Fabulous Freebies: Fun Fall Freebies!

 I have been seeing leaves here starting to fall from trees so I thought it would be a great time to put up a list of fun fall freebies! Enjoy these fall themed freebies with your students.

There are a slew of cute fall writing and math worksheets available here for younger elementary students. The worksheets are easy to download and all have cute fall graphics!

Have fun with these autumn Sudoku pages! There is an easy version and regular version of 4x4 Sudoku available to print in color or black and white.

 

Deceptively Educational has a fun fall leaf bingo game which work great for science or during a walk outside. I love all the types of leaves this game includes!

 

 

 

 

 

Creativity Portal has a list of thirteen autumn themed writing prompts, most that would work well for middle or high school students.

 

 

If you have a fall freebie, share it with us below!

 

 

 

 



Online Tool with Quick Brain Breaks

GoNoOdle is a must-check-out-because-your-students-will-love-it website.  It is ideal for the primary grades where students' stamina is limited to small burst of time.  You can create an account for free and then access any number of brain break videos/exercises.  Olympians will take your students through short training sessions before leading them in a virtual athletic competition.  It is a great way to give your students a short break to get out the wiggles in the classroom before transitioning into a lesson.

For other virtual tools, check out my pinterest board of "websites useful to teachers."

Fabulous Freebies: High School Level Interventions

There is so much focus on teaching students the basics at the elementary level.  Sadly, there are so many high school students who have missed some of the basics.  Here are some of the common misunderstandings that I've seen high school students repeatedly struggle with, along with some intervention resources.

#1: Fractions...So many students who struggle with math are not able to visualize or conceptualize what it means that there are wholes and parts of a whole.  Therefore, being able to use fractions--or decimals and percents--to manipulate and calculate is a struggle.  Here are a few resources that I've seen used that do not appear babyish to high schoolers...

Common Core practice worksheets that are leveled and come with answer keys.

Skittles Lab that practices fractions, ratios, percents, and decimals.

Free online lessons and activities that are connected to various math skills

#2: Comprehending nonfiction....One of the skills that students struggle with is pulling the main idea and details out of nonfiction texts.  Unlike fiction, struggling readers often do not realize that nonfiction texts use a variety of structures (spatial, compare & contrast, cause & effect, etc.).  If they did, they would become more strategic readers and successful at comprehension.  Here are a few resources I've used...

Text structure printable worksheets and answer keys

Guides to reading in the content areas

I'll be posting more upper level intervention strategies and lessons as the year goes along.  Let me know if there is something in particular you'd like One Less Headache to address and we'll do our best to help provide ideas and offer resources.

Five Fun Ideas for Open House

Since school has been in session for several weeks now, it is the time of open house. Here are five fun ideas for open house!

1. Why I Love Art has a great idea of doing a grid enlargement of "The Scream" which would make a perfect photo op for any students who come with their parents to open house. This could easily be tied into a math lesson as well by enlarging it with a set ratio. I love this idea!

2. Now I'm sure most of us have seen the images of life size child self portraits at each desk. However, I saw this image and thought that this would be an extra fun twist on that by having each child draw themselves as super heroes! I could see many students getting very excited by this idea. This could easily tie into a writing project as well or even just work on adjectives or onomatopoeia.

3. Get to know the parents of your students better with this parent survey from The Teachers' Cauldron. It's great to keep get all of this information that will be so useful the rest of the year! Scroll down towards the middle of the page and click on the link right above the image to download it.

 4. Have a scavenger hunt! I love this idea of doing an open house scavenger hunt so parents and their children will be able to find everything important in the school and/or classroom. The Cornerstone for Teachers has a great editable scavenger hunt here you can use.

5. Make a classroom brochure. MS Word has an easy brochure template you can use to create something customized for your classroom quickly and easily. Teaching Blog Addict has some tips here as well on how to create your own open house brochure!


If you have a great idea for open house please share it with us below! I would love to hear about it.

Fun Fall Art Activities for Fast Finishers!

If you have creative fast finishers in your classroom, this Fall Fast Finishers Art Activity pack might fit the bill! The pages in this drawing pack are intended to help your students think creatively and problem solve. There are a variety of pages that draw a variety of artistic skills from your students.

I have used these in my classroom regularly for my fast finishers and they worked well! Check out more reviews of these pages here.

Fabulous Freebies: More Great Websites for Teachers to Bookmark

This week I thought I would share some fun and free websites that you can use in class. These are some that are perfect to bookmark or pin!


Wheel of Decide - This is a fun website that has a customizable wheel in which you enter in options and then it spins and randomly selects a choice. This could be a fun way to decide a reward or you could play a game with it and have a math operation for a question that students must use or vocab/spelling words.


Handwriting Worksheets - You can make and print your own handwriting practice sheets from this website which is great since you can customize them to your needs.


Fun Brain - Fun Brain is a fun website for students to use to play educational games. The focus is on math and reading games.


Certificates 4 Teachers - I have used these once in a while to recognize students for their achievements and it makes it easy without having to spend time making something yourself. Just type in the info and your certificate is set!


Artsonia - I have mentioned this website before but feel that it is worth another mention. It is an online gallery where you can post your students' artwork for free. Students' parents can sign up and comment on their child's artwork. Also, students can buy things with their artwork on it and your school will get 15% of the proceeds which is nice as well. I have enjoyed this website very much over the years!

Using Portfolios in the Classroom

One of the most effective tools I use to motivate and focus students is portfolios.  Many of my students have a difficult time staying on track, keeping up with their materials, meeting deadlines, etc.  When I give my students portfolios, it does several things to help them: 1) It puts all of their important due dates and assignments in one place that they find easier to keep up with.  2) It prioritizes assignments and puts them in an official file, communicating the importance of them for the students.  3) It becomes something that students take pride in and and responsibility for.

On the other hand, it is also helpful because it gives me a collection of their work to show parents and administrators how they are progressing.  When someone asks how my students are doing, what they are learning, if they are showing growth, or how I justify my students' grades, I have something solid to show them.

When I set up the portfolios, I do the following....

1) I plan with the end in mind.  I figure out what I want students to be able to do and what standards I want them to demonstrate mastery of.  I design a project that engages the students and incorporates the target skills.  I create a rubric for how I am going to grade their work.  Then I break the portfolio down into a series of assignments that show progression towards a big picture goal.  For example, if they are working on writing a research paper the due dates correspond to steps (research, notes, outline, rough draft and final draft).  If they are working on writing Spanish essays, the assignments get progressively longer and more complex.

2) I create a timeline/assignment sheet that identifies what I want them to do and by when.  I put it in a table format, print it and staple it to the inside cover of a file folder.  The assignment description includes mini checklist rubrics. I also include a space to put their grade and comments.

3) I color code everything.  Their folder is one color, the assignment sheet is another color, and rubrics are a yet another.  It is bright and easy to find and identify.

4) Students use it on a weekly, if not daily basis.  They are expected to keep up with it and organize it.  Student-teacher conferences always include a look at the portfolio.  Grades directly correlate with the portfolio, and because students have a grade sheet in their folder, they always know how they are doing.

Many of you probably already use portfolios of some sort.  If not, give it a try!

Spanish Stations Worth Checking Out

One of the easiest ways to differentiate in the classroom is to use centers/stations.  I use them regularly in my Spanish classes to review the objectives from each unit.  I have students do a self assessment to determine where they are strong and what they need to work on.  Then I introduce anywhere between 8 and 12 stations, making it clear what each station covers.  They can then determine which stations they want to do.  They can move at their own pace, working on the objectives they choose to review.  I help them to pace themselves and circulate to answer questions and provide individual direct instruction where necessary.  Here are some of the stations I have for sale on Teachers Pay Teachers.

#1: Here is a collection of 8 stations covering introductory vocabulary.  At just $2, it is one of my best sellers and best deals!

#2: For just $1.00 you can purchase a set of activities that focuses on the vocabulary for greetings.

#3: Also, for $2.50 you can purchase a set of activities that focuses on just the number vocabulary.

Fabulous Freebies: Fast & Early Finisher Freebies!

With the school year starting up, those fast and early finishers are probably starting to come out of the wood work. I often notice it is the same students who may finish an assignment early. Here are some fun freebies to use for those fast finishers.

• Reading with Kids has some great elaborate color by number puzzles. They are quite elaborate and some even include optical illusion art. These could be great fun for students!

• Origami instructions is my favorite website for learning new origami! While it is usually better to have students that have some basic experience in origami do it on their own there are some designs on the site that anyone can make quite easily. Origami is a great way to practice math too!

• Make Belief Printables has a great selection of finish it pages for students that are clever with drawing or words. These pages use creative thinking skills to finish so they are great for continuing learning.

• Lucky to Be in First has a great fast finisher sheet with 12 ideas. Although the blog is geared towards 1st grade I think this sheet has great ideas for multiple grade levels. There are a variety of prompts. You could even have students try to get 4 in a  row or make a certain shape as they complete activities.

Have fun getting these freebies for your fast finishers!