Yes, ANOTHER free printable this week. I know, if I could pinch you from here I would; free stuff is so dreamy! This is a quick matching manners worksheet I made tonight as a supplement to a Manner…
We are a Leader In Me School and talk a lot about using the 7 Habits of Happy Kids in our everyday lives. I love the idea of encouraging kids to act as leaders in the classroom and beyond. What I have noticed, however, is that sometimes "leadership" comes off as "bossypants" and that is not the route we want to take! I know you've probably heard of Sheryl Sandberg (of Facebook fame) and her campaign to end the word "bossy" (read or listen to an NPR story HERE), but I was hesitant to come straight out and use that word in our class. Instead, I wanted them to think on terms of "boss" and "leader" to recognize the differences between the two and to think about their own language choices in the classroom, in small groups, on their sports teams, and more. We first looked at this picture and talked about what we noticed: (source) This led to some discussion about leadership versus boss behavior. While the kids were discussing, I was passing out example cards to their table spots. Before I dismissed them, I shared this leadership quote from John Quincy Adams: They were then given instructions about our activity. I had printed example cards on two colors: blue for boss and green for leader (although they didn't know that yet) and they needed to read their card and find someone with an opposite color card and opposite example (good time to incorporate the word antonym, too!). I dismissed them to their tables and first had them converse with students in their table group to ensure they understood the word or phrase on their card. When they gave me the thumbs up, I told them to find their match and them meet to discuss why they went together and be able to give examples. We then began assembling our Anchor Chart. Each pair would come to the front of the class and would explain which card was descriptive of a "boss" and which was descriptive of a "leader" and why. They gave examples and I elicited a lot of help from the classroom for additional examples and language that both a boss and leader may use during that example. I would tape the cards to the Anchor Chart and we continued through each pair. There were two groups of three (with two leaders to one boss) and that worked out perfectly with my class (definitely feel free to adjust if you have lower numbers). Our completed anchor chart looked like: It was so powerful to see how often kids may think they are helping, but instead find themselves on the "boss" side of the chart instead of the "leader." I know several of the examples are repetitive, but we really talked through these and used examples from our own lives to recount when using "leader" words and language set us up for success. I also explained the "me vs. you" mentality of bosses versus the "we and us" mentality of leaders. Overall, it was a very powerful lesson and I look forward to referring back to this Anchor Chart this year, especially when "bossypants" behavior leads to conflict. I think these concrete examples can help guide the naturally strong leaders in my class to make better language decisions that can help grow them as leaders and really inspire others, just like the Adams quote! If you'd like a copy of these cards and quote, you can download this as a *freebie* HERE. How do you address bossy vs. leader behavior in your class? Share in the comments, I would love to build on this lesson!
Activity to teach the character quality of Patience that include processing questions to make the game into a lesson.
Just click the pics to download! Blackline master for book making below.
11 qiuck science experiments can be done in just 5 minutes! Learn hands-on about chemical reactions, density, and more.
Building gumdrop structures is an awesome way to practice both engineering skills and fine motor skills for a great STEM activity.
An action game where children mime the actions they read, to revise present continuous tense. Very funny. - ESL worksheets
drama activities and games for elementary students
Help your children listen better with these fun activities. Get your children to obey the first time you ask by playing one of these listening skills games
Kick off the new school year with the perfect project for a young crafter or adventurer.
After studying the Nervous System and the Circulatory System, we continued our journey through the human body by heading to the Respiratory System. We began by viewing... ...the "Once Upon a Time..." videos about breathing. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 (I love the visual notes Baby Girl created while we watched the videos!) *** On another day during our study about the Respiratory System, we completed the Breathe In, Breathe Out activity found in our From Head to Toe AIMS Science Book. We created a model of the lungs using a few simple materials from around the house... *2 liter bottle (cleaned out and label removed) *Duct tape *2 balloons *2 bendable straws *Modeling clay 1. Take the straws and bend the ends of them at an angle. 2. Stretch out the balloons. 3. Attach the balloons to the ends of the straws with duct tape. 4. Place the straws back to back to form a "Y" shape. 5. Tape the straws together. 6. Place a good sized ball of clay towards the straight ends of the straws, leaving the the holes open. 7. Carefully place the straws into the bottle and secure the clay around the opening of the bottle. Then give the model a test drive... We tried our model out a couple of different ways. First the kiddos blew into the straws... ...and then they squeezed the outside of the bottle. Totally-cool. *** Finally, we recreated a visual image of the lungs following the instructions and printables from Relentlessly Fun Deceptively Educational. What a breath of fresh air these activities were! ;0) *** Up next in our Human Body study- the Digestive System... *** Linking up with Science Sunday...
Teach your kids what to do in an emergency. This simple activity will help decrease the stress of calling 911 and shows kids basic CPR skills from home.
PHOTOS: www.coolinarika.com - ESL worksheets
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
10 Ways School Counselings Can Help Kids With Worry: Use these strategies to help your students manage their worries at school.
A blog about homeschool, containing support, information, unit studies and resource lists for Home Education.
Activities with M&Ms for an ice breaker or a guided prayer time. Perfect for any kind of group! Printables include blank templates for you to customize.
An educational blog that shares ideas about teaching! Mostly geared towards science, but sometimes offer ideas that any teacher might benefit from. Come see me!
Not only is the Creed jam packed with Mysteries and Theological Concepts, but it also contains some pretty tough words, especially in the translation of the Creed for the Third Romal Missal. Here are a few ideas for getting the meaning of those important words through to your students. These are just the tools to use as a vehicle for discussion, but hopefully they prove helpful. Idea One: Popsicle Sticks in a Cup I know, creative title. No directions needed, gather some popsicle sticks, throw them in a cup. Take a minute to write some of the heavier words from the Creed on each stick. Don't just worry about begotten and consubstantial, use other theological terms we sometimes take for granted kids know, like Christ, Scriptures, sins, glory, etc. Use the sticks as a way to introduce or review words. You could have each child randomly pick one, for example, and then challenge them to come up with a working definition using the dictionary, Catechism, and Bible. They then have to share their definition with the class, etc. Idea Two: My favorite beach balls. I have already written about this, but you could do a very similar concept by writing important words or phrases on the beach ball and tossing it around. FYI, don't look too closely at this picture...because it is not a Creed Beach Ball! I need to take a new picture :) Idea Three: Make a vocab flip book. These are fun, and easy to paste into a notebook (more on that later) or lapbook (folder) or hang on the wall. I've got an example for you, but you can use this concept for anything. Click on the document at the bottom of this post to get a printable with seven tough words from the Creed and their "workable" kid definitions. You might not agree that these are the toughest seven words, but they were the ones that I chose because I think that kids have the least context for them. So, to make a flip book, get several sheets of paper, preferably in different colors. (It is much prettier) For this flipbook, I had four sheets of paper roughly 5 x 8.5". Line up those sheets of paper with roughly an inch between them. Fold the stack in on itself so that the top folds down to roughly an inch from the highest flap on the bottom, making a continuous row of flaps. Fold, staple at the top to keep it secure, and glue into a notebook or lapbook if you like. Cut out the printable. "Seven Tough Words" label goes on the top flap. The seven words get their own flap below. Add the definition inside the flap, making sure it doesn't show from the outside. This one is designed so that the definition shares a flap with the word. You could also put in on the underneath of the flap, so it has to be flipped up to be read. You can use this strategy for virtually any other topic or grade level- add pictures, notes, more flaps...
The Human Knot game has been long used as a team-building exercise and a fun way of breaking the ice with new groups of people. This is a great game for when you're babysitting or leading camp activities, and all it requires are willing...
Safety is KEY! We were so lucky this year to have a Camp Nurse that was on top of her game. She took a whole week off from her normal job as an Emergency Room Nurse to come and be with us at Girl's Camp. She worked with each Camp Level on learning all of their First Aid Camping Requirements working side by side with our First Aid YCL'S. She did some wonderful hands on demonstrations as well as she got each Young Woman a First Aid Clip with all of the updated First Aid information. I have had several of you ask me about these since they were shown photographed in one of our Pre-Camp Photos. I decided that I would scan the cards and share them with all of you. If I'm able to get a better print out I'll be sure to let you know. Our Camp Nurse and First Aid YCL'S also put together an emergency plan, emergency form notebooks, and safety tips for camp. Way to go girls!!! If you would like a copy of the scanned First Aid Cards...please contact me via email at [email protected] or comment here. Please don't forget to leave me your email address!
Leaving and following tracking signs is a brilliant outdoors family activity, and a great way to entice kids outside - who doesn't love following clues
Cooperative learning teaching tips, strategies, freebies, and resources from Laura Candler
Learn how to safely build a fire.
In these early weeks of school, it's so important to enforce the idea of teamwork among your classroom. I feel that if you have a classroom that functions as a community, everything runs more smoothly. My teacher and I discussed the importance of team-building exercises among the students this week. She told me that she loves to incorporate them into the classroom and that they usually produce wonderful results! I was more than excited to see it with my own eyes. For our team-building exercise, we "saved Sam". ( idea found on Pinterest) You will need: Gummy worms (Sam) Life-saver Gummies (Life vests) Clear plastic cup (Boat) Cocktail stirrers (Oar) Paper clips Poor Sam is a worm that has found himself in a rather unfortunate situation. His boat has capsized and his life jacket is trapper underneath it! Poor Sam can't swim! His oar, his only means of movement, has fallen into the rocky waters as well! He now sits perched on top of his capsized boat and he needs our help! It is the students job to SAVE SAM! they will be responsible for flipping Sam's boat over and getting him back inside. He needs his life jacket ON him this time, and his oar laying horizontally across the top of his boat. Here's the catch: You can't touch Sam with your hands. You may only use the two paperclips supplied. Keep in mind we wouldn't want to hurt poor sam by stabbing him or popping his life jacket by stabbing it! Also, we cant let him touch the water (the floor or desk) because he can't swim! It was so enjoyable to watch the students problem solve! Our little engineers were hard at work. It was interesting to see how they utilized the materials given. Some bent the paperclips into tweezers, while others snapped them in half to create more tools. This fun exercise really got our students excited to work together. I loved seeing their wheels turn as they asked "are you sure this is possible?". I loved seeing the proud looks on their face when they figured it out!
If you’re looking for fun ideas for kids to learn German, this blog has ideas, games and activities that your child will love to do at home.
Ideas for using a books, activities, games, printables, and a movie to help sighted children learn about blindness.
Cross out the odd word out and then add one more word to the category. - ESL worksheets
I am trying to get some cover sheets on some of the curriculum I have sitting here. This has been a slow process. I just starting using...
FREE Homeschool Printables
Resources, tips, and materials to help you, help children with autism
During our study of the human body, we did this fun activity to demonstrate just what an amazing muscle the heart is! I think your kids will love it, too! Materials needed: 2 large dishpans, buckets, or bowls 1 gallon of water (1.3 gallons to be specific!) a 1/4 cup measuring cup watch or timer
