A creative, fun and easy way to help improve tardiness and punctuality among middle and high school students.

Welcome to another installment of the Secondary Smorgasbord linky party! This is my favorite theme thus far (and VERY appropriate for the February weather we are currently experiencing). It's -30°C, and with the windchill, it has gotten to -45°C (for my American friends, that's approximately -22°F). Yes, I had to Google the conversion! Now that you know that I am literally experiencing the DEEP FREEZE in my neck of the woods, let's get down to business. This month's collaborative theme is Out of the Deep Freeze and is about "a product that doesn't get the attention you'd like it to get and should get because, darn it, it's really good!" The project I chose to feature is something I worked REALLY hard on and update regularly! It's one of the best assignments I have created and not because I think so, but because my students tell me how much they learned! You read that right (they actually enjoy it). Hard to imagine high school students enjoying something that they have to put some effort into, right? DRUM ROLL PLEASE..... Would you believe it's a Monthly Budget Project?? Yep, they love it! Who would have guessed. This project reinforces practical money skills, and teaches the budgeting process in a fun and engaging way. Students will learn the differences between "need" and "want" items, and will experience what it's like to live on their own! Plus, they get to have a roommate, so the 'ol excitement of finding a partner in the class gets them extra excited. So, what's it all about? Students get to (a) Find a place to live (b) Learn just how much groceries really do cost - their initial guesses are quite humorous! (c) Pay bills - forget online banking, they learn to write out checks! (d) Learn the costs of buying, renting, or leasing a vehicle...just to name a few! If you want to give your students an opportunity to learn what it's like to live on their own, then give this a try! I am always open to suggestions and changes (as I am always updating this product, so feedback is welcomed!) Thanks again to ELA Buffet and Desktop Learning Adventures for the link up opportunity! Make sure to peruse the other products posted by the other secondary sellers - you don't want to miss out on an awesome resource that has not been given the praise that it deserves!! Stay warm, folks! An InLinkz Link-up

While testing is traditionally the most widely used final assessment method, there are a variety of other alternatives a teacher could use to measure comprehension at the end of a unit. While marking tests can be tedious, summative assessments are important to not only a students learning, but your teaching as well. My students needed a break from traditional testing. I was willing to give them a break, but I still wanted them to review the elements of a unit in a way that I could still measure their personal comprehension. That's when I came up with this Board Game Project. It's a fun twist on the traditional test. This board game project allows students to reflect on what they learned, while at the same time, presenting the information in a really fun and creative way. Everything that was covered in a unit is fair game and can be incorporated in one way or another. Even the smallest details of a unit are important to this project.The project can also be done individually, in pairs, or even in small groups. There a lot of flexibility within this project, that's what makes it a great alternative. Here are some other testing alternatives: • Final paper • Poster • Portfolio • Fact sheets • Open book tests • Chapter/series quizzes These kinds of activities are especially useful if you have students that suffer from test anxiety. Giving them an option to show what they know with another type of project can build their confidence and allow them to demonstrate their knowledge in a less-stressful manner. If you look like this when you see a stack of tests that need to be marked, or your students look like this when they hear the word T-E-S-T, then take a break from the traditional testing and try something new! You and your students deserve it! What assessment methods do you use in your class instead of testing? Leave a comment below and I will add it to the list!

Today I wanted to try something new and share a fun roundup post of some of my favorite interactive notebook tips and tricks from other teacher bloggers from around the web. We all have our own methods and sometimes it is good to get a little inspiration and see what other ideas are out there! This post has links to some great articles that cover everything from how to grade interactive notebooks, to how to use digital interactive notebooks! Miss Klohn's Classroom has a great post about how her students use interactive notebooks. There's a great table of contents page, plus an interactive word wall and some great foldables. These ideas can be customized for any grade level. Over at All Students Can Shine, Valerie has shared a great post with 10 Interactive Notebook Tips that are all fantastic. Again, this can be customized for any subject or grade level. She has a great introduction on how to get started with interactive notebooks too! Musings From the Middle has an excellent and very thorough post about how she uses interactive notebooks in middle school for close reading. She explains why she uses these tools in her classroom. Jackie, from Room 213, shared a great post about using the interactive notebook concepts to create a reader's notebook. She has some great ideas about using the reader's notebook to help secondary students reflect and respond critically to things they read. For those of you who love to embrace technology, Danielle from Study All Knight has an amazing post about using digital interactive notebooks! I thought these were REALLY cool and I think older students would really benefit from these as well. Fluency in technology is crucial and this is a great way to get students comfortable with computers. And of course, I wrote a post detailing how interactive notebooks aren't just for little kids! Teens can really benefit from using interactive notebooks in middle school and high school too. My students really engage with the interactive aspects and its a great tool all around. For more inspiring interactive notebook ideas, make sure you check out my Interactive Notebook board on Pinterest. Don't forget to follow me at The Classroom Sparrow while you're there. I curate loads of great resources and ideas for secondary educators! How do your students use interactive notebooks

1. Assign a course evaluation. Ask students to reflect on what they have learned. When I first began teaching, I was always hesitant to read the survey results, but I had to get over that. Would some students write rude things? A couple, but the benefit of the sincere feedback I gleaned from the majority of the class was invaluable. At the end of the year, I ask students to think about what lessons were most memorable, how they grew as readers and writers, and what suggestions they had for improving the course. While not every response was earth-shattering, I have gained important insights from this reflective activity. These insights have improved my teaching. Click HERE for an End of the Semester Course Reflection and Evaluation for Secondary ELA. (RWH) 2. Plan for next year. How? Is that even possible during this time of year? Yes, it is! Now, I am not talking about during exam prep, but perhaps during the last few weeks when you can see the light! Take a break during that exam marking. You need it. Your head needs it and your eyes need it, too! During these brief 'refreshment breaks,' I take a few minutes to read blog posts from other teachers, complete preliminary research on up and coming YA books that my students might enjoy next year, and even scroll through some social media posts from other teachers' accounts to see what some of their favorite lessons were over the year that I might like to try! (TCS) 3. Purge. I used to have file cabinets full of student work, example projects, art supplies and extra copies. Eventually, I saw a pattern. Many of the art supplies would dry out over the summer. Once in a while, I'd use an example of a project from a previous year, but most of the time, they would collect dust. As for the extra copies, well, I'm continually changing and tweaking what I do, so those just began to fill up the file cabinets. Purging is important because when you return at the beginning of the next school year, the lack of clutter will make you feel energized. If you feel overwhelmed by the task in May, have students help you. Give everyone a job. Organization, responsibility, and community are important life skills that students can learn during this time. Plus, they love helping. (RWH) 4. Practice Public Speaking. By the end of the year, most students are more comfortable with their peers after spending months together in a classroom. This is a good time to practice public speaking skills. Use topics that they are familiar with or have a strong opinion about. You might want to complete a short unit on this or just spend a few minutes at the start of every class to talk about issues that are important to them, new events occurring nationally or internationally, or even pop-culture happenings! You may also want to ask students to write a few topics down on a piece of paper, then at the start of each class (or over a few class periods) pull out a new topic and see what everyone has to say about it! (TCS) 5. Try something new. When I have extra time in May, I want to fill it with meaningful content. If you haven't tried an escape room, scaffolding a one-pager, flipping a lesson, asking students to teach an activity, using stations, project-based learning, or jigsaws (just to name a few), now is the time! Students will appreciate the fresh teaching approaches, and you will learn what works best and what doesn't so that you feel more confident about incorporating those activities as part of your standard curriculum. (RWH) 6. Have some fun! I don't know about you, but I love to end the year off with a bang! I need a break and the students do too, but more importantly, I want my students to leave my classes with fun memories because they will remember these for years to come. So, I created an End of the Year Escape Room, where students have to work collaboratively to solve various trivia puzzles (activities or tasks they would technically have to do at the end of the year!) For example, return library books, clean out their desks and lockers, apply for a summer job, pick up their yearbooks and finally, pass the exam! This activity is a win-win for all. Your students can enjoy a bit of friendly competition and you can enjoy watching them having fun and working together. The best part? NO GRADING! You may choose to assign marks for participation, but I do not anticipate you will have too many issues with students not wanting to take part! 😃 (TCS) 7. Teach Kindness. The end of the school year is the perfect time to engage in meaningful activities that apply to real life. Standardized testing is over, the bulk of the curriculum is taught, and the weather is warm. Students appreciate meaningful discussions, and the end of the school year is often a time where some teens begin to demonstrate more maturity. Teachers can show movies like Wonder, read and discuss novels like Tuesdays with Morrie, or even teach students how to use kindness emails to encourage others. (RWH) 8. Change up the decor. This is a good time to freshen up your bulletin boards and posters that you might have hanging around your room. Add a burst of color to your classroom by using tissue paper as a background. It's both easy and very affordable! Also, a fun way to add a burst of color to your whiteboards would be to add magnetic strips (or tape) to the back of your borders and simply apply those to the perimeter. It's also a great way to organize different sections on a whiteboard. For example, a homework area. (TCS) 9. Encourage reading. At the end of the school year, one of my goals is to get students to make a summer reading list. I want them talking about books. I want them making book recommendations, reflecting on how they have grown as a reader, and analyzing what aspects of books they enjoy most. Take students to the public library. Let them peruse the shelves. Invite your librarian to do book talks. Have students record book commercials and post them on a class website that they can access over the summer. Host discussion groups so students can share their favorite texts from the school year. Coordinate with the teachers who your students will have the following year to organize a summer reading program. Do whatever it takes to ignite their passion for reading. (RWH) 10. Set goals. This is an activity that can be done by both students and teachers. What are some things that you did well this year? What do you hope to do the same or change next year? Start with making a bucket list of things that you wish to do over the summer break, which will help you prepare for the fall. Whether it's reading, writing or working towards an athletic goal, setting your sights on new things will encourage you to strive harder to reach your goals. So, grab a notebook and get writing!(TCS) Thanks for reading our post! We hope that we have given you a few ideas to wrap up the next few weeks! What are a few things that you do at the end of the year? The Classroom Sparrow & Reading and Writing Haven

Yes, interactive notebooks can be useful in middle and high school classes too! If your students are anything like mine, you know they love all things interactive. So, why not try engaging them in a different way from the norm? I decided to start using interactive notebooks with my students because, quite honestly, I was getting tired of teaching them the various English Language Arts skills in the same old way, and they were tired of reviewing the skills in the same old way. I am a firm believer that if these ELA skills aren't reviewed a few times throughout a semester, then students just won't grasp the skill and be able to use them in future classes. For this reason, I created an Interactive Notebook Bundle for teens. What skills are reviewed? This growing bundle encompasses a variety of elements important to any middle school or high school classroom: essays, punctuation, parts of speech, grammar, point of view, and figurative language. The goal of the various types of foldables, in all shapes and sizes, was to keep learning about these important skills interesting and fun. Reviewing and practicing these skills can be quite monotonous for students. Thus, engagement is the issue many teachers have with students at this age. These interactive notebook activities will grasp your students' attention, as they encourage students to evaluate each element and its definition. Keep it interesting: As I mentioned, in order to really grasp the information and remember it, students need to review the skills they are learning. For this reason, I have included a variety of skill-building tasks that could be used to review this essential information. Maybe the interactive foldable worked for some students, but others needed something different to keep their attention, try using the mix and match task cards. The mix and match cards can be used to assess comprehension, as students match up the correct term with its definition, or they can be printed out and used as study flash cards. Hold your students accountable: Should you choose to assess your students with their comprehension of these skills, you have the option of giving your students a quiz at the end of the concept being reviewed. (Quizzes included in the bundle) The ultimate writing stations: If you really want to delve into interactive notebooks in your classroom, you might consider using these interactive foldables, mix and match task cards, and quizzes, in the form of writing stations; each station offering a new task for the students to complete. Station 1: Cut and paste responses Station 2: Take notes for each fold Station 3: Sort out the flash cards (or match them up) Station 4: Use the handouts provided (or ones that you have used in the past) for further comprehension and understanding Station 5: Take the quiz Is time a factor? No worries here, each foldable comes with printable responses for each fold. If there's just not enough time to write out the answers to each foldable, simply cut out the responses and have your students cut and paste each to its applicable fold. This will ensure students have the necessary information, but no extra time was taken from your lesson. This method also ensures that each student completes the task (that is, they will have to actually read each of the definitions, as opposed to if they were to get a printout of the notes). I hope this post gave you more insight on how you might use interactive notebooks with your students, whether it be in the form of individual lessons through a semester, or as one big unit to assess individual student skills. The bundle itself offers the best deal for all of the foldables, but should you be interested in just one activity to try out in your lesson, the links for each individual foldable are included below: • Punctuation • Parts of Speech • Grammar Errors • Essay Writing • Figurative Language • Point of View • Essay Editing • Written Forms Editing Click here for a direct link to the Interactive Foldable Bundle. Do your students love interactive notebooks?

Yes, interactive notebooks can be useful in middle and high school classes too! If your students are anything like mine, you know they love all things interactive. So, why not try engaging them in a different way from the norm? I decided to start using interactive notebooks with my students because, quite honestly, I was getting tired of teaching them the various English Language Arts skills in the same old way, and they were tired of reviewing the skills in the same old way. I am a firm believer that if these ELA skills aren't reviewed a few times throughout a semester, then students just won't grasp the skill and be able to use them in future classes. For this reason, I created an Interactive Notebook Bundle for teens. What skills are reviewed? This growing bundle encompasses a variety of elements important to any middle school or high school classroom: essays, punctuation, parts of speech, grammar, point of view, and figurative language. The goal of the various types of foldables, in all shapes and sizes, was to keep learning about these important skills interesting and fun. Reviewing and practicing these skills can be quite monotonous for students. Thus, engagement is the issue many teachers have with students at this age. These interactive notebook activities will grasp your students' attention, as they encourage students to evaluate each element and its definition. Keep it interesting: As I mentioned, in order to really grasp the information and remember it, students need to review the skills they are learning. For this reason, I have included a variety of skill-building tasks that could be used to review this essential information. Maybe the interactive foldable worked for some students, but others needed something different to keep their attention, try using the mix and match task cards. The mix and match cards can be used to assess comprehension, as students match up the correct term with its definition, or they can be printed out and used as study flash cards. Hold your students accountable: Should you choose to assess your students with their comprehension of these skills, you have the option of giving your students a quiz at the end of the concept being reviewed. (Quizzes included in the bundle) The ultimate writing stations: If you really want to delve into interactive notebooks in your classroom, you might consider using these interactive foldables, mix and match task cards, and quizzes, in the form of writing stations; each station offering a new task for the students to complete. Station 1: Cut and paste responses Station 2: Take notes for each fold Station 3: Sort out the flash cards (or match them up) Station 4: Use the handouts provided (or ones that you have used in the past) for further comprehension and understanding Station 5: Take the quiz Is time a factor? No worries here, each foldable comes with printable responses for each fold. If there's just not enough time to write out the answers to each foldable, simply cut out the responses and have your students cut and paste each to its applicable fold. This will ensure students have the necessary information, but no extra time was taken from your lesson. This method also ensures that each student completes the task (that is, they will have to actually read each of the definitions, as opposed to if they were to get a printout of the notes). I hope this post gave you more insight on how you might use interactive notebooks with your students, whether it be in the form of individual lessons through a semester, or as one big unit to assess individual student skills. The bundle itself offers the best deal for all of the foldables, but should you be interested in just one activity to try out in your lesson, the links for each individual foldable are included below: • Punctuation • Parts of Speech • Grammar Errors • Essay Writing • Figurative Language • Point of View • Essay Editing • Written Forms Editing Click here for a direct link to the Interactive Foldable Bundle. Do your students love interactive notebooks?

Looking for new ways to engage your students in literature, especially with classics that might seem old and outdated? In this secondary English Language Arts blog hop, the Literary League showcases resources that can be used with any literary text, time after time, year after year.

I know what you're thinking. You're stumped for ideas on how you can incorporate Career Education material into your English Language Arts curriculum. When I was given the task to teach Career Education courses for grades 9-12, I was hesitant and unsure of where to look for resources or how to go about planning. Through my personal experience and research, I have discovered that it is not only EASY to incorporate Career Education into an ELA classroom, but it's also never too early to start either. The implementation of Career Education looks different at various grade levels, yet this exposure helps to prepare and expose students to a variety of different jobs and careers available. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: At the elementary level, career education could be as simple as a tour to a work site (usually to police stations, firehouses, hospitals, etc). Where the ELA connection comes in would be the reflection of that site visit. What did you see? Who did you meet? What did you learn? MIDDLE SCHOOL: At the middle school level, career education could be implemented via guest speakers in the classroom. Students at this age may not be thinking about their career, (as it is likely to change numerous times), but it is at this time when career exploration can begin. Guest speakers are easier to come by (than you might think) all you have to do is ask! I have had a variety of guest speakers from numerous jobs and trades come to speak with my students, such as carpenters, veterinarians, optometrists, business owners, entrepreneurs, musicians, you name it! I have students use this A Day in the Life of...Career Day Guest Speaker Questionnaire anytime that I have had someone come into my class. So, not only are they reading and writing down the responses, they are also taking turns asking the questions. A Day in the Life of...Career Day Guest Speaker Questionnaire HIGH SCHOOL: At the high school level, the most obvious way to implement career education into a classroom is through work experience. This is the best way to expose students to what types of careers and jobs are out there, as well as what is best suited for them. However, not all schools are able to offer such programming, so here is what English teachers can do with their students: 1. Complete research on a career of interest. 2. Learn the proper format of a resume, then write one. 3. Learn the proper format of a cover letter, then write one. This way, when those job opportunities open up, all they have to do it hit "print" and they're on their way! Another simple way to implement career exploration-type activities would be to hold a mock interview with your students. Believe it or not, students actually take this activity quite seriously. After reviewing what a "good" and a "bad" interview might look like with my students using this Mock Interview Preparation & Questions Activity, I can begin completing interviews. Mock Interview Preparation & Questions Activit Three methods I have used in the past: 1. Whole-class interview: To get students comfortable with the interview process, I have orally asked questions aloud, then when students are ready to respond (trust me, the students who love to talk will have their hands up before the question is over) they raise their hand, and I call upon them to provide their response. Not every student will necessarily provide a response (unless you want to go around the class and ask each student), but if anything, even if each student does not individually answer a question aloud, it gives everyone an idea as to what types of questions might be asked. I usually throw in a curveball question or two - it is surprising how well students can answer these! Sample question: If you could be any McDonald's hamburger, what would you be and why? I tell them to try to connect the qualities of what's being asked to strengths that they might have, as well as what qualities would be desirable for an employer looking to hire someone. Sample response: I would select a Big Mac if I could be any McDonald's hamburger. I think a Big Mac is an excellent selection because it not only stands above all of the hamburgers on the menu, it has a variety of layers (qualities), which are desirable to anyone wanting to eat one. The larger number of layers making up the various strengths I would have should I be hired for this job. Employees should bring a variety of layers (strengths) to their position, so that all tasks can be done in the most efficient manner possible. 2. Student Mock Interviews: This activity can be either a formative or summative assessment, depending on what you are looking for. You can have students volunteer to present "good" (on time, professional attired, handshake, eye contact, detailed responses) and "bad" (late, poor hygiene, dirty clothes, lack of interest, short responses) interviews in front of the class. Again, great practice for actual interviews, but also fun to watch for students who may have to prepare the "bad" interviews. Recording and then showing the video to the class (or just the teacher) of the interviews is an option you might like to give students, especially those who are particularly shy. 3. Graded Mock Interviews: I have luckily had the opportunity to have my class covered by another teacher/admin while completing mock interviews with my students for a grade. In addition to myself, I always tried to have someone else present in the room (and you don't necessarily have to tell your students this!) before the interview. This is a great confidence builder for reluctant learners. It was easy to find something positive in their interview that I was able to share with them (even though they may not have realized it was noticeable). Nobody understands time like a teacher. There's only so much time we have to spend on certain units, so in the teacheing world, time is money! You don't necessarily need to dedicate an entire unit to Career Education, you can incorporate Career Exploration into a daily routine for a few weeks. If you're already using bell-ringer writing prompts to start your class, then your students might like the refreshing change of these prompts to their existing routine. In the cases where I was limited for time, I used these 25 Career Exploration Writing Prompts with my students. You can either project the prompts on a SmartBoard for students, print out the prompts in a journal-style format, or use the prompts in stations (if you need to get your students moving) in a task card-style format. They are a win-win for students (making them think critically about careers and their future) and English teachers (they are practicing their writing skills and you can pick and choose which prompts you might like to use and grade!) Career Exploration Writing Prompts I have created a FREE Dream Job Worksheet, so that you can begin exploring careers in your classroom TODAY! The one-page worksheet is a simple, yet effective way to begin some preliminary research on a job or career of interest. The 14 questions provided on the worksheet will prompt your students to select ANY job/career to research, so that they can begin formulate whether or not that job is a suitable fit for them or not. This is an easy way to incorporate into your classroom, as it does take a lot of time to complete, yet it covers all of the necessary questions! Click HERE to grab your free copy of the worksheet. Dream Job Worksheet Finally, the easiest way to get your students talking about what types of jobs or careers are both best-suited to them and readily available, are to hold classroom discussions. You can prompt your students by writing these 10 questions on a whiteboard and see where the discussion takes you! 1) What would be the WORST type of job? 2) What would be the BEST type of job? 3) What's one job you know you could never do? 4) Identify your ideal place to work. 5) What are your strengths? 6) What are your weaknesses? 7) What is your most valuable skill or talent? 8) What are your short-term job/career goals? 9) What are your long-term job/career goals? 10) If you could have any job in the world, what would it be and why? I would love to hear from you! How have you incorporated Career Education resources into your classroom? How has it worked with your students?

While testing is traditionally the most widely used final assessment method, there are a variety of other alternatives a teacher could use to measure comprehension at the end of a unit. While marking tests can be tedious, summative assessments are important to not only a students learning, but your teaching as well. My students needed a break from traditional testing. I was willing to give them a break, but I still wanted them to review the elements of a unit in a way that I could still measure their personal comprehension. That's when I came up with this Board Game Project. It's a fun twist on the traditional test. This board game project allows students to reflect on what they learned, while at the same time, presenting the information in a really fun and creative way. Everything that was covered in a unit is fair game and can be incorporated in one way or another. Even the smallest details of a unit are important to this project.The project can also be done individually, in pairs, or even in small groups. There a lot of flexibility within this project, that's what makes it a great alternative. Here are some other testing alternatives: • Final paper • Poster • Portfolio • Fact sheets • Open book tests • Chapter/series quizzes These kinds of activities are especially useful if you have students that suffer from test anxiety. Giving them an option to show what they know with another type of project can build their confidence and allow them to demonstrate their knowledge in a less-stressful manner. If you look like this when you see a stack of tests that need to be marked, or your students look like this when they hear the word T-E-S-T, then take a break from the traditional testing and try something new! You and your students deserve it! What assessment methods do you use in your class instead of testing? Leave a comment below and I will add it to the list!

Career Exploration Escape Room Vol 1: If you are looking for a fun, new, and interactive way for your students to explore potential jobs and/or careers of interest, then THE GREAT CAREER ESCAPE is for you! There are five career-themed (trivia) challenges included in this file. Of course, not every career of interest will be included in this activity, but there are a total of 50+ different careers that are mentioned, so students will have an opportunity to learn about some they may have already heard of and some they may not have. In addition to the five challenges, a career research activity has been included, so students can explore any potential career of interest prior or after the completion of the challenges. Click HERE to grab my Career Exploration Escape Room (Volume 2). This set includes five different challenges and continued FUN! (Note: You can absolutely mix-and-match the challenges from the different resources! Do I have to complete ALL of the challenges? No, you can mix- and-match the challenges, as each puzzle is independent of the other. As the teacher, you can decide which puzzles you may want to use and in which order they will be completed. Several detailed and thorough teacher instruction pages have been included, which provide differentiated instructions and suggestions for the various challenges. Answer keys have also been provided for ALL of the challenges! Group size: 3-5 students (Note: This can be completed as an individual and/or pair activity) Time: Approximately 20 minutes per challenge (Provide hints along the way if time is a factor!) Materials: Aside from the materials that you would already have in your classroom (pencils, pens, and scissors), no additional supplies are needed! These escape room-style games were created as a print-and-go resource. How to use this with your students: (several, flexible options) • One activity a day, for the # of activities used • As a complete activity (over several, continuous class periods) • As bonus work for students who finish their work early • As a homework activity to promote critical thinking skills THE TASK: You are NOT happy in your current job and would like to find something new, but where do you start? What kinds of jobs are out there that may be a good fit for you? Complete the various challenges to discover a new career of interest, then ESCAPE your current job and move into a new career! Challenge #1: Name that Job! In order to successfully complete this challenge, you will have to work together to decode the available positions in the building images provided. Three separate cryptogram activities have been included. You will then attempt to unscramble all of the shaded letter boxes from the answers, which will provide you with the answers to the three code words. Challenge #2: Name that Tool! In order to successfully complete this challenge, you will have to match up tools/devices/accessories to the careers that use them. A total of 18 different tools will have to be identified. A total of 34 different careers that use tools are mentioned. A bonus activity has also been included for this challenge, which includes photos of all of the tools mentioned and a section where students have to research the purpose of each tool (or it can be reviewed as a class). Challenge #3: Career Terms Maze and Search In order to successfully complete this challenge, you will have to sharpen your pencil (and eyes!) and pay attention to the letters within the maze to identify several career terms. You will collect letters along your way, which will spell out different words. In addition, you will have to search to find hidden career terms, including a hidden, mystery word. Challenge #4: Career Picture Puzzles Unscramble the puzzle pieces to reveal the various careers in the picture, then work together to put the photographs of the professionals together. Finally, unscramble the letters found in the puzzle pieces to complete the mystery career puzzles. Challenge #5: Write that Paycheck! In order to successfully complete this challenge, you will race to answer a bunch of career-related questions, then fill in the necessary sections on the paycheck according to the directions on the task cards. *Upon completion of the challenges, one themed ("The Great Career Escape") editable certificate has been included, so you can easily type in a name and date and give each student who participated something for their efforts! In addition, station cards (for challenge organization), a sticky note editable template (for group member organization), and a post-challenge reflection has also been included!* BONUS - Pre-activity reflection - Career research activity - Check handout You might also like: - END OF THE YEAR Escape Room - VALENTINE'S DAY Escape Room - SPRING BREAK Escape Room Check out the FREE preview for a closer look at this project! © The Classroom Sparrow

Ah, yes! The dreaded essay. Students hate hearing that five letter word. Why? Not because essays are hard, but because they do not understand how to write an essay and the importance of a thesis statement. Honestly, the only reason why some students despise essay writing is because they just can't get the format down. Once they have the format figured out, it's smooth sailing! Start off small, and improve from there. My goal is for new essay writers to write a solid two pages. Their word choice and vocabulary might not be very diverse, but if they are able to get all of the parts of an essay down, that's all I am looking for at that time! By the time they write their second and third essay, they have made huge strides! One of my most prized teaching possessions is the Essay Writing Scavenger Hunt that I created. If you are struggling to get your students to understand HOW to write an essay, then I suggest you give this a try. After some initial review, they often only need to complete the activity once to understand the format (the activity can also be used as an example for when they write their own essay). For students who need a little extra support, I have them complete the scavenger hunt twice. This helps them to remember the different parts of the essay in preparation for when they write their own. You don't even need to waste class time on that second activity - it's perfect as a homework activity too. Every good essay starts with a great thesis statement. Here are some strategies you can use to help your students remember how to write a thesis statement. These examples are applicable for students new to essay writing, for those who are still struggling, or for those students who just need a review. TIP: If students are new to essay writing, start out with a persuasive essay. The thesis statement is often easier to write and students are able to come up with their three points a lot easier. Once students are comfortable in writing a thesis statement, they can start to explore other ways of writing their thesis (still using the ABC format). The format is just rearranged to help students create more diverse, effective sounding statements. Happy essay writing! P.S. Black border with apple clip art created by Jax and Jake!

If you've ever wondered what mini-books are, who uses them and how the heck to store them, then you're going to want to keep reading! Mini-books are an essential classroom reference resource in a compact, easy-to-use package! Who are mini-books for? Mini-books can be used as reference guides for not only students and teachers, but parents as well. Send home the mini-books with students, so that their parents can help them with their writing tasks, as they complete homework assignments. What are mini-books? Mini-books are exactly what its name suggest, a small book (approximately 3.5 x 2 ¼ inches) full of information pertaining to a particular topic. When can mini-books be used? Mini-books can be used anytime! Depending on the type of mini-book, it can be used as an introductory activity to a particular topic, as a reference when completing an assignment, or perhaps even as a study guide before a quiz or test. Where can mini-books be stored? Students: Binder pocket, pencil case, locker, desk, etc. Teachers: If you are looking to collect these books, you might consider storing them in trading card sheet protectors in a binder near your desk. The books neatly fit into the sections and they are also easily accessible (see photo below). The transparent trading card protectors allow students to easily identify and access the reference book as needed. Why mini-books? I created mini-books so that students could easily access information in one spot (sort of like a one-stop-shop). Due to the fact that mini-books are convenient in size, students can easily store them. As teachers know, notes often go missing, so make it easier by printing out all the required information into one easy-to-access (page) book. Also, students are less likely to be missing pages or wasting time looking for lost pages. Finally, you can save paper, as one book is equal to one page! How to use them with your students: As students generally enjoy putting the mini-book together, it only takes a few minutes at the start to get things going. Use the video tutorial and replay as many times as needed (instead of repeating instructions). Students will easily get the hang of the folding instructions, once they complete a book or two. Folding instructions: (a) Oral instruction: A folding instruction page comes with each mini-book, so teachers can use this page as reference to guide students on how to properly create and fold each mini-book. (b) Visual instructions: In hopes of saving teachers from repeating themselves, instructions can be provided via an interactive folding instructions video (below). Students can pause the video as they fold along, as the video does have timed sections for students who wish to work alongside the videos instructions. *The video serves as an excellent visual for students who need clear directions, which can easily be left for a substitute or given as a homework task for the students. All of my mini-books are bundled into this growing mini-book package. They are a great addition to any English Language Arts classroom and suitable for a variety of levels. CLICK HERE for the link to my growing mini-book bundle. What's included in the bundle? • Grammar • Punctuation • Story Writing • Essay Writing • Parts of Speech • Poetry • Figurative Language • MLA Citation • Reading Response • Paragraph Writing • Friendly Letter • Point of View • Speech Writing • Homophones • Shakespeare • Capitalization NEW! Mini-workbooks for kids: • Onomatopoeia • Personification • Simile • Idiom • Homophones I look forward to hearing how these mini-books have helped to keep your student's information organized, saved you time in the photocopy line, and provided an interactive and fun way for students to learn a variety of new skills! Follow The Classroom Sparrow's board English Exposure (English Language Arts) on Pinterest.

“This is too hard!” “I don't get this!” “Why are we reading this?” Do these sound familiar? If you're a high school English teacher teaching Shakespeare they do! There is much debate over whether or not Shakespeare should be taught in high school. If you ask your students, some will say they love it and others will not. It is my belief that teaching Shakespeare is imperative to any high school English curriculum. Not only have the works of Shakespeare shaped the English language, his plays and stories convey timeless themes and emotions. Furthermore, the way he portrays his characters and their struggles are all relevant today, especially to high school aged students. So, what made me decide that I HAD to write more about this topic? I was having a conversation at school the other day (to be fair, his person is not an English teacher) and I was explaining some of the activities I was doing with Shakespeare whey they said, "I wonder when they are going to phase that out?" GASP! Those opposed to the teachings of Shakespeare today may believe that we should be teaching more modern topics to students and focusing less on the classics. Some may say that the story lines are irrelevant and boring. They may even go as far as to say Shakespeare is outdated. People tend to think we should be teaching more hands-on, mentally-challenging topics in order for our children to strive and grow. While we can't discount anybody's opinions or thoughts, and while we must respect each others point of view, it is my belief that the above are not good enough reasons to have children miss out on all that the works of Shakespeare can offer. In today's society, our students are faced with many stresses and struggles. They have to deal with things like suicide, violence, anger, love, depression, racism, and the recently popular topic of gender issues. As an educator, it's our job to make our curriculum relevant to the lives of our students, so that they are excited and engaged in what we are teaching. The works of Shakespeare, although written long before our time, actually do explore and discuss such topics. We can talk about how important and relevant Shakespeare is all day, but how do we actually convey this to our students so they understand too? It all starts with us, the teacher. It's our job to be creative in the way we introduce each Shakespearean play to our students. If a specific play has a strong theme to it, discuss the theme in depth. Whether it's love, suicide, depression or hatred, students need to talk about those themes and how they experience it today, so that they can understand how the characters in the story experience it. Some students might be resistant to try reading the stories and plays because they don't understand how to actually read the language of Shakespeare. If this is the case, there are plenty of resources available to assist in helping students understand the rhythm and the poetry of his writings. Reading out loud and acting out the plays are another helpful technique in keeping students engaged and interested. Wait. Aren't there other, more modern books out there that teach these same themes? Yes, definitely. I, however, still believe that there is room for both in a classroom. Unless you've gone through and entire Shakespeare play, you can't really understand the sense of accomplishment when you finish that last line, especially if you are a teenager! Sure, it was sometimes hard to understand, but I can attest to the fact that students feel a sense of pride when they are done! In addition to the accomplished feeling, there are so many pop-culture references and allusions that are made, which you would not be able to understand if you have not read any of Shakespeare's work! For instance, Disney movies have made several references to Shakespeare. Several popular songs have referenced Shakespeare too! So, while you can definitely find the same themes in modern books, your students may be missing out on many Ah ha! moments in the years to come. I know. It's one thing to tell and another thing to do! Here's a really easy, fun, and interactive way to introduce Shakespeare to your students. The Shakespeare Mini-Book is a convenient reference guide answers the most common Shakespeare questions (Who was William Shakespeare? Why is Shakespeare so hard to read? Why do we study Shakespeare?) It also provides students with some engaging and interesting topics for discussion, such as popular quotes, list of invented words, fun facts, as well as a list of well-known works. This man was a literary genius, plain and simple. His works reveal such importance in the development of our English language and literature. Teachers have the ability to make learning Shakespeare a fun and exciting lesson, provided the right resources. All students deserve to experience the magic and art that is Shakespeare! What do you think? Should Shakespeare be a part of the high school English curriculum? Here's a FREE set of Macbeth bookmarks to kick-start your Shakespeare journey!

Yes, interactive notebooks can be useful in middle and high school classes too! If your students are anything like mine, you know they love all things interactive. So, why not try engaging them in a different way from the norm? I decided to start using interactive notebooks with my students because, quite honestly, I was getting tired of teaching them the various English Language Arts skills in the same old way, and they were tired of reviewing the skills in the same old way. I am a firm believer that if these ELA skills aren't reviewed a few times throughout a semester, then students just won't grasp the skill and be able to use them in future classes. For this reason, I created an Interactive Notebook Bundle for teens. What skills are reviewed? This growing bundle encompasses a variety of elements important to any middle school or high school classroom: essays, punctuation, parts of speech, grammar, point of view, and figurative language. The goal of the various types of foldables, in all shapes and sizes, was to keep learning about these important skills interesting and fun. Reviewing and practicing these skills can be quite monotonous for students. Thus, engagement is the issue many teachers have with students at this age. These interactive notebook activities will grasp your students' attention, as they encourage students to evaluate each element and its definition. Keep it interesting: As I mentioned, in order to really grasp the information and remember it, students need to review the skills they are learning. For this reason, I have included a variety of skill-building tasks that could be used to review this essential information. Maybe the interactive foldable worked for some students, but others needed something different to keep their attention, try using the mix and match task cards. The mix and match cards can be used to assess comprehension, as students match up the correct term with its definition, or they can be printed out and used as study flash cards. Hold your students accountable: Should you choose to assess your students with their comprehension of these skills, you have the option of giving your students a quiz at the end of the concept being reviewed. (Quizzes included in the bundle) The ultimate writing stations: If you really want to delve into interactive notebooks in your classroom, you might consider using these interactive foldables, mix and match task cards, and quizzes, in the form of writing stations; each station offering a new task for the students to complete. Station 1: Cut and paste responses Station 2: Take notes for each fold Station 3: Sort out the flash cards (or match them up) Station 4: Use the handouts provided (or ones that you have used in the past) for further comprehension and understanding Station 5: Take the quiz Is time a factor? No worries here, each foldable comes with printable responses for each fold. If there's just not enough time to write out the answers to each foldable, simply cut out the responses and have your students cut and paste each to its applicable fold. This will ensure students have the necessary information, but no extra time was taken from your lesson. This method also ensures that each student completes the task (that is, they will have to actually read each of the definitions, as opposed to if they were to get a printout of the notes). I hope this post gave you more insight on how you might use interactive notebooks with your students, whether it be in the form of individual lessons through a semester, or as one big unit to assess individual student skills. The bundle itself offers the best deal for all of the foldables, but should you be interested in just one activity to try out in your lesson, the links for each individual foldable are included below: • Punctuation • Parts of Speech • Grammar Errors • Essay Writing • Figurative Language • Point of View • Essay Editing • Written Forms Editing Click here for a direct link to the Interactive Foldable Bundle. Do your students love interactive notebooks?

In continuing the series 5 Steps to Meaningful Behavioral Support, we are on Step 4 of creating the behavior plan and choosing interventions. Remembering that our interventions must match our hypotheses, one of the first

FREE rewards that teachers can give their students that will not cost any money, while at the same time, promoting a fun and interactive classroom atmosphere.

Natural.Environment.Teaching(NET) is powerful in ABA as learning occurs within natural contexts of everyday life. Get our free NET datasheet.

Smashbooks are a creative way for homeschoolers to organize learning while travelling. Fun, different, and memories that you can go back to for years!

In a hurry to get a substitute feedback form ready? Print out this simple, yet effective form to help your substitute document their time spent in your class. This quick reference sheet will note a variety of management issues, concerns, or suggestions that the classroom teacher should be made aware of during their time away. Sections include: • Substitute teacher information • Classroom behavior • Classroom noise level • Absences and punctuality • Issues and concerns • Important information • Additional comments Note: This product is a part of a bundle containing a variety of helpful Back-to-School Resources. © The Classroom Sparrow

Try the new Corn Maze in Google Maps Have a look at the Google Earth corn maze in Edmonton. This is a really nice idea on how to show learners how to navigate in Google Maps. Brilliant!!

Career Exploration Escape Room Vol 2: If you are looking for a fun, new, and interactive way for your students to explore potential jobs and/or careers of interest, then THE GREAT CAREER ESCAPE is for you! There are five career-themed (trivia) challenges included in this file. Of course, not every career of interest will be included in this activity, but there are several different career categories mentioned, so students will have an opportunity to learn about some they may have already heard of and some careers they may not have. In addition to the five challenges, a career research activity has been included, so students can explore any potential career of interest prior to or after the completion of the challenges. Click HERE to grab my Career Exploration Escape Room (Volume 1). This set includes five different challenges and continued FUN! ( Note: You can absolutely mix-and-match the challenges from the different resources!) Do I have to complete ALL of the challenges? No, you can mix-and-match the challenges, as each puzzle is independent of the other. As the teacher, you can decide which puzzles you may want to use and in which order they will be completed. Several detailed and thorough teacher instruction pages have been included, which provide differentiated instructions and suggestions for the various challenges. Answer keys have also been provided for ALL of the challenges! Group size: 3-5 students (Note: This can be completed as an individual and/or pair activity) Time: Approximately 20 minutes per challenge (Provide hints along the way if time is a factor!) Materials: Aside from the materials that you would already have in your classroom (pencils, pens, and scissors), no additional supplies are needed! These escape room-style games were created as a print-and-go resource. How to use this with your students: (several, flexible options) • One activity a day, for the # of activities used • As a complete activity (over several, continuous class periods) • As bonus work for students who finish their work early • As a homework activity to promote critical thinking skills THE TASK: Your career counselor has sent you on a mission to discover a future career path. With so many available options, you don’t know where to start! Complete the challenges below to discover a possible future career path in order to help narrow down your selection. Career Sudoku #1: Using the six-letter career-type word, determine which letter should go in each of the squares. Every row, column and six-square grid should contain each of the letters without repeating. Generation Secret Message #2: Put your detective skills in place because this challenge is going to require you to unlock a secret message in a unique font. In order to successfully complete this challenge, you will have to answer a series of questions based on three separate newspaper articles that are generation-themed. Career Cryptogram Puzzles #3: In order to find out the definition for this type of career, complete the cryptogram table, then, decode the words using the cryptogram code. Career Maze #4: In order to successfully complete this challenge, you will have to work your way through the maze to help the person find the item required for their career. Commonly Confused Careers #5: In order to successfully complete this challenge, you will have to sort through all of the true and false commonly confused careers and place them into the correct true or false column. *Upon completion of the challenges, one themed ("The Great Career Escape") editable certificate has been included, so you can easily type in a name and date and give each student who participated something for their efforts!* Check out the FREE preview for a closer look at this resource! © The Classroom Sparrow

I love a book about slugs! That's right, slugs. Which is strange because slugs totally freak me out in real life, but not this guy! Every so often, I like to share a picture book that has worked for me in a mini-lesson and is a hit with my 5th grade friends. Today, I want to share with you a little paperback picture book, Some Smug Slug by Pamela Duncan Edwards. This is the story of a cute, YES! CUTE!, little slug that sees a slope he wants to climb. As he climbs the slope, several different critters warn him to stop. He keeps on his path to a very surprising end. I'll tell you more about the end of the book later in this post. Here are some of the ways I have used this book with my friends in the past: Teaching Alliteration This is perhaps the most obvious lesson for this book. Every single page, almost every single word focuses on the alliteration of S. Honestly, the first time I read this book, I was amazed that you could write a cohesive, entertaining story using almost all S words. Here's a sample page: "Slowly the slug started up the steep surface, stringing behind it scribble sparkling like silk." Teaching Variety of Dialog Verbs You would think that a book so focused on the alliteration of S would use said as a dialog verb at least once. Not this book! Some Smug Slug does not use said at all. Instead, there is a great variety of dialog verbs used such as: screamed shrieked sighed snickered squealed It's also a good book for just teaching action verbs. The slug and other animals shift, shudder, sway, swing, slumber, and there are many more S verbs used. Teaching Surprise Endings in Writing Through the entire book, we follow this cute little slug as he finally climbs the slope. Well, that slope turns out to be a salamander that promptly eats the slug! It's an unexpected surprise at the end that gets my friends every time. Now, my 5th graders totally find the humor in the slug being eaten, but I don't know how that would go over with a younger set. You'll have to make that call. The surprise ending is something my friends are always eager to try right away in their writer's notebook. It's a fun technique to use in spooky stories for Halloween. Foreshadowing Now that you know the slug is eaten in the end, you realize that all those animals that were warning the slug to stop knew it was a salamander and not a slope. While you read the book aloud, you can model your thinking aloud, wondering why the animals keep warning the slug. Your friends can make predictions as to why they think the animals would be saying those things to the slug. I promise you when you get to the end of the book, your friends will be all, "That's why the animals were warning him!" It's a nice simple lesson on foreshadowing. This book is also just plain fun. The illustrations, by Henry Cole, are so well done. While they have different illustrators, these remind me of the illustrations in The Great Kapok Tree. Also, there is a hidden S in every picture. To be honest, I never remember where they are and I never find them all when I search, but my friends are able to find them all every time. In case you want to preview the book, I found a video on YouTube that I embedded below. It's a reading of the book that shows each page, so you can take a look and decide if it's good for you. I should mention that I ran to Barnes & Nobel to pick up another copy of this book on Sunday. As I paid for the book, the clerk said sarcastically, "A book about slugs? Nice." If only she knew just how nice! (By the way, did you catch it? "said sarcastically" This S alliteration thing is catchy! I know, I'm a total cornball sometimes!) The reason I purchased another copy is that I am going to include it as one of the prizes in my little thank you give-away, which I will be posting about on Wednesday. So, come back on Wednesday to enter the give-away and possibly win a copy of Some Smug Slug for yourself! *By the way, this is just me sharing an opinion of a book I like. Pamela Duncan Edwards, Henry Cole, and the publishers of Some Smug Slug don't even know I exist or that I can read! ;-)

This accounting activity gives students an opportunity to create a basic income statement based on three scenarios. Students will complete the calculations using the proper formulas on the paper copy provided. Then, once completed, use the template to create the statement on a computer. Excel templa...

Anglo Saxon Poetry: Background, Terms, Handouts, Activities, and Video Clip Start your school year with this unit and do it right! You will not see a video/ song comparison to The Seafarer anywhere else! There are 33 pages of British Literature's Anglo Saxon Poetry materials. Table of Contents Class Notes (smart board and handouts) Anglo Saxon Worksheets Literary Terms Fill in & Teacher Copy Heroes vs. Monsters Fill in Chart The Seafarer (text) The Wife’s Lament (text) The Wanderer (text) Triple Venn Diagram Fill in Your Turn to be the Scop (co-op bell ringer) The Seafarer Worksheet Fill in The Seafarer Today Billy Joel's The Downeaster “Alexa” lyrics (smart board or projector &handout) Characterization Chart fill in Venn Diagram fill in **NO ANSWER KEY** Visit my store for more British Literature. Come Together! Connect with Me! Study All Knight Blog Study All Knight Facebook Danielle Knight (Study All Knight) on Pinterest Study All Knight on Twitter Study All Knight on Instagram Created by Danielle Knight, © Study All Knight ™, The Knight Stuff, LLC keywords: British Literature, England, Exeter Book, poetry, epic, Scandinavian, Celt, Vikings, Beowulf, Fate, Billy Joel, fisherman, graphic organizer, back to school, high school English, September

I talked in previous posts about stimulus prompts in which we change what we present to the student to help him get the correct answer and get the reinforcer. It's important to recognize that promptin

Teach your students how to hear sounds in words with this free phonemic awareness activity! The clip cards are a fun way to teach phoneme isolation. #phonemicawareness

Story Skills Story Elements Wow this is great! If you are looking for a worksheet that you can give to your students to give the story, skills and the various elements of the book, this is fantastic! Click below to get the pdf.

Learning ELA skills is essential to any language arts curriculum. It is how we are taught to read and write properly. Learning these skills, however, is not always exciting for students. Whether at the elementary, middle or high school level, students may find this area of their English class to be dry, dull and plain old uninteresting. The solution? Games! Students respond well to competition and interactive activities. They love playing against each other and winning. Below are five types of games your students can play, at all grade levels, where they're both learning ELA material and having FUN! 1. Grammar Races: This interactive learning game is both exciting and educational, while learning proper grammar usage. This activity can be done individually, in small groups or even a team. Students can use this interactive notebook resource to reinforce and improve their grammar skills. The teacher can read commonly confused or mistaken words by racing each other to create sentences that properly use that word. Teachers also have the option to read a sentence aloud and have students write that sentence by applying the correct word that they just heard read orally. The options are unlimited for how this can be presented and practiced within a classroom. The assignment is editable, so teachers have flexibility with the activity, too. The students have fun with this assignment and do not realize they are learning along the way. Click HERE for a closer look! 2. Punctuation Races: Due to the success of the Grammar Races activity, I created a similar resource, but with a focus on punctuation. Again, this activity can be done individually, in groups or in a team. One way to implement this activity in your classroom is by having students cut out the provided punctuation mark definitions and race each other in order to connect the marks with their corresponding term. Again, the activity is editable, fun and interactive! Click HERE for a closer look! 3. Social Media Madness: This activity can be used at the middle or high school level. Students are given a handout with actual posts from various social media outlets. You can grab the free handout HERE. Their job is to re-write that post, but making the necessary corrections in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. (Keeping in mind that names and profile pictures should be crossed off) Teachers could also create fake posts and students could make the necessary corrections to those as well, but to save you some time, and to get students really excited about practicing these skills, Presto Plans has done the work for you and created a Social Media Grammar Activity, where students review and make changes to celebrity social media posts. This is a win-win for both students and teachers. :) 4. SWAT: This is a whole-class game that involves working together to review different types of verbs. For example, split your class into two teams and write three types of verbs on your board: action, linking and helping. One person from each team should come to the front of the class. The teacher should read a sentence aloud and the two students should race to "SWAT" which kind of verb had been used in the oral sentence. Click HERE for other middle and high school games for grammar usage. 5. JENGA: This game works best in groups of four, with multiple game sets available in a classroom. The teacher would have to do some prep work beforehand, such as writing on each of the Jenga blocks, for whichever skills need to be reviewed. Jenga is played by slowly and carefully removing the wooden (or paper) piece from the stack, without knocking all of the blocks over, and placing that block on the top. For example, if you are currently teaching adjectives, you have placed adjectives on the blocks. When students go to draw from the stack, you could have them write or verbally say the sentence using that adjective. Teachers have enough work, so here's a FREE template that I found where students can both create and write on for the game. I hope these games make learning the skills of ELA enjoyable for your students. The numbers of ways to teach students these skills is countless, so why not have some fun while you're at it! There's nothing like a little friendly classroom competition! So, in the end, yes, English class can be a lot of FUN!

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Wondering how to sequence grammar instruction? You'll want this list that scaffolds grammar lessons so that one skill builds upon the next.

Happy Friday Friends! I hope everyone had a great week! I am not feeling good (ears, throat, tired..blah!) Hoping to have a relaxing weekend of nothing and possibly head to the doctor tomorrow! Last school year I had strep 6 times and I don't want a repeat of that this year...no thank you! Yesterday I told you we were going to do a multiplication table project that I saw on Pinterest! Well, the kids LOVED it! They were so excited to draw and color during math! And to top it off, they did such a great job at this project! It took them about an hour to complete but the results are awesome! Here is my table before! It's not the straightest table you will see, or even, but oh well! Then, students each got an index card and pulled a multiplication problem out of a bag! They had to show that problem in one of the 5 ways I taught them-arrays, repeated addition, fact families, grouping, or skip counting. Once they did their index card in pencil, they had to show me to make sure it was correct. If it was correct, they got to color it and then had to show me on the board where it went before gluing it on! Here they are placing it on the board! All complete! Then I made a quick sign, printed out the strategy posters and added them to the top! SO cool huh? I am really proud of it! I had a few people stop in my room at the end of the day to say how cool they thought the board was! So so proud of my kiddos! And to top it off...their test today...WOW! I have been teaching 3rd grade for 4 years and this group gets it! On another note, since Halloween is right around the corner and I have yet to make anything or do anything in my classroom related to Halloween-sorry Lisa from Learning is Something to Treasure. I know you BOOed me...but I have nothing to write about:( I am SO out of the loop with this holiday this year! But now, I have made some Halloween No Homework Passes! I would LOVE to give some of these away! All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me about your favorite childhood Halloween memory-don't forget to leave your email otherwise I can't send it to you! So here are a few of mine! I remember my mom making me a bat costume in the 4th grade! It was SO cool! I lived on top of a hill with a massive driveway. I remember getting off the bus, running up the hill, still wearing my bat costume. My dad was blowing leaves and my Giant Schnauzer Jack was running to see me. Later that night I went trick or treating with my best friend Lori! I remember coming home and sorting through the candy and my baby sister Mallorie was trying to get into my bag! I also remember one more thing I just HAVE to share! My mom was the queen of making me costumes and clothing! I usually didn't match and had some very unique costumes. This next costume, well..I mean seriously...can you tell what my mom made me this year??? Take a wild guess...I am curious to see if anyone can get this! And yes, this is in 1988! I swear, one last thing:) Check back tomorrow for the start of my 600 follower giveaway! YEA! Have a great night!

This post provides tips and tricks on how we can better prepare our students for life after high school. Whether it be life skills or post-secondary education.