Classroom Methods Help to Engage Students in the Material “How do you have so much control in your classroom?” “How do you get 100% student participation?” “How do you activate the whole brain when teaching students?” These are some questions that can be answered by Whole Brain Teaching. Whole Brain Teaching is a high energy, highly […]
Tag: Learning Styles
Differentiated Instruction with the Jedi Academy
Structured Program Assists Students in Completing Online Work As more classrooms are becoming 1-to-1 with students and technology, two high school teachers chose to differentiate through tiering processes with the Canvas LMS system. The beginning of the year was the first time students at our school experienced Canvas LMS. The first few units were done […]
Minecraft Camp Invites “Struggling” Students into School-Based Literacy Activities
Program Designed to Help Struggling Students with Literacy What: This activity took place in a Title I school in which over 90% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch and about 25% are identified as English learners. Because we receive federal and state money, we also have numerous government mandates to fulfill. Some […]
The Egg Drop Project
Hands-On Activity Helps Students Integrate STEM Concepts with Content Writing 7th grade science, math, and English honors teachers at Southside Middle School developed a cross-curricular egg drop project to integrate STEM concepts with content writing. Student were challenged to design, create, test, and analyze a BESS (Better Egg Shipping System) that would protect a dropped […]
Student Led
Students Transform Into Leaders of Their Own Learning Through a Variety of Student Led Activities and Student Engaged Assessments As an EL Education school, we are constantly looking for ways to better serve our students and to learn and grow as educators just as we would ask our students to do. One way to create […]
Flocabulary
Online Music Videos Help Keep Students Engaged in the Classroom Flocabulary is a website that can be found at www.flocabulary.com and the free videos can be accessed from any classroom or home. Flocabulary music videos are aligned with the Common Core State Standards and can be incorporated in multiple subjects such as reading, math, language arts, science, […]
Classroom Economy
Classroom Jobs Teach Students About Economics This best practice was developed to meet the second grade economic standards. It begins by teaching the content and introducing vocabulary words: needs, wants, producers, consumers, goods, services, opportunity cost, save, spend, and donate. After the majority of the content has been addressed the students begin the interview and […]
Math Thinkers – Math Talkers
Students Learn to Try Multiple Strategies to Solve Math Problems Young students learn how to explain their math reasoning and thinking using math strategies. Students can verbalize how they solve math problems and share their thinking process. Multiple strategies are taught and students have choices and voice in what strategy they use. Students are encouraged […]
Let’s Get Visual
Visual Cue Cards Enhance Classroom Management This summer, I attended a conference on appealing to special needs students. There were many strategies presented about adding more visual elements to your classroom. I felt like I wasn’t doing enough to appeal to the visual learners in my classroom. This year, I have tried out visual cue […]
Alternatives to saying “Good Job!”
Teachers Work to Change Their Daily Language This presentation will include 10 main tips for changing our teaching language from general to detailed, expressive and meaningful. Suggestions: 1. Use sentence starters: Example: “I see you…” or “I heard you…” Use thought openers: Example: “Show me how you….”, “Tell me more about…” 2. Notice and provide […]
Kennedy Assassination: Crime Scene Investigation
Unique Class Assignment Encourages Students to Use Problem Solving and Communication Skills Students travel back in history to 1960 to the presidential election between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. We spend a week acquiring biographical information while comparing and contrasting the influence of media then and now. Once students have a good understanding of […]
Golden Beads: A Golden Ticket for Teaching Math
Use of Beads Helps to Introduce Mathematical Concepts The Golden Beads are used to give a concrete introduction to the decimal system. The Golden Beads, like all Montessori materials, are very tactile, attractive, and easy to understand. The material consists of: “unit” beads, which are just individual bead “tens” bars, which are made of 10“unit” […]
Intervention for All: Encouraging Growth of Language Arts Mastery
English Enrichment Program Allows Students the Opportunity to Experience in Depth Exploration of Class Standards At Northside Middle School, we knew a key component to achieving success in the mastery of language arts would be to encourage growth from all of our students. While many intervention programs are aimed at only the bottom or top […]
Brain Breaks with GoNoodle
Implementation of Break Breaks Develops Students Memory and Fluency in Common Core Subjects GoNoodle is a free website that can be found at www.GoNoodle.com and can be accessed from any classroom or home. GoNoodle works with Common Core subject experts to create brain breaks that develop memory and fluency in math, spelling, and vocabulary in the form of […]
Study Buddy Time
Older Students Help Younger Students Succeed in a Dual Credit Math Class This is a technique that we used in a dual credit math class that had 4 eighth grade students. It was used to ensure that the underclassmen enrolled in this Dual credit College Algebra class would succeed. Each eighth grader was assigned to […]
Using the Spanish Subjunctive Mood in the Real World
Students Get the Opportunity to See the Spanish Subjunctive Mood Applied to the Realities of Their World After a thorough introduction to and MANY practice activities with the uses of the Spanish Subjunctive Mood in Noun Clauses, students then read a cultural unit on Central America and watch a video about the growth of tourism in […]
Results with Readers Workshop in First Grade
Reading Workshop Helps Develop Life-Long Passionate Readers Readers Workshop in our classroom is an extended period of time during our Language Arts Block devoted to reading and responding to literature. A mini lesson begins the workshop everyday. Children are then released to their “book nook” to read literary and informational text at their level and […]
The Roots of Rap
Students Learn About Slavery and How its Effects are Still Present Today in Rap Music This project is intended to help students draw connections between the history of oppression (slavery) in the American south and contemporary issues that plague the African-American community today. Students begin researching the oppressive nature of colonization and subjugation and then […]
Have You TITHED?…Taught In The Hallway Every Day?
Math Students More Successful as Teacher Utilizes Instructional Activities During Transitional Times Throughout the School Day My students deserve the best education opportunities they can get. A lot of my students have been in need of more instructional time to practice and master math skills so that they can be successful in the classroom, on state […]
Community Inclusion: Bringing a Novel to Life
Using Classic Literature to Inspire Student Success Through Inclusion So many great works of literature connect to universal themes experienced by our students. Students in high school with functional reading levels significantly below their peers need assistance in accessing the literature their peers study in general education high school English classes. Finding time to collaborate […]
Student Literacy Projects in the Virtual Setting
Literacy Projects Helps Virtual Learning Students The virtual learning world is still a new one. Many projects, and project ideas, begin in the brick and mortar setting. Teachers in the virtual world are always looking for ways to translate those projects into the virtual setting, especially when thinking of literacy projects for our elementary students. […]
Simple & Compound Machines
Using Science in Daily Life Through our unit on simple & compound machines students will “explore the significance of science in their lives”, have “hands-on inquiry that involves a series of steps with Questioning, Observation, Organizing Data, Explanation, Reflection, Taking Action,” and they will “integrate reading, writing, speaking, and math.” These objectives are listed as […]
Interactive Notebooks In Middle School Language Arts
Interactive Notebooks Help Students Organize and Synthesize Information The purpose of the interactive notebook is to enable students to be creative, independent thinkers and writers. Interactive notebooks are used for class notes as well as for other activities where the student will be asked to express his/her own ideas and process the information presented in class. The purpose behind […]