Are you ready for the big game?

If you're like me, you're taking advantage of the enthusiasm for the big game coming up!

When children are excited about something, I always try to bring it into the classroom when I can. Books are a great place to start. (Click each image for a link to Amazon.)

• The Everything Kids' Football Book: All-time Greats, Legendary Teams, and Today's Favorite Players-- With Tips on Playing Like a Pro
• My First Book of Football: A Rookie Book
• Kick, Pass, and Run
• Goodnight Football
• What is the Super Bowl?
• Football: Then to WOW!
• The Football Fanbook (A Sports Illustrated Kids Book): Everything You Need to Become a Gridiron Know-it-all
• Catch That Pass
• My Football Book
• T is for Touchdown: A Football Alphabet

There's a ton of kid-related Super Bowl videos on YouTube. Just google "Super Bowl for Kids!"

Here's one I found. The commercials are often the best part of the Super Bowl. I'm thinking I might have the children vote on their favorite. then make a graph of the voting. 

 

12 Funniest Super Bowl Commercials of all time

I'm sure you can find more YouTube videos that you can relate to classwork!

Here's a Super Bowl freebie with mapping and writing! Just explore the image.

Here's a football-themed gameboard, with 4 different games that could be played on it.

Here's a dollar version of the above game, which practices Counting to 1,000. Just explore the image for the dollar deal!

This game can be played a few different ways, and always has the children giggling! All the verbs are football-related, too! Football Past and Present Verbs.

I also have a couple of "twin" football BINGO games. This math game practices adding and subtracting tens.

Here's the literacy "twin," Touchdown R-Controlled Vowels. 

Looking for a little more math practice? Check this one out: 

Football Math Story Problems

Now here's the fun: all these football-themed resources are now bundled at a great discount!

Football Learning Fun Bundle!

With the excitement of the Super Bowl, having football-related games will keep them engaged, and they might not realize that they are practicing important skills!

How do we keep them engaged?

"They" can be a whole lot of learners. They are the "fast finishers", or maybe the "gifted". They can be children who are "high achievers", or just a child who already knows the concept you're working on because his older brother taught it to him.

There are a million reasons a child might need an extra challenge to stay engaged. 

I know most schools have many ways to address the struggling students with Tier 2 and Tier 3, RTI, Title I, Special Education, and so on. But there's not all that much for those who learn easily or quickly. Yet, they are just as important! (Personally, I think they are ALL important, not just the ones who need to "up their test scores!")

Here are some things to NOT do: 

-give more practice on the same skill

-give "busy work" (work that won't advance the student's skills.)

-another grade level's work (This is a sticky subject, especially with some parents, but I truly believe that a child can be "enriched" without acceleration.)

Try to avoid most of the time:

-helping other students (again, it really doesn't advance the child's skills, but done occasionally can help reinforce the concepts.)

Better choices:

It's easier to challenge and engage early finishers in literacy. They can:

-read more challenging books

-read different genres

-write summaries or book reports

-write a story from another character's point of view

-write poetry

-write a play

-research a favorite subject and create a report

I could go on, but there are plenty of ideas all over the internet. (Check "early finishers" on Pinterest!)

Math can be a bit more of a challenge, because some kids struggle to grasp the daily lesson, while others breeze through the practice. We need to challenge the "fast finisher" brains by having them think of using strategies and procedures that will let them practice their skills with a little extra thinking.

Math choices:

-Yahtzee or other games that involve math strategies and planning

-Make their own math stories

-Complete or make their own math puzzles

-Practice facts with a friend

-Task cards, "I'm done" jars, or "What's next bulletin boards" (again, search Pinterest, there are tons of ideas out there!)

-computer games and tasks (such as BOOM computer task cards)

Here's a little video I made about one of my resources that fits this idea:

Mystery Challenge Math Bundle

What other ideas do you have to keep them engaged?

Five Finger Gratitude

Do you want to be happy? 
Do you want your students to be happy?

I've read from several sources, the key to happiness is showing gratitude. (See THIS ARTICLE for example.)

We as teachers know that happy children are in a better state for learning, aren't they?

Here's a trick that the kiddos love: Five-Finger Gratitude!

It's a great activity to do during morning meeting, in between subjects, right after recess, or at the end of the day. 

The children (and teachers) just need to count their blessings on their hand! It shouldn't be tough to come up with 5 things, and the more they think of their five, they can come up with more and different thoughts of gratitude daily!

It's a good idea to let the children share their thoughts as often as possible. They can share whole group, small groups, or with partners, but sharing is important.

Another option: give the children Gratitude Journals! Any notebook will do, and the children can put these labels on the covers! 

Gratitude Journal Labels

Of course, teachers can keep a gratitude journal, too! The children LOVE to hear the teacher's thoughts!

Be grateful!
Be happy!

Take Time to Enjoy Them!

Teaching can be crazy busy! 

In fact, it's easy to get discouraged by all the extra meetings and expectations for teachers these days.

 

Here's my best advice:

If you're anything like me, the kids are the reason you went into teaching to begin with. It wasn't to go to meetings. It wasn't to analyze test data. It wasn't to impress the administration. It was the kids.

It's always been about the kids.

Once in a while, I have a "game day." 

 

I kind of sneak it in, pretending it's a reward for being good, but it's really giving them a way to appreciate the skills they have learned and my way of enjoying the kiddos. 

As I'm sure you're aware, most board games practice many academic skills and social skills the children need to work on: counting, reading, taking turns, listening to directions, showing kindness, and plenty more! I have a few favorites I'd like to share with you. 

 

On a typical game day, I'll have a number of stations for the children, including a "work with teacher" station. That's when I pull out "Apples to Apples." (Explore image to see game at Amazon. It's an affiliate link. Don't worry, it doesn't cost you a thing. Promise!) 

 

Apples to Apples brings in important skills such as reading, categorizing, and respecting another's opinion. (If you know the game, the "judge's" opinion is law!)

 

Another reason I love this? It always includes loads of giggles! (I'll never forget the time one of my little guys put down the "my teacher" card for the category, "ugly." I knew something was up when he couldn't stop laughing as he put down the card... he promised me it wasn't really true!) We all had a good laugh over that one!

Here are a few more recommendations: (These images also affiliate links to Amazon, I promise it doesn't cost you a thing!)

A couple of games are great for practicing specific math skills. Yahtzee is a classic, plus it's addicting, so they'll play it again and again!

There are a gazillion games that can be played with a regular deck of playing cards! I often give the children a deck of their own as a gift, or I'll buy a bunch for the whole class to share.

I'm sure you know plenty of card games to teach the kiddos, and you don't, make some up! Even just putting the cards in order is great for those little minds developing Number sense!

Here's a game I absolutely LOVE. I didn't make it up, I found it on Shelley Gray's blog. It's called Salute. (That's NOT an affiliate link, it's just a link to Shelley's blog.)

The children work in groups of three. Two of the children place a card on their forehead, facing out so that everyone can see it but them. (The move is almost like a "salute," hence the name.)

The third person, whom I call the captain, tells the other two the sum of their 2 cards. Then they figure out what their own card is. (It's like missing addends, isn't it?)

Salute can also be played to practice multiplication skills. The "captain" tells the product of the two cards, otherwise, it works the same way!

What things do you do to enjoy them?

Brainy Kinesthetic Vowels Sounds

The English Language has 18 vowel sounds, but only 5 actual vowels. 

(I know, "sometimes Y", but Y doesn't have its own sound, it borrows from E and I.)  

Where do we start?  With the short vowel sounds! Why? Because close to 50% of the times those vowels are used, they make the short vowel sound.  

 

 

Unfortunately, the short vowel sounds are tough for the little ones to remember. The difference between the short e and the short i are pretty minuscule, but essential for encoding and decoding words.

I'm a teacher who needs to get the kids moving. I have all sorts of little tricks for the children to do to help them remember certain things, including vowel sounds.

When we practice short a, the children turn their body into an A shape, then "take off" saying ăăăăstronaut.

When practicing the short e sound, they turn into an E and say  ĕĕĕxercise!

The key word for the short i sound is insect.  The kids are always very creative hopping around the room as the letter I, saying  ĭ ĭ ĭnsect!

 

You guessed it, short o's key word is octopus.  Can you picture the little ones running around saying  ŏŏŏctoopus?  There's lots of giggling involved.

Finally, the short u sound is remembered when the children make the shape of a u, while holding an ŭŭŭmbrella.

I'm combining many of the ways that research shows brains remember: Getting involved physically, combining the physical with the auditory, and, of course, making it fun.  It takes some practice, but the little ones learn to identify those 5 sounds with those 5 letters.

Enjoy these brainy vowel sounds!

Music: a Key to the Brain!

Brain research tells us that listening to music actually helps the brain. 

There are many ways to use music in the classroom, and here are a few to get you going!

   

Did you know that music boosts brain organization? It affects our moods and emotions. Playing music in the classroom really makes a difference. Different kinds of music work at different times. Playing slow, classical music helps kids focus and concentrate. Fun, upbeat music helps them find energy during those sleepy times of day (after lunch?) or just plain makes the kids feel good. Putting important information to a familiar tune helps them remember things. There is no end to the possibilities of music in the classroom.

Although I have a huge collection of music for the classroom that I've downloaded or bought in CD form, (See THIS link, and THIS link.) there are other sources for music that are much more appropriate for a teacher's salary!

1. Free downloads! I found THIS link, 10 places to go to get free music downloads, including Free Music Archive and Amazon! It's worth exploring!😉)

2.  You-Tube! Just search You-Tube for the kind of music you want, and you'll see several options pop up! As long as I don't need my classroom projection system for something else, I'll find a long video and let it go on in the background to help the kiddos focus. Here's one I found when I searched "Calming Music for Kids"

Then I searched "Happy Music for Kids" and got this. This is great music for kids to hear when they're entering the class in the morning, because it makes them feel good!

 

 

Here's one I played often at the end of the school year, especially when we had our "seacoast week." I searched "Ocean Sounds with music." (This one is 31/2 hours long!)

 

 

 

I searched this one for Cinco de Mayo. ("Mexican music")

and, of course for St. Patrick's Day I might play this one! ("Irish Music")

Honestly, you can find just about anything on You-Tube, but be careful to check it ahead of time. As you know, there are things you DON'T want to share with the children! (For example, the Irish music category has plenty of Irish drinking songs!)

 

Where do you find music for the classroom?