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 PRESIDENTS!

 

Inauguration Day is Jan. 20th and Presidents' Day is Feb. 17th. So, it's about time for some presidential resources.

How about some trivia about our leaders? These 20 task cards will reveal interesting and intriguing facts about our presidents. Use them for a research project or enrichment. Available digitally and in print. Click here to jump to the product page.

Extend the learning to math and literacy with VOCABULARY FRACTIONS TASK CARDS. Your learners will reveal the names of presidents by combining fractional parts of words. They must deduce the correct word represented by the picture and use correct spelling. Solving equivalent fractions provides even more challenge. These task cards are presented in print and digitally on TPT Easel.

PRESIDENTS VOCABULARY FRACTIONS are so fun that I made 2 sets! Click here for the 2nd edition.

PRESIDENTS SQUARE PUZZLERS are fun and challenging brain teasers. The puzzles must be reconstructed so that the images match on every interior side. This builds perseverance and stamina, but disguises it all as fun.

Some poetry for presidents allows you to teach about the presidents, poetry, and so many other topics. Check out the POETRY POSSIBILITIES provided to find skill lessons and activities.

You may also like these patriotic products:

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, TEACHERS, for SPIRALED CURRICULA in MATH

 

As I described in my previous post, I am a strong proponent of Bruner's Spiraled Curricula.  The beauty of this practice is that prior learning is activated, the complexity of the learning is increased, and new learning occurs in direct relationship to the older information.

One of the chief means I use to spiral and revisit learning is learning centers. When students can independently complete hands-on, multisensory activities, they will be well on their way to mastery.

However, creating and instituting learning centers is time consuming.  Since my focus is It's About Time, Teachers!, I've taken the time to create scores of learning centers for you. Thus, you may be interested in these bundles that can save your time:  

Computation needs practice over time. But, an endless stream of worksheets is boring. Give your learners fun practice with COMPUTATION RIDDLES TASK CARDS. Each product requires the solutions to basic computation problems in order to solve the riddles. These units can be used in the traditional task card manner, as math journal prompts, or you can post the cards around the room. This allows children to traverse the space as they complete Riddles Around the Room.

Take a peek at the bundle:

You can provide frequent and enduring practice with these 8 TANGRAM units.  Learners will practice their knowledge of geometric shapes, critical thinking, and problem solving.

Here's a preview:

Graphing and data collection require enduring practice.  Here's a bundle of products to provide that:

Each product is differentiated into 3 skill levels. 

Here's a preview of the FREE version, Sneakers Spin-Tally-Graph:

One of my favorite math centers is How Many Ways? This activity challenges students to find multiple equations that lead to a target number. (Think Boogle(TM) for numbers.)

You, the teacher, can determine which operations are appropriate to your class.  This center is excellent for enrichment and challenging fast finishers.  Better yet, it fills a bulletin board and requires almost NO effort from you once it's up. The Back to School version is FREE!  Check it out:

Another bundle that challenges flexibility, fluency, and problem solving is the Latin Square Bundle.

These brain teasing puzzles are square arrays that must be filled in the style of Sudoku.  The challenges range from 3x3 arrays to 7x7 arrays.  This video provides more insight:

All of the Latin Squares math centers are also available digitally on TPT Easel.

VOCABULARY FRACTIONS are packed with learning. The challenge is to create terminology related to the theme using fractional parts of words.  The activity gradually increases in difficulty.  Try this FREEBIE from the Forest Friends theme:

This product is part of the Forest Friends Edition bundle.

VOCABULARY FRACTIONS are so popular with my classes that I've created dozens of them.  Most are bundled; some are not.

All VOCABULARY FRACTIONS are offered in print and digital form.

As always, bundles from my store save you 30%.

Still to come, spiraled curricula for critical thinking.

IT'S ABOUT TIME, TEACHERS, for BLACK HISTORY MONTHH

 

Now that Groundhog Day, the 100th Day, and Valentine's Day have come and gone, you can give more time to BLACK HISTORY MONTH. A unique way to study this topic is with and through poetry. (I love combining different disciplines for more efficient teaching!) POETRY POSSIBILITIES for BLACK HISTORY MONTH provides 12 original, copy-ready poems. Each poem has a teaching point about poetic elements and forms. Also supplied are custom made skill lessons, activities, and poetry writing prompts; the poetry possibilities.

Another distinctive product for BLACK HISTORY MONTH is BLACK HISTORY SQUARE PUZZLERS. These fun brain teasers exercise critical thinking and problem solving, build perseverance and stamina, and stimulate the brain while disguising it as fun. Similar to Scrambled Squares, these differentiated puzzles must be reconstructed so that the images match on every interior side.