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Professional Learning

How to Teach Poetry Using Drama

by BrainNinjasWP Leave a Comment

Instead of teaching poetry by simply reading or writing it, how about encouraging students to act it out. Teach poetry using drama to add a new dynamic to your language arts lessons.

Poetry is a beautiful and expressive form of literature that often expresses emotions, paints vivid imagery, and can be fun to read and write. Learning about poetic elements and figurative language can be engaging and memorable by teaching poetry using drama.

[Read more…] about How to Teach Poetry Using Drama

Filed Under: Teaching Strategies Tagged With: Drama, English Language Arts, english language learners, Figurative Language, Language Arts, literacy, National Poetry Month, Poetry, Poetry and Drama, Professional Learning, Teachers Pay Teachers, Teaching Strategies

How to Host Your Own Book Debates and Battles

by BrainNinjasWP

Inspire a love of reading and encourage your students to choose new books by using book debates. We've outlined the process to use this in your upper elementary classroom today based on the format for Canada Reads. Come take a look.

If you live in Canada, you might have heard of Canada Reads. Canada Reads is an annual “battle of the books” competition organized and broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). We have enjoyed the event for years and thought about how much fun it would be to do the same style of book debates in our classroom. Students love a good battle. Come learn about how it went and how you can host your own book debates.

[Read more…] about How to Host Your Own Book Debates and Battles

Filed Under: Teaching Strategies Tagged With: Book Clubs, Book Debates, Book Recommendations, books, classroom celebrations, Professional Learning, read aloud, Reading, Reading Activities, Reading Buddies, reading comprehension, reading strategies, reluctant readers, strategies for reluctant readers

Are You Still Wasting Time With Brain Breaks?

by BrainNinjasWP

Are brain breaks taking up too much time in your lessons and interrupting learning? You're probably using them incorrectly. Come read this post to help put the best practices for brain breaks into your classroom.

Do you find that brain breaks are disrupting your learning and working time? Do students seem more stimulated after a brain break? Is it difficult to get them calmed back down? Maybe you’ve been using brain breaks wrong? Stop wasting your learning time with brain breaks by managing them differently.

[Read more…] about Are You Still Wasting Time With Brain Breaks?

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: Back to School, brain breaks, Classroom Management, Differentiated Instruction, Differentiation, Inclusive Classroom, professional development, Professional Learning

Simple Meet the Teacher Ideas

by BrainNinjasWP

Are you looking for ideas to your school's Meet the Teacher Night? The last thing you need is more things added to your to-do list, so we've taken care of it for you. Come find these easy to prep and quick ways to get your classroom ready without much extra effort.

Meet the Teacher Night is a valuable opportunity for teachers and school staff to connect with students and families, establish rapport, and set the tone for a successful school year. Traditionally, our Meet the Teacher Nights are held after about two weeks of school. This usually means students have settled into the classroom a bit. Come learn some of the easy ways we organize our night where families meet the teacher.

[Read more…] about Simple Meet the Teacher Ideas

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: Classroom Community, communicating with parents, communication with parents, Holidays and Seasonal, Meet the Teacher, parent-teacher communication, parents, Professional Learning, school events

13 Ways to Deal With Behaviours Without Taking Away Recess

by BrainNinjasWP

Stop taking away recess from your students who need it the most. There are better ways to deal with behaviours and help students learn to behave postively without getting into the vicious cycle. Come read the whole post the help you deal with classroom management and save you time in the long run.

Fortunately, we have worked at schools with administrations who also don’t believe in taking away recess from students who act out in class. Sometimes, it feels like our hands are tied when it comes to dealing with student behaviour, but we have a few strategies that go beyond “building a relationship” to help get you through it. Come read our ideas so you don’t have to take away recess.

[Read more…] about 13 Ways to Deal With Behaviours Without Taking Away Recess

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: Classroom Community, Classroom Management, Expected and Unexpected Behaviors, First Year Teachers, first-year teachers, new service teacher, Professional Learning, Student Teachers, Teacher Organization, teaching, Teaching Strategies

Get Great Anchor Charts Without Making Great Anchor Charts

by BrainNinjasWP

Anchor charts are an excellent way to help students reference information as they are learning, but they don't need to be complicated or even pretty. Come learn how we make great anchor charts without any effort.

We make all our anchor charts with our students as we learn each lesson. It helps them connect to the information, and all of the language on the chart comes from the kids, but let’s face it: They are ugly. We’ve admired beautiful anchor charts online, and while we would love to decorate our classroom with those types of works of art, we believe that our students should be part of making them.

Come learn some of the ways we include our students when making anchor charts.

[Read more…] about Get Great Anchor Charts Without Making Great Anchor Charts

Filed Under: Classroom Tips, Teaching Strategies Tagged With: Anchor Charts, Bulletin board ideas, Bulletin Boards, Classroom Community, Classroom Decor, Professional Learning, Teaching Strategies

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Most Recent

  • Instead of teaching poetry by simply reading or writing it, how about encouraging students to act it out. Teach poetry using drama to add a new dynamic to your language arts lessons.
    How to Teach Poetry Using Drama
    Poetry is a beautiful and expressive...
  • Inspire a love of reading and encourage your students to choose new books by using book debates. We've outlined the process to use this in your upper elementary classroom today based on the format for Canada Reads. Come take a look.
    How to Host Your Own Book Debates and Battles
    If you live in Canada, you...
  • Are brain breaks taking up too much time in your lessons and interrupting learning? You're probably using them incorrectly. Come read this post to help put the best practices for brain breaks into your classroom.
    Are You Still Wasting Time With Brain Breaks?
    Do you find that brain breaks...

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