Phonemic awareness games may help your child read fluently. Research has shown that the quicker a child differentiates the sounds in a word, the faster they understand. According to the National Reading Panel report on Teaching Children to Read, teaching kids phonemic awareness significantly improved their reading in various age groups and grades. What is Phonemic Awareness? Although phonemic awareness affects the reading ability of a child, it isn’t taught with the written word. It’s about listening to the spoken […]
Category: Primary
31 Eye-Catching Spring Bulletin Board Ideas For Your Classroom
Spring brings newness no matter where you are in the world. Shaking off Winter, Spring is the season of a new fresh look. It’s time to grow, to blossom and bloom. Spring Bulletin Boards can bring spring into the classroom. It may inspire a fresh start, an eagerness for the next semester. Here are 30 Spring bulletin board ideas from teachers around the world that you can use in your classroom. Also Check Out: Back To School and Fall bulletin […]
Setting SMART Goals In Your 2018 Classroom
Dreaming big dreams and desiring to achieve something worthwhile is natural to people. Setting the concrete goals to achieve these dreams is a skill that everybody of all ages needs to learn. It’s not natural for adults; neither is it natural for kids. A study done at Dominican University showed that people who had written goals, were committed to achieving the goals and had an accountability system in place, achieved more than those who didn’t have written goals. Like any […]
SMART Goals Template
The below ‘S.M.A.R.T.’ template is published under Creative Commons. Feel free to share on your own blog, school site or social network. Over a 150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln said “a goal set properly is halfway reached.” However, it’s harder to set a actionable goal rather than express a feeling or dream about the future. The attached SMART Goals Worksheet can be used to help set a goal that is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time bound. Utilizing this framework, […]
21 Icebreaker Questions You Should Ask Your Students On Their First Day Back To School
It’s the first day of a new school year, and with it comes an entirely fresh group of students in your classroom. Each of these children have their own story – their own unique dreams, fears and goals. And you know none of them. Over time, you certainly will uncover these nuggets of information. But one way to speed up the process is to have students take some time on the first day of class to answer a series of […]
Reading – Everyone’s Assignment For The Summer
The children are home, and the summer activity routine has taken over. The day is full of driving to baseball practice, swim lessons, and trying to fit in some fun time at the beach as well. Maybe you have found the time to get your children involved with a monthly STEM subscription, Khan Academy lessons, or some other scheduled “school-lite” activity. Have you remember to include daily reading – both for your child AND for you? Is Summer Reading Important? […]
Why Teach Digital Citizenship in 2018
Bryan likes to tell his children – unlike a diamond, what you do on the internet remains intact forever. The web is a tool – one that leaves a lasting impression with your actions, both good and bad. Whatever you do online is for the world to see. What is the digital legacy you will leave behind? What are you doing online today that will impact your future? Are you a good digital citizen? Every decision you make, no matter […]
The Best 15 Books to Raise Children’s Emotional IQ and Teach Empathy
One of the best tools to raise your children’s emotional IQ and empathy are books. Reading a story with your children gives you ample opportunity to talk about the story, the cause of the emotions and what is the best way to act and react in a similar situation. Help your children improve their coping mechanisms by raising their emotional intelligence. Improve your child’s ability to interact with others by making him aware of his own emotions. Emotional intelligence helps […]
All The World’s An Inference
NEVER. READ. A. JOKE. Trust me, just don’t ever do it. As well written, as well crafted, as a joke may be, like a note of music, it must be played and performed. It must be told. The pause. The look. The voices. The nervous stammer for effect. It’s more important than any words on a page. I should know. I’ve been telling a joke per day to an audience of seventh and eighth graders for over a decade. I […]
What Board Games Teach Children In An Electronic Age
When we see how much time kids put in playing with their iPad or XBox One, you might wonder if there is anyone under the age of thirty that still plays board games. Good news! People still enjoy a night of gaming around the table. While everyone can benefit from playing board game favorites, young children especially should spend time getting hands-on time with real-world games. Not only are playing with the best board games fun, but they help in […]
Our Maker Mindset
There is no greater joy than watching children create something. Whether the creating is done solo or in a group, thinking is visible. You can see the “wheels turning”. Hands-on work requires trial and error. If something doesn’t work, a child doesn’t stop working, but instead tries something else without prompting. Making is a natural gift we each possess. We are all makers, talented in different ways. I love telling stories of my own boys, so here is one of […]
Your Technology-Focused Lesson Plan Could Be Worth $1000
Are you a K-12 teacher based in the United States that has a technology-focused lesson plan in any subject others would benefit from seeing? If so, you could receive a $1000 grant from Verizon’s The Beacon. I received an email from a reader that alerted me to the contest (thanks, Jessica). Therefore, I had to dig around a bit for background information on what exactly is The Beacon. Who Is The Sponsor? The Beacon is the technology blog of Verizon’s […]
Adding EdTech to Your Classroom? 3 Non-Negotiable “Old School” Components to Include in Every Lesson
Educational technology: it’s the hottest movement out there in education, and has been for some time. In fact, there seems to be a rather non-discriminating admiration for anything edtech among many teachers today. You can’t open an educational journal, print or online, without being bombarded with ads and articles extolling the virtues of the “latest and greatest” technological tool for the classroom. And many of these tools are great, but we have to be careful anytime we decide to add […]
Leading In And From the Classroom
The role of a creative leader is not to have all the ideas; it’s to create a culture where everyone can have ideas and feel they’re valued. ~Sir Ken Robinson I am a middle child and relished the role of “leading” my younger brother. He, however, wasn’t a very cooperative follower. :) While I was somewhat shy as a child, I could organize my group of friends at recess like it was my job. I lived in the country without […]
Ultimate Project Based Learning – How Student Teamwork Built a World Championship Car
Every year for the past twenty the Saint Thomas Academy Experimental Vehicle Team (STA EVT) has built a new vehicle from the ground up to give our students the best engineering experience a high-schooler can get. The internationally recognized program started in 1997. My fellow moderator Mark Westlake and I believe in the importance of learning from mistakes. That the most important life lessons come from experience, that science is not always easy and that the answers are not always […]
EdTech Comfort Zones – From G Suite to Office 365
What is your preferred platform for regular digital work? What makes it your favorite? I learned how to use Microsoft Word and Appleworks (yes, I’m old) in high school. I continued to use those tools for basic word processing tasks through my first few years of teaching. At some point, Appleworks went away. Not a big deal. As a second-grade teacher with just a few old iMacs in my classroom for kids to play games on, I didn’t need very […]
15 Popular Pencil Case Options for Quirky Cool Kids
Whether it’s for school, art, or work, everyone loves a new pencil case. A schoolbag essential, a pencil pouch doesn’t just store pencils, pens, erasers, and rulers. It also expresses personality and encourages organization, tidiness, and responsibility. Every child needs a place to store their tools for school, so why not get the best? Here are some of the coolest, cutest, and quirkiest options out there – for kids of all ages. Best Pencil Case Options 1. ZIPIT Talking Monstar Pencil […]
White Men Can’t Jump…But Levitate?
It’s true. It’s been my sad and woeful battle with gravity for years. My jumping suggests that perhaps gravity has an abnormally negative effect on me. Sadly, there is no Rare Gravity Abnormality Syndrome (RGAS for short). Big pharma hasn’t made a pill that will leave me depressed and incontinent to improve my jumping. Extreme density is just nowhere to be found in the medical community. But, I am a sufferer. Maybe the condition will be named after me in […]
Avoid The Brain Drain! Here’s How You Can Make the Most of Outdoor Learning This Summer
The summer months are notorious for triggering brain drain. The shear gap in time, combined with the hiatus from hours of learning every day, prompts a decline in knowledge acquisition and retention. Now, it is no wonder why summer activities and routines make it difficult to convince children to complete ungraded practices. Kids would much rather ditch the homework and head outside to soak up the sunshine with their friends. So instead, what if we took the learning outside? What […]
The Student-Teacher Relationship Matters More Than You Might Think
Quality instruction isn’t the only factor that determines students’ academic achievement. Students’ sense of belonging to the school community is also significant to student achievement. A growing body of research shows the sense of belonging or “connectedness” to the school community also has positive educational outcomes for all students. “Sense of belonging” is defined as the extent to which students feel valued, respected, safe, and welcome in the school community. It is positively associated with high academic achievement, high school graduation […]