Wednesday Weekly 5 under $5

 Here are five resources you might be able to use in your classroom.  All are under $5 :-)

The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs: Wednesday Weekly 5 under $5 - February 12, 2025

STEM and Language Arts - Perfect Together

by Renee Heiss

• Combine STEM and Language Arts in one lesson?  Sound impossible?  Not really!  Just follow these simple guidelines:
• Target the STEM area you want to emphasize for this week or month.  Examples include: Famous computer scientists, innovators from history, the different kinds of bridges – the list could be endless.  Look at your curriculum and pull the pertinent topics for your students to research.
• Make sure the topics your students choose are different from each other.  For example, if one student choses how the Brooklyn Bridge was built, you could allow another to research the San Francisco Bay bridge.  Then have a comparison discussion after your students present their research.  Having your students choose different, but related topics eliminates the boredom of reading 25 papers on the same subject.
• Allow students to work in groups only if you give them guidelines for dividing up the work.  Consider these ideas:
• Assign a specific goal to each student, such as creating a poster, performing research, editing the final report, and presenting to the class (may be combined with another goal).
• Provide interim deadlines for each aspect of your assignment.
• Create a completion chart on your bulletin board so groups can see if they are falling behind.
• Give students a group grade rubric, such as this free resource: Project Based Learning Grading Rubric so they can see what you expect from them.
• With older students, cooperate with the other teacher (STEM with language arts and vice versa).  Students may earn a grade in each subject for the same project.  The STEM teacher might grade on content, while the language arts teacher would grade on grammar. Or have them perform experiments in science class then work on the research paper and presentation in language arts class.
• ·       Give students visual and verbal prompts to help them focus their research, essay, and presentation in a creative yet organized manner.  Try this resource for your 4^th-8^th grade classes: STEM Stories - A cooperative classroom writing activity for 5 groups grades 4-8
• Encourage innovative ways to present their topic.  Going back to the bridge concept, your student might come in with a model of the Brooklyn Bridge to add interest to their presentation.
• Middle and High School students can have a more comprehensive exploration of a STEM/Language Arts linked assignment.  Try offering comparison papers like linking ancient pyramid builders with modern architectural buildings.  Once they understand that they have to research two separate topics and link them together, they will be less likely to copy a paper they found online!

Creativity! STEM! Research! Language Arts!  What an amazing combination of resources in one assignment that will liven up any curriculum.

For daily STEM prompts, click HERE. Have stimulating discussions every day and use these as the basis for research projects.

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The Value of Project-Based Learning for Only Children

I am an only child.  As such, I never learned the fine art of jostling for my parents’ attention.  I knew they were always available for me. I didn’t need to interrupt a sibling to get their attention.  However, when I went to school, it was a different story.  There I had 20 or more “siblings” all vying for the teacher’s attention.  Since I didn’t have the sibling skills, I remained quiet.  The teachers saw me as a good, but quiet student.  When we were assigned a small group project, I stayed in the background, and did my part of the assignment, but seldom took charge or offered new ideas. 

Of course, not all singletons are created equal.  Parenting styles play a huge role in whether that only child is considered a “big baby” or simply another child in the classroom.  My mother never allowed me to be “spoiled” by buying me anything I wanted.  She encouraged me to work for my wants while she and my dad satisfied my needs.  That set me up with a strong work ethic that is still with me today. Other only children I have met over the years seem to feel entitled to all the attention, showing a snobbish attitude.  In your classroom, watch for the reticent only child.  That’s the child who is most in need of your attention.

Fast forward 30 years… I now have three grown children of my own.  I watched as they squabbled, played pranks on each other, and yes, sometimes cooperated with chores.  Unlike me, they learned the fine art of grabbing my attention, whether positively or negatively!  In a group project at school, they sometimes complained about the other student who worked, but didn’t bring anything new to the group, or simply sat there and watched the others work. Hmm… I see myself in that situation as the quiet kid who finished my part of the project without much interaction.

 So, where do we go from here, fellow teachers?  Look at your roster.  How many only children do you have?  Statistics report that only 20% of your students are singletons.  Therefore, in a class of 20, 4 or fewer (usually fewer) children have no siblings.  What can you do for them when placing students in groups?  Let’s do an experiment: When possible, put all the only children together in one group.  That will force them to cooperate and work together as a unit. How did they do?  For the next project, mix and match the only children with those with several siblings.  What happened?  Who was the leader?  My guess would be the first-borns – they have lots of experience leading a group!  It’s important to help the only child succeed with  his or her social skills.

 When I was teaching, I had an only child who notoriously refused to participate in a group project, preferring to do all the work by herself.  I totally understood her reasoning.  A teacher who has not had the “joy” of being an only child might not get it.  I did!  I allowed her to work on the first project of the year by herself.  Then we had a conference.  Next, I let her work with one other hand-picked student (not a singleton) for the second project.  Then we had another conference.  She felt more confident working with another student after that experience. I guess nobody took the time to take this student by the hand to help her adjust to working in a group! Finally, I did the random group method of picking names from a “hat” and picking the topic from another “hat. My only-child student looked like a deer in headlights until we had yet another conference where I explained that this was part of her learning experience.  Not only would she learn the subject matter, she would also learn a valuable life experience about group dynamics, something I haven’t learned even to this day! Side note: She excelled in the random group and actually enjoyed herself!

Fast forward another 30 years… I am now retired, my children are grown, and they each have 2 or 3 children of their own.  Good job, kids, no more only children in the next generation.  And as a retiree, I’ve been creating project-based learning resources for the teachers still in the trenches.  Check out my many and varied list of project based resources mostly for middle school: Project-based Learning.  I have projects for every state in the union plus DC in addition to projects on most ancient history topics. 

 If you want to use your own project-based learning resources, check out my FREE rubric for grading their efforts.

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Fidget Mats for Alzheimer's

Explore all of my fidget mats that I have made for those with Alzheimer's, dementia, and other neurological disorders.  These mats help those people to focus on activities close at hand so they can use their fingers to manipulate beads, zippers, Velcro, and other interesting objects.  ALL OF MY MATS ARE THEMED.  That means they will stimulate conversation more easily than with non-themed fidget mats. I am a retired Family Consumer Sciences teacher, so all of my mats are securely sewn and safe.  I do not use any magnets to avoid interaction with pacemakers.  

Check out my etsy store for new varieties of fidget mats because I post them as soon as they are completed.  They measure approximately 16" x 18" with some variations. While these are for sale at $45 plus postage to individuals to offset the cost of materials, I will donate up to 5 fidget mats for FREE to a nursing home for the cost of postage (usually about $18).  Email me if you have a nursing home that could use some fidget mats for their residents.  Since these will be custom made, please allow about a month for delivery (you may get them earlier if I have some on hand).  Also, in your email, let me know if you think the residents would appreciate any particular themes - really any theme at all from spring time to holidays to a color preference.  Or you can just let me use my creativity!  

Check out my images below (birthday, Alaska, and Australia themes).  Then either order the mat (if still available) from etsy or email me about sending FREE mats to nursing homes.  

 

Ancient Mesopotamia - FREE sample of Introduction

    by All-American Teacher Tools

Because I know your time and money are precious to you, I have made a sample of the Introduction to Ancient Mesopotamia student guidelines available so you can see what to expect when you open the full resource. The full Ancient Mesopotamia unit will keep your students meaningfully occupied while you circulate and keep students on task. A minimum of preparation is necessary by you. The students do all the research (with Internet links to help them) and presentations. Sit back and simply grade their work! I also have a FREE group work grading sheet.  This resource is designed for grades 6-10.

Back-to-School mini activities

   

These mini-activities will keep your students gainfully occupied while you tend to other students, have a partially-filled classroom for any reason, the get-to-know you time, or extra time at the end of the day. The activities for language arts and math for grades 3-6 include:

• SLAM posters (Student Likes are Marvelous) (students sign their name and favorite under the topic)
• Cooperative story time (using topic words, students create a sequential story)
• What I didn’t do last summer (an amusing twist to the traditional creative writing assignment)
• GOAL! Setting goals for the school year (help your students set yearly goals)
• Back-to-School Math Review Bingo (good for any level)
• Create Your Own Math Problem (students create word problems for their classmates to solve)
• School Supplies Sudoku (this sudoku uses images rather than numbers)
• School Supplies Sudoku - Answer

Get these activities here

Slay that Dragon - FREE Character Education Bulletin Board Discussion Starters

  by All-American Teacher Tools

Do you have a dragon in your room? One that causes children to be disrespectful, angry students? This collection of 36 discussion starters helps children learn, week by week, about many social and moral dilemmas they face every day. Some examples include:

- Bullying

- Cheating

- Lying

- Sportsmanship

- Trust

- Group relationships

- Welcoming a new student

- Violence

- Overuse of technology

- Etc., etc. etc.

Full instructions are provided to help you implement this valuable weekly plan to generate discussion about character education.  For all grades!

It uses a dragon theme: "Keep the Dragons Out of Our Classroom" to help children understand that wrong behavior can be very dangerous.

Click HERE for more information.

Create a Focused Learning Environment, Using Feng Shui for the Classroom

  by Renee Heiss

Do you feel like your classroom needs an uplift, but you don’t have the time or money to achieve your goal?  Consider making a few Feng Shui adjustments.  Your classroom will go from stuffy to energized with only a few changes because the "chi" or the energy of the room, is happy to circulate.

 First, attack the clutter!

There is both obvious and disguised clutter in a classroom. Obvious clutter is what you try to put away before Parents' Night. Disguised clutter is the file cabinet filled with old papers, desk drawers that hold confiscated items from five years ago, and storage cabinets that have never been organized. Both forms of clutter affect the movement of chi, which is your primary goal for all the changes you will make. Chi makes us feel better about ourselves and others when it is able to circulate around the room!

Tackle the obvious clutter first, one piece at a time.  Then move on to larger areas until you have a relatively clutter-free environment.  

Second, consider the Feng Shui Bagua. 

Look at the Feng Shui Bagua below.  That chart organizes your classroom into sections.  Which area is most in need of energizing?  Determine that and then add Feng Shui remedies according to the shapes, colors, numbers, and elements in each block.  If your room is not square, place the shape of your room on top of this Bagua.  Whatever section is missing needs extra energizing by enhancing the areas around it.  So simple, yet so effective!

 

      

Third, pay attention to yin and yang

Feng Shui is all about balance.  Nothing epitomizes that concept more than the Yin/Yang symbol.  Yin includes all the quiet things in life.  Yang includes all the loud things. Too much of either is detrimental to the classroom, to the students, and to yourself.  Look at this chart of Yin vs. Yang classroom elements: 

Yin	Yang
Subdued	Bright
Quiet	Loud
Female	Male
Passive	Active
Cold	Hot
Feeling	Thinking
Stillness	Movement
Light colors	Dark colors
Soft	Hard

 

To see how this works, look at nature, which is in a constant state of flux between yin and yang, yet balanced because of those changes.  Summer vs. Winter, Light vs. dark, birth vs. death, motion vs. sleep.  We have come to accept these changes as normal.  

Notice the Yin/Yang symbol.  The Yin side is the cool blue, while the Yang is the hot red.  Notice, also, that there is a small portion of yin in the yang and yang in the yin.  There’s the balance – we can’t be all yin or all yang.  That would be too boring or too exciting. In your classroom, strive to tone down the yang by lowering the lights and playing light music at appropriate times.  You probably have more than enough yang, so there’s no need to add more for balance.

So, have fun reorganizing your classroom to be Feng Shui compatible so you can create a focused, harmonious learning environment for your students.  Your classroom may not be 100% Feng Shui compliant - and that's okay!  You'll drive yourself crazy if you do that.  Just work on one area at a time... one week at a time.  Focus on the neediest areas first like your desk or your files, and the rest will naturally follow.

For more Feng Shui classroom suggestions and an individual Feng Shui workshop, go to Teachers Pay Teachers.

Or check out my book on amazon.com: Feng Shui for the Classroom - 101 Easy-to-use Ideas

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5 ways to up the FUN factor at the end of the school year

The end of the school year can be difficult at best and disastrous at worst.  Your students are ready for summer, and you are anxious to close the year out without incident.  The standardized tests are over for most of you, so you are probably looking for alternative activities to keep your students interested and learning until the end of the year.  Here are some ideas:

1. Have a designated games time, usually at the end of the day or week. Your students need something to look forward to… or earn!  Motivation is FUNdamental to success.  The games can be competitive or cooperative.  Personally, I prefer cooperative, but you can determine what the current class of students would find most interesting.  Games can be both inside and outside, and still be educational if you plan well.  Try these games that are appropriate for any age and ability: Games, Games, Games
2. Offer choices for research activities.  Offer choices for the research topics. After all, you’ve probably finished the main curriculum, so now you can offer some fascinating or FUNky enrichment topics for your students to explore.  Buy into their personal interests and hobbies for their presentation methods, as well. Let them work in groups of their choosing – friends can now work with friends rather than your pre-assigned groups by ability.  Here are some ideas for project-based learning topics that may not have been part of your curriculum: Project Based Learning or come up with a list of your own.
3. Make clean-up day fun!  Give crazy names to the FUNctional tasks.  Doing inventory? Call it a treasure hunt to find lost resources around the room.  Re-organizing files?  Call it the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. (or Mr. ___________________.  Read the book by the similar name while you are reorganizing.  Decide what else needs to happen before you all walk out of your classroom door for the last time until the next school year and give it a fun name.  
4. If you need to scrub desks, offer rewards for a clean inspection.  Find something that won’t cause any other marks on those desks!  Some ideas for cooperative cleaning include a certificate, a sticker (consider making a sticker book for ALL the activities at the end of the year), a small toy, or gift certificate to a local store (sometimes those stores will be eager to get kids in so they will buy more than what your gift certificate is worth and will give them to you for free!) Perhaps you can award the FUNniest way to clean a desk!
5. Make memory books to take home.  If you started this at the beginning of the year, you’re one step ahead! If not, ask your students to brainstorm the most memorable parts of the school year, then create a digital or hand-drawn booklet showing the highlights of the year.  Ask students to show their booklets to their parents and maybe grandparents to share what they learned over the past year.  I think you’ll find that your classroom really was a FUN place to learn!

For more FUN resources, browse my Teachers Pay Teachers website: All-American Teacher Tools and look for my new FREE resource: Alphabetical activities for the last 26 days of the school year.

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Earth Day Games and Activities for 4th - 8th grades

     by Renee Heiss, All-American Teacher Tools

Spring your students into Earth Day with these fun, yet educational, games, activities, and writing assignments. Keep them busy from one day to all week long!

Using a vocabulary, your students will:

1. Play bingo games (30 different game boards), including an EASEL bingo with moveable earth markers!

2. Play a vocabulary relay game

3. Participate in an Earth Day spelling bee

4. Play Earth Day password

5. Draw an Earth Day picture

6. Write an Earth Day story

Only $3.75 and all your Earth Day activities are done!  See it HERE.

The Value of Project-based Learning - a solid gold learning nugget

Project-based learning (PBL) is the process whereby students take control of their own learning by participating in group projects.  There is a difference, however, between assigning projects and project-based learning.  A project is an assignment usually added at the end of a unit to strengthen the knowledge learned through traditional educational methods like direct instruction, such as creating a model of the solar system following a unit on that topic.  Project-based learning, on the other hand, poses a specific goal that the students must meet throughout the unit.  Guidelines for completion and grading rubrics are given to the students.  From start to finish, the student knows what is expected and how to attain the goal, and subsequently, their grade.  PBL allows for continuous feedback from the teacher while the students work within their groups.  The unit usually ends with a classroom presentation so everyone can learn from each group's efforts.  And the best part is that not all presentations or product creations are the same.  You don’t have 25 solar system models around the room!

So, how are PBL units organized?  The teacher chooses 4-6 topics related to the unit.  Then the students are divided into the same number of groups.  Within those groups, 3-5 mini-projects guide the students to understand their topic and prepare them to present it to their class.  A week or so later, when all the students have completed their “tasks,” they explain their section of the topic to the rest of the class.  Do you see what happened here?  The students do all he work and all you have to do is the prep for each group.  AND, once you get the groups prepared and the tasks written, you can use this system from year to year!

Benefits to students

Aside from the obvious benefit of learning the PBL topic of the week, your students learn a number of other valuable life skills.

·       Cooperation – When students work in groups, they learn to cooperate with each other.  They can divide up tasks according to group members’ interests and abilities.  They learn to accept that other students may not be as skilled at certain tasks as others. 

·       Time management – When a PBL deadline is posted in the front of the room, students learn to divide up their time so that the project assignments can be done on time (with the threat of grade deductions looming if they are late!) They also learn that certain tasks take more time than others and would therefore deserve more attention, and perhaps even work at home to complete it.

·       Public speaking - On presentation day, students learn public speaking skills.  When they are prepared with their PBL activities, they are more likely to feel confident in front of the room explaining their section of the unit to the rest of the class.

·       Enhanced learning – Remember the learning pyramid?  People of all ages retain 90% of what they learned when they teach others.  If the students know ahead of time that they will be presenting their topic to the class, they will be more inclined to complete the tasks so they look good in front of their peers.

Benefits to teachers

If you are fortunate enough to have PBL activities included with your curriculum guide, you are among the lucky teachers who can lift the projects from the teacher’s guide and hand them out to the students. Most of us aren’t that lucky! And even if you do have that golden PBL unit in your curriculum guide, the activities may not appeal to you or to the climate of your classroom.  Other alternatives include ordering PBL units from TeachersPayTeachers and creating your own PBL units.  Either way, below are the benefits of using PBL in your classroom.

·       Less work/more learning – With a bit of advance preparation, you can allow your students to work at their own pace.  Your PBL packet for each group increases student learning of the topic without you standing in front of the room providing direct instruction.

·       An energized classroom – When students work in groups to solve a problem, answer a question, or create a 3-D or digital project, they become more engaged in their learning.  Boredom disappears as if by magic. Sit back for a moment and watch your students being actively engaged in their own education!

·       Ready-made lesson plans – With PBL, you can lift the objectives directly from the project guidelines for the students and drop them into your plan book.  You don’t need to list all the topics you will be covering and the manner in which you will do so.  The students do all this for you.  How great is that!!

In conclusion, I offer you this quote: "Two major new gold-standard studies conducted by researchers from the University of Southern California and Michigan State University, provide compelling evidence that project-based learning is an effective strategy for all students, outperforming traditional curricula not only for high achieving students, but across grade levels and racial and socioeconomic groups.”  Go here for more information: https://www.edutopia.org/article/new-research-makes-powerful-case-pbl

Look at my collection of Project-based Learning units on TeachersPayTeachers.  I think you’ll find a topic of interest for your classes.  They range from state histories (all 50 + DC) to middle school social studies to Women’s History Month: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/My-Products/category:534947  Each is designed for 4-5 groups of 3-4 students.  Each tasks students to complete their assignments within a certain time frame.  Each has a variety of activities within each group: Develop a presentation, answer questions, research a topic, create a game, write an interview script, etc.  All groups have links to helpful Internet sources, so your students don’t waste time googling the information. AND, many of my PBL resources also ask the students who have finished their topic to go help those who are struggling to complete theirs.  It’s a win-win classroom where everyone cooperates to learn the topic you have chosen.  Also check out my FREE grading rubric for middle school PBL: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Project-Based-Learning-Grading-Rubric-Middle-School-5113042

 

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