One teaching "tip" I have that I love to share is how essential formative assessment is to effective teaching.  Research states clearly that knowing WHAT your students know and teaching to address these needs has a HUGE impact on student learning.  Pair this up with quality feedback and you are golden!   Many people use exit slips at the end of class to see what students have learned. I do this as well--but not as often as I use ENTRANCE slips!   Entrance slips you ask?   Absolutely ! Consider the number of students you have had in your life who got 100% on every spelling test but spell the same words incorrectly at every other time.  The same can be true with exit slips.  LOTS of students can do well with a topic immediately after being taught.  For me, it is more valuable to see who can still do it the next day or the day after that !   That's why I started using quick learning checks the next day--I wanted to see where my class stood before I st...
I am always looking for something to read.  I don't always get to it, but I have a lot to choose from come summer.  This week, I've compiled some of our most favorite and popular posts.  Each post provides a teaching tip, idea, inspiration, or all of the above. 10 Ways to Practice Multiplication Facts   From Teaching With Simplicity Let's be honest, practicing multiplication facts can be a bore and a chore.  You may want to try these:   Pick-a-Card, Number Draw, Multiplication Pyramid.  Sound interesting?   Read more here... Math Perseverance From Teacher Studio How do you get your students to persevere in Math?  Give them problems that are challenging, but provide them with tools to be successful.   Read more here... How to Teach the Standards through Social Studies Inquiry Circles From One Stop Teacher Shop What are inquiry circles?  They are a lot like research projects, but they begin differently.   Read more here... 5 Reasons to Use Mentor ...
The end of the year is a great time for students to look back and reflect on things they have learned throughout the year. At the end of this year, I put together this simple project to use as a culminating activity for our studies of California and U.S. History!! This year I had 4/5 split class, and this project was very easy to adjust for each grade level. In social studies, my 4th graders studied California History and my 5th graders studies U.S. History. So, their assignment was to research different California and U.S. symbols and monuments. To prep, I enlarged and copied this iPad template onto 11x17 paper. {I had to trim 12x18 construction paper, and mess around with our copy machine, just a bit!!}. Download Here:   POWERPOINT     PDF I also copied three app pages for each student... Download Here:   POWERPOINT     PDF To begin the project, I provided my students with a list of California and American symbols and landmarks to choose from. Throughout the week...
It's summer vacation - a time to relax, read, and have lots of fun!  I wanted to share with you some links and ideas on how to keep your kids' math skills sharp over the summer.  I collected online websites, apps, fun ideas, and printables. I am sure you can save some of these ideas for when you go back to the classroom as well.  Enjoy! 1. Math Magician    This site is AMAZING!  I use it during the school year to create some friendly competition among my students.  You can review addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, time, and many other topics.   Click here to view the full list .  Make sure to bookmark this site! 2. MangaHigh This is my FAVORITE math website to use during free choice in my classroom.  It has the most engaging, fun, educational games!!  Two of my favorite are pictured below ( Sundae Times Lite and Flower Power ). PEDMAS Blaster Lite is pretty cool too!  Who am I kidding, I also love the Pyramid Panic Lite game..it reviews perimeter!!...
For me, summer is a time for going to the pool, enjoying family vacations, and grilling out some juicy hamburgers! Yum! Yes, summer was made to be fun, and very well should be.  However, summer can also be a great opportunity to help children grow as readers.  Unfortunately, most children's reading levels actually decrease over the summer.  Good news is, there is an easy "fix" to this problem; We must encourage children to continue reading. Here are a few tips to help you keep kids reading all summer long.  (Parents can do these with their children, and teachers can recommend these tips to parents) 1. Bedtime Reading Bedtime is a great time to encourage reading, especially during the summer when children don't have to wake up as early as throughout the school year.  Set a bedtime and explain that if they would like to stay up a little later, they can, but they have to spend that time reading.  I don't know about you, but my daughter will jump at any ...
I don't know about you, but I often get to the last couple days of school and there seems to be some downtime with my excited students.  It may be before awards or after field day, but I find myself scrambling to keep them busy.  If you come to the same predicament, here are some ideas!  Of course if you have finished your year, pack these away for next year!  Woo woo! 1.  What I Predict I Will Be Doing When I Graduate I love to do this with my class!  Why?  I keep my students' addresses each year and when they are due to graduate, I send them a card!  I include their letters in the card!  It adds an extra touch and are so fun to read and super cute!  This is an example that I recently sent out to a girl who is graduating this week.  She was so excited to receive it! Some messages from parents: 2.  Summer Bucket List Help students create some activities to accomplish over the summer!  They can hang it on their refrigerator and check it off as they com...