Free Teacher's Tips - "School Inventions"

As our minds turn toward a new class and a new school year, here's an idea to get creative minds working. Hope you enjoy your results! And we love to hear the results if you would forward them to us, blog about what your students create!

Discuss with your new students the various supplies they use while at school. Tell your class that a school supply company needs their help to come up with the next great school tool. Perhaps an invention they can create to help make their school experience more enjoyable. Have the class write a paragraph or two describing their new school tool and draw a detailed illustration of it. When students are ready to publish their final drafts, provide them with School Tools computer paper to write their paragraphs and draw their pictures.

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This and other great computer paper can be found at Schoodoodle.com, our on-line catalog for school supplies. Enjoy your shopping experience on-line!

Population Explosion

Subject: Geography; World Culture
Grade(s): 4-6

Overview
Students become junior demographers as they research and report on the population density of countries and continents around the world, charting their research on the a world map and on a bar chart in Microsoft Excel.

Objectives
Students will:
· Understand and define population and population density
· Understand the relationship between population and area
· Compare the population density of the six inhabited continents and draw conclusions

National Geography Standards
Standard 1: "How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective"
Standard 9: The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human population on Earth's surface.

Materials Needed
· Outline map of the world (copies for every two students)
· Crayons or colored pencils
· (Optional): WorldTeasers: World Culture & Geography

Getting Started
Ask the class if anyone knows what the word demographer means? Explain that a demographer is someone who studies human populations. A demographer can be thought of as a population expert. Demographers help us understand our world…or even our classroom. To illustrate, ask the class if they agree or disagree with this statement: “Our classroom has a lot of students.” What do they think “a lot’ means? What if the class had 60 students? Would that be “a lot”? Why or why not? Tell students that the average classroom size in elementary schools in the United States is 25. Then say: Compared to the national average, does our classroom have a lot of students? Why or why not? Say: By knowing the average population of an elementary school classroom in the U.S., we can better understand the population of our classroom. Explain that in this lesson students will become demographers as they study the populations of the world.

Development
Tell students that demographers study many different aspects or characteristics of a population. One characteristic that they study is called population density. Tell students that population density can be thought of as the number of people within a certain area as compared to the size of that area. It is calculated by dividing the total population of an area by the size of that area (usually in square miles or square kilometers). Write the formula for population density on the chalkboard.

Population density = Population/Land Area

Ask students how they think could calculate the density of their classroom. (Measure the size of the classroom in square feet; then divide the population of the classroom by the area of the classroom.) Next, write the following data on the chalkboard. Have students calculate the population density of the following three countries: United States, Monaco, and Mongolia.
Population Land Area Density
(square miles)

United States 303,320,000 3,794,066
Mongolia 2,951,786 603,909
Monaco 32,671 .76

Which of these countries is the most densely populated? (Monaco, the most densely populated country in the world.) Which is the least densely populated? (Mongolia, the least dense populated country in the world.)

Activity
Divide the class into six groups to research the area and population of each of the six inhabited continents of the world (North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa). Have each group calculate the population density of their continent. Then, write the results in a chart on the chalkboard. Next, distribute an outline map of the world to each group. Have students use a dark crayon color to color in the continents that have a population density greater than 100 people per square mile; a medium crayon color to indicate continents that have a population density between 50 and100 per square mile; and a light crayon color to indicate continents with a population density less than 50 people per square mile. When done, ask students what conclusions they can draw from the map about populations of the world.

Extension
Have students create a Microsoft Excel bar chart, comparing the population density of the 10 Most Populous Countries of the World (China, India, United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan Bangladesh, Russia, Nigeria, and Japan). Or let students select their own population density data to analyze, such as the Population Density of the Largest City on Each of the Six Continents of the World. (See the six Population Explosion Challenge Cards in the WorldTeasers game box.) You may want to print out the following instructions for creating a bar chart in Excel.

Instructions for Creating a Bar Chart in Microsoft Excel
1. Open a Microsoft Excel worksheet (or spreadsheet).
2. In Cell A1, type the word Countries.
3. In Cell A2 through A11, type the names of the 10 countries to compare.
4. In Cell B1, type the word Density.
5. Enter the population density for each country (Cells B2 through B11)
6. Highlight the data.
7. Click Chart on the Insert menu.
8. Under Chart Type, highlight Column. Click a Chart sub-type, then click Next.
9. Click Data Range Tab.
10. Next to Series in: click Columns. Click Next.
11. Fill in Titles, Axes, Gridlines, Legend, Data Labels, and Data Table, as desired.
12. Click Finish.

Next Week: The “Bottom Line” on Idioms

Source: WorldTeasers: World Culture and Geography — An educational game designed to help upper elementary grade students supersize their global knowledge with fascinating, intriguing, and amusing trivia about countries and their culture. Grades 4 +. Available at SchooDoodle.com.

On the Fence with Idioms

Subject: Language Arts
Grades: 4-6

Overview
Don’t leave your students “on the fence” over idioms. Help students understand idiomatic expressions with this game of charades.

Objectives
Students will:
· Demonstrate their understanding of idiomatic expressions.

IRA/NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts
Standard 4: Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
Standard 6: Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.

Materials Needed
· WordTeasers: Idioms
· (Optional) Index cards to make your own Idiom Charades cards

Preparation
Select 30 to 40 Idiom Challenge cards from the WordTeasers: Idioms box. Be sure to select those cards with idioms that can easily be acted out. Put those selected cards in the box and set the other cards aside.

Getting Started
Write these two sentences on the chalkboard.

Alice is sitting on the fence about who to vote for in the school election.

Pete is sitting on a fence thinking about his favorite candidate, Bill.

Ask students: Where is Alice? (We don’t know.) Where is Pete? (He’s sitting on a fence.) Who is Alice going to vote for? (She hasn’t decided.) Who is Pete going to vote for? (Most likely Bill.) What is the difference between the saying “sitting on the fence” and “sitting on a fence”? (Sitting on a fence means to literally be sitting on a fence. Sitting on the fence is an idiomatic expression meaning "to be undecided.”)

Development
Explain to students that there are many phrases in English that don’t mean exactly what the individual words might suggest. These phrases are called idioms. “Sitting on the fence” is an idiomatic expression that means to be undecided or unsure of something. Tell students you’re going to play to see how many idiomatic expressions they know or can guess. It’s a game of charades. (Explain the game of charades, if necessary.)

Activity
Have students come up to the front of the room one at a time, pull out a WordTeaser Challenge Card from the WordTeasers: Idioms box (or from a box of idioms cards that you've made) and then act out the idiom (the words in bold) on the card. They can act out one word at a time or try to act out the whole idiom at once (by indicating a “picture frame” with their hands for “the whole picture” or sweeping their arms through the air for “the whole concept”). See who can guess the correct idiom. After they guess the idiom, ask the class what the idiomatic expression means. How do they think the expression got started? (See Origin on the back of the WordTeaser Challenge card for an explanation.)

Variation: For a faster, easier variation of this activity, write the idioms that you’ve selected on the chalkboard. Students can refer to this list as their classmates act out their idioms. Or divide the room into teams. See which team can guess the most number of idioms.

Next Week: Bloviate But Don’t Prevaricate — A High School Vocabulary Lesson with WordTeasers: College Prep

Source: WordTeasers: Idioms — An educational game designed to get kids talking, laughing, thinking, writing…and improving language arts skills. Ages 9+ . Available at SchooDoodle.com.

Geography Lesson Plan: Just Deserts

Subject: Geography; World Culture
Grades: 4-6

Overview
Even though this lesson plan is just about deserts of the world (no, sad to say, not about desserts of the world), student will gain cross-curricular practice in language arts, social studies, and technology skills as they read and interpret a WorldTeasers: Just Deserts chart and also research and complete a second chart about deserts of the world.

Objectives
Students will:
· Describe the four major types of deserts.
· Use a map of the world to locate the four major types of deserts according to their continents.
· Compare and contrast the similarities and differences among the four types of deserts.
· Interpret questions to figure out what information is wanted and use a chart to answer those questions.
· (Optional) Use Microsoft Excel or other graphing software to create a bar chart to display information.

National Geography Standards
Standard 7: The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth’s surface.
Standard 8: The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth’s surface.

NCTE/IRA Standards for the English Language Arts
Standard 7: Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

National Educational Technology Standards
Standard 3: Technology productivity tools: Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.

Materials Needed
· Just Deserts Charts (See below for directions for creating the Charts or go to www.wordteasers.com and click on Ideas for Using WordTeasers for a copy of the charts that you can print out.)
· Just Deserts Challenge Cards from WorldTeasers: World Culture & Geography
· (Optional): Computer with Internet connection and Microsoft Excel or other graphing software

Getting Started
Ask students what words come to mind when they think about a desert? Write those words on the board. (Some likely words might be sand, hot, cactus, camels.) Tell students that those words can describe one type or category of desert — very hot deserts called Subtropical deserts — but that there are other types of deserts as well. Tell students that, in fact, the largest desert in the world is actually very cold. It’s called a Polar desert. Do they know where that desert is? (The Antarctic desert on the continent of Antarctica.)

Development
Discuss with students the definition of a desert. Explain that there are four main types of deserts: Subtropical deserts, which are the hottest, Cool Coastal deserts, where the average temperature is much cooler than subtropical deserts, Cold Winter deserts, which are very hot in the summer, but as cold as 10°F in the winter, and Polar deserts. Tell students that whether hot or cold, all deserts have one thing in common. Can students guess what that is? (All deserts receive little or not rainfall.) Deserts get less than 10 inches of rain per year. Ask: How many inches of rain do you think we get here in [name of your city or town]? Give students time to research on the Internet the average yearly precipitation in their city or town? (For average precipitation in your zip code area, go to www.weather.com on the Internet, type in your zip code in the box next to Localweather, click Go, and then page down and click Averages.)

Activity
Write the following WorldTeasers: Just Deserts chart on the chalkboard. (Or print out enough copies of the chart for each student or pairs of students.) Give students time to study the information in the chart. Then, ask students various grade-appropriate questions about the information on the chart. For example:
1. What is the name of the largest Subtropical desert named on the chart? (Great Victoria)
2. On what continent would you find the oldest desert on earth? (Africa)
3. How much bigger is the wettest desert on earth than the driest desert on earth? (66,000 square miles)
4. How are the Namib and the Atacama deserts similar? (They’re both Cool Coastal deserts.)
5. How is the Sonoran desert different from the Gobi desert? (The Sonoran desert is a Subtropical desert and the Gobi desert is a Cold Winter desert.)

Allow time for teams of students to formulate their own WorldTeaser Challenge questions based on information in the chart and then challenge classmates with the questions.

Next, write the WorldTeasers: Just Deserts II chart on the chalkboard (or print out a copy from www.wordteasers.com. Divide the class into teams to research and fill in the blanks under each category.

Extension
Have students locate on a world map the 12 different deserts mentioned in the Just Deserts charts I and II.

Extension (optional)
Using the information in the chart and Microsoft Excel or other graphic software, have students create a bar graph to show the relative size of the six deserts named in the chart.

Assessment
Challenge students to take the WorldTeaser Challenge. Put the six Just Deserts Challenge Cards on a table. One at a time, ask a volunteer to come up and select a challenge card and read it out loud to the class. See by a raise of hands who can win the WorldTeaser Challenge.

Creating the Charts
Chart 1: WorldTeasers: Just Deserts I
Open the Insert Table window in Microsoft Word. For Number of Columns, put 7 and for Number of Rows put 6. Fill in the rows as follows:
Row 1: WorldTeaser Fact, Driest desert on earth, Wettest desert on earth, Coldest desert on earth, Oldest desert on earth, Desert name for a queen, 4th largest desert on earth
Row 2: Name of Desert, The Atacama, Sonoran, Antarctic, Namib, Great Victoria, Gobi
Row 3: Continent, South America, North America, Antarctica, Africa, Great Victoria, Asia
Row 4: Type of Desert, Cool Coastal, Subtropical, Polar, Cool Coastal, Subtropical, Cold Winter
Row 5: Land Area, 54,000 sq. mi, 120,000 sq. mi, 5.5 million sq. mi, 13,000 sq. mi, 250,000 sq. mi, 500,000 sq. mi.
Row 6: Location, Northern Chile; Ariz., CA, Mexico; Antarctica; Angola, Namibia; Southern Australia; China, Mongolia

Chart II: WorldTeasers: Just Deserts II
Open the Insert Table window in Microsoft Word. For Number of Columns, put 7 and for Number of Rows put 6. Fill in the rows as follows:
Row 1: WorldTeaser Fact, Largest non-Polar desert, Largest U.S. desert, Largest desert in Americas, Desert with longest sand dunes, Largest Asian desert, Most northern desert
Row 2: Name of Desert, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell
Row 3: Continent, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell
Row 4: Type of Desert, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell
Row 5: Land Area, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell
Row 6: Location, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell, blank cell

Next Week: “On the Fence” with Idioms

Source: WorldTeasers: World Culture and Geography — An educational game designed to help upper elementary grade students supersize their global knowledge with fascinating, intriguing, and amusing trivia about countries and their culture. Grades 4 +. Available at: SchooDoodle.com.

Free Teacher Lesson Plan — Getting an “Upper Hand” on Idioms

Subject: Language Arts
Grades: 4-6

Overview
Help your students get an “upper hand” on idioms with this lesson plan that challenges them to identify idioms (with an Idiom Match-up Game) and then group idiomatic expressions according to different “themes” or “topics.”

Objectives
Students will:
· Recognize idiomatic expressions
· Group idioms by themes
· Use idioms in context in writing and speaking.

IRA/NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts
Standard 4: Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
Standard 6: Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.

Materials Needed
· Set of blue and white index cards
· Magic marker
· WordTeasers: Idioms

Preparation
Prepare a set of Idiom Match-up Game Cards, using one pair of blue and white index cards for each student in the classroom. (If you have 30 students, for example, you will need 15 blue cards and 15 white cards.) On the white cards, write the first part of an idiomatic expression. For example, your white cards might include: “once in a blue…”; “hit the…”; “throw in the….” On the blue cards, they write the word that completes each idiomatic expression, e.g., you would write the word “moon” on one card to complete the idiom “once in a blue moon.”

Getting Started
Write these two sentences on the board:
BOY: I think my friend has lost his marbles.
GIRL: Maybe we should help him find them.
Call on two students to read the sentences out loud to the class. Then ask: “What do you think the boy meant when he said that his friend had lost his marbles? Do you think he meant that his friend had actually lost a bag of marbles? Why or why not? What else could he have meant?”

Development
Explain to students that there are many phrases in English that don’t mean exactly what the individual words might suggest. These phrases are called idioms. To help students begin to understand and identify different idioms, distribute the blue and white idiom index cards that you have prepared, giving one card to each student in random order. Tell students that when you say “Match-Up,” students should move around the room, trying to find the matching part of their idiom as quickly as possible. As soon as two students “match” their idiom, those two students sit down. When all matches have been made, students read their idioms aloud to the class.

WordTeasers: Idioms Activity
Make five wide columns on the chalkboard. At the top of each column, write the name of a different category of idioms, e.g., Animal Idioms, Body Parts Idioms, Food Idioms, Clothes Idioms. Give students time to brainstorm idioms for each category, e.g., Animal Idioms: bull in a china shop; Body Parts Idioms: green thumb; Food Idioms: piece of cake; Clothes Idioms: stuffed shirt. Let students come to the chalkboard to write as many idioms under each category as they can think of. Then ask them to explain what each idiom means.

Extension

Using the WordTeasers: Idioms game box, let students pull out an Idiom Challenge Card, read the Challenge to a specific classmate, (e.g., “When are you most likely to act as if you had ants in your pants?”), and see what kind of hilarious answer they are likely to get.

Next Week: One Minute Vocabulary Lessons for Every Subject

Source: WordTeasers: Idioms — an educational game designed to get kids talking, laughing, thinking, writing…and improving language arts skills. Ages 9+ . Available at SchooDoodle.com.

Here's Food for Thought from Around the World (A Geography Lesson Plan)

Subject: Geography; World Culture
Grades: 4-6

Overview
This lesson uses food as an “appetizing” introduction to six different countries in the world. Students practice basic map skills identifying the location of these six countries and comparing their geographic features to states in the United States.

Objectives
Students will:
· Use a map of the world to identify six different countries and the world regions in which those countries reside.
· Use a map of the world to identify facts about countries from a spatial perspective.
· Compare geographic features of the U.S. with selected countries around the world.

National Geography Standards
Standard 1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.
Standard 10: The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth’s cultural mosaics.


Materials Needed
· Food for Thought Challenge Cards from WorldTeasers: World Culture & Geography
· Wall map of the world
· Computer with Internet access (optional)

Getting Started
Distribute the six WorldTeasers: Food for Thought Challenge Cards* to six volunteers. Call upon each volunteer to read out loud his or her Challenge Card to the class. Let students guess the answer to the Food for Thought Challenge Card. Discuss with students the different foods mentioned. How many think they would like a McHuevo? Why or why not?

(*Note: WorldTeasers: World Culture and Geography consists of 150 Challenge Cards divided into 25 different categories, six Challenge Cards in each category.)

Development
Direct students’ attention to a map of the world on the wall. Ask a volunteer to point to each country mentioned in the Food for Thought Challenge Cards (El Salvador, Uruguay, Greece, Sweden, Singapore, Sri Lanka). Help students identify the world regions or continents for each country. (El Salvador/Central America, Uruguay/South America, Greece/Europe, Sweden/Europe, Singapore/Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka/Asia)

Activity
Divide the class into six groups. Have each group research one of the six Food for Thought countries and develop a WorldTeaser Challenge question for classmates that is based on information that can be found on the map. For example: “Which country in Central America has the largest land mass? Or: “In what ocean is the island of Sri Lanka?” “Which country borders the most number of other countries?”

Extension
Have students look at a map of the United States. Which state(s) has similar geographic features to the six Food for Thought countries?

Extension (optional)
Let students research other popular foods from the around using a computer with Internet access. Challenge groups of students to put together a World Menu, listing foods they would serve for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and the country each food item comes from.

Next Week: Help Students Get an “Upper Hand” on Idioms

Source: WorldTeasers: World Culture and Geography — An educational game designed to help upper elementary grade students supersize their global knowledge with fascinating, intriguing, and amusing trivia about countries and their culture. Available at SchooDoodle.com.

Teacher Lesson Plan -- Idioms in the Limelight

Subject: Language Arts
Grade(s): 4-6

Overview
Challenge students to “collect their wits,” “put on their thinking cap,” and keep their “nose to the grindstone,” as you introduce this entertaining lesson plan on idioms. Students draw a literal interpretation of a selected idiom and have classmates try to guess what that idiom is.

Objectives
Students will:
· Recognize idioms in a sentence.
· Use idioms in context in writing and speaking.

IRA/NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts
Standard 4: Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
Standard 6: Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.

Materials Needed
· WordTeasers: Idioms
· Drawing paper and crayons

Getting Started
Ask students if they have ever heard the expression: “take the bull by the horns.” What do they think that means? Do they think that it means to literally grab a bull by its horns? Why or why not? What do they think the saying really means? (Take charge; confront a problem head on.) Where do they think that saying came from?

Development
Explain to students that there are many phrases in English that don’t mean exactly what the individual words mean. These phrases are called idioms. Write this sentence on the board: “I’ll eat my hat if I don’t get an A on the spelling test.” Call on a volunteer to identify the idiomatic expression in that sentence. What does the phrase mean literally? What does the idiomatic phrase mean? (To bet with confidence on the outcome of something.)

WordTeasers: Idioms Activity
Divide the class into pairs. Pass the WordTeasers: Idioms box around the room Let each pair of students select a WordTeaser: Idioms Challenge Card from the box. Tell students to work together in pairs to draw a literal interpretation of their idiom (e.g., “egg on your face”). Then let each pair of students show their drawing to the class. Can the class guess what the idiom is? Have students write a sentence using that idiom. Finally, ask volunteer to answer some of the WordTeasers: Idioms Challenge questions (e.g., “Tell about a time you had egg on your face.”)

Next Week: Help Your Students Score Big with Vocabulary

Source: WordTeasers: Idioms — An educational game designed to get kids talking, laughing, thinking, writing…and improving language arts skills. Ages 9+ . Available at Schoodoodle.com

Free Teacher Lesson Plan - "Autumn Leaf Project"

As fall has arrived to our school yard, here's a classroom activity to do with leaves. I find the maple and oak leaf(s) to work best, they leave the best impression!

Create a beautiful picture with tissue paper leaf rubbings!

Grade Level(s): Elementary level project.

Objectives: Students will develop the shape of texture of a leaf.

Materials:
* 5" squares of tissue paper in autumn colors
* fresh leaves with prominent veins
* pieces of brown crayons
* (1) 6"x18" white construction paper
* liquid starch in a small container
* paint brush and paper towel

Instructions:
Put a leaf on the table with the vein side up. Place a single piece of tissue paper on the top of the leaf and rub over the top of the leaf with the side of the crayon. This will pick up the vein pattern.

Repeat step one on different colors of tissue paper. Then tear out the leaf shape rubbing on each piece of paper.

Using the paintbrush, cover the 6"x18" white construction paper with liquid starch. One at a time, lay the tissue leaves on the paper, covering each piece with liquid starch before adding another.

Let dry and watch your students smile with glee! This is my favorite autumn art project, I hope it will be your favorite too!

Here's a fun fact:

What do autumn leaves and ripening bananas have in common?

The green color in unripe bananas comes from chlorophyll, the same pigment that gives green leaves their color. As bananas ripen, the chlorophyll breaks down and disappears, revealing the yellow color which has been there all along. The yellows and oranges of autumn leaves are also revealed as their chlorophyll breaks down. Of course, other changes also occur as bananas ripen: the starches change to sugar and the flesh softens as pectin (a carbohydrate) breaks down.

Free Teacher Lesson Plan - "Football Tag"

OVERVIEW: Reviewing material is an effective tool for ensuring student's academic success.


OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this activity is to get all students involved in a review process in which they can have fun and reinforce material at the same time. When students have fun learning, they retain more!



RESOURCES/MATERIALS: chalkboard or markerboard, questions, or material to be reviewed.



ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:

Teacher's Preparation:

1. Draw a simple football field - add school name, etc. to the end zones and/or 50 yard line.

2. Draw a scoreboard.

3. Have a question prepared.

4. Write the following rules on the board.

a: Correct answer = 10 yards - 1st down

b: Incorrect answer = fumble - control goes to other team.

c: 3 answers in a row = field goal - after a team has answered three questions correctly they can choose to take 3 points for the field goal or risk a 4th question.

d: 4 answers in a row = touchdown! 7 points (Note: Field goal questions and touchdown questions should have a higher level of difficulty.

e: Unsportsmanlike conduct: 15 yard penalty and loss of ball if in your possession. (Use this when a student is talking outloud).



Classtime activity:

1. Divide the class into two groups.

2. Choose captains and make up unique names for the scoreboard.

3. Coin flip - give students the choice of taking control of the ball or letting the other team have control first.

4. Draw a football (or circle representing football) above the 20 yard line.

5. Start the questions and follow the rules which you wrote on the board.

a. Only the student who is asked the question may answer.

b. The entire group can discuss and then answer the question.

c. If a question is missed it is a fumble and control goes to the other team - you can give them a new question or repeat the missed one.



TYING IT ALL TOGETHER: This activity is very effective for the unmotivated student. Always stress the goal is not winning the game, but rather retaining the shared information. Many times the students are having so much fun they don't realize that they are learning. It's a good idea not to ask another question until the classroom gets quiet and all are listening to the question. This game can be used for any class subject. Do what's best for your class.

Free Teacher Lesson Plan - Spelling Game

Language Arts Grade Levels: 2nd grade through 8th grade
This is a simple game that makes learning to spell words fun.

Materials:
marker board or
chalk board, and
markers or
chalk.

Directions: Students are divided into 2 teams. The students need to stand in a single file line. The teacher calls out a word. The first student in each line walks to the board and writes the first letter of the word, the student gives the marker to the next student and then they write the next letter, this continues until the word is spelled. Students can only write one letter at a time. The first team to correctly spell the word gets a point. If a student puts an incorrect letter in the word, then next student that sees that it is wrong erases the incorrect letter and replaces it with the correct letter. This would be considered that student's turn. Continue until the week's word list has been completed. I give each team a treat after playing.

Free Teacher Bulletin Board Tip - Time Saver

Before the school year begins,
decide what color background
you want on your bulletin board for each month of the year.

Beginning with the last month of the school year,
cover your bulletin board with a background paper for each month.
Then when you're ready to change your bulletin board display,
you only need to remove the top layer
to uncover a clean new background.

Shop for bulletin board paper on line.

Free Teacher Lesson Plan: Identity in a Bag

GRADE LEVEL: Appropriate for grades 4-6.


OVERVIEW: At the beginning of the school year, it's good to get to know each other, whether it be teacher to student, or student to other students in the class. Many students do not know how to develop relationships. Their negative social attitudes and low self-esteem hinder interaction.


OBJECTIVES:
1. To express personal characteristics with items from home.
2. To introduce ourselves to one another.


RESOURCES/MATERIALS: Students will provide the ten items and their
own shopping bag. Teachers will need to remind students several times to
bring in their bags. This works best with 100% participation. Instruct
students not to bring in valuable or breakable items.


ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES: Ask each student to bring an unmarked
grocery bag from home and give it to the teacher. The bag is to contain
three or four items from the student's home that "say something about
who the student is." During the class period the teacher empties one bag
at a time before the class. The students are to react to the contents of
the bag before guessing the identity of the owner. As the contents of each
bag are revealed, students should discuss the following questions:


#1. Was the bag brought by a boy or a girl? How can you tell?
#2. What kinds of activities does this person enjoy?
#3. Is she/he an indoor person or an outdoor person?
#4. Why do you think she/he chose the items that are in the bag?
#5. What one item in the bag do you think she/he is especially proud of?


By the time the questions are discussed, the students will probably be
calling out the name of the suspected bag filler. Before having the person
identify themselves it is fun to say "O.K. on the count of three, everybody
point to the person whom you think belongs to this bag!" When arms are
pointed in all directions, a lively discussion can follow.


TYING IT ALL TOGETHER: Spend a few minutes at the end of the class
processing the exercise by asking the following questions:


#1. Through the items in your bag, what were you saying about yourself?
#2. How did you feel when the contents of your bag were revealed?
#3. What did you learn about others by studying the contents of their
bags?
#4. Did you find it difficult to guess correctly? Why?
#5. What did you learn about yourself from this exercise?

Free Teacher Lesson Plan: I Imagine!

Download Worksheet

Language Arts, Writing, Writing Process, Oral Language, Listening, Speaking

Grade 1- 3

Objective:

Students use descriptive and imaginative language to encourage a response.

Directions:

Discuss with students the importance of using sensory words to describe objects. Share with them an excerpt from a book or poem they know that uses a sensory description of objects. There are countless good examples.Review sensory words used to describe objects.

Talk about words referring to size or weight, shape, texture, sound, and smell. Select a few objects around the classroom and have students use sensory words to describe them.Tell students that they will write stories about animals. These animals can be real or imaginary.

They will be reading these stories to the class. They will have to write good descriptions so that when they read their stories, the other students in the class will know exactly how to draw the animals that are being described.

Resources:

• I Imagine activity sheet (one for each student)
• pencils
• paper
• crayons