Do you use task cards for teaching activities?  You may want to consider doing so when you observe all their benefits. Task cards are pretty self-explanatory:  they are cards which contain tasks, or activities for students to complete.  Teachers usually create a deck of these task cards for students to practice skills.  They are good ...

How is the school year going for everyone?  Hopefully, you're in the full swing of things and enjoying the new semester.  I know I am. I came across this awesome idea on Scholastic, courtesy of the always helpful Beth Newingham.  She came up with a fun way for students to get into reading and recommend books not only to their classmates, but ...

Several months back, I posted some activities used with the novel Ender's Game.  One of the activities listed is an ''anticipation guide,'' and I always wanted to follow-up with more details on this particular pre-reading strategy. I first heard about anticipation guides when I was reading Kylene Beers' excellent Resource When Kids Can't ...

Have you made use of discovery bottles in your classroom?  Consider doing so if you want to add some simple manipulatives for centers or a science station.  Earlier, I posted about how teachers use empty water bottles for activities, and discovery bottles accomplish the same thing by adding different types of materials for students to shake around ...

I love this idea I found on Pinterest, posted by FirstGradeParade, MessyJofU and SweetTeachings.  Have students explore synonyms in this hands-on lesson that culminates in a sweet treat for the class! Students work collaboratively to come up with synonyms for a given word, and then consult a thesaurus.  Once all their synonyms are chosen, ...

The next free resource comes from TheJoyOfFirstGrade.  Her class did a lesson on fables, and she is sharing some of the activities they did.  Visit the link to find: a reader's theater script a worksheet for students to compare a similar character in two different tales a sheet to create their own fable ( + a rubric) youtube clips of ...

The internet is buzzing with news of an upcoming adaptation of the beloved sci-fi/young adult classic, Ender's Game.  Since the 1980's, readers have relished the story of how a gifted, young strategist faced many challenges while trying to save the world from the threat of an alien invasion, and save himself from many dangers at the ...

http://www.myfakewall.com/ If you want a creative assessment tool and way to integrate technology, visit MyFakeWall.com.  If your students are avid Facebook users, they may enjoy creating imaginary Facebook pages for historical figures, book characters, and anyone else you want them to study. If he had Facebook, who would Ben ...

My latest obsession?  Pop-up books!  This week, I'll be sharing some ways I've found of using these dynamic books in your classroom.  Can anyone deny the sense of wonder pop-up books generate within children?  Some of the designs and artwork are also perfect for advanced readers, but I'll get to that later. First, Scholastic has a ...

Access dozens of student center activities through one website, created by the Florida Center for Reading Research.  This is an invaluable resource for elementary teachers looking for center or workstation activities.  Everything is free, printable and contains instructions. Students can practice phonics, vocabulary, fluency and ...