Secrets of Launching a Stellar School Year

really works. In the process, I discovered that it’s actually a lot easier than you might imagine to create a caring classroom of students who are motivated and excited about…

Five Ways to Fit Science In

…know the kiddos will love it. However, when we are limited on time, we really need to ask ourselves if the students are really going to get any educational value…

Investigating Condensation and the Water Cycle

Step-by-step Lesson and Free Printables Most kids are familiar with the terms precipitation, condensation, and evaporation, but very few of them really understand what those words mean. Just ask your…

Going Marbles for STEM Hands-on Learning

…offered to send me 10 more kits for free! One kit isn’t really enough for an entire class, and he wanted my students to experience a true hands-on STEM lesson…

Weathering, Erosion, or Deposition?

…teams because discussing and debating the placement of the cards was really helpful as they grappled with the concepts. When they discussed a card, they had to talk over the…

How to Track Oral Reading Fluency

…not as fluent. Then I showed them how to time each other for one minute as they read aloud, and how to help each other calculate the average number of…

Awakened: Hope for the Year Ahead

number of personal growth books about the impact of positive thinking on one’s life, but I had never seen those concepts applied to the teaching practice. When the book arrived,…

Teaching with Dry Erase Boards

…random number generator to determine the winner. The dry erase board set will be shipped directly to the winner’s school, but it will be noted that the set belongs to…

Host a Classroom Scrabble Tournament!

…letters for yourself and 7 letters for the class. Write the class letters in huge blocks on the board with the number values clearly shown. Play against the class play…