the National Poem In Your Pocket Day. This year’s event is being held April 26. It’s coming up soon! You can join us this year even if you haven’t taught poetry in your classroom yet! Continue Reading
The Canadian news is flooded with discussions about pipelines and where they should or shouldn’t be built. So, how do we address these issues in the classrooms? Many of our students have family members who work in the oil industry and many have parents who work closely with Indigenous people and environmentalists. So when these issues are so hotly contested in the media, how do we teach students to listen to all perspectives and form opinions based on facts (especially in light of how many people are unable to look past bias)?
We created a product that introduces all sides of the pipeline issue. It’s not meant to have students create an opinion, but to learn to listen to a variety of perspectives. Sometimes when we feel passionately about an issue, it’s difficult to hear the other side. Even as teachers, we have to be careful to not influence the opinions of our students. We need to teach students to listen and evaluate multiple perspectives, disagree respectfully and back up their opinions with facts rather than other people’s opinions.
You can find in our store here.
We’d love to hear about your experiences discussing polarizing issues with your students. How are you managing the current culture of differing sides? How do you keep your personal opinion out of the classroom? Please share with us in the comments below.
Holidays and Seasonal Just For Fun Our TpT Products Seasonal/Holiday Teacher Humour
How to Prank Your Students
Do you like a lighthearted and fun prank? Do you have students that enjoy a good laugh? Are you looking for a way to celebrate April Fool’s Day? Were were always struggling with ways to prank our students in a fun and caring way, and we’ve come up with a few great ones over the past few years. Continue Reading
Classroom Management Creative Thinking Critical Thinking Differentiation Our TpT Products Professional Learning Project Based Learning
Why You Should Give Students Choices
How would you feel if you knew you were a wonderful writer but the only way you could express yourself was through modern dance? What would you do if you have to recite your report card comments by memory to each and every parent? How would you feel if you were given the choice to write your report cards any way YOU want? (Ours would be invisible!)
Wouldn’t that be amazing? Wouldn’t that make you want to write the best report cards the world has ever seen?
So why are we so determined as teachers that there’s only one way to assess our students? Why can’t they have choices too? Continue Reading
Pink Shirt Day is coming up. In Canada, the movement of wearing pinks shirts to bring awareness to bullying has begun to spread worldwide. Do you need an activity to do? Continue Reading
Creative Thinking Critical Thinking Makerspace Our TpT Products Professional Learning Project Based Learning
Work Through the Design Process
Here’s a quick lesson you can do with your students to learn how to use your Makerspace while teaching students to enjoy the process.
Give your students a selection of pieces. These can be any material you have available. We used bottle caps, straws, tape, index cards and string. We also had scissors available. You can use these materials or use what you have in your Makerspace. The items should be flexible enough to let students explore. Continue Reading
Classroom Set Up Creative Thinking Critical Thinking Makerspace Our TpT Products Professional Learning Project Based Learning
What Goes in a Makerspace?
You’ve decided to have a Makerspace. What should you put in it? Any thing you want. Start small. We put out origami paper and a book during the first week just to see what would happen. (Turns out the answer to that question is lots of paper frogs.) But seriously, we made a list of potential items for your Makerspace. Continue Reading