Elementary Matters is an educational blog focused on Elementary grades 1-3. These posts will make an elementary teacher's life easier by sharing information about how the brain learns best. It includes time savers, suggestions for classroom management, hints on effective teaching of reading, writing, and math, and several ideas for squeezing Science and Social Studies into daily instruction. These posts include links to several videos, articles, resources, and plenty of free materials.
Showing posts with label children's books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children's books. Show all posts
I'm tired of watching the attack ads all over the TV, my phone ringing constantly, getting flyer after flyer in the mail, and the signs all over town. Luckily, this campaign season is almost over, thank goodness!
I also think it's important to teach the importance of the election to the little ones. But in a gentler, kinder fashion.
We vote for our favorite indoor recess game! See the above image or see HERE for this freebie for Election Day. It includes ballots, graphs, and suggestions for the day.
We've been working on common and proper nouns, so I've cooked up this matching game with an election theme. I find ANY special day makes learning more fun, doesn't it? This set has several options, including a board game. You can learn more about this set HERE, or by see the image.
Kids always need brain breaks, and squeezing in a little patriotism doesn't hurt! See the image or see HERE to download this Dollar Deal!
Here are a few books I've found with an election theme.
Don't forget the Patriotic Music!
How do you honor election day with your little ones?
This is our last full week of school, and we'll be celebrating learning by having Academic Summer Games!
My goals:
Have fun!
Give the kids a taste of what the Olympics are like!
Give the children some experience with some of the different countries all over the world.
Review skills from the year!
Liven up these last few dreary days!
Promote teamwork and positive feelings.
Promote individual self esteem
Grab an opportunity for some Project Based Learning.
Did I mention having fun?
Of course, the real Olympics start in August and will be over before we come back to school in the fall. But I'm a huge fan of the Olympics, and rather passionate about Social Studies as well. What better way to learn about different countries from all over the world?
Here's my plan:
Form 5 groups of 4. Those students will choose a country to represent, design a banner to represent that country, make a flag for that country, and pick a color to wear on the days of "competition".
We'll start with a "parade of athletes" around the school. Each "country" will carry its banner and flag, and will proudly display their colors.
Then we'll hold a number of "events". I'm thinking a few scoot games, like these, perhaps a "read-a-thon", brainstorming contests (How many nouns can you think of in 60 seconds?), math facts contests, a S.T.E.M. project (something to do with water that can be done outside!), physical contests (How many jumping jacks can you do in 60 seconds?)
After each ceremony, hold a "medal ceremony" for the winners. I'm thinking some events will be group events, and some will be individual events. Yes, I actually own a CD of national anthems, so I'll play the one that goes with the country they represent, while they display their flag/ banner.
If necessary, I'll come up with my own events, to make sure everyone gets an opportunity to be a winner. (Most people wearing purple?)
Send them home with smiling faces and stories to tell.
Brain research tells us that emotions play a big role in memory. Contests and competition get the blood pumping! Brain research also tells us that the social part of learning is essential. This will include quite a bit of movement, music, artwork, and opportunities for everyone on every team to show their strengths. According to brain research, this will touch on many important points.
Here are some books with Olympics themes: (Each title is a link to Amazon for more information.)
This is an awesome read for the first day of school!
Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak, Ph.D is appropriate for kids K-3.
If you've ever read my blog before, you'll know that I am absolutely fascinated by the brain and how it works. This book explains how the brain works in kid-friendly language!
It tells the specific parts of the brain and the specific jobs they have, and how each brain is different, which makes us all uniquely different.
I particularly love the part that discusses things that kids have learned, such as playing soccer, that were hard at first, but with practice, got easier! They might have even made mistakes, but the mistakes helped them learn!
If that's all it was about, this book could be used any time of year. The reason this makes a great beginning-of-the-year book is because it tells the reader they can stretch their own brain!
Who wouldn't want to stretch their brain?
Isn't that our job as teachers? To stretch their brains?
(I refuse to believe that our job is to have the kiddos score well on tests!)
I feel it's our job as teachers to teach the children to be better learners, and to stretch their brains as much as they can!
That leads me to this fun resource, based on this awesome book.
It has some activities to let the children tell what's already in their brain, a chance to challenge their brains a bit more, and a few coloring pages to give them a chance to think about their brains! See the image or see HERE for the link to this fun resource! Enjoy!I Can Stretch My Brain!
These are all task cards based on the locations of major league baseball teams! I had such a blast putting this together, and so far my students can't get enough! Plus, they're really getting to know the locations on the US maps!
Here are a couple of other baseball-themed games I've got:
Baseball Antonyms combines a couple of popular games with antonym practice.
Plus, I have a couple of BINGO games with a baseball theme:
Home Run Two Digit Addition gives the children practice adding 2 two-digit numbers, along with a little strategy.
Home Run Two Syllable Words is a similar BINGO game, but this one gives the children practice reading two-syllable words.
The students LOVE these BINGO games!
Come to think of it, they love any time I combine learning with sports!
And, of course, there's one more! A bundle of all of the baseball-themed activities:
How do you integrate sports into the learning process?
I'm dreading going back. I've enjoyed my morning ritual of having a cup of coffee, watching TV, and browsing Facebook and teacher blogs while in my jammies! I'll have to say good bye to all that when our vacation ends.
But the good news is: I get to see the kids again! Plus, there's a lot of fun stuff that can be done in January! (Well, besides testing and Progress Reports!)
First of all, it's winter. Now I've never been crazy about the snow or the cold, but the kiddos love playing in the snow, and I love their enthusiasm. Therefore, I look for opportunities to include winter themes in my classroom. Let's start with books! (Each is an affiliate link to Amazon for more information!)
Here are a couple of fun resources to help the kids practice the basics in a fun way.
HERE is a link to the winter video on Brain Pop Jr. Don't you love the way they put sophisticated concepts into language the children can understand?
Besides winter, there are a couple of days that are important. We have a day off for Martin Luther King Jr. in a couple of weeks. Besides making sure the kids know why we have the day off, I think Dr. King was an amazing man. I always spend some time talking about Dr. King, and love the innocent passion I always get from the kids each year. "They couldn't use the same bathroom? That's...just...so...wrong!" They are amazing!
HERE's a link to the Brain Pop Martin Luther King Free movie!
A lesser-known holiday: Friday January 9th is National Static Electricity Day. It's handy that it lands when the air is so dry, since it gives us plenty of opportunities to explore static electricity! (I suspect that was intentional, but I know nothing about how National Static Electricity Day came to be!)
Speaking of electricity, did you realize Ben Franklin's birthday is January 17th? Now he's an interesting guy!
I love all the little holidays. Brain research tells us that children need novelty to learn. Well, all these little days are a great way to bring novelty into the classroom! See this resource for more of these fun little holidays! Click here:
If you enjoy celebrating individual days, you'll love January Morning Meeting Greeting Activities! I'm trying to make your life easier by writing your morning letters for you. Each day includes the full date, something to celebrate on that date, and questions designed to get the children thinking! These can be used for discussions or writing prompts, and can be used occasionally or as a daily morning routine. Plus, they will be updated each year!
Here's another look at the individual pages!
You may also be interested in this creation: Science and Social Studies Printables for January. There are activities for winter, Ben Franklin, static electricity, Martin Luther King Jr, mapping, and making timelines. See the image below for the link. (Be sure to download the preview for more details!)
I've also put several January items into a bundle that has pretty much everything you'll need for those first few weeks back!
This image gives you some ideas about what's in it, but if you want a closer look, check out my preview here: January Bundle or see the image below.
Can you believe it? After that, Christmas, then another year! Life, please slow down?
Well, I want to spend the next 7 school days celebrating Thanksgiving. It's a great opportunity to "throw in" a little history, as well as enjoy the things for which we are grateful!
How do I squeeze all this in? Well, I always start with loads of books. Here's a collection of books I've loved. Some are fun, some are informational. I like to have a lot of books for each interest and each reading level so they all can enjoy them at independent reading time!
Books are always a great start. Movies are another fun way to enjoy the holidays!
See the above image for a link to BrainPOP Jr's free Thanksgiving video! Don't you love BrainPOP?
Here are a couple of movies I've found on YouTube with a Thanksgiving theme. Feel free to preview them and choose what is right for your group!
HERE are some videos from Scholastic that have been filmed at Plimouth Plantation. These are definitely worth a watch!
I try to squeeze in the holidays in all the subjects. This resource has loads of math and literacy activities with the Thanksgiving theme I'll be using these all week!
There's an information mini-book about turkeys, complete with fun facts, vocabulary practice, comprehension questions, and a reflection page. (My kiddos LOVED this, especially the fun facts!)
This resource is also available as a stand-alone resource here:
or as part of this bundle:
Plus, there's a sorting activity, where the children have to decide if facts might have happened back in 1621, or if it couldn't have happened back then. Be prepared for giggles!
Here's a math game with a Turkey theme to practice those +9 facts. My kids LOVE this one!
I can't let Thanksgiving go by without a reference to football! When I was a kid, we always had a football game in the morning, and a turkey in the afternoon. (My dad was a football coach!)
Here are links to a couple of football games my kids love!
