Make Your Own Pointers

Pointers have endless uses in the classroom. They channel student attention, allow teachers to emphasize key skills, promote left to right directionality, and more. Mundane skills like practicing word wall words, reading the room, and reading the morning message are a little more exciting when students have the opportunity to choose a pointer and be the “teacher.” Incorporating positive feelings and utilizing novelty stimulate the brain and serve as a catalyst for learning.

Pointers are available commercially through many educational companies and discount stores. They are also easy to make. Making a special pointer is a fun way to incorporate a theme or highlight a sight word or letter. Wooden dowels can be purchased from discount, craft, or hardware stores. Simply glue an object (such as a foam shape, letter cut-out, spider ring, so on) to the end fo the dowel, and you are ready to roll.

Getting More From Your Puzzles

Teachers invest in their classrooms. We invest our hearts, our time, our talent, and our money. Like any professional, we want those dollars to do as much good as possible.

One way to get more from our puzzles is to use both sides. The possiblities are endless. Matching puzzles (often these are available for letters and numbers) lend themselves to becoming manipulatives to practice math facts, compound words, numbers and symbols, and many other skills.

Other puzzles can be flipped over and used as a canvas for nearly any skill you want students to practice or review. Math properties can be written for students to put together, mitosis can be drawn out, vocabulary words and definitions can be listed . . . the possibilities are endless. These puzzles can be teacher created, or challenge students to upcycle by creating review puzzles for the class.

Puzzles are tactile, hands-on, and great for visual learners. Get more from your puzzles by using the flipside.

Sing for the Season

The holidays are a time for love, laughter, and an opportunity to enhance learning. Santa Claus elicits feelings of joy and excitement for young children. Research has taught us that the brain is stimulated when learning has an emotional connection. This song (sung to the tune of “Bingo”) uses this connection with Santa to teach letter recognition, beginning spelling, and descriptive language.

1. Challenge students to list things they associate with Santa Claus (long white beard, flying sleigh, comes on Christmas Eve, big black boots, soft white suit, bag of toys).
2. Write the letters S-A-N-T-A on a dry-erase board or chalkboard.
3. Sing the following song to the tune of bingo inserting the descriptive phrases provided by the children.

There was a man with a long white beard and S-A-N-T-A was his name-o

S-A-N-T-A

S-A-N-T-A

S-A-N-T-A

And Santa was his name-o

Erase the “S” and insert a line for a ‘blank.’ Explain to the children how to clap in place of singing the letter. There was a man with a bag of toys and S-A-N-T-A was his name-o

_-A-N-T-A

_-A-N-T-A

_-A-N-T-A

And Santa was his name-o

Erase the “A.”

There was a man with a cherry nose and S-A-N-T-A was his name-o

_-_-N-T-A

_-_-N-T-A

_-_-N-T-A

And Santa was his name-o

Erase the “N.”

There was a man with big, black boots and S-A-N-T-A was his name-o

_-_-_-T-A

_-_-_-T-A

_-_-_-T-A

And Santa was his name-o

Continue until each letter has been erased.

More ideas for Christmas in the Classroom: http://infinitecvideos.wikispaces.com/Literacy

Christmas in the Classroom

There is just something magic about Christmas. Christmas is about love, giving, searching for good, and miracles.

Children associate Christmas with positive memories and excitement. Positive memories and emotions create hooks in the brain. One of the joys of teaching is using these hooks to build new skills.

This simple activity with Christmas tree cut-outs and button manipulatives can be used to teach a variety of skills building on those positive dendrites.

1. Cut Christmas trees from green craft foam or felt. (Christmas tree template printable: http://familyfun.go.com/printables/christmas-tree-ornament-patterns-702979/)
2. Use buttons as manipulatives .
3. Choose a skill topractice!

• Orally state math story problems while students use the buttons to create the problems on the trees. Stress words that are synonyms: plus, and, add; minus, subtract, take away.
• Practice positional words, “Put the button at the TOPof the tree.” “Put two red buttons UNDER the yellow button.”
• Demonstrate the communtive property using the trees, buttons, and a dry erase board.
• Place the trees and buttons at the math center and challenge students to write math story problems.
• Practice one-to-one counting using the mats and buttons.
• Learn beginning addition and subtraction skills.

Snot Science

Hypothesis: Snot can be colored.

Materials: 5 year-old child, water-based (thank goodness) marker

Procedure: 1. Child is too quiet in her room. 2. She colors the insides of both nostrils with a blue marker. 3. Allow time for nose to run.

Observation: Blue mucus ran out her nose for several minutes.

Conclusion: Yes, snot can be colored.

Note to future scientists: This research was only conducted on liquids. Additional experiments need to be conducted to determine if this procedure will work with solids.

How To Be Unsuccessful

1. Don’t try something if you might look foolish.
2. Never ask for help.
3. Never cry.
4. Don’t take risks.
5. Work hard and never play.
6. Mimic and make fun of people. Invest the time to become a real bully.
7. Be afraid to dream.
8. Never question authority or the status flow.
9. Don’t start until the time is right.
10. Wait for someone smarter, better looking, wealthier . . . to do it first.
11. Compare yourself to other people.
12. Worry
13. If you experience fear . . . stop.
14. Spend hours a day playing watching tv and playing games alone.
15. Complain
16. Listen to people who tell you can’t.
17. If you don’t understand someone, call them names.
18. Only spend time with people you already know.
19. Surround yourself with negative people and negative conversations.
20. Only listen to people who think just like you.
21. Brag about how good you would be IF you tried.
22. Never try anything that might not work.

Sometimes Life Is Like That . . . It's Just Pants

Monster Queen was refusing to wear her glasses in the car on the way to school today. Big brother was trying to convince her that wearing them was the right thing to do. The explanation went like this:

“This is how life is sometimes . . . it’s like it’s your birthday, and you get this cool package. It is just the shape of the toy you want, and you are really excited to open it. When you tear the paper off, though, it’s just pants. Sometimes life is like that . . . it’s just pants and you have to pretend you like it.”