Imagine one no-prep, critical-thinking routine your students look forward to every single day.

Let me introduce you to PUZZLE POWER™.

This FREE sampler bundle lets you try all five Puzzle Power™ word puzzle routines, the exact system teachers use for bell ringers, morning meetings, and enrichment centers all year long, with almost zero extra prep.

Puzzle Power™ FREE Sampler Bundle | Critical Thinking | Word Puzzles | Gr. 3–6

FREE

Every child deserves the chance to discover the joy of thinking. Puzzle Power™ was created from one simple belief: The best learning happens when students forget they're learning.

I hope these free activities become the beginning of a classroom filled with curiosity, laughter, and meaningful thinking. Enjoy exploring the collection!

                           — Barb Evans, PUZZLE POWER™

It's about Time, Teachers, for Black History!

 

Try combining Black History Month with poetry. These are some of the things I love about poetry:

• Poetry uses an economy of words. Thus, it looks different. When I was teaching Title I, my students really brightened up when I presented a poem rather than prose. I have no empirical data to support this, but I believe it was because that economy of words and the extended white spaces made the reading less intimidating.
• The structure of poetry makes it ever so much easier to teach concepts and skills. If, for example, you wanted to teach compound words, finding them in a poem is much easier than searching through a page of prose.
• Whether it’s because of the condensed message, or the engaging lilt of a poem, or both, I believe comprehension is easier, especially for struggling readers.
• Poetry is fun. It’s fun to listen to and fun to read. Poetry with rhythm and rhyme is simply engaging for children.

I 💜 combining disciplines. It saves so much TIME! These poems about notable African Americans and the history of Blacks in America incorporate myriad lessons in ELA, history, and writing.

Bring something new to your teaching with Black History Month Poetry Possibilities.

Your learners will also love Square Puzzlers. This set for Black History is differentiated, allowing even primary students to engage in the challenge. The goal is to reassemble the puzzle pieces into a square array in which the interior images match.

IT'S ABOUT TIME, TEACHERS, for THE ELECTION!

It's about time for the Presidential Election in the U.S.  My favorite way to teach election vocabulary is with ELECTION HINK PINKS, et al.  These word riddles help children learn to problem solve while exercising vocabulary skills (definitions, synonyms, parts of speech, rimes, ...).  These task cards prompt learners to interpret data, make inferences, draw conclusions, and analyze new information. Here's a sample:

These Hink Pink puzzles are ideal for upper elementary and middle school classes.

You may also like resources about presidents:

These resources focus on the 50 states:

This is a great time for these patriotic products, too:

IT'S ABOUT TIME for DECEMBER RESOURCES!

 

Check out these December resources for your classroom:

FREEBIES

CRITICAL THINKING

MATH

LANGUAGE ARTS

IT'S ABOUT TIME FOR THE 4TH OF JULY!

Let's celebrate America's independence with a patriotic FREEBIE! SCRATTLE combines word fluency with computation; individual effort with competition. It's easily differentiated for any elementary grade level. Your learners will quickly learn to eschew easy words in order to win the "battle." They may even beg to play again!

These patriotic resources are on sale this week.