While the weather may be snowy and cold outside, students are full of energy inside! Between indoor recess and not getting to play outside after school, students do not have a lot of options to run off their energy. Due to this, it can be challenging to keep them engaged in the classroom. It is just so hard to keep their minds and bodies calm. Luckily, winter STEM lessons are the perfect way to bring in fun, exciting lessons to [Read More…]
Instagram Archive
Looking for a clickable link for something spotted on my Instagram account?
Click on the links and images below!
See All SOCIAL SKILLS: Click HERE
See All DIRECTED DRAWING VIDEOS: Click HERE
See All SOUND WALL: Click HERE
See All PHONICS CENTERS: Click HERE
See All MATH: Click HERE
See All SENTENCE BUILDING: Click HERE
See All WRITING CENTERS: Click HERE
See All ART: Click HERE
See All POETRY WRITING: Click HERE
See [Read More…]
Social Emotional Learning in the Primary Classroom
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING
Years ago I would get some disapproving looks when I mentioned how much classroom time I dedicate to social emotional learning. “What about the curriculum! You’ll never get through it all if you don’t start right away!”
But I did get through it all, sometimes with time to spare. Why? I found that if we solidified expectations for kindness, inclusion and self-management early, and spent a LOT less time on disruptions through the year. Plus, we were shaping future citizens; it’s not [Read More…]
Seasonal STEM with Partner Plays
My students LOVE doing STEM Challenges. We began the year working on Fairy Tale Challenges from THIS resource, and it was a big hit!
Now, we have added more fun by adding SEASONAL STEM projects!
SANTA STEM
The first ones we tried were all about Santa!
Each challenge is introduced with a partner play. This means we can integrate some literacy skills into the lessons. I have found that using partner plays give the STEM challenges context, and makes the building task much more [Read More…]
Mystery STEM: A Stem Game With A Twist
Our classroom embraced STEM challenges this year in a big way.
We explored all kind of building, integrated STEM with other subject areas, and worked in multi-age groups.
We worked both in and outside the classroom on our STEM challenges.
The confidence and enthusiasm of our little engineers soared!
And now we’re adding MYSTERY STEM to add even more fun and rigor!
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The concept is simple! The mystery is the challenge: students won’t know what they have to build, or what their [Read More…]
Simple Art Projects: Free Downloads
Looking for some super simple art projects?
These quick and easy art projects are a great way for students to be creative without a lot of prep.
TEACHER PREP DIRECTIONS:
These require very little prep! Most are on one page, so just make a copy for each student. You can use white paper and let students color, or copy on to colored paper. Thicker paper works best!
STUDENT DIRECTIONS:
Students just color, cut out the pieces and assemble. Sometimes I demonstrate how to assemble them, [Read More…]
S.T.E.M. and Growth Mindset
Here’s some real talk about my experience using STEM in the classroom.
When I am coordinating S.T.E.M. curriculum for grades 1-5, I observe many students exploring the STEM process who are truly engaged with hands-on learning.
For the most part, students LOVE it!
However…
Sometimes I also see students who are not yet comfortable with taking risks.
Some students are not emotionally equipped for dealing with the disappointment that arises when their great idea doesn’t quite work out the way they wanted.
Other students feel threatened by other students [Read More…]
