All-American Teacher Tools: March 2021

Sunday, March 21, 2021

Comma Sense


When I taught 7th grade language arts, my students had a horrible time inserting commas in their correct locations.  Scroll back about 40 years to my freshman college English comp class - the professor warned us that he did his doctoral thesis on the comma.  Say what??  We took that as a warning.  I never had a misplaced comma again!

So, I developed a relatively easy way to remember where commas go - this is the abbreviated elementary version so young authors can understand the intricacies of comma usage!  I hope this helps your students, as well.  

Click here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Comma-Sense-496147

(OK, I sorta stole Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon" for my image - but I bet you're singing that in your head right now!)

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Wednesday Weekly 5 under $5 - 3/17/2021

Every week I put together a list of 5 great products from members of The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative (TBOTEMC) with the requirement that each product must be less than $5.  With a variety of subjects and a wide range of grades, there just might be something that you can use, so continue to read below and see!

In addition, if you're a seller on Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) who would like to get more information about joining TBOTEMC, contact me via email at ReneeHeiss@gmail.com or simply by leaving a comment on this blog post.



By Believe to Achieve by Anne Rozell

2nd - 4th grades

Word problems




This set is wonderful for third graders to challenge and engage their math learning! There are 11 Menus that are Common Core aligned. They are great for early finishers, center work, math stations, homework or any way that works for your class! Also, this resource would work for 2nd graders who could use a challenge and 4th graders who need some support!


Open and Closed Syllable Types Game - $3.00

By Tammy's Toolbox

K - 3rd grades

Games, Literacy center ideas



This digital game is a great activity to practice open and closed syllable types. It makes distance learning easy with Google Slides™ or PowerPoint™, plus includes an interactive PDF that can be played offline. Strengthen multisyllable reading and spelling skills. These are a great reviews for reading intervention, special education, and Orton-Gillingham programs.



On Passover Coloring - $3.00

by Urbino12

Pre-K - 4th grades

Printables, activities, fun stuff



This resource is suitable for teaching ENL/Special Ed. or mainstream children about the Jewish Holiday of Passover. Your students will be able to: Trace and color the vocabulary word being depicted, color nineteen beautifully illustrated Passover foods and activities, and complete the statement: On Passover we...

 

Editable Awards Certificates - 6 Styles (color and B/W) Great for Homeschool! - $3.75

By History at Home

All grades

Handouts, printables, fun stuff



As a homeschool mom & teacher myself, I know how much certificates of achievement mean to kids! This awards pack is editable for your use! You can insert your student’s name and sign your name. I’ve provided the 6 different styles in color and in black and white. Enjoy!

Beginning Blends Activities & Worksheets for 3-Letter Blends | Consonant Blends - $4.95

By Primarily Learning

K - 2nd grades
Worksheets, activities




Learning 3-Letter Blends can be challenging for young learners. Use these 12 activities to help students at varying ability levels. Units of sound are marked to align with programs like Jolly Phonics. Save time! Use the ready-to-go 3-Letter Blend Word Work Activities to provide opportunities to learn, review, and get the extra practice they need!


Other WW5U$5 Team Members on TpT to Visit:



Reading Spotlight

Mickey's Place

Scipi

Sunshine and Laughter by Deno

Kamp Kindergarten

Urbino12


As always, I encourage comments below and any ideas or suggestions by emailing me at reneeheiss@gmail.com


Renee Heiss

All-American Teacher Tools


Check out my Store


Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Wednesday Weekly 5 under $5 - 3/10/2021

Every week I put together a list of 5 great products from members of The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative (TBOTEMC) with the requirement that each product must be less than $5.  With a variety of subjects and a wide range of grades, there just might be something that you can use, so continue to read below and see!

In addition, if you're a seller on Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) who would like to get more information about joining TBOTEMC, contact me via email at ReneeHeiss@gmail.com or simply by leaving a comment on this blog post.



By Believe to Achieve by Anne Rozell

2nd - 5th grades

Worksheets, printables




Are you looking for a fun way for students to practice the multiplication facts 2's to 12's? This resource will delight your students as they solve the multiplication facts and color the picture based on the code! This resource is great for morning work, homework, tutoring or early finishers!


Spring Bingo- $3.25

By Sunshine and Laughter by Deno

K - 5th grades

Activities, fun stuff




B-I-N-G-O!!! What child doesn't like BINGO? This product is a fun activity to get your students excited for Spring! I would suggest that you copy these BINGO cards on card stock and laminate them so you will have them for years to come! Use some cute flower or ladybug erasers to cover the squares and make it fun!!! This product includes 24 original colored Spring bingo cards and 24 colored calling cards.



Homophone Practice with Fun Facts Set 1 - $3.99

by Reading Spotlight

4th - 12th grades

Worksheets, fun stuff



Did you know that research shows that homophones are the most common spelling errors? Most textbooks do not provide nearly enough practice to approach proficiency. Homophone Practice with Fun Facts provides homophone exercises in an enjoyable format— interesting, sometimes surprising, fun facts—so much better than dull, standard grammar exercises. Grammar and spelling practice do not have to be boooooooring!


 

St. Patrick's Day Crossword Puzzle - $1.75

By Scipi

5th - 7th grades

Activities, printables, fun stuff




This March crossword puzzle highlights 15 different words associated with St. Patrick's Day. The 15 clues are based on the history, legends and symbols of the holiday. This puzzle contains six across clues and nine down clues. A few of the words included are: leprechaun, shamrock, Ireland, Blarney, green, etc. Students will know certain terms, but for other words, the students will need to do research which will provide a way for reading and learning about this Irish holiday. 

Passover Puzzles - $3.00

By Urbino12

4th - 10th grades
Printables, fun stuff




These Passover-themed puzzles include: One maze: Find the l'afikomen!, one wordsearch with secret message and answer key,  two different Double Cross puzzles with pics and answer keys, the history of Passover, the Passover Seder, one Fallen Phrase Puzzle with a question and answer key. 


Other WW5U$5 Team Members on TpT to Visit:


Tammys Toolbox

History at Home

Urbino12

Mickey's Place

Kamp Kindergarten

Primarily Learning



As always, I encourage comments below and any ideas or suggestions by emailing me at reneeheiss@gmail.com


Renee Heiss

All-American Teacher Tools


Check out my Store


Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Gamification - Educational games for teachers


What is gamification?
  It is the use of the mechanics from games to create engaging learning experiences for your students.  Consider what motivation you have available from gamification:

·       Accumulation of points – daily, weekly, even monthly.  Points = success. Points can translated into prizes.

·       Levels of achievement – begin at level 1 and continue to the last level.  You know how children love to be able to finish a level when they are called to dinner!

·       Avatars raise interest – your students can create real or virtual avatars for your real or virtual games. 

·       Badges – your students can accumulate badges in a chart or notebook to show progress.

·       Fun – when students see that fun is around the corner in the form of a game, they are more likely to cooperate with your less-than-fun lessons or assessments.  Let’s face it – we can’t play games all day long!

Let’s look at each of those strategies individually.

Points – When you play a game, you don’t always need to assign points, but when you do, here are some ideas:

·       Offer “experience” points in addition to, or instead of, earned points.  For example, when your students play a game, there’s nothing wrong with giving experience points for joining in the game.  But you can also assign extra points for winning the game. That way, everybody gets some points.

·       I’m not a fan of competition.  I think it is self-defeating when someone in your class consistently comes in last. That’s why I offer the NO leaderboard theory.  You could, however, keep a cumulative total of everyone’s points.  When the entire class reaches 1,000 points, for example, they would earn a classroom reward. Everybody wins!

Levels – When you start your gamification, start on Level 1, just like on video games.  Start easy and get progressively more difficult as you progress through different levels of instruction.  Also, instead of levels, which children have come to regard as stressful to achieve, you might call your “levels” stages or steps. 

Avatars – A relatively new word to the educational scene is avatar, made popular by the movie of the same name.  When you use online games, encourage your students to create avatars that depict their personality.  Or, you might put the hand-drawn avatars on your bulletin board to showcase everyone who is playing the games (naturally, that will be everybody).  If you use push pins, you can move the players around occasionally to add interest.

Badges

– Just like scouts, badges show achievement.  However, unlike the national organization, your badges can be in a notebook – either digital or tactile – instead of on a visible sash.  It’s easy to create badges for your various “stages” of achievement.  For example, if you are teaching times tables, you might have badges for each of tables from 2 to 12.  When students demonstrate mastery, they would earn a 5 badge, or a 12 badge, etc.  To the right is an example that you can make.
I simply found it by doing a search within a word document! Other badges might have a picture of a log cabin when you finish the Colonial America unit, perhaps.

Fun – Fun comes in many forms, but the most rewarding is when there is no external reward at all!  Here are some ideas:

·       Let your students develop their own educational games that the whole class can play.  Here is a link to directions for making your own board game:  Build a Better Board Game. This is a great group activity.  When everyone is done, they will explain their game, and then play with the rest of the class. This helps develop their communication skills.

·       Ask students to experiment with ways to improve their points or stages.  This gives them valuable practice in the scientific method of investigation. And students feel a sense of control over their outcomes.

·       Have them establish goals for themselves – a valuable life skill!

·       Adapt current games to become educational vehicles.

o   Checkers – odd vs. even squares so young learners can see the difference.

o   Jeopardy – create your own game by following THIS LINK to a blank game, complete with the Jeopardy! tune.

o   Use Wheel of Fortune to review vocabulary sentences and phrases.  Here is one of many customizable FREE digital spinners that also includes name pickers: Spinners and Pickers.

o   Put your creative thinking cap on an adapt the games you already have in the classroom to become educational adjuncts to your curriculum.  Post your ideas at the end of this article for others to share.

 

Conclusion – Gamification can be used and adapted for all learning styles and abilities. It helps keep students motivated and increases their attention span.  With gamification, you highlight student progress instead of constantly red-marking their mistakes on a test.  Gamification in the education industry will grow from $450 million in 2018 to $1.8 billion in 2023.  Are you ready to help your students join the gamification education network?  Try making and posting some of your own games!  Here are some of mine:

Socially Distant Games for Grades 4-8 - Indoors, Outdoors, and Virtual

Get those kids moving - active lesson tips in "The Kinetic Classroom"

And some Bingo games I created using Bingo Baker:

Periodic Table Bingo

State Shapes, Flags, and Capitals Bingo

Women Inventors Bingo Game and Research Guidelines

 

 

 

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Wednesday Weekly 5 under $5 - 3/3/2021

 

 

Every week I put together a list of 5 great products from members of The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative (TBOTEMC) with the requirement that each product must be less than $5.  With a variety of subjects and a wide range of grades, there just might be something that you can use, so continue to read below and see!

In addition, if you're a seller on Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) who would like to get more information about joining TBOTEMC, contact me via email at ReneeHeiss@gmail.com or simply by leaving a comment on this blog post.



By Mickey's Place

PreK - 1st grades

Activities, literacy center



March Color Sort is a sorting activity designed for students who need to recognize their colors. Included in March Color Sort: Sorting mats, Sorting card for the colors: red, blue, yellow, green. orange, purple, brown, black, white, and pink, Leprechaun spinner.




Women's History Month Research and Activities - $4.00

By History at Home

3rd - 5th grades

Homeschool activities, minilessons




This resource includes links for research so your student(s) can learn more about famous women. PLUS - it includes writing prompts and activities that offer student(s) options to explore what they are learning in more detail. It comes in a zip file with both a PDF and PPT.



St. Patrick's Day Pot of Gold Glyph - $2.80

by Scipi

K - 2nd grades

Activities, printables, fun stuff




This St. Patrick’s Day glyph is an excellent activity for reading and following directions, and requires problem solving, communication, and data organization. The students color or glue different items on a St. Patrick’s Day pot of gold based on information about themselves. Students are to finish the St. Patrick’s Day glyph using the six listed categories. 


 

Nobel Peace Prize Winning Women - $4.00

By All-American Teacher Tools

4th-10th grades

PowerPoint Presentation



The seventeen women outlined in this PowerPoint program have spanned the years from 1905 - 2018. Each slide presents a picture of the award winner, a brief biography, and a thought-provoking question for your students.  This PowerPoint can lead the way for your students to continue research into the lives of these hard-working women for their own presentations or essays.


St. Patrick’s Day Pot of Gold CVC Words BOOM Cards™ - $3.00

By Kamp Kindergarten

K-1st grades
Literacy center ideas, fun stuff




Practice reading CVC Words with this paperless St. Patrick’s Day Boom Cards™ phonics resource from Kamp Kindergarten! Learners select the correct CVC Word on the gold coins for the picture on the leprechaun’s pot of gold. All of the answer choices on each card begin with the same sound so learners don't automatically know the correct answer after looking at the first letter. This deck is for use in the classroom or for distance learning situations! 


Other WW5U$5 Team Members on TpT to Visit:


Reading Spotlight

Tammys Toolbox

Urbino12

Believe to Achieve by Anne Rozell

Sunshine and Laughter

Primarily Learning


As always, I encourage comments below and any ideas or suggestions by emailing me at reneeheiss@gmail.com


Renee Heiss

All-American Teacher Tools


Check out my Store


Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog