Helping Children Cope with Tragedy

…are masters at working together and rebuilding. Also, ant hills can be destroyed by humans as well as by storms, so the metaphor applies to both natural disasters and those…

Teaching Informational Text with Magazines

…so they make excellent practice passages for working with nonfiction. In fact, many reading selections on state tests are very close in structure and format to magazine articles. The challenge…

5 Ways to Engage Parents Using Google Drive

…account and download the Google Drive app to their phone. For parents without e-mail addresses, I also help them sign up for Gmail, and download the app on their phone

Playing the Mystery Skype Game

…team think of a secret number. The players on the other team ask Yes/No questions to try to guess the other team’s number. Is your number higher than 50? Is…

How to Get Organized and Keep the Joy in Teaching

…healthy work/life balance. Sounds like an impossible dream, but I’ve discovered that it IS possible to find work/balance, and you won’t have to sacrifice your effectiveness as a teacher. The

How to Form Cooperative Learning Teams

the same. This judgement is very subjective and can include areas such as leadership ability, willingness to work hard and complete homework, organization skills, ability to follow directions, and so…

Valentine Candy Hearts Math Investigation

the same number of candies? Inquiring minds want to know! Questions like these provide a perfect opportunity for a bit of data analysis fun! When I posed these questions to…

6 Reasons to Teach Calculator Skills

…fairly solid understanding of numbers and what they mean. I don’t advocate giving them to young children who have not had time to develop number sense, because entering numbers into…