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The Brain, Baseball, and Geography

I read a lot about how the brain learns and remembers. Why? Because I find it absolutely fascinating. I also want my students to learn, so I'm always searching for ways to help them remember what I've taught.

The Brain, Baseball and Geography! Do you want to teach some geography skills in a way children will remember? Here are some brain based ideas to help!

I've found that kids learn best when they get a little bit at a time, frequently, rather than one big lesson all at once, then never to see it again. (Unfortunately, our present Math program does the latter.)

There's plenty of evidence out there to prove that frequent review and practice are the best way for children to remember what they're learning.

There's also plenty of evidence to prove that connecting learning to the passions of the children helps the learning process as well.

So, what does this have to do with baseball?  That's the passion that I connect to learning geography!

I write a letter every morning to the children, letting them know of anything special happening that day. I also post the learning targets of the day. Then I usually put in some fun little questions and/ or graphics:  you know, to motivate the kids to read the letter!

The Brain, Baseball and Geography! Do you want to teach some geography skills in a way children will remember? Here are some brain based ideas to help!
This movie shows the
insane loyalty of Red Sox fans!

Here in New Hampshire, we are die-hard Red Sox fans. Those of us who grew up in the Boston area have developed a loyalty that we just can't shake. Since the official start of baseball season a couple of weeks ago, I've been writing a little "Red Sox Geography" question in the morning letter, complete with a map and labels.



It might look like this:
The Brain, Baseball and Geography! Do you want to teach some geography skills in a way children will remember? Here are some brain based ideas to help!

or like this:

The Brain, Baseball and Geography! Do you want to teach some geography skills in a way children will remember? Here are some brain based ideas to help!

I admit, I'm as almost as passionate about geography as I am about the Red Sox. If the little ones aren't baseball fans when they come into my class, they certainly are by the time they leave!


I make sure we have plenty of maps around, and the children scramble to be the first ones with the answer! It's just a little bit every day, but they become familiar with the names of the states, the bodies of water, and the cardinal directions. 

The timing is good, since their reading skills and their mapping skills are strong enough for these activities by April, and since we won't get out until the last week of June, they'll be getting almost daily practice!

Want to know more about brain-based learning? See Ten Brain Based Learning Strategies or 10 Key Brainy Points.

See also this resource with Geography Baseball Task Cards!

The Brain, Baseball and Geography! Do you want to teach some geography skills in a way children will remember? Here are some brain based ideas to help!

 How do you use their passions to get them interested in schoolwork?

 
The Brain, Baseball and Geography! Do you want to teach some geography skills in a way children will remember? Here are some brain based ideas to help!

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!

Explore this image for a link to this word work game

 
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.

Explore this image for a link to this fun game.


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!

Explore this image for a link to this fun word work game.

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.  

Explore this image for a link to this fun word work game.


Mental Math Addition and Subtraction Game With a Spring Theme allows the students to add or subtract multiples of ten mentally.  
Explore this image for a link to this fun math game.

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!
Explore this image for a link to this baseball themed word work game!

Home Run Two Digit Addition is a BINGO type of game to practice two-digit addition skills (with or without regrouping).
Explore this image for a link to this baseball themed math Bingo game!


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!




Earth Day Resources and Deals!

I'm a big fan of Earth Day. 

Earth Day Resources and Deals! Looking for ideas to help your children think about Earth Day? Here are several ideas as well as some dollar deals!

I think looking out for our world is VERY important and it needs to happen now. 

Each and every one of us needs to do what we can to help this place be around for our grandchildren and our grandchildren's grandchildren.


As with most special days, I always celebrate every Earth Day with plenty of good literature.  

Here are some of my favorite children's books with an Earth Day theme:


Earth Day Resources and Deals! Looking for ideas to help your children think about Earth Day? Here are several ideas as well as some dollar deals!     Earth Day Resources and Deals! Looking for ideas to help your children think about Earth Day? Here are several ideas as well as some dollar deals!
Earth Day Resources and Deals! Looking for ideas to help your children think about Earth Day? Here are several ideas as well as some dollar deals!

Earth Day is an ABC book, and makes a great introduction to the concept of protecting the environment.

The Lorax, is classic Seuss!  He tells about a mystical land of fantasy, which, in true Seuss fashion, is a much deeper real story.  Even my second graders understand this valuable lesson.

The Wump World is a fun book to read to the children and NOT show the illustrations (even the cover) until the children have had a chance to show the Wumps and Pollutians that they visualized while listening to the story.  Another great story about a fantasy world with very real lessons!

This one is a new discovery to me, and my new Earth Day Favorite

Earth Day Resources and Deals! Looking for ideas to help your children think about Earth Day? Here are several ideas as well as some dollar deals!

A River Ran Wild is a story that dates back to the days the Native Americans ruled this area, and respected the earth. It continues through European settlers, the industrial age, and attempts to clean up the river. This book is based on a local river, which makes it near and dear to my heart, but it's got a valuable message about protecting our world. My students became very upset when they saw what happened to the beautiful river. See THIS BLOG POST for more about this book, and an art activity to go with it.

After reading, I intend to have the children do some opinion writing and/ or explanatory/ informational writing based on what they have learned about protecting the environment.

Here's a collection of writing paper with the Earth Day theme that I'll be using.  

Earth Day Resources and Deals! Looking for ideas to help your children think about Earth Day? Here are several ideas as well as some dollar deals!

See this link to download this dollar deal: Earth Day Writing Paper

Plus, here's a little song to encourage Recycling! Click the image to download Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!

Earth Day Resources and Deals! Looking for ideas to help your children think about Earth Day? Here are several ideas as well as some dollar deals!

 How are you honoring Earth Day this year?


Earth Day Resources and Deals! Looking for ideas to help your children think about Earth Day? Here are several ideas as well as some dollar deals!






Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing

As a blogger, I know the power of the audience. It's you readers out there that make me want to blog, and make me want to make quality blog posts! Don't our children need this same sense of audience to motivate their writing? I think so!

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing: Here are 12 ways to help the children WANT to write. All of them are FREE and most are low maintenance!

Here are some ideas for celebrating the children's writing:

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing: Here are 12 ways to help the children WANT to write. All of them are FREE and most are low maintenance!
1. Share in Class! Have one child read his/ her story to the class. The class is expected to listen and ask questions that "prove they were listening." This works well when the child is "mid-story" in order to get ideas on where to go from this point.

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing: Here are 12 ways to help the children WANT to write. All of them are FREE and most are low maintenance!
2. Small Group Shares! Have children work in groups of 2 or three to share their stories as above.

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing: Here are 12 ways to help the children WANT to write. All of them are FREE and most are low maintenance!
3. Share Your Best Sentence!  I like this one because there's usually enough time for each child to share one sentence. If the children know it's coming, that helps motivate the children to work on the quality of their sentences.

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing: Here are 12 ways to help the children WANT to write. All of them are FREE and most are low maintenance!
4.  Share With Someone Else in the Building! There are lots of adults in an elementary school who would be thrilled to "play along" with this one! It's a great motivator to promise a child that he can read his story to the custodian, or the secretary, or the cafeteria workers. It's a win-win!

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing: Here are 12 ways to help the children WANT to write. All of them are FREE and most are low maintenance!
5. Share With Another Class! Plan to get together with another class in your own grade, or another grade to pair the children up for a big share! There are advantages to each age group: older, younger, or peers!

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing: Here are 12 ways to help the children WANT to write. All of them are FREE and most are low maintenance!
6. Skype! - Do you have a class with whom you Skype?  What a great opportunity for children to share their writing! 

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing: Here are 12 ways to help the children WANT to write. All of them are FREE and most are low maintenance!
7. Write Letters! See THIS BLOG POST for the benefits of letter writing and resource to make it easy!
Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing: Here are 12 ways to help the children WANT to write. All of them are FREE and most are low maintenance!
8. Bulletin Boards!  Post the children's writing on the wall for others to see!

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing: Here are 12 ways to help the children WANT to write. All of them are FREE and most are low maintenance!
9. Class Books and Newspapers! These will be read by classmates (and parents) over and over!

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing: Here are 12 ways to help the children WANT to write. All of them are FREE and most are low maintenance!
10. Publish! It's amazing how special it makes a story when it's typed up and a fancy cover is put on it. I allow students to take out each others' published books for Independent Reading time. It gets really interesting when we're talking about Author's purpose... the author is sitting right there in the classroom!

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing: Here are 12 ways to help the children WANT to write. All of them are FREE and most are low maintenance!
11. Have an "Author's Tea"! Invite parents, grandparents, and administrators, and give the children an opportunity to read one of their stories to the group. This can be as simple or as elaborate as you make it. It's a great opportunity for a party, and a great opportunity to motivate your young writers with a live audience!

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing: Here are 12 ways to help the children WANT to write. All of them are FREE and most are low maintenance!
12. Have a Class Blog!  I have to admit, I've never done this, but I'm planning to start a class blog very soon!  Imagine the thrill to see your own written work displayed on the internet! Wait... I know what that's like, and that's why I can't wait to give my students the opportunity to do the same!  

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing: Here are 12 ways to help the children WANT to write. All of them are FREE and most are low maintenance!

If you have a blog for your class, or know of one, I'd love some input! I have loads of questions and concerns, so I'm looking for examples and mentors in the Class Blog department!

That Day That Teachers Dread?

Did you realize April Fool's Day is coming??? Some teachers absolutely dread this day. Are you one of them?



I'm a true believer in any opportunity to laugh! As a matter of fact, laughter is healthy! (See THIS blog post on the benefits of laughter!)  It's also great for the brain! (See THIS blog post on brain fitness!)

I do enjoy making the kids laugh, and I enjoy their humor.  But I kind of like to "beat them to the punch".

I set the rules first thing: April Fool's Day is about making people laugh. It is NOT about making people mad.

I stuck around for a while after school today setting up some things that will hopefully lead to a few laughs.

I wrote the morning letter for Monday. I usually write about the morning routine, reminding them of their daily responsibilities, and if anything unusual were going to happen on that day. Monday's letter says we're going on a field trip to Disney World. The schedule is set up with the word "field trip" at the top, and nothing else!

Here's the date for Monday:  (They have actually earned 25 minutes, not 325!)
The Day That Teachers Dread? I'm one who looks forward to April Fool's Day in the classroom. Here are plenty reasons why, including some fun resources!

When you're 7, seeing things you normally see, but upside down, is pretty funny.  (Note the calendar arrow pointing to August, rather than April!)

The Day That Teachers Dread? I'm one who looks forward to April Fool's Day in the classroom. Here are plenty reasons why, including some fun resources!

Again, upside down is pretty funny when you're 7.
TThe Day That Teachers Dread? I'm one who looks forward to April Fool's Day in the classroom. Here are plenty of

  Some of the names and stations for the morning literacy block are upside down... great stuff.  

The Day That Teachers Dread? I'm one who looks forward to April Fool's Day in the classroom. Here are plenty reasons why, including some fun resources!

This is where we often put "exit slips" for reading.  They put a post it on their number, telling something about the story they read.  I put a post it with a personality trait on their numbers. Hopefully this will make them smile!

The Day That Teachers Dread? I'm one who looks forward to April Fool's Day in the classroom. Here are plenty reasons why, including some fun resources!

How do I bring April Fool's Day into reading?  I bring out my joke books! (These are affiliate links to Amazon.)
And, of course, who understands the sense of humor of a seven year old better than Robert Munsch? (More affiliate links to Amazon.)
How do I bring April Fool's day into Math?  With Problem-solving!  Check out my April Fool's Day Math  Stories!

Explore this image for a link to this fun resource!

Looking for more learning related to April Fool's Day?

Explore this image for a link to this popular resource!


Interestingly, I have several of the same ideas, plus a few more on last year's April Fool's Day post! HERE is the link to see that one!

Have a happy April Fool's Day!  
I hope you hear loads of laughter!

The Day That Teachers Dread? I'm one who looks forward to April Fool's Day in the classroom. Here are plenty of reasons why, including some fun resources!


What's Your High and Low?


I have a little tradition in my classroom that I've been doing for years at the end of the day. It's called "High/ Low". (In some circles, it can be called "Rose and Thorn.") It's when we reflect on our day and decide what was the best part of the day and what was the most challenging part of our day. 

What's Your High and Low? This blog post is about a little tradition I've been doing at the end of the day in my classroom and it's always a big hit. It helps me learn about my students and build relationships with them.

I got the idea from an old romantic comedy starring Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer called The Story of Us.




 It was a cute movie about a married couple with two children who were struggling with their marriage. Every evening at dinner the family would share their high of the day and their low of the day. That got me thinking about ending the day in the classroom the same way. I tried it, and it worked out better than expected!

Sometimes people ask me why I let the kids focus on their low of the day... don't I want them to be positive? Well, yes, of course I want them to be positive, but sometimes they have something that is bugging them, and it makes them feel better to get it out. (Just like the rest of us!) Besides, it helps me know what's going on in the classroom. (And even though they don't mention names, I usually know exactly who they're talking about, and can address it privately later!)

In the beginning, there's usually plenty of modeling on my part. My high might be about a success the class had that day, "I was proud when the class got a good report from the art teacher," or "Everyone caught on to adding hundreds today!"  Sometimes, it's an individual success, "John turned 8 years old today," or "Mary has a brand new baby brother."

I'm particularly careful to model what a low would sound like, since I don't want this to be the focus, and I want them to know I care about them. It might sound something like this, "Fred was out sick today," or "Fran got hurt on the playground today," or maybe "Someone hurt George's feelings." More than anything, it's important to model positive feelings. This is when you learn about your students and build those important relationships.

High/ Low of the Day usually works best at the end of the day. However, it can be used in the morning for special events, such as High/ Low of the month, High/ Low of vacation, High/ Low of a holiday, High/ Low of a test, and so on!

Here's another blog post about how I do High/ Low by having the children hold a Beanie Baby when it's their turn, then tossing the Beanie to the next person: How to Have Them Happy When They Walk Out of the Classroom.

What's Your High and Low? This blog post is about a little tradition I've been doing at the end of the day in my classroom and it's always a big hit. It helps me learn about my students and build relationships with them.



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