Ninja Notes

Let us help you teach like a ninja!

Art

How to Take Your History Lessons Off Life Support

by

If your history lessons are dropping flat we have just what you need to take your history lessons off life support. Get strategies you can use for any history lesson in your upper elementary classroom.

If you’ve ever thought your history lessons were boring, then truthfully, you had the wrong teacher. Teaching history can be exciting and interesting.

My love of Canadian history came from my favourite teacher of all time, Mr. Perrin. He was a tough teacher who expected the best from everyone, but he had a way of bringing history alive. You felt like you were in the trenches of World War 1 or at the table of a family living through The Great Depression. I underestimated the impact this love of history would have on my life.

Each time I step into my classroom and stand up in front of my students to tell them about some historic event, I still see Mr. Perrin jumping from side to side, role-playing both the French and the Germans in battle. This love of history was so apparent I can’t help but pass this enthusiasm along to my students.

[Read more…] about How to Take Your History Lessons Off Life Support

How to Weave Kindness into the Classroom Every Day

by

Are you looking for a collaborative art project you can use around the theme of kindness? These are some of the examples our students made from our kindness collaboration art project. You can find out how we made them. It's so easy!

Kindness is one of our core values in our school, classroom and lives. We try to find ways to encourage kindness every chance we get.

How do we encourage kindness all year? We weave it through our lessons and we build connections with our students. These connections build between students and we become a community. Through community, kindness becomes natural.

[Read more…] about How to Weave Kindness into the Classroom Every Day

How to Make Christmas Art Projects to Give

by

Get the instructions to make this sweet Chrismtas ornament. It gives students a chance to try some sewing and put all your craft supplies to good use. Come check out this Christmas craft that makes a great Christmas gift.

Whether you hate to teach art, love to teach art, or you’re somewhere in between, you’ve probably been in a position where you are obligated to provide artwork for a Christmas concert, winter concert or another winter event.

While December can be a very busy time, we do love the holidays. Our students are a mix of backgrounds, but the majority celebrate Christmas. In our classroom and school, we celebrate every holiday. We’re so inclusive that we literally celebrate every holiday. All students are welcome to participate as much as they like (or not at all). And while we call it a Christmas concert, it’s not always Christmas-themed.

[Read more…] about How to Make Christmas Art Projects to Give

Are You Avoiding Teaching Art? How to Fix That

by

Do you avoid teaching art because you can't handle the mess? Check out this list of ways to manage the mess and get some art lessons for your upper elementary students in the process.

If you are an elementary generalist in Canada, chances are, you are teaching art. That can be challenging if you don’t consider yourself an artist. Here are some tried and true routines we’ve put in place with our classes over the years that have saved our sanity.

Maybe you’ll start enjoying teaching art again!

[Read more…] about Are You Avoiding Teaching Art? How to Fix That

Simple and Stunning Remembrance Day Art Projects

by

Check out these Remembrance Day art projects that feature poppies. Best of all, we've included all the instructions for these free art projects. Come take a look.

Special occasions are a great time to bring out your favourite art projects, and Remembrance Day is no exception. We teach in a general classroom which means we’re responsible for art lessons all year long. While we like to teach specific skills with different projects, sometimes you have to have art projects around a specific theme for hallway decorating or assemblies.

Remembrance Day is one of those occasions when you don’t have a lot of time for art because you’re just starting to get deep into your lessons, and report cards are just around the corner. That’s why we’ve come up with some simple but stunning projects you can do with your students.

[Read more…] about Simple and Stunning Remembrance Day Art Projects

How to Create Wooden Ornaments for Christmas

by

Create these adorable wooden Christmas ornaments using recycled game pieces and a little paint. Step by step instructions and design ideas are included

Have you ever seen something in a store and thought, “I can make that for way less money?” Maybe. Or, have you ever thought, “Wouldn’t it just be easier for me to buy it instead of making it?” That’s how we’ve usually felt looking for wooden ornaments for Christmas.

We accidentally made these little Christmas ornaments and they turned out so cute that we knew we had to write about them so others could make their own. This project started completely by accident, but sometimes, the happiest of accidents turn out to be blessings in disguise. So, this is our path to making some wooden ornaments from recycled game pieces, but you can take a few shortcuts with our lesson below.

[Read more…] about How to Create Wooden Ornaments for Christmas