Blog Open House Contest! - CLOSED

Since our blog is new, we have decided to host an open house and offer a contest. Please check out our blog and enter our contest to win free products. One person will win two free teaching products of their choice! The winner will receive one product of their choice, from my Teachers Pay Teachers store, and one product of their choice from Etc.'s Teachers Pay Teachers store. There will be more than 80 products to choose from!

You can receive up to five entries into the contest.

1. Visit either of our stores (you can use the links above) on Teachers Pay Teachers and tell us one product you like. (If you win the contest you can always change your mind later and choose something different!) Leave a comment telling us a product you like below.
2. Follow our blog and leave a comment below that you have followed us.
3. Follow my store on Teachers Pay Teachers for one additional entry and leave a comment below stating that you follow my store.
4. Follow Etc's Teachers Pay Teachers store for an additional entry and leave a comment below stating that you follow her store.
5. Like my Lesson Lady Facebook page for a fourth entry and leave a comment below stating that you have done so.

Make sure to leave your email address so we will be able to contact you if you win!

The contest will run from Sunday, April 1st - Friday, April 6th, 2012. The winner will be selected by random.org. Good luck!

Fabulous Friday Freebies!

Here they are....Fabulous Friday Freebies!  I've included some of the best in reading, writing and arithmetic from my search this week.  And, for all you readers out there that teach espanol (there is so much less out there for us than other content areas), I've included a Spanish game.  Check 'em out... 

Here is a packet that takes teachers through a process for teaching word problems, complete with student handouts and answer keys.  The sample word problems are written for middle school students, but the process for teaching word problems is appropriate for any age.

Here is a writing lesson on using details and imagery to convey an idea. This is a lesson that could be incorporated into a creative writing lesson for students of any age.

This is a website with a bunch of lessons on teaching grammar.  Note: I use the handouts on this site all the time with my high school students.  I probably would not recommend this site for elementary school teachers.

This is a game I play with my Spanish students to get them talking.  They love it.  Recently I adapted the concept into a form of verbal dodge ball.  Very easy to plan for and implement in a class learning a foreign language at any level.


Hope you enjoy!

Jelly Beans, Edible Easter Baskets and Glyphs-Oh My!

A sweet treat I made this week--Edible Easter Baskets!

This is a picture of one of my favorite spring holiday treats.  It is an edible basket of jelly beans.  While you can use the traditional rice krispie treat recipe with marshmallows, I like to use the peanut butter rice krispie treat recipe  (see below).  You can jazz it up by dying coconut green to be used as grass or using a pipe cleaner inserted into opposite sides as a handle.

I suggest making them with your students.  The rice krispies can be made on a hot plate.  Once the mixture has cooled a little, give each student about one cup full and have them mold it into baskets.  (Note that this will be a sticky mess so buttering up their hands ahead of time is suggested and washing them before and after is a must!)  Make the whole experience more educational by turning it into a simple lesson about glyphs for the younger kids or a most advanced lesson about glyphs with some math added in for the older kids.

Enjoy!


Recipe for Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars:

Ingredients
1 cup white karo syrup
1 cup white sugar
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups rice krispies

Steps
1) Put the first two ingredients in a pan and heat.  Let the mixture come to a rolling boil for one minute.
2) Remove from heat and add in the peanut butter.  Mix this together with the rice krispies in a separate bowl.

Fabulous Friday Freebies

Okay, so it isn't Friday anymore (close enough, right?) but after a long week of several long, long days with parent teacher conferences and an art show I hope you'll let me have a little slack. This week will begin our Fabulous Friday Freebies! I'll share a few of my favorite teacher freebies that will help keep the headaches away.

First, here is my fabulous and FREE Zoo Math Game. It has more than 5,000 downloads and four stars so check it out! It is adaptable to use with addition, subtraction, or multiplication practice.

 

I also love these FREE make believe comic printable pages. They can be adapted to use for literacy & writing or art.

Lastly, I recommend this site for over 100 FREE graphic organizers! Graphic organizers are great to use for any subject area and there is a wealth of them here.

 I hope you enjoy these fun and fabulous freebies! Even if it isn't Friday.

Tip #10: Get Some Support

After a particularly long day, when hurricane-like children have left for the day, the best medicine for your headache, I have found, is talking to a supportive colleague. Throughout my years of teaching, I have taugth at five different schools in very different environments. I have always found that the schools I enjoyed teaching at the most were the ones with people to talk to at the end of the day.

Why stick around to talk with your colleagues? One, it's great to know if the problems you are experiencing with Johnny in class happen in other classes. Or, maybe someone has found a great technique that works wonders with him. You never know! I always like to hear what happened in other classrooms as it is interesting to hear about a different style and way of teaching that I can think about incorporating into my own lessons.

I also like hearing about different lesson ideas. Even though I teach art and am the only art teacher in my building, it is interesting to hear how other teachers teach subjects. It often gives me ideas for new ways to introduce topics or go over other things such as parts of art history. Also, if one class is studying a unit about a particular culture, it give me an opportunity to add that culture into my own lesson plans and help students make connections across the curriculum.

Communication is key. It is always important to let other people know details about your students so the entire school can be helpful and supportive. Now, some details are private and kept to just classroom staff, but if a student is having a particularly difficult week and needs some extra praise if good behaviors are noticed, that is definitely something helpful coworkers could know.

I think that the students can tell how well the staff in the school communicate and that can either be an advantage or disadvantage. Gain the upper hand with clear communication!

Tip #9: It's okay to have down days

TAPS: Together, alone, partners, small groups.  This acronyms is a useful one to keep in mind when planning lessons.  Students benefit from all settings, and I try to strike a balance between them when teaching.  Today, though, I want to advocate for the independent work, in particular.  I have found more and more that my students have short attention spans, and are unaccustomed to working independently.  While pairs and small groups definitely should not be tossed to the wayside, I believe that students benefit from learning to work on their own.  Here are a few activities I use in the classroom that requires them to settle down and focus on one thing:

1) DEAR time.  Don't underestimate drop everything and read.  Some studies recently have discouraged the use of DEAR time, but I am convinced that it is because not everyone is creating a tranquil environment with highly engaging reading material.  If you haven't given it a shot, go ahead.  You might be surprised how even the most restless kids can settle down and get into a good book if given the right space to do so.

2) Writers workshop is another idea to use.  I personally like Ralph Fletcher's materials.  Students are given a lot of freedom to write about what interests them.  It may take some time to get students used to entering into a creative space and being productive thinkers and writers, but you can slowly build up time.

3) Art projects also require students to focus on a project for a prolonged period of time.  For more ideas, check out our tip #8.

When I was in my first year of teaching I was working most of the time, and when I wasn't, I felt guilty.  I tried to create creative lessons each and every day and planning seemed to take forever.  So, this last bit of advice is for teachers out there who are like I used to be.  While, those creative lessons are great, it is okay to slow it down, take a deep breath and relish the stillness.  Your students may benefit from it as much as you do....every once in a while, that is!

Tip #8: Let them use their hands

When I hear about hands-on projects, I am reminded of several things. I think about the student that, during art club one day, had the simple wish to squish clay in his hand for an hour. He definitely craved some sensory stimulation! I think about the student that doubted himself, but completed a work of art that was beyond what he had imagined. I also think about the class that worked together to create an enormous Lochness monster that hung from the ceiling of their Scottish themed classroom.

I am a little biased being an art teacher, but I have always believed in the importance of hands-on projects. Students that are kinesthetic learners will love the lesson and absorb the information well. Using hands-on projects uses a high level of learning on Bloom's Taxonomy. Students can learn and practice problem solving skills and use creativity. Also, don't underestimate the importance of meeting the needs of your students in class who crave sensory stimulation. Here are some suggestions of ways to use hands-on projects in a variety of subjects.

Language Arts

• Poetry – Tupac wrote many poems, some inspired by Vincent van Gogh. View his artwork with a PowerPoint presentation using LCD projector and compare the artwork to the description in the poems or compare van Gogh’s life to Tupac’s. There are similarities and differences. Plus, students will view you with a whole new 'coolness' now they know you have heard of Tupac!
• Inferences – White out words on comics and cut into pieces. Have students arrange in order by making inferences from the pictures.
• Puppet Making – For quieter students that do not like to act out scenes, create puppets from a play or scene in a book. Perform it in front of a younger group.

Math

• Design a foreign menu/store – Use math to calculate foreign currency of items. You could also incorporate social studies by researching foreign items or customs.
• Architecture – Design and draw out architectural plans – you could even create a scale model of the school or classroom. You can reference real plans and use realistic symbols. Create the model to scale and calculate square footage.
• Fractals – Have students view fractals and study the math behind the fractals.

Science

• Anatomy – Aboriginal people in Australia create X-Ray paintings that showcase the bones and guts of animals. Have students create their own x-ray drawing or painting.
• Inventions – Study the invention sketches of Leonardo da Vinci. Students can draw their own invention or discuss what scientific concepts da Vinci shows in his drawings.
• Environment – After a unit on recycling or the environment, have students create artwork using recycled materials such as empty chip bags or newspaper.
• Lifecycle – Showcase the lifecycle of an animal, cell, plant, in a mandala style design.

Social Studies

• Create foreign or time travel brochures
• Design a Map – Have students invent their own country and draw their own map. Add realistic map items such as a key, latitude/longitude lines, etc...
• Political Cartoons – View political cartoons from current or past issues. Students can draw their own political cartoon.
• Artwork Viewing – View artwork created during time periods or from cultures you are studying. Some artists, such as Diego Rivera, created visual history lessons.

Social Awareness & Team Building

• Self Collage – Use a shoebox to create a collage. On the outside, have students collage how they think others view them. On the inside, collage how they view themselves. You could also tie this to a novel if it has a similar theme.
• Logo/Graphic Design – Have students design a logo for the classroom or themselves.
• Story Quilt – Faith Ringgold showcased many stories about her life and African American culture through quilts. Create a paper quilt showcasing stories that are important to each of your students. Have each student draw out a story about themselves on a square piece of paper. Attach all pieces together to form a quilt. You can always use thin strips on the outside to form a border.