It's about time, teachers, to TEACH SMARTER NOT HARDER!

If you have not discovered SCRATTLE, you are certainly teaching harder, not smarter!  This FREE product line is differentiated, making it appropriate for 1st - 6th grades, ideal for centers (math, literacy, and/or critical thinking), open ended for greater flexibility and fluency, and super engaging for learners. SCRATTLE combines word work with computation, individual effort with competition.  As in Scrabble™, students will use a set of letters to create words.  After recording their terms, they calculate each word's worth using letters values.  They then engage a friend in a battle wherein the 2 compare their scores using >,<, and =. The player with the most >s wins the battle!

SCRAbble + baTTLE = SCRATTLE!

One of my favorite things about SCRATTLE is that children rapidly and readily learn that making short, easy words is a bad idea.  In order to conquer their opponent, they must seek to create longer, more complex words.  Moreover, this activity can be done over and over, allowing children to hone their skills (making words, computation, spelling, strategic thinking) while having fun.

There are 8 SCRATTLE files, each associated with a season or holiday.  ALL ARE FREE!  Each product provides 3 recording sheet options.  This accomodates the grade range and allows for really easy differentiation within a classroom.

Recently, at the request of some teachers, I have added an additional file of recording sheets.  They offer the opportunity for 3 warriors to battle each other.  This file is also FREE!

SCRATTLE is a terrific means for teaching smarter not harder!!! But you don't have to take my word for it.  Check out these comments from teachers who have used these units.

TEACH SMARTER NOT HARDER Part 1

It's about time, teachers, for more efficient teaching.

Do you love combining disciplines for more efficient teaching?  I sure do.  To that end, I have made a new product line that blends vocabulary, spelling, and fractions with critical thinking.  I call them VOCABULARY FRACTIONS.  Each product includes 20 task cards that ask students to combine fractional parts of words to create thematic terminology. 

Here's an example from the Sports Edition:

Altogether, there are 15 sets of VOCABULARY FRACTIONS and 3 bundles.  The 1st bundle includes 5 products.

The second bundle combines VOCABULARY FRACTIONS for 6 holidays.

The 3rd bundle is part of my FOREST FRIENDS CURRICULA.  This bundle offers 3 products and 1 free unit.

If you would like to try them before you buy them, download this FREE set:

To quote one student, "These made my brain hurt, but I love them!"  I think your learners will feel the same way.

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

ACTIVITIES for THE MITTEN

 

Do you share any version of THE MITTEN with your students?  I like to share all the versions I can find; then compare them.  My students love to create a graph showing which book is their favorite.

Then we compare the animals:

• Are the same animals in each version?
• How many animals are in each story?
• Do the same animals look different in each book?
• etc.

Compare and contrast the mitten:

• What color and material is the mitten?
• How was the mitten lost?
• What happened to the mitten at the end of the story?
• etc.

Evaluate the illustrations, in general:

• Note the pattern of the colors in Tresselt's book.
• Explain personification as it applies to Tresselt's illustrations (clothing).
• Draw attention to the Brett illustrations that foreshadow the next animal to appear.
• Lead your students to understand that Aylesworth's animals all point to their toes and describe them as "cold as ice."
• etc.

Comparing the animals from each version readily leads to a Venn diagram:

Naturally, you could use pictures of the animals instead of the words, if you are working with pre-readers.

Teach your students to sing and act out THE MITTEN song.  I took the verbs from Jan Brett's book.  They are easy to act out.  However, you can certainly substitute the verbs with more familiar ones or verbs your students suggest.  For example, I love "The badger barged inside,"  because of the alliteration and the action absolutely describes the aggressive nature of a badger.

Naturally, you may amend the song to reflect the animals from the book you read or declared as the class favorite.

I like to immerse my class in all things mitten, so for the week we are studying this folktale, I provide a plethora of materials with the mitten theme.

This is a thematic unit with printables, literacy centers, and math centers.

This bulletin board display is awesome as a math center, anchor activity, sponge activity, enrichment, and/or fast finishers' challenge.

Math centers include:

 

Literacy Centers include:

This critical thinking product is a perennial favorite.

I've created a bundle of all of these products.  When you buy the bundle, you save 20%.  That's a lot of mitten learning for 1 great price.

I hope you enjoy your mitten time!

DECEMBER FREEBIES for TEACHERS

 

This time of year is all about giving.  It is my pleasure to offer these gifts to you:

• CHRISTMAS CONFECTIONS SQUARE PUZZLERS

• SCRATTLE: CHRISTMAS EDITION

• VOCABULARY FRACTIONS: CHRISTMAS EDITION
  
  
• JINGLE JINGLE MAKING WORDS CENTER  
  
  
• RUDOLPH'S RED NOSE & HO HO HOs WORKSHEETS
  
  
  
  
  
  

I hope you enjoy these FREEBIES.  Have a safe and wonderful December.

It's About Time, Teachers, for the Election!

Have you gathered your resources for teaching about the election?  You may be interested in these:

Election Hink Pinks, et al. task cards are perfect for working on vocabulary associated with elections, presidents, and civics.  The terms can be sophisitcated, suggesting that upper elementary and middle school students are the prime audience.  

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Encourage research with these Presidential Trivia Task Cards.  Your upper elementary students will uncover interesting and fun facts about presidents and the presidency.

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Patriotic Squares are differentiated, critical thinking activities that can be employed in any elementary classroom.  While not specifically related to elections, they are patriotic.  Oh, and they are such a fun way to build up to Sudoku!

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SCRATTLE is a FREE differentiated, math & literacy, learning center activity. As in Scrabble™, students use a set of letters to create words. They then calculate each word’s score using the letter values. Finally, they engage a friend in a battle wherein they compare their scores using >, <, and =.  Like Patriotic Squares, this fun product is patriotic; not specifically related to the election.  Math skills required range from simple addition  to mixed operations. Thus, SCRATTLE can be used in 1st to 6th grades.

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RED, WHITE, & BLUE COMPOUND WORDS literacy center is not election related.  It is patriotic in nature and thus, may be appropriate to primary classrooms during the election season.

All of these resources, except the Election Hink Pinks, et al., are appropriate for any patriotic holiday (Veterans Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Indepence Day) and thus can be used throughout the year(s).

Enjoy the resources and remember to vote!

 

It's that pumpkin time of year...

Like so many of you, I'm relishing this special time.  So armed with my pumpkin spice latte, I'd like to share some pumpkin ideas for your classroom.

First up is a FREEBIE! Create a pumpkin bulletin board with How Many Ways? Math Challenge - Fall Edition.  This is a fun, open ended, critical thinking math challenge that covers a bulletin board for a month or more. Use it as an anchor activity, math center, sponge activity, or a challenge for fast finishers.  Similar to Boggle(TM), your learners seek to arrive at a target number in many different ways.  It may be easily adapted to any elementary grade level and provides differentiation within a single classroom.

Another pumpkin activity is Pumpkinoes, a math center that is differentiated to use in any elementary classroom.  This domino style activity exercises counting & cardinality, composing & decomposing numbers, even & odd numbers, greater than & less than, basic operations, and Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS).

Pumpkin Squares is another differentiated, critical thinking activity that can be used in any elementary classroom.  The tasks progress in difficulty while honing the deductive reasoning necessary to eventually solve a Sudoku puzzle. 

Jazzy Jack-o'-Lanterns is another FREEBIE.  It challenges your students' creativity and is intended to be used as an enrichment activity that is completed at home.

I hope you enjoy your pumpkin time.