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Give Your Reading Instruction an Easy Twist

by BrainNinjasWP 9 Comments

Do your students need a fun way to share what they are reading in class? This is a great twist on literature circles and book clubs that your students will enjoy. Come read the whole post and get some ideas for your upper elementary or middle school language arts lessons.

For years we’ve done Literature Circles and tried lots of variations, but this one worked really well with our students. The problem with Literature Circles is that some students just don’t like the different activities. This version allows students to have some independence while still having accountability (and something to show for the time). If you are looking for an activity to spice up your reading instruction, look no further than Twisted Literature Circles in our TpT Store (USD) or BN Shop ($CAN).

[Read more…] about Give Your Reading Instruction an Easy Twist

Filed Under: Engaging Lessons, Teaching Strategies Tagged With: Book Clubs, English Language Arts, Guided Reading, Language Arts, Literature Circles, our tpt products, Professional Learning, Reading, Reading Activities, reading comprehension, reading strategies, reluctant readers, Teachers Pay Teachers, Teaching Reading

How to Teach the Scientific Method in Your Elementary Classroom

by BrainNinjasWP

Teach your elementary aged scientists the scientific method while teaching safety and procedures during experiments. Come get this free scientific method lesson.

The scientific method has been around for thousands of years and if you went to school, you learned about it, too. The method helps keep experiments and investigations fair so they can be repeated and results can be verified. All scientists use this method which helps verify results.

When you are teaching science, it is important that students understand the method-even if they cannot remember all the names of the steps. It more important that students get to work hands-on and focus on curiosity than following and writing out a set of steps.

Come learn how we teach students about the scientific method in our science class.

[Read more…] about How to Teach the Scientific Method in Your Elementary Classroom

Filed Under: Engaging Lessons Tagged With: Alberta science, Computer Science, Earth Science, First Year Teachers, first-year teachers, science, Science Lessons, Science unit, Scientific Method, Sky Science, Student Teachers, Teachers on a Budget, Teachers Pay Teachers

How to Teach Poetry Using Drama

by BrainNinjasWP

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 Teach Students to Measure Area

by BrainNinjasWP

Teaching your students to calculate area can be a challenge, but we've pulled together great ideas to help introduce, practice, review and assess how students measure area.

The biggest mistake students often make when they measure area is that they aren’t quite sure what they are supposed to be measuring. Generally, the area is the amount of space inside a two-dimensional shape. We try to teach students math using plenty of hands-on activities. Come read about the ways we measure area in our upper elementary math class.

[Read more…] about How to Teach Students to Measure Area

Filed Under: Engaging Lessons, Teaching Strategies Tagged With: area, Math, Math Lessons, math units, Math Worksheets, Mathematics, measurement, Professional Learning, task cards, Teachers Pay Teachers, Worksheets

The Cubic Quest: How to Teach Volume

by BrainNinjasWP

Measuring the volume of objects can be tricky for some students, but we put together our best ideas to get you started, help you review and even assess how your students are learning. Come read the whole post today!

Some students struggle with the concept of volume, but we’ve been doing this long enough that we can help. Generally, students mix up volume with capacity or don’t completely understand how to calculate the volume of different shapes. Come learn some of our tried and true activities that we use to help students understand volume.

[Read more…] about The Cubic Quest: How to Teach Volume

Filed Under: Teaching Strategies Tagged With: Math, math error analysis, math errors, Math Lessons, math manipulatives, math units, math videos, Math Worksheets, Mathematics, measurement, Professional Learning, Teachers Pay Teachers, volume

Five Amazing Capacity Quests to Enliven Your Classroom

by BrainNinjasWP

Teaching students to measure capacity can be a fun and engaging hands-on activity for your upper elementary math class. Come learn about some of the different ways we help our students learn to measure capacity in metric units.

Teaching students how to calculate capacity using metric units is an essential skill in mathematics and in life. If you’ve ever tried to put your leftovers in the wrong container, you know it’s important to be able to use referents and measure containers properly. Finding resources that measure capacity in metric units can also be a challenge for teachers in Canada, but we have you covered. Learning about capacity is more than just using formulas. Come learn some of the ways we teach this measurement concept in our upper elementary classroom.

[Read more…] about Five Amazing Capacity Quests to Enliven Your Classroom

Filed Under: Teaching Strategies Tagged With: capacity, interactive math notebooks, Lesson Plans, Math, math error analysis, math errors, Math Lessons, math manipulatives, math units, math videos, Math Worksheets, Mathematics, measurement, Professional Learning, Teachers Pay Teachers

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  • Do your students need a fun way to share what they are reading in class? This is a great twist on literature circles and book clubs that your students will enjoy. Come read the whole post and get some ideas for your upper elementary or middle school language arts lessons.
    Give Your Reading Instruction an Easy Twist
    For years we've done Literature Circles...
  • If you are looking for some free classroom rewards that you can use for extrinsic motiviation, this is the list for you. Come check out these classroom rewards that you can use without it costing any money.
    30 Free Ways to Reward Students
    While not all students are motivated...
  • Teach your elementary aged scientists the scientific method while teaching safety and procedures during experiments. Come get this free scientific method lesson.
    How to Teach the Scientific Method in Your Elementary Classroom
    The scientific method has been around...

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