Top Teaching Tips of the Week (September 27-October 3)

1. The Mailbox (one of my favorites!) is giving away a coupon for orders!  The offer ends TODAY, so use it quickly.
2. Looking for a science game?  Print out the game board for Endangered!  Students can learn the instructions, play, and explore facts about endangered species.  This could be quite useful if you're looking for activities for science centers.  Be sure to laminate the game board for repeated use.  A good extension would be for students to research the animals featured (source: American Museum of Natural History).
3. Fall is here, so it's a great time for classes to study weather changes.  Visit The Weather Channel Kids for classroom ideas and teacher resources.  Take a moment to register for free, click on the Weather Classroom page, and find all sorts of information and reproducible sheets.  They have lesson plans, experiments, weather puzzles, resources and tons of other helpful things.
4. Your class can participate in the 4th Annual GovDocKids Group US Constitution Day Poster Design Contest.  Download the entry form, and then submit student designs of how they have benefitted from the freedoms granted by the Constitution.  Assign it this week because entries must be postmarked by this Friday  (source: constitutionfacts.com).
5. Hispanic Heritage Month is nearly half over.  Have you taken the opportunity to shine a positive light on the culture?  See my list of ideas to get you started!

Top Teaching Tips of the Week (September 20-26)

1. Browse through the first season of PBS’s great show, SciGirls, which promotes scientific discovery and analysis.  It's an excellent resource for teachers in the middle grades.  The show encourages the study of math and science as viewers join girls as they solve an interesting problem in each episode.  Technology, internet use and cartoon characters also help this show seem relatable to students, and real scientists also make appearances.  I highly recommend SciGirls!  Also, visit their activities and projects page to see ideas for science class.  The activities are also helpfully provided in Spanish!
2. Here's a great use of classroom technology:  have students create their own short children's book using ArtisanCam, which allows them to write a story and "publish" it for everyone to read online.  The neat thing is that students can also select from images to illustrate their story, and they all actually look like children's drawings!  Peek through the gallery for some examples.  Students could practice using story elements, and you could also integrate science by having them include facts about animals (such as their habitats, for example) because the pictures use animals as characters.
3. To practice basic math facts, young students could Save the Apples in this online game.  They can practice addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and select their level of difficulty.
4. Your class could practice visualization and summarization skills by designing a comic strip or short graphic novel based on a few pages of text.
5. Use Bingo instead of a written history or geography quiz if you want students to remember details about different Native American groups, states, etc.  Make some Bingo cards (you could even use regular paper and have students draw a chart)  and have your class fill each box with a term from the unit's list.  Then, call out clues ("This Southern state is also known as 'the Peach State'") and have them mark their box if they have the word written down.  Because students have to know their facts in order to win the game, this is a good assessment tool, and it's motivating to students.  It has the benefit of a "Jeopardy" game with easier preparation for the teacher.

Hispanic Heritage Month Begins!

Each year, Hispanic Heritage Month gives us the opportunity to have a particular focus on diversity.  Here are a few lesson plan ideas on how to integrate this important month, and the appreciation of Hispanic culture, in your classroom:

• Scholastic has a diverse list of 25 ways to celebrate Hispanic heritage in the classroom, as well as an activity portal dedicated to Hispanic heritage month.
• Here is a great book list put together by PBSKids.  It contains a lot of books about Hispanic culture that would be great for read-alouds and book talks for elementary students.
• Have students research the holidays of different Latin American countries, and then design a visual project that showcases the historical, political and cultural significance for each holiday.  This would make a great display of student work!
• Create a beautiful Mexican metal tooling craft project.  A great example and instructions can be found here (via kinderart).
• Students can work in groups to explore the flags of different Latin American countries.  Have them investigate the symbols, stories and values represented on each flag.  Compare them to our country's own, and end the project by having the class create a unique flag for your classroom.
• Make a paper bag pinata (via PBSKids).
• Teach your student some Spanish words, or a Spanish nursery rhyme.
• Elementary students can practice Spanish words, identify the flags of Spanish-speaking countries, and learn about famous Hispanics in this online game (via PBSKids).
• Spotlight Hispanic writers and poets for your class.
• Read a Latin fairy tale or myth, and have students compare it to one more commonly known to them.  Have them create their own fairy tale or myth in groups, or perform a reader's theater version of the tale.
• Create Mexican bark paintigs (via zilkerelementaryart).
• Students can write a research paper or present a project based on notable Hispanic people (Gale compiled a list, or you can narrow a topic of interest for the class, such as Hispanic scientists, government figures, etc).
• Discuss culture and family traditions while reading a story about a Mexican American family.  Culminate the lesson with a class potluck lunch with special family recipes.  The full lesson plan can be found here (via ReadWriteThink).

I hope these Hispanic Heritage Month lesson plan ideas are helpful to you. And remember:  you're not relegated to one month when it comes to exploring Hispanic heritage.  Keep a list of ideas that seem appealing and practical for you, and use them whenever you can find the time in your curriculum.

-Veronica

image: cleveland.com

Top 5 Teaching Tips of the Week (September 13-19)

1. Learn how one math class used IPods to practice probability. 
2. Your students can become explorers in Woogi World, a “safe, educational virtual world” where they can play games and learn character development.  The educator’s page shows you how the site promotes cyber safety to young students.
3. Vocabulary games galore can be found at http://www.vocabulary.co.il.  Students can practice homophones, prefixes, suffixes, complete word searches, learn oxymorons, and tons of other activities.
4. Looking for some science experiments for your class?  Choose from Yes Mag’s list of science projects, which range from growing crystals, creating water filters, and making mini-parachutes!
5. Bostitch is having a sweepstakes for teachers.  Find out how you could earn $5000 in classroom supplies. 

Classroom Management: "Star System Management"

Debra Young-Allen from OK has provided us all with an interesting classroom management technique.  Her “Star System Management” is appropriate for elementary and middle school students, and can be an effective means of management for substitutes, though the reward may need to be modified.  The Star System divides the class in half, rewards each side stars for good behavior, and also rewards the opposing team when students on the other side are misbehaving.  Peer pressure, ftw?

Made of Awesome: Sunny D Book Spree

Visit Sunny D's website to learn about their book spree, which donates books to schools!

The spree ends in November, so get those labels in!

Top 5 Teaching Tips of the Week (September 6-12)

1. Using Pringles to teach engineering skills?  That’s what Mr. Salsich’s elementary class did when they had to figure out a way to mail a single Pringle a long distance without breaking the chip.  The cool science experiment is documented on their Edublog archive.  Find a cooperating class in another city, state or country and then try it! 
2. I also found a more complex version of this activity for older students.  Students are challenged to make their package have the smallest mass and volume, and still keep the single Pringle intact. 
3. Book Adventure could help your students find reading material that reflects their interests.  The Kid Zone allows them to find books based on their own criteria, and the site also provides comprehension quizzes that students can use to earn points for prizes.  The site has a wide-range of recommended books and quizzes, from Charlotte’s Web to Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
4. Teach your class about energy conservation using California-based Energy Quest.  There is even a cool online novel called Devoured by the Dark included on the site, offering the integration of science and reading.
5. Looking for classroom craft ideas?  Visit TeacherPlace.org for their collection of craft projects suitable for various grade levels and subjects.  Decorate your room with the Recycled CD-mobile, or invite students to make an “All About Me” scrapbook.  My favorite?  The Turtle Maracas.