We love to read to our students, but they are in grades four and five, so we try to avoid books about romance when we look for Valentine’s Day books, but sometimes it just sneaks in. Quite often, the books are too young for our students, but when that happens, we encourage our students to read to their younger buddies. Come read through this list of Valentine’s Day books we’ve collected over the years.
[Read more…] about Our Favourite Books to Use on Valentine’s DayHow to Have Snow Much Fun With These Snow Activities
When you live in a winter climate like northern Canada, the opportunities to do activities related to snow are endless. We try to build weather-related snow activities into our classes wherever possible. We teach in upper elementary, but we’ve used some of these activities with our younger buddies and some we’ve challenged ourselves. Come check out these snow activities that will keep you busy all winter.
[Read more…] about How to Have Snow Much Fun With These Snow ActivitiesHow to Demystify Math With These 7 Algebra Activities
When we hear that we have to do algebra activities, the fear is real. Algebra is this haunting reminder of high school. When I was becoming a teacher, I didn’t want my negative experiences with math to influence how I taught it or, more importantly, how my students learned it.
In university, I was put in a “special” math class designed for education students who needed to refine their math skills. Truthfully, it was for us creatives who didn’t take enough math during high school and university. At first, I was scared of the class, but as the class progressed, I realized how lucky I was to be there. Not only did I get over my fear of math, I learned how to break down math concepts in so many different ways that I could teach it to any student. Come learn some of the ways to break down introductory algebra with these algebra activities.
[Read more…] about How to Demystify Math With These 7 Algebra Activities15 Ways to Engage Readers During Your Read-Aloud
It seems that there is less and less time for reading aloud to your students, but if you use that read-aloud to engage your readers, you can teach so many different skills. Kids (and adults) of all ages love to be read to. If that weren’t the case, there wouldn’t be a thriving industry of audiobooks.
Administrators want teachers to focus their time on literacy and numeracy. Things like read-alouds seem like “entertainment,” but there is so much value in reading aloud to children. Come learn how we turn every read-aloud into a lesson (without our students even knowing it).
[Read more…] about 15 Ways to Engage Readers During Your Read-AloudCreate These 5 Fantastic Devices That Move
One of the best sciences units includes making devices that move. One of the best things about teaching science is having students create amazing things when they are just left with their knowledge and their creativity. We love to foster this type of learning in our classroom.
If you teach simple machines, then there are so many different opportunities to have students create and build exciting contraptions. We pulled together a list of ideas and a few of our favourite recipes for devices that move to make your search quick and painless.
[Read more…] about Create These 5 Fantastic Devices That Move7 Ways to Upgrade Your Fraction Strategies
Fractions can be a struggle for many students, but it really comes down to understanding them visually. Before we ever teach students the numerals or symbols, we try to show them the meaning of fractions visually in a variety of ways so they can truly understand parts, sets, and wholes. If you’ve ever struggled to teach fractions to your students, this is probably the post for you. Come try these fraction strategies that are usually simple enough for all students to master.
[Read more…] about 7 Ways to Upgrade Your Fraction Strategies