Life Cycle of a Butterfly Fun Research, Writing, and Craft Activity

Ahhh...spring!  It feels so good to get to the spring months.  One of my favorite things to teach is the life cycle of a butterfly.  It just seems like the epitome of spring, doesn't it?

There are truly so many things you can incorporate into this springy theme!  

Giving students background knowledge and the information is first and foremost.  One of my favorite ways to do this is with videos.  They are bright, colorful, and informative.  Students are much more likely to understand and retain the information using this mode of learning.

Using the information learned from the videos, it's a great extension to incorporate writing.

After learning about the life cycle of butterflies and other important and fun facts, what could be more fun than completing your unit with a craft?

I first came up with this craft idea when teaching kindergarten.  It made such a cute craft, and the students LOVED it!  When I moved to 2nd grade, we continued making these as we learned about the life cycle of a butterfly.  These cute caterpillar accordion books are a great way to end your unit on butterflies in any of the elementary grades!

These cute accordion booklets will help your students remember the life cycle of a butterfly.  They look great on bulletin board displays and as "take-home" work without being a worksheet!

Are you interested in other springy themes?  Try this "Let's Learn About Honey Bees" for free!  Click here to download this digital unit and use it today!

Free Honey Bees Research and Writing

Keeping the learning fun, fresh, and relevant.  That's just...

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Motivating Students to Work Independently

How Do You Train Students to Work Independently?

Training students to work independently takes time.  Students have to build up the stamina to stay focused on the task at hand.  Don’t expect it to happen the first day or week…possibly not even the first month.

 

As a teacher, you are constantly striving to find opportunities to “fit it all in” while also working smarter, not harder.

 

Training students to work independently is yet another opportunity that will give you time to work in small groups to differentiate and meet the needs of all your students.  This allows for interventions with those students who need it without sacrificing your higher achieving students since this time is also perfect for enrichment learning.

Working independently with a worksheet is the norm in classrooms.  However, worksheets aren't necessarily interesting or motivating to students.

One solution is to have students complete these “Let’s Learn About” units that focus on science or social studies topics.  Students can watch the instructional videos over several days at their own pace and complete the reading and writing activities.  

This allows you to cover more than one subject at a time.

 

These Google Slides give you the ability to move slides around to fit the needs of your classroom best and place the writing activities where you want them.  

Art lessons and songs are even included in most lessons for more engagement and enrichment for your students.

 

Click here to see all of the current topics in my store.

These units can be completed independently by the students as they spend several days watching informational videos and extend their learning about some really cool things!

There are certainly other ways to find time in your classroom to utilize independent learning while working with students, but incorporating it into social studies and science is a big plus.  

When you can include reading and writing, you are triple-dipping the curriculum, which is a HUGE WIN all the way around!

Students will research and learn about topics and transfer that learning to graphic organizers and writing activities.

While students are taking responsibility for their learning, it gives you time to fill in gaps with students.

You can use that valuable time to pull small groups and complete intervention activities.

Finding things of high interest to students is always self-motivating toward getting your students to work independently.

 

Click here to try a FREE Let's Learn About Honeybees unit.

 

 How do you motivate your students to work independently?  Comment below and tell me.

Working hard to fit it all in is just…

How Centers Transformed My Fourth Grade Classroom.

There was never a time when I didn't use centers.  Using centers in the classroom made sense to me from pre-k to kindergarten and then on to first and finally second grades.  There were so many benefits to using centers in the classroom!  One day, my principal then told me that she was moving me to fourth grade.  WH-A-A-A-A-T??????

I was very happy and content in the primary grades.  I had plenty of reasons to try and convince her that I didn't belong in upper elementary.  

• I rarely used worksheets.
• I taught whole lessons that were short and to the point.
• I taught to my students' needs in small groups.
• I used centers All. Day. Long!!

(I thought for sure that the last one would change her mind!!)

She just smiled at me and said, "That's EXACTLY why I am moving you!  I want the fourth graders to have just as much fun as your second grade students do!"

I spent the summer worrying. HOW could I replicate what I had always done in the lower grades for older students?

It turned out that it wasn't hard at all.

In fact, it was magical!

Grab FREE math and literacy centers by clicking HERE!

No Prep Centers

I don't enjoy spending tons of time planning and writing lesson plans for someone else.  Teachers know what we are doing, right?

I studied the standards for 4th grade in both math and literacy and created a curriculum map and planned out my year.  (YES!  I loosely planned the entire year, and it saved me SO. MUCH. TIME!)

After I had my lesson plan calendar for the entire year in hand, I created centers that I could just print and go.

The students loved them, and they were sooooooo easy for me!

I planned out five literacy stations and five math stations I would use each week ALL YEAR LONG!

Instead of constantly coming up with new centers, I only had to change the activities.

It was SO easy!!  

Daily Math Spirals

Each day before our daily focus in math, we completed five questions in a spiral.  These five questions covered the five big domains in Common Core.  By focusing on just these five, students were getting a review, present learning, and a preview of things to come.

By adding the preview component, I was able to do a mini lesson on the same standard/concept for 20 days.  By the time we actually reached that concept in our curriculum map, the students had been exposed to it so many times that it was a breeze to tighten down the learning!

I projected this math spiral on my big screen at the beginning of math class, and students completed the questions in a spiral notebook.  Again, there was no prep on my part with BIG results for the students.

We kept it fresh by sometimes working through the questions as a whole group, in small groups, with partners, or independently.

It was easy for me to print one page of questions and use in small groups when needed.

Using the daily math spirals allowed me to add a variety of activities to my math centers because I knew the students had already had exposure to the concepts.

You can find daily math spirals in my TpT store for second grade, third grade, and fourth grade.  

Centers, Centers, Centers

Instead of planning elaborate centers, I kept things very easy.  I used my NO PREP math centers and my NO PREP literacy centers and then filled in with things I already had in my classroom!

When the school became 1:1 in technology with Chromebooks, I added digital activities to the mix.

My classroom was mostly a full day of centers.

For early finishers, I had them go to a center activity.

For small groups,  I pulled a center activity that students had already used from my no prep activities or they played a game that was used during center time.

For whole group, I used a center activity for the entire class as a teaching tool.  Turn it into a game, and change the entire dynamics!

These center activities were an important part of our day.

The Magic of Centers

There are so many benefits to using math and literacy centers during center time and throughout the day in many different ways!

1)  I was able to quickly utilize planning and writing in lesson plans.

2)  I wasn't constantly searching for new material to use.  I used the same activities over and over in my classroom.

3)  The center activities could be used over and over throughout the year in many different ways!

4)  While students were enjoying and learning during center time, I was able to fill in the gaps by utilizing small group teaching. 

Do you want to try out a few NO PREP math and literacy centers?  Click here to grab a few samples for FREE!

If you aren't using centers and center activities, you are missing out on one of the most fun and effective ways to teach and learn in your classroom!

If you want to return to this post later, just save this pin!

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How to Teach Beginning Research for Elementary Students

It's time for elementary students to begin learning how to research topics, but how do you teach them where to begin?

Learning how to research can be very tricky for students.  They don't know the basics, so breaking it down into small steps is best.

Beginning Research with a Simple Topic

Students as young as first and second grades can begin to research when given this step-by-step guide to follow.  

WEEK ONE:

Begin by spending a week teaching the skills as you research together.  Chose a topic that all students love or a timely topic for your classroom.  A great topic is any animal.

DAY ONE:

Students will break down the beginning research into four areas:

1)  the physical appearance of the animal (color, size, # of legs)

2)  what the animal eats

3)  the animal's habitat

4)  the animal's enemies

Divide a large piece of paper into those four areas.  Give your students books or a video about the animal.  Ask the students to write one fact that fits each of the areas onto sticky notes and place the sticky notes into the correct squares.

DAY TWO:

Read the sticky notes with the students, and discuss the information.  Is it clear?  Does it fit the topic heading?  What kind of information should be added?

Brainstorm together with students to make sure that you have enough information.

DAY THREE:

Use the information from the sticky notes to complete the sentences you have prepared on chart paper.

DAY FOUR:

Give students their own copies, and have them copy the information you wrote together yesterday on the chart paper.

DAY FIVE:

Each student can use the information gathered and completed yesterday to write a paragraph (or more) in his or her neatest handwriting on another piece of paper.

WEEK TWO:

Have students work together in small groups or with partners to repeat the steps from last week.  Assign groups different animals.  You can have the materials ready for them, or take a trip to the library for students to check out books. 

(For younger students and for the first time we did this in my classroom, I checked out all library books from the library ahead of time.)

As students spend the week working together, your job is to move around the room to check in to help with questions, guide students to find the information, and ensure that students are remaining on task and using their time wisely.

On the last day, you might wish to incorporate speaking and listening standards by having students stand up together and read their reports to the class.

WEEK THREE:

If you feel that students have a good grasp on beginning research, have them repeat the above independently.  Week two can be repeated with new topics and new groups if needed.

This unit has a list of topics, graphic forms, beginning (rough) draft, and completed drafts in differentiated levels to make beginning research easy for your elementary students if you are interested.

Click here to see it in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Save this pin to refer back to this post as needed.

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How to Use Small Groups as an Effective Teaching Strategy

The holidays are over, and the days are cold.

January seems to stretch out f-o-r-e-v-e-r unless you have a snow day or two.

However, it's also my favorite teaching month of the year!  I feel like there is such a sense of accomplishment this month!

It's a great time to focus on academics before all of the holiday excitement in February.

The only trouble is that the students have trouble coming down from all of the craziness of December.

Don't worry!

Utilizing small-group learning as an effective teaching strategy will bring calmness to it all.

It's the perfect opportunity to focus on centers, classroom games, small groups, and more.

In January, I especially love focusing on small groups.  I want to make sure that I have filled all of the gaps I possibly can.

Do you struggle with how to use small groups as an effective teaching strategy?

For me, much of my day is spent at my small-group table.  Behind me on my bookshelf, everything I need is prepared and at my fingertips so that I can be as efficient as possible.

To begin using small groups effectively, you first need to know the strengths and deficits of your students.  Read this blog post to learn five simple, quick, and creative ways to assess your students.

The rest of my classroom is a well-oiled machine.  The students work in centers during both my math and literacy blocks.  These no prep activities are so simple for me to prepare and change out within my centers.

Along with the no prep units, I have some other activities that are included for the entire month, making it super easy not to constantly be prepping and planning.

These January Early Finishers cards are printed, laminated, cut out, and placed in a small basket on my desk.  Students who finish their work early get one card and complete the activity.

I have January Morning Tubs ready for students as soon as they walk in the door.  They are so excited to delve into these every single morning.  A plus is that while students are working, I have time to complete those morning chores and get the first segment of small groups ready to go.

During science and social studies, students use virtual activities to learn about a topic and then include writing into the topic.

For a fun art activity, students love completing these Follow the Directions activities.

Again, what am I doing during this time?

I am working with small groups with these effective teaching strategies.

• I'm calling individual students over to read out loud to me and confer about the books they are reading.

• I'm working with 2-5 students in a small group over a math concept they didn't get yesterday during the math lesson.  How do I know they didn't get it?  I used one of these fun and easy assessments at the end of math yesterday.

• I usually do a mini lesson to reteach the concept.  Students have dry-erase boards and markers to work through the problems with me first, then with a partner, and finally independently.  This entire process only takes 10-15 minutes because I want to work with as many students as possible while the rest of the class completes math centers for 30 minutes.

• Students can also work together in small groups with or without your guidance using games.  Read this blog post to find out more.

I repeat the small-group process while students are working independently at any point during the day.

In case you are in need of another fun activity, join my email, and get this unit totally FREE!!

What does your January look like?

Filling in the gaps during January with small-group teaching is one of my favorites!  It's just...

My Kind of Teaching!

Five Creative Ways to Assess Students Without a Test

How do you know when your students are understanding the material you've taught?  

More importantly, how do you know when students are NOT understanding a concept?

Sometimes, you have to find creative ways to assess your students without using precious instructional time spent on a test.

These are five of my favorite ways to informally assess students without them realizing that they are being tested!

1) Ticket Out the Door

A quick and stress-free way to ensure that your students understand the subject matter is to take the last two minutes of class for students to answer a question about the day's lesson.  In my classroom, this looked like a sticky note for each student to write his or her answer.  Next to my door, I had these simple laminated pages on the wall.  

The students used the numbers they were assigned at the beginning of the year (if you don't use the number system in your classroom, you are missing out on an efficient system that helps in so many areas).  Read more and grab free numbers here.) Each student writes his or her number in the corner of the sticky note and the answer to the question and then sticks in on the numbered board on his or her number.

Grab your own FREE ticket out the door here.

Quick Tip - Have your students write on the sticky sides of the notes so that other students cannot see their answers when on the board.

2) Four Corners Game

Prepare 3-5 questions you want to ask your students about the material.  Type these out before class on a simple slide show to use with your overhead projector, or simply ask the questions.  Give your students four possible answers.  Designate each corner as "A", "B", "C", or "D".  Students will move to the corner they feel is the correct answer.

(For greater details on this game and using more games in your classroom for learning, click here to read the blog post.)

Quick Tip - Prepare your class by permanently posting "A", "B", "C", or "D" in each corner to use throughout the school year.

3) Google Forms

Type up a quick mini-assessment on Google Forms of 1-5 multiple-choice questions.  As students settle in for class, ask them to complete the "quick five" (or "quick three", etc.)  I like to give it a name so that students know what to expect.  The best part is that the data will be there waiting on you to check later!

Quick Tip - Prepare a template form.  Save this form to use all year.  This will save time since you simply change the questions and answers.

4) Write About It

Add more writing during the day for your students by having them write out the steps or processes to find their answers.  This is a great and creative way to assess your students in math.  If they can tell you the processes and the steps to solve problems, they have mastered the concepts.  If they cannot tell you, it will be very evident.  As a bonus, you will be able to see exactly which step/thought process a student is missing.  This will make it very easy for you to do a mini-lesson with those students to fill the gap.

Quick Tip - If you use Google Classroom, make an assignment for just this purpose.  Students can add slides as needed to complete the answers.  This saves you time by not having a stack of papers.  

5) Show Your Hand

This is a super quick and extremely easy way to assess your students.  Have your students face the front of the room and hold their hands in fists on their chests or stomachs.  Ask them to self-assess by showing the number of fingers to tell you how they feel about their knowledge of the subject matter.  (I kept this poster at the front of my classroom all year for this creative way to assess any subject.)  

1 = I do not understand at all!  Please help me.

2 = I only understand a little.  I am still lost and need help.

3 = I understand it, but I need more practice to improve.

4 = I am confident in the subject.

5 = I am a pro and can teach it to someone else.

Quick Tip - Prepare a list of your students' names.  As you look at your students' fingers, mark down the students who score themselves at a 1 or 2.  Alternately, if you have a student who scores himself or herself high and you know in your heart of hearts that he or she is at a 1 or 2, take note of that also.

There you have it...five quick, easy, and creative ways to assess your students daily to ensure that you are catching and filling in those gaps before they become too wide.

Grab these free math and literacy centers when you sign up for my emails.

Don't forget to save this blog post to your favorite Pinterest board to have it at the tip of your fingers when you need ideas!

Which of these ideas is your favorite?  Comment below and let's chat!

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December Round Up

I've got you covered for the month of December!

The month of December is CRAZY busy!  It goes so quickly that it's hard to keep up.  I've got you covered with some fun and engaging activities that are still full of rigor.  Just click on the pictures to see several units for each topic.

Helping you enjoy the season without worry and extra time spent planning, that's just...

My Kind of Teaching