TEACH SMARTER NOT HARDER Part 3

 It's about time, teachers, to teach smarter not harder.

When I was in Reading Recovery™ training, one concept that was ingrained in me was to teach with a sense of urgency.  That has carried over into all of my teaching and has prompted me to try to maximize both my teaching activities and the learning of my students.  In other words, I try to teach smarter, not harder.

To that end, I created One Dollar Words Challenges. Using these with my 3rd - 5th grade enrichment students proved to be smart teaching that incorporated computation with vocabulary development, grammar with research, and editing with Higher Order Thinking Skills.

The challenge is to find words that have a value of exactly $1 when the letters are added together using these values:

Just blindly striking out to discover a $1 Word couldn't be more frustrating to students.  So, I created clues to lead them.

Give each student a clue, a table of values, and a calculator.  Then send them off to find their words.  A thesaurus is an enormous aid to this pursuit and can be used in print or digital form.  [Be aware that digital thesauri can, on occasion, produce objectionable words for children.] 

Before long, students will discover the value of base words, prefixes, suffixes, plurals, participles, ... The skills honed include:

• addition computation
• vocabulary development
• parts of speech
• base words
• prefixes & suffixes
• participles
• singular & plural
• compound words
• spelling & proof-reading
• dictionary & thesaurus
• calculator
• internet research
• critical thinking
• problem solving
• cooperative learning

Teaching just can't get much smarter!

This file is FREE so you can try them before you buy them.

You can find 6 more units here. Additionally, they have been combined into several bundles which will save you money!

Come back soon for more ideas about WORKING SMARTER NOT HARDER.

The Great $1 Word Challenge

This is one of the best teaching challenges I have ever used!  Year after year my students beg to do this and they have a voracious appetite for it.  Such enthusiasm warms my teacher's heart!

So, what is The Great $1 Word Challenge?  The simple answer is it's a quest for words that equal exactly $1 when the letters are valued like this:

Most $1 Word Challenges ask the students to discover words with no parameters; no clues.  How daunting is that?  So, I created clues that will lead students to such words.  Along the way, they practice computation, calculator skills, dictionary & thesaurus skills, parts of speech, vocabulary development, prefixes, suffixes, verb tenses, plurals, spelling, editing, proof-reading, critical thinking, and problem solving.  Talk about BANG FOR YOUR BUCK!  

I'm a visual learner, so I created a series of visuals to explain these awesome challenges.

If your kiddos enjoy them as much as mine do, you will be grabbing more clues as fast as you can.  You may be relieved to know that these clues are available in money saving bundles.

Did you notice that my images failed to include $1 Words 1.0?  That's because I saved the best for last!  The first unit is FREE!

You can try $1 Words before you buy them.

You don't have to take my word for how fun this project is.  Read what your comrades have said:

Head here to find all of the $1 Word products.