This weekend my daughter and I had some good quality time decorating our front yard with Halloween decorations. She said she wanted to do more Halloween stuff during the weekend. I broke out my Halloween STEM Challenges printables and she started working on building her own haunted house.
She started by creating a booklet to help her her design her haunted house. She had fun coloring the pages, but if you do this in a classroom, you can print it on colored paper to save on time or you can just leave it uncolored.
She decided that she wanted to build her haunted house three stories high. She drew out her blueprints for her own haunted house. I think she enjoyed the part the best. She felt like she was her great grandfather who was an architect.
Then, after a few attempts she came up with a haunted house that she was proud of! I think she did a great job! I love how she opted to use colored popsicle sticks instead of plain popsicle sticks.
If you’d like to see more of my Halloween STEM Challenges click here: Halloween STEM Challenges
It is officially autumn, and October is fast approaching. The leaves are changing color, the air is crisp and cool, and it’s time to break out the jeans and jackets! Unless you live in Florida like we do, that is. Still, the coming of October means that Halloween is going to be on people’s minds. And for good reason – Halloween is a lot of fun.
At school, kids are starting to think about what Halloween costumes they are going to wear, what sorts of Halloween parties or activities they are going to attend, and what they’re going to do on Halloween night. Parents are starting to wonder what sort of candy or treats they’re going to give out this year, where they’re going to get it from, and how much it’s going to cost!
Here is a free download of a poem I wrote with a quick writing activity that you can give to your children or students. There are two versions of this activity; a color version that you can display on your classroom wall or bulletin board, and a black and white version that you can photocopy to hand out to your students.
After your students have finished the writing portion of this activity, you can have a classroom discussion to talk about the answers your students have given. You can find out what your students enjoy about Halloween, October, and the fall season, and what sorts of costumes your kids will be wearing when October 31st finally arrives.
Have fun preparing for Halloween!
I love glyphs! Students love them too! My best selling Math Goofy Glyphs are my Halloween Math Goofy Glyphs. We’ve just revamped them with new graphics too, so they’ll be even more enjoyable for students!
Here are what some people are saying about my Halloween Math Goofy Glyphs:
“This activity keeps the students engaged in learning. Students forgot all about the math part to the assignment they were only concerned with creating the character in the end.”
“My students LOVE your glyphs! Great activity to keep them engaged and practicing their skills. Thanks!”
“This is such a great idea and a wonderful open-ended project that still offers a challenge!”
“I have downloaded several of these activities. I even get them for a variety of different grades because I work with special education, and my students often need practice with basic skills. This is an extremely engaging activity!”
The best part of the glyphs are that I have them for first grade through algebra 1. The math is tailored specificially for each grade level. You’re never too old nor too young for my goofy glyphs!
For more information click here: Halloween Math Goofy Glyphs
If you read my blog you know I’m crazy about interactive notebook. I think I love them so much because my children love them so much! My latest interactive notebook is for 5th grade. It has all of the grammar (or language) common core standards for 5th grade. But, if your state doesn’t follow the common core, it’s not a problem, as these skills are useful for any 5th graders to learn.
The skills that are covered:
Conjunctions, Propositions and Interjections
Perfect Verb Tenses
Verb Tenses
Shifts in Verb Tense
Correlative Conjunctions
Punctuation in Series
Commas and Introductory Elements
More Comma Usage
Titles of Works
Spelling
Structuring Sentences
Varieties of English
Context Clues
Greek and Latin Affixes and Roots
Reference Materials
Figurative Language
Idioms, Adages & Proverbs
Synonyms, Antonyms & Homographs
Domain-specific words
My interactive notebooks are fun, educational and stress-free for the teachers! There is cutting, pasting and folding involved, but not too much, just the right amount.
If you’d like to see a preview of my interactive grammar notebook for 5th grade, click here: Interactive Grammar Notebook for 5th Grade
Another country that I made printables for is India! This country has given the world some of the most popular food – curry! I don’t know about you, but I love to eat curry! Like my other This Kids’ Life Series, this packet is filled with puzzles, crafts, coloring projects, writing, reading and more!
Since many people travel by train in India, sometimes for a very long time, I made a writing page asking students what they would do on a train if they had to ride it for over 24 hours. I think it will be interesting to see all of the creative ideas your students will have.
One of the art projects in my India packet is a 3D sphere of the Indian Flag. Students will love to take this home and show their parents what they learned.
If you’d like to learn more about my India printables, click here: India Country Study
Tunisia is an amazing country filled with a varied past. It was at one time ruled by the French, but it gained its independence from the French in 1956. Tunisia’s official language is Arabic, but they still use French due to the past French ties. Almost 99% of the population of Tunisia is Muslim. There are so many other interesting things to learn about Tunisia. With the help of my Tunisia printables you and your students can explore Tunisia together.
Students can make crafts, color pictures, and more to really immerse themselves into the Tunisian culture. These make great take-homes for students to show their parents what they learned in school.
Not only are there facts, discussion questions and a two-page letter from a child describing her life in Tunisia, there are also writing prompts and pages to help students process all of the things they learned.
If you’d like to learn more about my Tunisia packet click here: Tunisia Country Study
Are you looking for something different to do for math to celebrate Halloween this season? My Halloween 3D Math Art really fits the bill! There are three different packets: Fractions, Multiplication and Addition and Subtraction. Each packet has two different levels so you can differentiate with your students.
Each Halloween 3D Math Art packet has three different projects to work on. First they solve the problems. Then, they can find their answers on the picture. Next, your students will roll up the strips and paste them to the picture. When they are finished, they’ll have a wonderful 3D art project!
Here’s a close up of the bat picture, so you can see how it’s put together. You’re students are sure to enjoy making these.
If you’d like more information about my Halloween 3D Art, click here: Halloween 3D Math Art
Posted in Teaching on September 17, 2016
Have you ever been asked why you chose to become a teacher? I’ve been asked this question a lot! Some people say, if you chose to become something else, you’d be making more money. Sometimes people snicker and say, “Those who can do, those who don’t teach.” I really don’t like that expression. I think when someone chooses to be a teacher it’s almost like a lifestyle choice and not just a job. Teachers shape and form the leaders of tomorrow. Teachers can really make a difference in their students’ lives.
I still remember my favorite teachers. They are my favorite teachers for very different reasons. Mrs. Carroll opened up the world to me in math class by teaching us about different number systems from the past, like cuneiform. Mrs. Watts taught me math for 5 years (8th grade through 12th grade). I remember she admitted to us once that she had to study sometimes at night to make sure she understood what she was teaching. I thought it was so great of her to show us that she was human and needed to study too. Mrs. Rothe taught me that I was talented in art. She actually taught me language arts, but she used to have these seasonal coloring contests. I won many times and I realized I had a knack for art. It’s interesting to think that without these three teachers, I would be very different today.
My mother was a teacher and she used to tell me not to become a teacher because it was a difficult job, but it really made me want to be a teacher even more. I saw how much love she had for her students and for teaching.
Since I’ve been teaching since I was 23 years old, I now have students who are parents and have wonderful careers. It’s so great to see how my students have grown into wonderful adults. I’d be happy if I have touched at least one of my students’ lives like those teachers touched my life.
So, here’s to all of our past teachers and how they changed our lives! Leave a comment and let everyone know why you chose to become a teacher!
I love glyphs and I love using glyphs with my students. I think it’s a fun way to get your students to think about questions and reflect on them. Their answers make their glyphs different than their classmates. My interactive glyphs don’t have questions like “Are you a girl or boy?” They have more thoughtful questions like “What’s your favorite thing about Halloween?” “Do you like to carve pumpkins?” For my Halloween Interactive Glyphs, there are four glyphs. Each glyph has 10 different questions for students to answer.
Another great thing about my interactive glyphs is there are writing prompts and pages for students to use. They can write their essays based on their feelings about the glyph questions. I think it’s really fun for students to write, read and do art all at the same time! The best thing about my glyphs is that I haven’t seen anything like them at all! So, your students and their parents will be pleased with a unique activity.
If you’d like more information about my Halloween Interactive Glyphs, click here: Halloween Interactive Glyphs
Color by Number printables are so fun for students and they learn while they are coloring. So many times students don’t even realize they are learning and practicing math while they work on these printables. My Halloween Color by Number printables are created for kindergarten through six grade. Students will work on numbers, addition, and shapes for kindgarten; while the other grades work on different skills from rounding, fraction equivalents, GCF, decimal subtraction, multiplication and more! Every grade level is filled with skills for that specific grade level.
My Halloween Color by Numbers printables is a packet filled with ten color by number printables. There are not only different skills to choose from, there are lots of different Halloween-themed pictures!
Students will look forward to these color by number pages. You can use them as morning work, homework, classwork or work your sub can hand out.
If you’d like to see more of my Halloween Color by Number Printables, click here: Halloween Color by Number Printables
