These Fraction, Decimal, and Percent conversions posters are a must have for any 6th, 7th, or 8th Grade Math Classroom! Help your class learn converting decimals, converting percents, and convertin…
Learn how you can start engaging your students with math task cards in the classroom. These ideas will give you some variety in how you use these valuable tools.
I develop curriculum for middle school math. I focus on using critical-thinking skills in my content so the math makes sense to the students.
Learn a variety of strategies on how to make history class engaging for students. Check out in this blog post.
Grab your copy of FREE ELA Curriculum Maps grades 6th-8th and save yourself a year's worth of planning! Digital maps with a planner, calendar, and more!
Get your students thinking like a historian from the get-go with these tips and ideas for your first Social Studies lesson of the year.
If you are looking to add some fun math review to your middle school classroom, math games are the perfect fit. These versatile activities can be used in small math groups, math centers, math workshop, as review math games, or as a teacher vs. class game. Since I have spent so much time creating gam
A Plan a Roadtrip Project is engaging and memorial end-of-the-year project for Middle School Social Studies.
These area and perimeter of polygons bulletin board posters will look GREAT on your word wall and will help your 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th grade geometry class learn perimeter and area!
I develop curriculum for middle school math. I focus on using critical-thinking skills in my content so the math makes sense to the students.
Being 11 is hard enough.
Looking for inspiration for teaching middle school reading skills? Read on to see how I teach the essential elements in a 6th-grade classroom.
Dig deep into that brain of yours...
Heart Rate Mini-Lab activity for teaching the circulatory system to muddle school students
I develop curriculum for middle school math. I focus on using critical-thinking skills in my content so the math makes sense to the students.
Today I stayed after school to create some anchor charts my regular 7th grade math classes. We are currently working on 7.EE.A.1 "Apply properties of operations as strategies to add, subtract, factor, and expand linear expressions with rational coefficients." All my math students did ACT Interim testing today so I spent some time designing my anchor charts. I'm a bit compulsive when designing anchor charts and prefer to map out what I want to include on post-it notes and then transfer the information to chart paper. I don't decide on colors until I sit down to write my anchor charts. These three (well really four because I redid the Solving Expressions chart) took me over two hours to complete. Below was the first chart I created. I was definitely not happy with how the examples looked. I should have had space between each line on example 2. Solving Expressions Take One I ended up redoing this chart after I created the charts for Distributing and Factoring. I thought they were so much easier to read and see each example that I went back and and fixed this one up and was much happier with how it turned out the second time. Solving Expressions Much Better! I do not require my students to show the work of how they distribute, but put it on the anchor chart as a guide to remind them they have to distribute to all terms in parentheses. A common misconception is for them to only distribute to the first term. Distributing I love the way this chart turned out and like the combo of blue, red, and purple with the black. Stepping outside my comfort zone of my pink, blue, green color scheme. When students struggle I always refer back to the anchor charts to guide them to solve the problem. Factoring All ready to go on my front board for tomorrow. I'm very happy with the finished products and hope they will be beneficial to my students as they work through this chapter. In the past students have really appreciated having anchor charts to look at and often take photos of them on their phones so they can look at them at home. I still need to make a chart for Combining Like Terms, but my family was waiting for me to get home so we could have dinner so that will have to wait until tomorrow.
I develop curriculum for middle school math. I focus on using critical-thinking skills in my content so the math makes sense to the students.
A superb range of math worksheets in pdf for students in grade 7 (aged 12-13). We are a trusted provider of printable math worksheets for middle school children and this set of worksheets is ideal for students in Grade 7. Our 7th Grade worksheets are perfect for use in the classroom or
This figurative language foldable is a great introduction.Visit us!!
Learn a variety of strategies on how to make history class engaging for students. Check out in this blog post.
I develop curriculum for middle school math. I focus on using critical-thinking skills in my content so the math makes sense to the students.
Read about eleven different ways to meaningfully incorporate art in ELA class. Keep the focus on students' learning, not their artistic abilities.
The educational strategies I use in my classroom are things I continuously reflect on and develop. The classroom management of my middle school classrooms is one of the things I’m most proud of with my teaching. I generally had a happy classroom that was under control and focused on learning, which wasn't always easy considering my classes each consisted of 30+ seventh graders at ALL possible academic levels working out of their seats on science experiments and activities. My biggest pieces of advice for a well-behaved class are to keep your rules and consequences simple, clear, and consistent. My Classroom Rules: I only had three rules in my classroom and they were broad enough to cover just about any out of line behavior. At the beginning of the year we went over these rules thoroughly and acted out examples and nonexamples so there was no room for confusion or purposeful misinterpretation. Find links to get these posters at the end of this blog post. Rule Number One: “Respect yourself, your peers, your teacher, and your surroundings.” This rule is meant to cover all interactions in the classroom. Students who respect themselves value their education and learning time and get their assignments completed to the best of their abilities. Students who respect their peers understand their classmates need a safe learning environment free of distractions and impolite communications. Students who respect their teacher recognize the importance of the education opportunities being presented in class and allow the teacher to facilitate lessons and help all students learn. Students who respect their surroundings acknowledge the resources, furniture, and equipment in class are used by others for the pursuit of education and need to be kept in good condition. Rule Number Two: “Raise your hand silently to speak.” Having strong student participation is important for learning, but entering chaos territory is so easy when middle school students are allowed to interject whenever and for whatever. Students need to know every voice is important; for everyone's thoughts, ideas, and questions to be heard there needs to be an order to the sharing process. Rule Number Three: “Follow all directions quickly the first time they are given.” It sounds basic (and it is) but so much educational time is saved with this rule, especially in a science classroom where there is limited time to complete time-consuming experiments. My Class Consequences: After much trial and error and some great advice from an administrator, I developed a list of consequences that worked perfectly to enforce the rules of my classroom. The key with consequences is they must be followed in order every single time for every single student. Find links to get these posters at the end of this blog post. Consequence Number One: "Warning." This was in place so I could let students know their behavior was unacceptable in the classroom and needed to be changed. I gave the warning in different ways to communicate with the offending student, depending on what worked the student’s personality. Sometimes I would approach the students discreetly and quietly tell them they had a warning. Other times I would catch the student's eye from across the room and show a number one with my finger. If I had a particularly easygoing class where the students were all comfortable with one another I'd pause in the lesson to tell the student they had a warning. Consequence Number Two: “Complete a Behavior Think Sheet and move seats.” If students continued to disregard the class rules they would get this consequence that served three purposes. First it removed the student from the situation, making it easier to revert to proper behavior. Second, it allowed them to reflect on their behavior and analyze its effect on themselves and others. Third, the BTS provided me with documentation of misbehavior that I could save and keep on file. I realized completing a BTS takes time out of learning, and so did the students. My lessons were fun, engaging, and rigorous; the students did not want to and could not afford to miss part of the lesson by acting out and completing a BTS. In addition, if the misbehavior was allowed to continue it would distract others from learning the content. Occasionally I would have a student test me by not completing the BTS. For those students I gave them a choice: They could complete it in my class and be late to their next class (without a pass), or they could leave it incomplete and move on to the third consequence. The Behavior Think Sheet (with English and Spanish copies included) is available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Consequence Number Three: “Parent or guardian contact.” If the first two consequences were not effective, consequence three often curbed the desire to misbehave. Sometimes I would have the student call home with me right after class. Sometimes I would make the contact immediately after school. Rarely, and only after exceptionally poor misbehavior, would the family be contacted during class. Consequence Number Four: “Referral.” I was lucky enough to teach in a school with a fantastic dean of discipline. The fourth consequence involved me contacting the dean about the student’s misbehavior and it would then be handled in a fair manner. In other schools a similar consequence might be used with the principal or other administrator instead. As I said earlier, the consequences should be followed in order every time for every student. There are exceptions to that, and I was always upfront and honest about the exceptions with my students. My students knew that if one student punched another student in class that a simple “warning” would not happen. That just wouldn't make any sense. The steps can be skipped for serious breaches of the classroom rules. The only other reason I would skip a consequence was for repeat offenders. If the same student had the same problem over and over again I met with that student privately to make a plan. Usually that plan involved skipping one or two steps in the list of consequences until the student was able to demonstrate appropriate behavior consistently over time. All of my classes knew skipping steps could occur in such situations, so there was never any backlash of “that’s unfair” if I went out of order. Using These Rules and Consequences in Your Classroom: As I mentioned, I created these rules and consequences for my middle school students. However, they work just as well as part of an upper elementary or early high school classroom management plan. I hope this post provided you with useful information and gave you ideas for rules and consequences in your own classroom. If you like my rules and consequences, save yourself some time by getting my rules and consequences posters from my TpT or Etsy store. The posters come in a variety of styles that are sure to brighten up your classroom while displaying important information that will make your teaching life easier. Find your favorite from the options below! And remember to check out the Behavior Think Sheet! Rules and Consequences Posters: Version 1: This is the original set with solid blocks of color and a structured layout. Version 2: It's a warm and calming set. Black and White: Perfect for printing restrictions—you can print the posters on vibrantly colored paper or grab a set of colored pencils and make them your own. Scales: They're wonderful for mermaid or dragon-themed classrooms. (Get it from Etsy instead.) Floral: My favorite! See these posters in the video below. (Get it from Etsy instead.) Lemons: Something about lemons just draws me in every time. I don't know if it's the happy yellow color or the reminder of delicious foods. (Get it from Etsy instead.)
Get your students focused and on track as soon as class starts with these ideas for middle school classroom routines to begin class.
Free 7th & 8th grade worksheets, printable games, and activities to make learning math, literacy, history, and science engaging and FUN!
Daily grammar practice is a tool that helps students practice and master grammar standards. Learn more about grammar spiral review in the classroom.
Today I am excited to welcome Kim from English Oh My as our guest blogger. She has some great ideas for teaching students to comprehend poetry in a manageable way. Enjoy! Happy April, and Happy National Poetry Month! Poetry is a timeless genre, and it is a part of most English Language curriculum. When I tell […]
Are you looking for a way to scaffold math vocabulary and concepts and make math more visual? In this post are photos of math word walls for elementary, middle and high school math along with photos of math classroom word walls that teachers have sent to me of their math classroom set up. Included in this post are links to free math word wall cards and discounted printable math word wall bundles for a variety of math topics. I am updating each math word wall to include a virtual option. Now in the files will be color, black and white and interactive digital math word wall options.
Today I am excited to welcome Kim from English Oh My as our guest blogger. She has some great ideas for teaching students to comprehend poetry in a manageable way. Enjoy! Happy April, and Happy National Poetry Month! Poetry is a timeless genre, and it is a part of most English Language curriculum. When I tell […]
Make learning the elements of the periodic table fun with this free printable science battleship game for Chemistry!
Math Stations, Middle School Math Stations, Math Workshops, Middle School Math Workshops, Common Core Aligned Math Stations, Common Core Aligned Math Workshops, Teachers Pay Teachers Math Stations, Teachers Pay Teachers Math Workshops
This is a culmination of my own anchor charts, plus the best anchor charts that I could find online. This is a great place to find effective charts that get to the heart of what you are teaching in workshop. If you have a favorite chart that you'd like to add, please contact me! Also, if I have not properly given credit for an anchor chart, let me know so that I can fix it.
Are you looking for a way to scaffold math vocabulary and concepts and make math more visual? In this post are photos of math word walls for elementary, middle and high school math along with photos of math classroom word walls that teachers have sent to me of their math classroom set up. Included in this post are links to free math word wall cards and discounted printable math word wall bundles for a variety of math topics. I am updating each math word wall to include a virtual option. Now in the files will be color, black and white and interactive digital math word wall options.
I develop curriculum for middle school math. I focus on using critical-thinking skills in my content so the math makes sense to the students.
Today I am excited to welcome Kim from English Oh My as our guest blogger. She has some great ideas for teaching students to comprehend poetry in a manageable way. Enjoy! Happy April, and Happy National Poetry Month! Poetry is a timeless genre, and it is a part of most English Language curriculum. When I tell […]
