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Showing posts with label Earth Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earth Day. Show all posts

The Power of Music

 Last week I had a great experience, and it was a great reminder of the Power of Music.

 I went out to the San Francisco area to visit my amazing daughter (and her amazing husband), and we went on the San Francisco Love Tour.

Listening to music of the 60s reminded me of how valuable music can be in the classroom. This post has suggestions on creating learning songs for the students, (even if you're not musical) and 3 songs!

Yes, that's my daughter and I standing by our tour bus. It was quite the adventure riding in this delightfully painted "hippie van" Volkswagen Bus! We rode around the city of San Francisco, learning about the culture, and reminiscing about the hippies of the 60s and the Summer of Love,


Listening to music of the 60s reminded me of how valuable music can be in the classroom. This post has suggestions on creating learning songs for the students, (even if you're not musical) and 3 songs!

Yes, that's the back of my head riding "shotgun!"
While we were in the "hippie van" we listened to music of the 60s.  

Now this blog post will change from a story about my tour to a reminder of the power of music and its connection with memory with learners.

Listening to music of the 60s reminded me of how valuable music can be in the classroom. This post has suggestions on creating learning songs for the students, (even if you're not musical) and 3 songs!
The classic San Francisco pose, but next to a "hippie van."

I hate to give away my age, but all that music I heard in that hippie van was music I grew up with. Most of it I hadn't heard in close to 50 years, yet I remembered pretty much every single word!
 

Listening to music of the 60s reminded me of how valuable music can be in the classroom. This post has suggestions on creating learning songs for the students, (even if you're not musical) and 3 songs!
Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and a member of the Grateful Dead in the famous Haight Ashbury section of San Francisco

This was a great reminder of the power of music and its connection to memory! Here are a few examples of how I've used that power in the classroom to help the kiddos remember important information. I've taken simple songs (in the public domain, of course, to avoid copyright laws!) I've changed the words to something I want them to remember, and voila! We have a learning experience! It's fun to sing these songs during morning meeting, or between lessons. If you build a collection of learning songs, make a book for the children to read during reading time. (If you work with little ones, you'll be hearing them sing, even if it's "silent reading!")

I use this one around Earth Day.


I use this one around Day 100.


 This one can be used any time of year!


https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Seven-Continents-Song-for-Learning-About-Our-World-5308695?utm_source=blog%20post%20Music%20and%20Memory&utm_campaign=Seven%20Continents%20Song

When I worked with older children, they made up their own songs as part of research projects. I had to caution them to use simple tunes rather than the popular songs they wanted to use, but they appreciated the simple tunes once they got going. 

Here's a great list of children's songs in the Public Domain to choose from! Best Known Public Domain Children's Songs.


How do you use music in the classroom?


The Power of Music! Listening to music of the 60s reminded me of how valuable music can be in the classroom. This post has suggestions on creating learning songs for the students, (even if you're not musical) and 3 freebie songs.


Resources for April!

I'm so glad to see the calendar finally turning to April! March has always been a long month, but April has a whole lot of fun learning to be had! 


Resources for April! If you'll be teaching in the month of April, this post has links to plenty of ideas, books, videos, and resources!

Here are links to blog posts for many of the events happening in April!


I've got plenty of April Fool's fun ideas in THIS blog post!
Resources for April! If you'll be teaching in the month of April, this post has links to plenty of ideas, books, videos, and resources!

Looking for Science and Social Studies ideas for April? See my blog post HERE.
 
Resources for April! If you'll be teaching in the month of April, this post has links to plenty of ideas, books, videos, and resources!

Easter is right around the corner. Here are a couple of blog posts to help you out! Easter Resources and An Easter Warning and an Easter Tradition.

Resources for April! If you'll be teaching in the month of April, this post has links to plenty of ideas, books, videos, and resources!

Resources for April! If you'll be teaching in the month of April, this post has links to plenty of ideas, books, videos, and resources!


Don't forget spring! Although we have snow predicted for this weekend here in New England, spring truly is trying to work it's way through this nasty weather! Be sure to check out these Spring Resources!


Resources for April! If you'll be teaching in the month of April, this post has links to plenty of ideas, books, videos, and resources!


Plus, baseball season is starting up! If you have any baseball fans in your classroom, you'll have to checkout Baseball Fun!

Resources for April! If you'll be teaching in the month of April, this post has links to plenty of ideas, books, videos, and resources!


For ideas and resources for Earth Day, see THIS link.
 
Resources for April! If you'll be teaching in the month of April, this post has links to plenty of ideas, books, videos, and resources!
 
Many of my friends and coworkers agree, March was a very long month, but it's April, and there's a whole lot to look forward to! Maybe you can start the month winning some great stuff!

Resources for April! If you'll be teaching in the month of April, this post has links to plenty of ideas, books, videos, and resources!

What to do with Leftover Jellybeans?

Do you have leftover Jellybeans?  
If you don't, I'll bet you can get some real cheap!

What to do with leftover jellybeans - this is about a resource that makes it easier for teachers to share hands-on science and social studies activities for their primary students.
 

My students and I have been having some fun observing jellybeans that have been soaking in different solutions.

We started by recording our predictions on what might happen.

Then we poured the solutions in and watched.

A day later, we recorded our observations.
What to do with leftover jellybeans - this is about a resource that makes it easier for teachers to share hands-on science and social studies activities for their primary students.

The conversations between the groups were priceless! 


They were drawing conclusions and making logical comparisons. What an awesome group of scientists I have!

We have a couple of days before the final observation at the end of the week. It should be interesting to see their final conclusions!

This experiment is part of my Science and Social Studies for April.
 
What to do with leftover jellybeans - this is about a resource that makes it easier for teachers to share hands-on science and social studies activities for their primary students.

I have one of these for each month in an effort to squeeze in Science and Social Studies topics into my second grade. We have so much focus on literacy and math it's tough to squeeze in the subjects that the children love the most! These collections are my attempt to make the life of a primary teacher just a bit easier!

With these Science and Social Studies activities, I can find the time to do some fun stuff, without wasting much class time or prep time. 


Besides the jellybean experiment, there's another experiment on how to make an egg float, the lifecycle of a frog, a close read on Earth Day, and a mapping activity based on major league baseball teams. (The latter is a mini-version of Baseball Geography, which you can see more about HERE.)

You can save by purchasing bundles:


What to do with leftover jellybeans - this is about a resource that makes it easier for teachers to share hands-on science and social studies activities for their primary students.


5 Resources for Earth Day

My Earth is pretty important to me! 

It's my home, and it's the home for my kids (both biological and students) and their children. If we make the effort, we can make our Earth and its resources last!
 
5 Resources for Earth Day - books, videos, freebies and resources to celebrate Earth Day in the primary classroom.

I plan to make the whole week all about protecting our Earth and its resources.  Here are some of my plans:

1.  Literature! I always use plenty of literature whenever I teach a concept.  Here are some great books that tell what happens if we don't take care of our Earth: (Click image for a link to Amazon for more information about these books.)
     

Here are some more books to bring Earth Day awareness:
 
         

2. Resources! Here's what I'll be using next week to tie Earth Day into reading, writing and math in my second grade classroom: Earth Day No Prep

5 Resources for Earth Day - books, videos, and resources to celebrate Earth Day in the primary classroom.


These Earth Day Math Story Problems are a favorite! 

5 Resources for Earth Day - books, videos, and resources to celebrate Earth Day in the primary classroom.
 
The above resources as well as a few others are included in this bundle at a HUGE discount!  Earth Day Collection

5 Resources for Earth Day - books, videos, and resources to celebrate Earth Day in the primary classroom.


3. Videos!  Speaking of Youtube, there is a wealth of information out there, and some of it is pretty good!  Here are a few I've found that are great for Earth Day:







4. Be a Role Model! If you want the kids to do what they can to protect our Earth, you need to show them how! Let them see you reduce, reuse, and recycle! I always warn my students not to use more than their share of paper, not to waste materials, and not to let the water run. They see me being careful about using paper. I even print on both sides whenever I can! If a paper has print on one side, I save it and put it upside down in my printer to use again. We have a recycling box in our class for paper, and save paper scraps, especially construction paper that can be used again on other projects! I also make a point to mention when I see a child being conservative with materials.

5. Dollar Deals! Here are a couple more Earth Day bargains!

Here's a Dollar Deal for students to write about their Earth Day plans: EarthDay Writing Paper

5 Resources for Earth Day - books, videos, and resources to celebrate Earth Day in the primary classroom.
 
This Dollar Deal is a song to the tune of Take Me Out to the Ballgame! Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
 
5 Resources for Earth Day - books, videos, and resources to celebrate Earth Day in the primary classroom.

Can you tell Earth Day is important to me? 

Happy Earth Week!


5 Resources for Earth Day - books, videos, freebies and resources to celebrate Earth Day in the primary classroom.



Celebrate Spring With Games!

I am so ready for Spring!  

 
Here in New Hampshire, the temperature seems to have trouble getting past the 40s, and there are still patches of snow everywhere, including my garden!

Celebrate Spring with Games! Spring is here and the children are feeling the excitement of the season! Here are some spring games and activities to help keep that spring excitement focused!

But Spring is in my heart, as well as my classroom.  
Here are some of my Spring Products that you'll find my students using!  


Earth Day Vocabulary Match is a fun way to review words related to Earth Day and protecting the environment.  There are several variations of play!

Celebrate Spring with Games! Spring is here and the children are feeling the excitement of the season! Here are some spring games and activities to help keep that spring excitement focused!
 
Spring Flower "Go Fish" Game is a great way to practice the prefixes un-, dis-, re-, and pre- as well as the meanings of these prefixes.

Celebrate Spring with Games! Spring is here and the children are feeling the excitement of the season! Here are some spring games and activities to help keep that spring excitement focused!

Here's another game with prefixes, with suffix practice as well!
Rainy Day Prefixes and Suffixes gives the children practice finding the base word of words with prefixes and suffixes.  The children can focus on just prefixes, just suffixes, or combine the two!

Celebrate Spring with Games! Spring is here and the children are feeling the excitement of the season! Here are some spring games and activities to help keep that spring excitement focused!


Two Rainbow Games:  Nouns and Adjectives, Verbs and Adverbs is a great opportunity to practice making up adjectives to go with nouns, and making up adverbs to go with verbs.  


Celebrate Spring with Games! Spring is here and the children are feeling the excitement of the season! Here are some spring games and activities to help keep that spring excitement focused!


Mental Math Addition and Subtraction Game With a Spring Theme gives the students the opportunity to add or subtract multiples of ten mentally.  
 
Celebrate Spring with Games! Spring is here and the children are feeling the excitement of the season! Here are some spring games and activities to help keep that spring excitement focused!


I have a whole lot of sports-related products, and baseball season is upon us!  Here are a few baseball-themed games:

Baseball Antonyms is a simple matching game for antonyms.  It can also be played as an "Old Maid" game, which the kids love!
 
Celebrate Spring with Games! Spring is here and the children are feeling the excitement of the season! Here are some spring games and activities to help keep that spring excitement focused!


Home Run Two Digit Addition is a BINGO type of game to practice two-digit addition skills (with or without regrouping).

Celebrate Spring with Games! Spring is here and the children are feeling the excitement of the season! Here are some spring games and activities to help keep that spring excitement focused!


Looking for more sports-related resources? See HERE!

How are you celebrating Spring in your classroom?

Celebrate Spring with Games! Spring is here and the children are feeling the excitement of the season! Here are some spring games and activities to help keep that spring excitement focused!


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