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.
Here are a few Dollar Deal resources to help get you through this busy month!
We start the month with a couple of Patriotic Holidays: Election Day and Veterans Day! Here are a couple of freebies to help you out with these special days:
(Explore each image for the link!)
Write some thank you letters to our Veterans! (This one is free!)
Celebrate Election Day the way children should!
Take breaks and learn about the country at the same time!
Help children distinguish between these 6 tricky Patriotic Holidays!
Of course, it's football season! Here's a football-themed game to practice counting to 1,000!
This game is a true favorite with my kiddos! It's played like "Old Maid", and is guaranteed to get them giggling! (Don't tell them they're practicing an important skill!)
Enjoy this busy month... don't blink, it goes by fast!
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.)
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 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.
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!
It feels like we just started school, and already we're looking at October in the not-so-far distance.
October brings fall, Fire Safety Week, football, and, of course, Halloween!
Brain research tells us that if children can make a connection with their learning, then learning will happen. I find most children can easily make a connection with special days and sports, which makes them more enthusiastic about learning! In face, I'm banking on their enthusiasm, and I have plenty of resources to celebrate learning and building skills in a fun way!
Teachers can project these questions as the children arrive in the morning to get them thinking about the day. They can also be used as daily writing prompts.
The above resource is related to this fun October trivia digital resource, available on the Boom Learning platform. These are great for your fast finishers and those who need a little something extra!
In an attempt to "fit in" more Science and Social Studies concepts, I've looked over my grade-level College and Career Ready Science and Social Studies Standards and found ways to squeeze these concepts into my day. Most of the work is done; all you have to do is print and go! I even have an S.T.E.M. activity with an October theme! Check out this resource here: Science and Social Studies Activities for October.
This Bats resource is a sample of the above collection. Check out this fun resource here: Bats Informational Mini-Book
Here's a dollar deal to get the kiddos thinking about Fire Safety: Fire Safety What-Iftask cards.
It's fall in New England! There are so many beautiful changes here that make it one of my favorite seasons: warm days, crisp nights, football, and the beautiful fall colors on the trees. To make your life (and mine) easier, I've combined important concepts with fall ideas in these Fall No Prep Activities!
One of the best parts about Fall in New England? Football! I've got plenty of Football Resources! Just click the images for each link!
Here's a sample from the set above:
Students LOVE these football-themed BINGO games!
Here's a collection of several football-themed games!
Here's a fun football-themed math problem-solving activity on Boom Learning!
This October bundle is marked down for you, with plenty of fun learning activities!
It hardly seems there is much of anything that a non-sports type like me might learn from a football coach, but I'm living proof that a football coach can teach plenty that has nothing to do with the gridiron.
I've been thinking a lot about my dad today. He would be 97 today if he were still alive.
My dad was a football coach. I never had much luck with sports, although I was expected to participate back then. (It was very frustrating since I was downright awful!)
However, I learned a whole lot about life from my dad! So did his players!
Optimism! My dad taught his players to believe in successful outcomes. "I can, and I will!"
Empathy! My father taught his players to show empathy for the losing team and, on rare occasions, the winning team. (Our team rarely lost!)
Creativity! Although football players learn drills and plays, there are plenty of times on the field they need to think for themselves and create their own path.
Grit! Playing football involves courage and strength of character. He taught them to work hard to attain their goals. "When the going gets tough, the tough get going!"
Self-Control! Football players need control and discipline to perform as a team. It takes willpower to put personal emotions and impulses aside and focus on the task at hand!
Resilience! No matter how often they were tackled, they got up and tried again!
Wait... those qualities—optimism, empathy, creativity, grit, self-control, and resilience—aren't important skills for all kids to learn?
Although they're not actually part of the curriculum, don't you think these are important for children to learn?
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!
