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Ninja Notes

Let us help you teach like a ninja!

Engaging Lessons

How to Learn About Wetlands Without A Pond

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Are you trying to teach wetlands in Alberta but there isn't a nearby pond and you can't take a field trip? That's exactly why we wrote this series of lessons, activities and assessments. Come take a look to see if they can help you get your planning done so you can enjoy the activities along with your upper elementary science students.

Teaching students about wetlands can be a real challenge when you don’t have access to a pond or field trips to go to a pond. Each year in Alberta, we struggle with winter sneaking well into spring, shortening the time available to teach the unit outdoors. If we try to teach the unit in the fall, we often end up with snow within a few weeks of starting the unit. So how are students supposed to learn about wetlands when they can’t actually get to a wetland?

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Ways to Teach Shape and Space Concepts

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Are you looking for ways to teach shape and space concepts to your students? This is one of our favourite units. We teach 2D shapes and 3d objects with interactive math notebooks, task cards, Boom Cards and a huge project where we build an arcade. It's so much fun! Come see how we do this in our upper elementary classroom.

When we start talking about quadrilaterals, trapezoids and parallel lines many students get lost quickly. There are so many new and uncommon words introduced in this unit and it is especially difficult for English Language Learners. These are some of the ways we build an understanding of shape and space concepts in our classroom.

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Challenge Your Students with Writing Activities

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What are you doing in your upper elementary classroom to encourage a love of writing? We've shared some of our favourite writing activities that work whether you're teaching in person or doing distance learning. Come check out the list and get some inspiration for your writing lessons.

There are generally two reactions that students give when it is time for writing activities in the classroom. Half are usually excited and the other half are filled with dread. We’ve been through lots of different writing programs over the years, been to hundreds of hours of professional development to teach writing and have seen the same pattern over and over again.

Most teachers don’t feel like they know how to teach writing. Is that you? Keep reading.

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How to Use Interactive Notebooks to Teach Number Sense

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Interactive math notebooks are one way we teach number sense in our upper elementary classroom. Math class hasn't been the same since we started using interactive notebooks. Yes, they are work, but the benefits are HUGE! Come see what we do to make it work and get some ideas for yourself.

We use interactive notebooks in our math class as part of a unit on number sense. We have found creating a reference book of concepts and procedures that students can refer to when working in math helps them build confidence and develop independence.

We’re not going to lie. They are a lot of work, but the working is meaningful. We found on average our math grades improved and students were able to retain more of their learning year over year. Read more to find out how we use them in our classroom as one way to develop number sense.

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You’ll Love These Exciting Winter Classroom Activities

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Come see some of the winter classroom activities we do all winter long (and it's always long up here in Canada). We got winter themed math and language arts. Of course we haven't forgotten about going outside for winter activities and winter lessons. We've even included some winter art projects and a digital escape. You can have so much fun during the winter in your upper elementary classroom.

Winters in Canada are long, so technically you could be doing winter classroom activities for most of the school year and you’d still be on track weather wise.

We tend to use winter classroom activities from November through February, especially around Christmas, since many of our students come from different religious backgrounds. Many do not celebrate Christmas and so everyone deserves to do fun activities that aren’t connected to a specific faith or holiday.

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Energize Your Gym Class With Very Little Equipment

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Do you have to teach physical education with safety restrictions? Maybe you're trying to teach gym online through distance teaching. We've collected some ideas for activities you can do with your upper elementary class that don't require much equipment. Come check it out.

Are you teaching face to face this year? Do you have to provide some sort of physical education program? Is all your equipment locked up? Are you supposed to be socially distanced? Do you students have to wear masks? What are socially distanced gym activities?

Remember when teaching physical education was so much easier? Remember when you could touch things?

Well, don’t worry.

We’ve been collecting ideas for your socially distanced, equipment-free, mask wearing gym classes. We’ve even found a few ideas for online classes. Let’s get started.

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