IT'S ABOUT TIME, TEACHERS, for SUDOKU!

 

Teaching your students to play SUDOKU has so much more value than just fun. Working on these puzzles gives your learners experience with problem solving skills, critical thinking abilities, perseveration practice, and improved focus. If you haven't introduced SUDOKU to your class, let me help you.

Use this animated PowerPoint presentation to break the process down into digestible bits.

Get it here:

Once you've given your students the tools to solve the puzzles, give them puzzles!  These are differentiated:

I use SUDOKU for:

• a critical thinking center
• differentiated instruction for enrichment and gifted students
• challenging fast finishers
• an anchor activity
• indoor recess
• a class reward

You may wish to provide "pre-sudoku" practice with Latin Squares.  They give similar practice on 3x3 through 7x7 grids. Here's an example:

It's About Time, Teachers, to Roundup Your Cowboys!

 

Every spring, I ❤️ to have thematic weeks in my classroom. One of my favorite themes is a roundup in which I immerse my class in all things cowboy. You can do it, too, with these resources:

FREEBIE

This COWPOKE GLYPH is a fun craftivity that incorporates data collection and writing. It also creates a fun display.

For decades I taught primary children. Thus, I have cowpoke products meant just for them:

PRIMARY

Then I transitioned to intermediate enrichment classes.

INTERMEDIATE

Naturally, I have created differentiated resources that span all elementary grades.

DIFFERENTIATED

  

For those who like the complete immersion into all things cowboy, I have decor. And, all the decor is half-price through 4/30/24.

IT'S ABOUT TIME, TEACHERS, for $1 WORDS!

 

Have you ever shared Because of Mr. Terupt, by Rob Buyea, with your class?  If you haven't, it's about time to try it. This delightful book tells about Mr. Terupt's 5th grade class from the perspective of various students. Your learners will enjoy the novel because of its authentic characters and realistic action.  Year after year, my learners sprint to the library to secure the sequels.  It warms my teacher's heart to see them have such enthusiasm for reading.

Throughout the story, Mr. Terupt sprinkles $1 WORDS. $1 WORDS are those that equal exactly $1 using the following table of values:

As a lifelong logophile, these words fascinate me. I embraced the challenge to find words worth exactly $1 and, with the help of my computer guru son, promptly found more than 600! Naturally, I had to create $1 WORD activities to challenge my students.

Many educators invite their learners to find $1 WORDS; just find some. What could be more frustrating to a child than to start blindly calculating the value of words with absolutely no parameters? The odds of finding one must be astronomical!! So I created clues:

My enrichment students loved this challenge so much that I scrambled to write >450 clues just to keep ahead of them!

You will love them, too, because they provide a lot of bang for your buck! When pursuing $1 WORDS, your learners will exercise a plethora of skills: computation, vocabulary, spelling, parts of speech, prefixes, suffixes, base words, participles, singular, plural, proof-reading, critical thinking, research, calculator, problem solving, ...

TRY IT BEFORE YOU BUY IT! with the free version.

You can find 6 more $1 WORDS products in my store.

You will also find bundles of these units, saving you 30% off of the individual prices.