Let us help you teach like a ninja!
Each year, we host a simple event to celebrate the Carnaval de Québec with the students who are learning French in our school. It doesn’t have to be complicated or elaborate to celebrate, but over the years, we’ve learned some tips to make the day go smoother. Come check out some of the events you can do to make your day special.
[Read more…] about How to Host a Carnaval de Québec in Your School
If you’re an elementary generalist, you probably have to teach your own art class. It can be tricky to find interesting art projects that don’t require a lot of special materials or skills. We have created a lot of different art projects over the years. Some of them have flopped. But, we’ve also come up with some favourites. Come read about some of the ways we help our students create beautiful works of art while teaching those valuable art outcomes through winter art projects.
[Read more…] about Winter Art Projects That Will Warm Your Heart
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 Activities
Depending on where you live, winter can be a very long season. In northern Canada, where we teach, winter can start as early as October. It continues up to the end of March. That means we are always on the lookout for winter classroom activities to use in class. More importantly, we use them during those dreaded indoor recesses when it is just too cold to go outside.
[Read more…] about Free Winter Classroom Activities Worth Scooping Up
Every year, teachers in Canada are faced with several days in a row where the weather outside is not safe for students to go outside and play. These indoor recesses can be a nightmare at the best of times because no student wants to stay inside every recess in a row during a cold snap. We’ve collected these must-try activities for indoor recess to ease that job.
We try to let our students have a less structured recess break where they choose their own activities and aren’t micromanaged. This might not be possible depending on the situation at your school, but keep in mind that recess should be a break instead of another scheduled block of time. Come see which of these activities will work for your students.
[Read more…] about Chill Out With These Sanity Saving Indoor Recess Activities
When it’s cold outside, a good winter book is a great way to cozy up and spend the cold months. We love to read picture books to our students in Grade Four and Five. Older students love picture books and they love to be read to just as much as younger students.
Picture books are a great way to teach specific comprehension skills, show examples of different types of writing, teach poetic devices and show how grammar is used in real-world situations.
Having a great book is just part of the equation. Next, we’ll talk about some of the ways we get kids to read.
[Read more…] about Cozy Up With Great Winter Books
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, so everyone deserves to do fun activities that aren’t connected to a specific faith or holiday.
[Read more…] about You’ll Love These Exciting Winter Classroom Activities
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
Are you looking for a quick and not-too-messy project for any age? Well, look no further than fingerprint art.
Using a little paint, construction paper and markers, your students can transform their fingerprints into different art projects with lots of engagement and very little time or clean up.
Even though this post focuses on using fingerprint art for Christmas, there are lots of ways you can use this type of art.
[Read more…] about How to Create Fingerprint Art Projects
Here’s a great reason to eat potato chips (you don’t have to eat them, but it’s a good excuse). Have your students collect Pringles cans or any other metal or cardboard can that has a plastic lid and upcycle them into a great holiday activity. Our students have loved making recycled can characters over the years.
This activity will work with other types of cans that are made of cardboard with a metal base and plastic lid.
We made our cans into snowmen, gingerbread men, penguins, Santas, elves and reindeer as a fun Christmas craft activity that parents will cherish for years to come.
[Read more…] about How to Make Recycled Can Characters
