12 Ways to Motivate Reluctant Readers

…the Reading Workshop approach is conferring with students individually about what they are reading. You’ll learn about your students as readers and as individuals, and you’ll be able to connect…

The Core of Effective Discussions

…Give students a few minutes of individual think time to jot down the main idea and at least 2 key details. Pair and Discuss – Pair students with a partner…

Exploring the Scientific Method with Toy Cars

…here.} Students got to work conducting their experiment. There was 100% active engagement in all groups. Students worked on the bar graph of their data in groups. Students individually wrote…

Fostering a Growth Mindset with Brain Bucks

Teaching kids what it means to have a growth mindset is often easier than helping them replace their fixed mindset thoughts and behaviors with more empowering ones. For example, students

Fun Games for Learning the 50 States

…How to Play Find the States Showdown: The first Leader selects a number card from the State Numbers deck and announces the number to the team. Everyone looks at the…

3 Easy Ways to Wrap up the School Year

…to next year’s class. Advice should be practical things for the new students – things that your current students wish that they would have been told. Be sure to take…

Make Test Prep Meaningful!

…It gives students the opportunity to “think like a test creator”. By having students create their own quizzes, they are forced to think like a test creator. They gain a…

4 Square Planning: The Key to Organized Writing

…conventions, giving opinions, and most importantly, organizing our thoughts. My students were expected to learn three differentiated classes of writing, and my lowest writers really struggled with the execution of…

Gearing Up for Next Generation Science

…real life engineering problems, all students will see why it is necessary to learn these subjects. Are you kidding me? I have trouble getting my students to read on grade…