The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs III

Monday, April 4, 2016

April Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

It's April, only a few more months to go till the end of the school year. We have have so many things to share with you in this edition of April Teacher Talk. So sit back, relax and take a look at our posts.

If you're interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs and blogging buddies and our blog linky, sign up here....The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names.

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April is Poetry Month

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

I just love teaching poetry and spring is the perfect time. For me, inspiration comes from being outside, perhaps walking on the beach inhaling the salty ocean air, or just walking through the woods with my husband and beautiful husky who is no longer with us. Oh and April is Poetry month.

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Make a Splash in April
By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning

Step by step instructions for an art project to motivate students for "April is Poetry Month".

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Scientific Method: Neglect & Regrets

By Kerry Tracy of Kerry Tracy

Are your students mere collectors of data, or do they analyze & interpret data? This blog relates an epiphany I had that changed my science-teaching game for good!

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Autism & Learning to Use a Public Restroom: Tips for Parents and Teachers
By Thia Triggs of Print Path

Learning to use the bathroom in public places or at school can be a struggle for children on the spectrum. Read this post for tips on how to make the process of using new bathrooms fun, interesting, and successful!

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More Core in Shared Reading for AAC Users
By Susan Berkowitz of Susan Berkowitz

This post is about using core words and more descriptive teaching rather than referential teaching. Not only does this encourage higher level thinking skills, it means AAC users can more easily participate in comprehension activities.

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Don't Let the Pencil Craze Get to You!
Mary Moore of Moore Resources

Are pencils driving you crazy? Students not having a pencil? Losing them? Breaking the tip? The pencil craze got to me too! It doesn't need to! During my student teaching we had cups with pencils at each group that we sharpened every morning and ensured there were plenty in each cup, which was great! That was in first grade. Over the years, I became use to about 2-3 students per class not having a pencil, therefore, I always purchased a box or two at a time and handed pencils out to those students. This year was a little different for me and the pencil craze got me! So many lost pencils, broken pencil tips, or students just didn't have a pencil. I felt pencil cross eyed! A solution must be found!!! After much thought I came up with my "Pencil Station"!

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Nothing Like Non-Fiction
By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools

Using non-fiction will renew the love of learning in your classroom! Immersing students in reading & writing workshop: use non-fiction to teach note-taking, text features and formats!
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Calculator Challenges
By Shametria Routt of The Routty Math Teacher

Calculators are wonderful tools for the classroom and can provide valuable learning opportunities for our students. In fact, in the Common Core State Standards for Math, Mathematical Practice Standard 5 requires that students use "tools strategically." To support this goal, this series includes 4 calculator-based activities that can be used to challenge your students in the mathematics classroom.
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EdTech Tips: Google My Maps
By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR's Classroom

Ways to use Google My maps in the classroom!
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8 Highly Effective Practices for Teaching Printing
By Thia Triggs of Print Path

Don’t have time to take to a class? Improve the effectiveness of your handwriting instruction with these easy to follow research-based tips!
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What I Have Learned on TPT-Part One
By Marcy Howe of It's a Teacher Thing

Advice from one teacher's journey to becoming a teacher-entrepreneur on TPT. This four-part blog series includes strategies for finding help and feeling success.
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Georgia, Poppies & Poetry
By Tracy Wills of Wild Child Designs

This post outlines how to use sentence stems and visible thinking routines to respond to Georgia O'Keefe's art. It includes some great picture book recommendations as well!

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An InLinkz Link-up

FREE MATH LESSON - “Telling Time Pocket Activity {Free}”

by SPED Creations by Mariea Drain
2nd - 3rd Grade

This activity is a fun way for your students to practice telling time to the quarter hour. It can be used as a center or whole group activity for your students. Enjoy!

Check out some of my other math products:
Measurement: Task Cards and PowerPoint Show
2nd Grade Place Value: Matching Activities
3rd Grade Place Value: Matching Activities and Worksheets

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Sunday, April 3, 2016

FREE LANGUAGE ARTS LESSON - “Animal Farm Multiple Choice Quiz and Answer Key”

by The English Teacher's Pet
7th - 10th Grade

In need of a test for George Orwell's allegorical and dystopian novel?

This is a twenty question Animal Farm three choice multiple choice test. It covers major plotline events, characterization, symbolism, and more. An Answer Key is included for your convenience. The student should have completed the entire novel before taking this test. It is recommended to use this test for younger or struggling readers, due to the three choice assessment given. I do offer more difficult quizzes; see the links below.

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If you like this product, you may also like:

Animal Farm Essay Questions and Rubric.
Animal Farm Novel Unit Bundle.
Animal Farm Project.
Animal Farm 5 Tests and Answer Keys.

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Saturday, April 2, 2016

April is Poetry Month

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

I just love teaching poetry and spring is the perfect time. For me, inspiration comes from being outside, perhaps walking on the beach inhaling the salty ocean air, or just walking through the woods with my husband and beautiful husky who is no longer with us.

I want my classes to experience the wonderful feeling of just being outside and creating. That’s why I teach poetry in April or May, new awakenings, flowers coming up, birds beginning to nest, and the warmth that replaces the winter cold. So I pick a sunny day, take the class outside and have them write a nature poem using all of their senses. I tell them to breathe in the fresh air, so we take some deep yoga breaths, then sit on the grass and listen to the sounds of nature with closed eyes, making notes of what they hear, the things they see, and what they feel.

We might also hug trees, smell flowers and listen to the sounds of insects while watching them complete their instinctual activities. One of my favorite things to do is to have the kids find a tree to lie under, to look up through the branches at the sky, or to watch the leaves fluttering in the breeze. To listen to the sound of birds and watch little insects buzzing about their business. I ask them to look at the colors and to pretend that they are the color, or the insect, or the bird, or the tree. I want them to feel the strength of the tree and realize how secure and grounded the tree is because of it’s roots that run so deeply under the ground.

My students have created some amazing poems from this activity and many of them have gotten published in a book entitled Celebration of Young Poets-Creative Communication, Inc. The web address is www.poeticpower.com.

This is an example of a poem that a 6th grade student wrote after completing this activity. To tell you I was blown away by this is an understatement.

Azure Drake

Azure blossoms at my feet

Beside the road smelling sweet

To the shade of a Sycamore tree

Swaying branches over me…..Whispering

Footsteps coming down the path

An ancient one with wooden staff

Long white beard and cloak blue smeared

Electric eyes not to be feared...Scintillating

A Druid friend from long ago

The magic words sure to know

Staff held high over azure flowers

Secret words of light and power…..Conjuring

Rustling in the indigo bed

Rising up scales, tail and head

Wisdom eyes, majestic wings

Breath of lightning, Dragon sings…..Thundering

Climbing on blue scaled back

Soaring on white cloud track

Snow capped mountains, Seas of sand

Born of air Free of land….Dreaming

by Sean Hayden

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FREE LANGUAGE ARTS LESSON - “Happy Birthday to You! - a Whole Class Writing Activity and Birthday Favors Pack”

by Teaching in the Primary Grades
Kindergarten - 3rd Grade

Birthdays are always exciting when teaching younger grades. One thing I like to do to get the whole class involved with celebrating birthdays is to write a birthday book. This birthday book serves as a special keepsake for the birthday boy or girl and fun writing practice for the rest of the class.
First, I help the class brainstorm reasons why we want the birthday boy or girl to have a Happy Birthday (brainstorming may not be necessary with all classes). Then I give the students one of the pages included in this pack. Each student writes a special note to the birthday boy or girl letting them know why the author appreciates them.
After the students have finished writing, they get to draw an illustration for the birthday boy or girl. They often draw a cake or a present that they hope their friend gets on their birthday.
After the class has completed their pages they can be either stapled or bound to a cover and presented to the birthday boy or girl on their special day!

Included in this Pack Are:

-Pre-made Covers (in color and black and white) for grades K-3rd (these covers include a blank for the student's name)
-Editable Covers (in color and black and white) these covers have no text so you can edit them to say anything you want!
-Student letter pages both with and without a sentence starter
-Birthday balloon pencil toppers
-Birthday balloon candy stick toppers

Jordan-
Teaching in the Primary Grades

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Friday, April 1, 2016

FREE LANGUAGE ARTS LESSON - “How to Write a Paragraph Constructed Response, Writing Formula, RACE Mnemonic”

by Julie Faulkner
6th - 12th Grade

A Basic Formula for Any Student, Any Level, Any Grade, Any Subject and Common Core

With this download you are getting some unique items:
1) One "sporty" poster that describes the simple and easy RACE method for responding to the constructed response test items and makes it accessible to students in all grades.
2) A second poster that is color-coded RACE poster by levels, which would be great for differentiating.
3) Also included with this {FREEBIE} is an annotated sample response.
4) Common Core standards
5) Suggestions for use
6) RACE graphic organizer for planning
7) Rubric

RACE takes a writer from the beginning of a paragraph to the end. Therefore, it can be expanded to an entire essay. Using a brain-based strategy such as this one frequently will produce so much growth and improvement in writing fluency.

Want some ready-to-go prompts for weekly practice that work perfectly with this strategy? See my Twenty Constructed Response Prompts with Stimuli:
Click here

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Pig Addition - Add ten

By Sparking Children's Thinkibility

Grades Kindergarten -2nd Grade, Basic operations, Numbers

Learning to add ten is a vital math skill.

This resources will help your children not only to add 10 to numbers between 1-9 but also learn to to quickly add 10 together. Building blocks of various shapes and sizes are used to show that you get the number ten by adding for example 6+4.

There are pages where the children can draw their own pigs and create their own maths problems.

The pages are color as well as black-and-white so the children can color-in the building blocks themselves.

Link to Pig Addition - Add ten

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