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Outwit your peers with our free, printable ELA worksheets whose treasure trove of practice gets children in K through grade 8 cheer from the get-go.

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30 Meaningful Vocabulary Activities for Every Grade

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30 Meaningful Vocabulary Activities for Every Grade

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30 Meaningful Vocabulary Activities for Every Grade

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Learning new words is like adding to your writing toolbox.

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Here are some activities that students can do while reading fiction/ short stories. Check them out!

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By The Daring English Teacher

I love to try out and include as many fun and engaging activities as possible when teaching short stories. And since stories are short and filled with literary richness, they are absolutely perfect for bringing in and trying new ideas and activities. Here is a look at 10 of my favorite short story activities in the secondary ELA classroom.

1. Auditory Sketch Notes

A great way to engage students with the story before they even set eyes on the text is to have students listen to an audio recording of the short story. As students listen, instruct them to create sketch notes capturing as much information from the story as possible. In their sketch notes, students can write words and phrases and draw anything that catches their attention.

When I have my students do this, I always tell them that it is okay if their mind wanders a bit as they listen, and if they catch that happening, they can jump right back into the story and continue their sketch notes. Once the story is done, my students are always so amazed at what they were able to capture during this activity. Without even knowing it, they capture big ideas, symbols, motifs, and key events from the plot. Then, when we go through and read the story, they can understand it so much more.

2. Movie Trailer

A great way to assess student understanding of the plot is to have them create a movie trailer of the short story. Without spoiling the end of the story, students can work individually or in small groups to create the trailer. It can be a low-tech option where they write the script and a description of the images, or you can pull in technology and have students use their phones to film a trailer.

3. Literary Analysis Flip Book

This literary analysis flipbook works so well as a final short story assessment. As students create the mini flip book, they analyze various literary elements like theme, plot structure, and conflict. For each literary device, students will identify the element in the story, illustrate it, find and cite a quote, and write a brief explanation. It is the perfect alternative to an essay!

What I like about this project is that it is a great assignment to share on classroom walls for a fun and interactive classroom display!

4. Collaborative Theme Presentation

Another great way to engage students with short stories is to have students work on a collaborative theme presentation. As a class, work together to decide on a complete theme for the students. Then, break students up into smaller groups. Each student group will work together to create additional slides explaining how various literary elements help contribute to the theme.

For the group slides, each group would be assigned a literary element. As a group, students should identify that element, find and cite a quote, and write a brief explanation about how that device helps establish the theme. Here is a list of different groups for this project.

Protagonist

Antagonist

Setting

Internal conflict

External conflict

Suspense

Foreshadowing

Symbolism

5. Character Wanted Sign

Who doesn't love a good antagonist? Having students create a character wanted sign at the end of a short story unit would be a great culminating activity. Instruct your students to select one of their favorite antagonists from the short stories you read. Then, they'll create a wanted sign for that character. They must illustrate the character, write their name, and provide enough textual details to explain why that character is wanted.

6. Close Reading Analysis

It never fails; a good close reading activity helps students better understand the story. My close reading short story units include links to the short stories, carefully selected close reading passages, and writing prompts for a week-long short story close reading unit.

What I like best about these close reading units is that they are scaffolded to help students succeed. The close reading passages are directly related to the writing prompt so that students feel empowered to complete the writing prompt!

7. Story Cube

If you are looking for a fun and colorful short story activity, try this story cube assignment! Click here to receive a free copy of this story cube activity. I like to assign this activity to my students to work on as a review before a short story writing assignment or test. As students work on the story cube, I like to put on some soft jazz music in the background and let them discuss the story, complete their cubes, and enjoy the day.

An added bonus of these story cubes is that they can be used as class decor once students assemble them. You can either hang them from the ceiling or string them along a wall like a garland for added classroom color and flair!

8. Collaborative Paragraph

To help my students learn how to write a literary analysis response, I like to assign collaborative writing projects to them before they set off on their own essays. For the collaborative paragraph, students work together, writing a structured paragraph on poster paper. To help students with the writing instruction, they color-code their responses. For example, I'll have them write the topic sentence that answers the prompt in one color. Then, they will introduce the quote in another color, write the quote in another color, and then cite the quote in a different color. They'll use black for the commentary and another color for the closing sentence.

This is one of my favorite activities for my short story unit. You can read more about it in this blog post.

9. Write an Alternate Ending

Do you ever find that your students aren't happy with the short story's ending? I seem to get that a lot. A great short story activity to assign your students is to write an alternate ending. In their alternate ending, students must demonstrate their understanding of the characters. I encourage them to keep the writing style similar.

In their alternate ending, students must write from the same point of view and in the same tense. They should also follow similar dialogue structures. This is a great short story activity for students to complete in small groups or individually.

10. Sticky Note Analysis

Finally, another great way to analyze short stories is by using this sticky note literary analysis unit! This is a complete short story and fiction unit in itself! This teaching unit includes an instructional slide for direct instruction and plenty of analysis organizers and writing prompts! With each organizer, students get to use sticky notes to add an extra layer of analysis. They will draw the device on a sticky note and write the quote underneath it.

After my students complete one of the assignments in this unit, I display their work on my classroom walls. My students always enjoy coming in and seeing their work displayed!

More Engaging Short Story Activities

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10 Creative Short Story Activities for the Secondary ELA Classroom

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10 Creative Short Story Activities for the Secondary ELA Classroom. This post contains engaging and exciting lessons for teaching story stories.

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It may be hard to believe, but the end of another school year is approaching. Finishing the school year on a positive note is important. In this post, we've collected activities that can help you close out the year with a smile.

Wrapping Up the End of the Year

Consider fun ways to reflect and relax at the end of this semester. Check out these ideas from Waterford.org that include playlists, small gifts, time capsules, discussions, and other ways to bond after a long, likely distanced, semester.

Check out these end-of-the-year ABC Countdown Activities in Google Slides. Not only are they fun and integrate technology, but they are also cute! (Don't forget to go to File - Make a Copy - Entire Presentation to add a copy of this great set to your Google Drive.)

Ashley Marquez of Teach Create Motivate shares seven ideas for digital activities, including digital "memory books," selfie photos with notes, and more to help you create some year-end fun and bonding with your students.

Take a minute to take a virtual field trip where students guess the locations using high-quality videos. You can select the country where the field trip will take place, as well as the difficulty level. The site also has a multi-player mode which means everyone in the class can play at the same time. How good are their deduction skills?

Lisa Highfill has curated a variety of end-of-the-year activities into this Wakelet. There are resources available here for every grade level.

Giving students a sense of accomplishment at the end of the year is important. Common Sense has collected ways to celebrate the end of the year. Check out their ideas and resources.

Minds in Bloom shares several ideas to release some tension and have fun at the end of the year.

If you're a fan of virtual field trips, don't forget to check out our ideas for engaging digital trips at the links below.

Writing is a great tool for reflection, and the end of a school year is an ideal time to reflect on goals, changes, and ideas for how students can embrace the summer and the year ahead. Try out some activities from Just Add Students, which includes scavenger hunts, outdoor activities, and of course, thoughtful writing activities.

With time short, and plenty of things left to do to end the year, keeping things easy is likely a priority for you. Teaching Made Practical has nine low-prep activities to help you bring some fun into the last weeks of school, targeting at students in upper elementary grades.

How will you send off your students this year? Share your ideas and activities in the comments!
Photo by Tara Winstead from Pexels
More Ideas to End the Year
Celebrate Pizza Party Day with Three Classroom Activities
Templates for End-of-Year Student Awards
Activities for the End of the School Year
Five Fun End-of-the-Year Classroom Activities

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In this post, we've collected activities for student learning that can help you end the year with some fun.

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Team, you should definitely check out this website! There are so many cool templates to choose from! Trust me; you and your students will love it!

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Sometimes, a content area teacher may not want to worry with the trouble of having students start a technology project from scratch. Instead, he or she may want to use an already-prepared template so that students can focus more on the content than on the mechanics of the technology. Here are some great Google templates for students to use either as their project starting block or for ideas. Note: Make sure you make a copy of the template before you begin using it!

Cross-Curricular Resources

Ask and Respond Template - Use this template and Google Slides to get information from your students about something they've read or studied, what they're thinking, or their favorite band.

Baseball Review Game - This great review game in Google Slides is technically for teachers and not students. But it was so great that I just had to share it with you.

BreakoutEDU Student Reflection - The most critical part of any breakout is the reflection done by the students at the end. This is a nice template to help them with that process.

Build a Jack-o-Lantern - Carve a pumpkin with this Google Slides deck.

Class Twitter Account - This Sheets template provides a way to manage Tweets sent out by your students from your classroom Twitter account.

Collaborative Yearbook - Let your students celebrate their school year by creating a Google Slide yearbook together.

Flippity - Flippity provides nine different templates that are designed more for teacher use, but could also be used by students. All of them take data from a Google Sheet and transform the information. My favorite is the Mad Libs one.

General Resources and Templates - There are a ton of different templates available at this website, including a cartoon template, a character map, Cornell note-taking form, and an iPhone Message template that could be great to have students create a conversation between two literary or historical characters.

Google Drawings Chess and Checkers - If only as a way to have students learn more about how Drawings works, these templates are a valuable classroom addition.

Google Drive Mastery - Gamify student mastery of Google Drive with this template.

Graphic Organizers - There are 30 different graphic organizers in this collection for Google Drawings.

Greeting Cards - Use Google Drawings to have your students create wonderful holiday greeting cards.

Infographic Templates - Eight different templates for creating beautiful infographics are available. Infographics are an excellent way for students to organize and summarize key information that they've learned.

Jigsaw Activity Template- Use this Google Slides template whenever students are placed in groups for a jigsaw learning activity.

Meme Template - There's nothing students love more than creating memes. Turn them to an education use by having them create one that demonstrates their learning using this Google Drawings template.

More than 40 Google Drawings Templates - These are amazing templates that are perfect for students of all ages in math, ELA, science, and notetaking/organizing information.

Motivational Poster Template in Google Drawings - Have your students use either the horizontal or the poster to share a favorite quote, a main idea, or something important to them.

New Templates from Google - Google has released a variety of new templates, including a nice book report template from Reading Rainbow.

Personalized Scratch-Off Templates - This website offers a fun and easy way to create personalized scratch-off cards that can be printed. The template is included.

Power Up Your Spring with Flowers - Use Google Slides to help your students create beautiful flowers for a special someone. Have them list words that describe their creations or, for older students, have them create a poem or short story about them.

Print Custom Sticky Notes - This great resource from Tony Vincent includes a Google Slides template along with specific instructions on how you can design and print your own sticky notes.

Problem/Solution - Works great for makerspaces or real-life problems students are trying to solve.

Stop Motion Animation with Google Slides - This innovative idea has hundreds of potential uses in the classroom.

Tammy Worcester Tang's Favorite Templates - Our favorite convention speaker, Tammy, has 40 templates perfect for student use.

Topic vs. Topic Infographic - Use this topic to have students create an infographic sharing the differences between two concepts.

Twitter Fictional Account Template - Use this Google Drawing template to have students create fictional Twitter accounts for literary characters, famous people in history, scientists, and more. The creator of this template also offers an infographic template, Harry Potter's Daily Prophet newspaper, templates for Time Magazine and National Geographic, and a comic book template.

Vocabulary Slide Deck - This great template based on the Frayer model is a perfect way to learn any new words.

Wanted Poster - This template is perfect for learning about famous people in history or characters in literature.

Did You Know?

TCEA offers amazing learning events for educators to level up their learning. Learn more about our events.

Elementary Templates

Elementary Student Newspaper - This is the perfect way for elementary students to create a classroom or project newspaper. It includes room for several articles, ads or quotes, graphics, and even a graph. The template is available for both a one-page and a two-page newspaper. Older students may use this template with four articles and accompanying graphics. If your students need to create a newspaper about colonial times, this template and accompanying rubric will work well.

Leprechaun Scene - This activity has younger students create a scene with the drawing, graph their items, and complete word/number sentences.

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish Sorting Template - Have your elementary students do this fun activity to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2.

Pattern Block Templates and Activities - Google Drawing makes this template very easy to use for both you and your students.

Pixel Art Template - This template, at its simplest level, is a paint-by-number activity great for younger students. At its more complex, students can use the template to create fun pixel art.

Presidents Day Hyperdoc - This great template for grades K-2 is perfect for February.

Super Digital Citizen - Have your students in grades 2-5 practice their digital citizenship with this innovative template.

Self Evaluation - This is a very simple evaluation form for elementary students to complete about themselves. It asks them "How is it going for you?" in several different subjects: writing, reading, and math.

English/Language Arts

Build a Snowman and Write a Story - This is a simple to use template in Google Slides that lets students get creative while building a snowman and then describing it, for vocabulary practice, or writing a story about the snowman. You can use the same idea with anything that students can build, from the parts of a plant to a gingerbread house.

Cloze Test Generator - Scroll to the bottom of this page to download a copy of a great cloze activity template in Sheets.

Frayer Model Vocabulary - Allows students to use words, definitions, and drawings to learn vocabulary words.

Prediction Chart - Ask students to make predictions before and after reading a book.

Reading Chart - Use Google Forms to create a live reading log. Instructions are available here (scroll down to the third activity).

Reading and Writing Tools - Here are 12 more templates perfect for the ELA classroom. They include different charts and concept maps, as well as a plot diagram and a journal.

Shades of Meaning Linear Array - Show how five words are interconnected.

Short Story Graphic Organizer - This Google Slides template helps students to organize their thoughts when writing a short story.

Springtime Magnetic Poetry - Have your students create wonderful poems about spring using Google Drawings.

St. Patrick's Day Magnet Poetry with Google Slides - This template includes more than 60 words and phrases that students can use to create fun poetry or a story.

Valentine's Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings - This idea of using Drawings to create a template with words that students can use to create their own poetry is genius. You can reuse the basic template for other holidays and themes, simply changing the graphics to match.

Writing Prompts - With these templates, you have a choice of writing prompts with pictures or journal templates with blank layouts. As always, make sure to Make a Copy of the template before you begin using it.

Mathematics

Adding Fractions - Basic showing of how to add fractions

Analyzing Shoe Sizes - The "Analyzing Shoe Sizes" activity contains many mathematical concepts and student activities for students to complete. Ideally, this activity would be appropriate for students in the 6th through 8th grade using Google Slides.

Area of Shapes Scavenger Hunt - Using Google Slides, students can document shapes they find around them and then calculate the perimeter and area of those shapes.

Battlesheets - Have your students practice grid coordinates and logical thinking as they play the familiar Battleship game in Google Sheets.

Discovering Pi with Google Sheets - Eric Curts provides another excellent lesson and template. In this lessons, students "measure real life circular objects, examine some calculations, look for patterns, and discover what Pi is and what it means."

Division Brownies - This fun template will help students solve a very real-world problem of how to fairly divide a pan (or pans) of brownies.

Exploring Surface Area - This is an excellent template with lessons for exploring surface area using Google Slides.

Exploring Tangrams with Google Drawings - This site includes a free blank template with all the tangram pieces already created, a dozen pre-made tangram puzzles to solve, and detailed directions on how to manipulate the shapes using tools in Google Drawings and create your own tangram puzzles.

Frieze Patterns - Illustrate reflection, translation, and rotation.

Game-Based Learning with Google Slides: Coordinate Plane Battleship - This is a great way to incorporate some fun into Algebra class.

Google Graph Paper for Math - If you're a math teacher, you will love these seven different templates for graph paper.

Interactive Clock Face - This is a really clever template that lets students learn about telling time using an analog clock and two interactive hands.

Math Dice - This is a great game for elementary students to play.

Word Problem - Allows students to create their own problems and illustrate them.

Templates for Science/Social Studies

Drag and Drop Solar System - Allows students to group the planets in different ways as they learn about the solar system.

Exploring Human Heredity - High school students work in groups of three to investigate human heredity with this template.

Historical Facebook - Students can plan a "fake" Facebook page for a historical figure. A literary Facebook template is also available.

Historical Tweets - Using this Google Slide template, students can create "fake" Tweets from historic (or literary) figures they are studying.

Infographics Toolbox - Challenge your older students to take existing data they would normally just read over and create amazing infographics highlighting key points with this beautiful template.

Labeling - The example is the parts of the brains. But students could use any subject.

Map of the United States - Use this colorful map of the US to study any type of geographic, political, or historical data.

Planet Research - Help students know what kind of information to gather while studying the planets.

Virtual Museum - Have students create their own museums to showcase their learning with Google Slides.

Technology Applications - To help your students master Google apps, you can use the Google Docs Scavenger Hunt and the Google Slide Scavenger Hunt.

For one final all-encompassing resource, be sure to check out this Wakelet of Twitter-sourced resources for students to use. These are all for Google Slides.

If you would like to learn how to create your own templates in Docs, this four-minute video is perfect. And learn how to take basic templates to the next level with - an innovative lesson in Google Docs that contains everything the student will need. You can find additional HyperDocs by searching the hashtag #hyperdocs in Twitter.
(Update: Additional resources for this blog were added on January 22, 2020.)

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Looking for a template to get your students started on a project? We've found some great Google Docs and Slides templates for your classroom.

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Team, check out this resource. It shows how to use different variations of the traditional think - pair - share strategies. It's pretty cool; your students will enjoy the new response strategies!

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Think-Pair-Share is an old strategy that works! However, if it is used often in your classroom, it can become stale, and less effective. So, change it up!

Here are a few how-to suggestions for ramping up your Think-Pair-Share lessons:

Think-Pair-Talk: The simplest variation on the original. Students think about the question/term/or task on their own, pair with a partner to discuss their ideas, and then talk with a small group for further discussion.

Think-Pair-Walk: Instead of wrapping up with a small group, one student from each pair walks up to the front of the class to present their findings. This is perfect for larger research topics or current events.

Think-Pair-Chalk: In this variation, students can silently go up to the board to add their research findings. When discussing controversial topics, this quieter method helps to maintain respect for all perspectives or points of view.

Think-Pair-Post: Using a Facebook template, students can report out their topic research and post them around the room to create a Facebook Feed on the unit content.

Think-Pair-Toast: With this twist on the original, students will create toasts to their assigned topic. This can be a fun wrap-up for concluding a unit and reviewing content topics or vocabulary.

Think-Pair-Roast: Just like the toast option, students will have a little fun while reviewing prior knowledge. Encourage funny stories, tall-tales, or the telling of jokes to share the main ideas.

Think-Pair-Tweet: For vocabulary or people review, have students write simple tweets on the key terms. Learning to summarize in 160 characters or less can be a huge challenge!

Think-Pair-Meet: Similar to the original, after pairs have discussed the topic or term, they draw out table numbers where they go to meet up and share their findings. (Similar to a Jigsaw)

Think-Pair-Draw: One of my favorites, students draw to illustrate the meaning or significance of a topic. Doing character collages can also help students bring significant people back to life for class discussion.

Think-Pair-Find a Flaw: When looking at conflicting points of view or arguing cases, this method is fun and engaging. As students post their findings, others search for opposing points of view to counter each statement. Build up the activity by allowing students to continue the activity over days or weeks through the unit.

How have you modified Think-Pair-Share for you classroom?

H appy Teaching!

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How To Use Variations on Think-Pair-Share in the Secondary Classroom - A Lesson Plan for Teachers

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Think-Pair-Share is an old strategy that works! However, if it is used often in your classroom, it can become stale, and less effective. So, change it up! Here are a few how-to suggestions for ramping up your Think-Pair-Share lessons: Think-Pair-Talk: The simplest variation on the original.

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Cobbs- Effective Classroom Motivation Strategies 

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Cobbs- Effective Classroom Motivation Strategies 

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Cobbs- 7 End of the School Year Activity Ideas

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Cobbs- 7 End of the School Year Activity Ideas

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Team, it's that time of the year! Try some of these activities to help students make it through the last couple of weeks of school.

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Can you believe that there's only a little over a month left in this school year? My answer is complicated. On the one hand, yes, I can believe it. But on the other hand, I have no idea where the time went! Some days flew by while others slowly mosied along, seeming to never end. It was the fastest, slowest year I think I've ever had. Do you feel this way? To celebrate the end of one of the most challenging school years, I want to share some of my favorite ideas for end-of-school-year activities. Because you know what? You did it. You and your students made it through this year, and learning happened. And that should be celebrated.

Create a Visual Timeline

Turn your classroom or hallway into a visual timeline of the school year. Students can create videos using tools like Screencastify, , or the video app on a Chromebook, iPad, or laptop. Their videos can reflect on different units, activities, events, lessons, and field trips from the year. Turn the videos into QR codes and have students choose photos or draw pictures to include in the display. For example, you can have a poster for each month of the year. Students can place the QR code videos and photos (or drawings) on the correct poster.

When it's all finished, have a museum walk with your class to reflect on all that you've accomplished together this year. Watch the videos, look at the pictures and drawings, and celebrate each other! (Spoiler Alert: You can also use this along with activity suggestion number three.) This is a great activity to encourage reflection at the end of the school year, and it's super fun.

Write Thank You Letters or Cards

The end of the school year is a great time to think back about peers and teachers who have been supportive, helpful, encouraging, kind, collaborative, etc. We never reach success on our own. Ask students, "Who has helped you get through the year? Who has encouraged you and supported you in meeting your goals? Who has been a good friend?" Encourage them to make a list of people to whom they would like to write notes of thanks. But expressing gratitude is not easy, and it is a skill to be taught. Before beginning the writing, model examples of how we can give specific, meaningful, and honest thanks to others. Write a note of thanks as a class. Leave it up on the board as a reference for students as they write their own messages.

Visit the Grade Above and Welcome the Grade Below

Certain students may feel a high level of anxiety and the end of the school year. Some take everything in stride, but others may fear the unknown and all the changes that come with a new school year. Coordinate with a class in the grade level above and arrange a visit. The class could present their visual timeline or create a class presentation, and host a question and answer session for your students. This will help them know what to expect in their new grade level. Showing the visual timeline can give students specific things to look forward to. And hearing from other students directly about their experiences can help belay some fears. Also, consider hosting a class from the grade level below you! Your students will definitely take pride in talking about what they've accomplished and in answering younger students' questions. It's a great way to pass the torch!

Brainstorm Advice for the Upcoming Class

Ask the students to recall how they felt when they began the year. Were they a little nervous? Did they feel a bit lost or unsure? Well, the new students will likely feel the same way. As a class, brainstorm some advice and information that the new students might find helpful when starting the new year. Create a list of advice, have students write letters to the new students sharing their words of wisdom, or craft a letter as a class to the incoming class. This is an excellent activity for reflection and a practice in empathy.

End-of-Year Self-Reflection Survey

Have students answer a self-reflection survey. This can be done on paper, through video, or using a tool like Google Forms. Ask students questions that will instigate self-reflection, and the answers don't necessarily have to be academic. This is a great gift for students to take with them at the end of the year, but it's also valuable information to hand up to teachers in the next grade level. For example, you could ask questions like:

1. In what area did you most improve?

2. What gifts, talents, or skills do you have to offer your new class?

3. What would you like to improve next year?

4. How were you a leader this year?

5. What was your favorite thing about this school year?

6. What are you most proud of?

7. If you could go back in time, would you do something differently?

8. What was your least favorite thing about this year?

9. What helped you learn best in class?

10. Was there something in class that made it more difficult to learn?

Make a Class Book

Using a tool such as Book Creator, make a class book full of information and reflections about the year. Much like the visual timeline, students can write, draw pictures, record videos, and select photos for their class book. You can include pages about special lessons, projects, activities, and field trips and include examples of students' work. This is a lovely keepsake for students and teachers alike!

Student Speeches

Last but not least, one end-of-year ritual that I love is the student-written speech. Guide students in writing short speeches about their year. In their speech, they can highlight one favorite event or activity, express gratitude to one person who helped them, talk about how they grew, and outline one goal they have for the upcoming year. Students can even use their self-reflection survey as a guide for their speech. Let students know that they will be performing their speeches in front of their peers. And if you work in a school where it's possible to invite parents, invite them to be in on the fun. Student speeches are a great way to end the year, and you can use them in coordination with the visual timeline celebration and presentation. It is a nice way to provide students with some closure and also have them practice important writing and speaking skills.

There are plenty of resources on the web for end-of-year activities, but here are some of my favorites.

Additional Resources

Let us know how you'll celebrate the end of the school year with your students in the comments. I'd love to hear from you!

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Activities for the End of the School Year

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Can you believe that there's only a little over a month left in this school year? My answer is complicated. On the one hand, yes, I can believe it. But on the other hand, I have no idea where the time went! Some days flew by while others slowly mosied along, seeming to never end.

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Cobbs - 40 Sites for Students with Free Time on Their Hands

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Cobbs - 40 Sites for Students with Free Time on Their Hands

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Do you have students that always finish their work early? Try letting them explore some of these educational websites.

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40 sites for students with free time on their hands

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When students are done with an assignment or project, how can they spend extra time wisely? These sites give them something academic to chew on. As a

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Are you planning on doing a novel study? If so, check out some of these activities. Students can complete them with any novel!

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Each year I like to do a different novel study with my students. I'm always on the lookout for novel study activities for any novel. This year I chose the book, "The City of Ember" because it fit in nicely with my science and social studies units (Light and Sound for science and Ancient Civilizations for social studies).

We did so many great activities throughout this unit that would work well for ANY novel study so I thought I would compile a list for you!

Great activities that you can do with ANY novel study!
This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase I will earn a small commission at no cost to you.
As I said above, our recent novel study was for The City of Ember. My students loved this book! We previously had read Tales of a Fourth Grade nothing which they also enjoyed but they were much more engaged with this novel. I mean, every day they would ask, "Mrs. S. can we read City of Ember today?". I did warn them ahead of time NOT to watch the movie until we finished the book, because the movie is no where near as good!

Anyway, on to the list!

Activities to Use for ANY Novel Study:

1. Summarize! We happened to be working on summarizing so I had my students summarize each chapter in a few sentences. With 20 chapters in this book it gave them a lot of practice. I gave them only about 6-7 lines to write their summary so they couldn't go overboard.

2. Diary Entries - Throughout the novel, I had students write diary entries from the point of view of various characters. Most of the time it was the main characters (Lina and Doon) from the City of Ember. But I also chose characters with lesser roles as well and sometimes those diary entries got the best responses.

3. Write a letter to a character - Students got to be themselves this time and write a letter to a character of their choosing. We did this during our letter writing unit so it gave them some extra practice.

4. Comprehension Questions - For this to work you have to read the novel before hand yourself so that you can come up with some appropriate questions. I didn't have time to read the whole City of Ember novel before reading it to my students so I just kept one chapter ahead of them and would come up with comprehension questions each week. You can see a sample below of the types of questions we did. Throughout the novel, I included various types of comprehension questions like inferring, making connections, visualizing, predicting etc.

5. Act out a scene - Divide your class into groups and assign each group a different scene to act out. My students had so much fun with this!

6. Interview a Character - Have students create interview questions for a mock interview with a character. You can stop there, but we took it one step further and we had another student pretend to be that character so they could interview them and record their responses. This was another favourite activity for my students.

7. Create a timeline of events - We made a large timeline in our classroom on a bulletin board. As major events happened we added them to the timeline. We found this helpful during our small group discussions as students would pose questions or share their wonderings....they were able to refer back to the timeline and say things like, "I think I know what's going to happen because if you look what happened here it's like the author was giving us a clue about what is going to happen". You could also have students do an individual time line in their reader's notebook.

8. Recreate an event from the story - This is another hit with my students every time! When we read Freckle Juice by Judy Blume we actually made freckle juice to try out. For City of Ember I staged Assignment Day and had each student pick a job. I pretended to be the mayor, I spoke like him and dressed like how I thought he might look (an old suit and a bowler hat). I typed out job descriptions for each job and then had them write about why they were the best person for the job. They were so into this activity! I had kids acting like Lina and Doon, they really had fun with it.

9. Create a Book Trailer - There are many websites you can use to show your students book trailers but I really like this one because it's all student made book trailers. There are many on You Tube as well.

10. Watch the Movie! - If there is a movie that goes with your novel study, watch it after you have read the book. Nine times out of ten your students will have liked the book much better. That was definitely the case for City of Ember and my students. They couldn't believe the differences (like what's up with that weird rat/mole/giant animal that is no where in the book!).

11. After watching the movie we did a compare and contrast activity. Some students used a venn diagram to compare and others wrote in paragraph form.

12. Compare and contrast the characters - Choose 2 characters from the same book OR pick one from the current book you are reading and another from a previously read book.

13. Rewrite the Ending - Sometimes kids (and adults) are disappointed with the ending because it may or may not be how they envisioned the story ending. This gives them a choice to make their voice heard.

14. Tweet the Author - Many authors will respond to tweets from their readers. Students can also read tweets from the author and see what others have tweeted to them.

15. Create a Facebook Page - Students can create a Facebook page belonging to one of the main characters. This could work for any social media site, you could have them create a Twitter feed, Pinterest feed, Linkedin Profile etc. for the main character.
16. Create a "Wanted Poster" for a main character.
17. Have students come up with a theme for the novel and then they have to come up with reasons to support their idea.

18. Write the next chapter - With City of Ember we did this for the last chapter and then we shared all of our endings before we read the actual ending. That was a blast!

19. Paint the Setting - OR use pastels, colored pencils, or whatever medium you choose. We did this in art class for City of Ember and used pastels. It was so interesting to see the differences and similarities in what students were visualizing.

20. Integrate Science - Have your students design a tool to make the main character's life easier. Depending on what science unit you are working on they can incorporate certain properties from science. For example, in City of Ember, light is important. We happened to be learning about light and sound in science so I had to students create a tool and it had to use the properties of light and/or sound to make one of the character's lives easier.

21. Skype with Another Class - If you are able to find another class to Skype with that happen to be reading the same book, you can host a book discussion. Students can share their favorite parts of the book, ask students in the other class what they thought about certain parts etc. This could also work within your own school where you get together with another class.
22. When the novel is finished have students create a plot diagram.
23. Pretend you are a character and introduce the other characters to the class. This one is a really great drama activity!

24. PA Announcement Book Advertisement - This was soooo much fun for my students and incorporated their media studies mark as well. Students got together in pairs and wrote a short advertisement for the book they were reading (we did this for individual novel studies, not a whole class read aloud). Then during our whole school morning announcements I would have one or two students present their book advertisement.
25. Write a job application for a character and fill it in.
26. Design a New Cover! - I remember doing this as kid! We did it at least once a year as part of a novel study. I'm not sure how I forgot about it but I just remembered about it this year. After they were completed we voted on the one we liked the best.27. Use Canva's FREE Venn Diagram maker to compare and contrast characters in the book, or one book to another book.

Share your novel study activity ideas in the comments below! I would love to hear from you!If you're looking for my printable and digital City of Ember Novel study you can find it by clicking here. My Refugee novel study can be found here. You can find my novel study for A Wrinkle in Time by clicking here.

If also got a ton of activities specific to the novel Refugee that you can read about in this blog post here.

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Each year I like to do a different novel study with my students. I'm always on the lookout for novel study activities for any novel. This year I chose the book, "The City of Ember" because it fit in nicely with my science and social studies units (Light and Sound for science and Ancient Civilizations for social studies).

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Informational Text Projects That Build Thinking and Creativity

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Informational Text Projects That Build Thinking and Creativity

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Team, when teaching Informational Texts, consider assigning students one of these projects to build their thinking skills and creativity. Who knows what they might come up with!!

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Ideas for helping you move student work from ordinary knowledge to extraordinary thinking

New demands for literacy instruction require an emphasis on both literature and informational text. But student work with informational text doesn't have to be a dry regurgitation of facts. In fact, putting a creative spin on student performance tasks can turn informational text projects from ordinary into extraordinary.

You don't have to undertake a massive instructional shift to keep students from rote work and a simple copy and paste. Here are some ideas for unique and creative projects and products that get students thinking about the content they are reading.

1. Trading Cards

Trading cards are a form of informational text that even young students are familiar with, even if they aren't baseball or Pokémon fans. Creating a classroom set of trading cards for historical figures, rainforest animals, or even elements on the periodic table, provides a fun way to learn, and review, information about a topic you are studying.

The first time a child gets a pack of trading cards, they may read each one top to bottom and right to left; but once they start a collection, they learn to use the features of nonfiction texts to quickly find information. Asking them to create their own trading cards, builds their fluency in utilizing headings, labels, and images as they use informational texts in the future.

Because trading cards are small, students must also carefully choose which information they need to include for their user. As they work to summarize, students must evaluate information and determine its importance, improving their comprehension of the topic.

The process of creating a trading card, printing it out, and sharing it with classmates, also helps students connect the work they are doing in the classroom with their lives outside of it.

2. eBooks

Like trading cards, students are seeing more and more people outside the classroom reading electronic books and may even be using a digital textbook at school. Students are motivated to create and publish their own eBooks, and see their efforts as valuable; especially when the intention is to publish them for an audience outside of the classroom.

Emerging readers and writers may need to scaffold their research and writing with worksheets that outline what they should include, but older and more experienced learners may need to be pushed so that they don't simply copy and paste information directly from their research into their eBooks. You can avoid this problem by asking them to create books in ABC, Associative Letter, or even Fact or Fiction style.

ABC Books
The content in an ABC book is organized around the letters of the Alphabet. For example, an ABC Book on the Desert of the American Southwest might include pages like: A is for Armadillo, B is for Bighorn Sheep, and C is for Coyote. The example below highlights the ocean environment.

Associative Letter
You might also try an associative letter project. In this format, all information is organized around a single letter. For example, an associative letter report on the Revolutionary War might contain pages like: Militia, Massacre, and Midnight Ride.

Fact or Fiction?
In this format, students craft individual statements about their topic followed by the words "fact or fiction?" on a page. Then, they write the answer (fact or fiction) and provide evidence to support their conclusion.

3. Comics

Creating a comic strip is also a great way to get students thinking about the informational texts they are reading. Like trading cards, the limited amount of space in a comic's panels requires students to choose the most significant points in a text or story. This summarizing, combined with the extensive use of nonlinguistic representations in comics, improves student comprehension.

Great writing combines all three forms of written communication expressed in the Common Core State Standards; narrative, informational, and argument writing. Creating comics based on informational texts helps students more easily connect this information as they develop narratives to share information or arguments to raise awareness and change behavior. Sequencing and logic are crucial to good storytelling, and students quickly learn that they can't simply jump forward in time or around in space.

4.Wanted Posters

Creating a Wanted poster for a person, place, or thing is a highly engaging performance task that requires students to think but doesn't require a lot of technical expertise to create.

Students can begin Wanted posters with simple identifying physical features and then move further to include information about qualities that make an object or person unique and connect to its time and place in the world. For example, asking students to identify a " last seen" or " often found in " location provide an opportunity for them to demonstrate what features and characteristics look like in action.

5. Infographics

While infographics are popular in the media right now, they are more than just a passing fad. These visual representations of knowledge and information make complex ideas and large amounts of data easy to understand and have quickly become a powerful form of digital-age communication.

Crafting an infographic to help convey the important information and ideas is a great way to get students thinking more deeply about the information they are reading. To craft an effective infographic, students must identify:

What is important?

How can information be organized?

Is there a hierarchy, sequence, or pattern?

What ideas and information connect to other ideas and information?

Yes, infographics can be highly complex if they are based on large amounts of complex data. But infographics can also be clear statements of priority and action, like a Top Ten list.

6. Interviews

Science and social studies are filled with big ideas and concepts, not to mention remote time periods and locations. To help students make sense of some of these concepts, ask them to craft an interview with a connected object. For example, students could interview:

The hydrogen atom that is part of the water molecule

The Great Sphinx of Giza

The life of a trafficked pangolin

The feather in Paul Revere's hat or even Paul Revere himself.

Crafting a fictitious interview can help bring abstract scientific concepts to life and make history more personal. It also helps students learn how to ask questions. Their formulation of the questions also helps you better evaluate their comprehension of big ideas behind the facts they find.

Because they are written in first-person perspective, students must empathize with their subject and can't simply copy and paste information or regurgitate facts. Interviewing helps students identify the perspective of a historian or scientist as they personify the object with gender and other human characteristics.

7. News Broadcast

News broadcasts are much more sophisticated and time consuming but make for a great culminating task in the content classroom. Before an end of the year review, or even exam, ask teams of students to choose a topic you studied and share their knowledge in this engaging format.

Like comics, writing a News Broadcast requires students to use narrative writing techniques to deliver information. Crafting a News Broadcast helps students think about techniques the media uses to attract viewers and keep them watching, building essential media literacies.

8. Public Service Announcements

Many important issues today, like climate change and health, can help you connect your students to the content they are learning in science and social studies. Asking students to craft a public service announcement (PSA) to raise awareness or change behavior, lets them know their work and efforts are valuable and can have a real impact on the world around them.

Science, with its connection to issues that many students are passionate about, is a great place to ask students to develop public service announcements. Creating a PSA is also a powerful performance tasks for social studies and requires students to practice skills in all four dimensions of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.

Dimension 1. Developing Questions and Planning Inquiries

Dimension 2. Applying Disciplinary Concepts and Tools

Dimension 3. Evaluating Sources and Using Evidence

Dimension 4. Communicating Conclusions and Taking Informed Action

Developing PSAs provides a great connection to skills learned in English Language Arts classes as well. Students must research deeply, identify fact versus opinion, develop claims and the evidence to back them to write an effective argument.

Getting Started

Choose the product or performance task that you think will work best in your classroom with your students and which most effectively provides them with an opportunity to practice reading and writing in real-world situations, with a real-world audience. Creative performance tasks like these products not only lets students know their work has value and meaning it provides an opportunity for students to ask their own questions as they make sense of content and find meaning in the curriculum, not just provide a "correct" answer.

Popular Topics

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Informational Text Projects That Build Thinking and Creativity

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Eight performance task ideas for unique and creative products that get students thinking about the informational text content they are reading.

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Cobbs- Choose Your Own Assessment (Students Edition)

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Cobbs- Choose Your Own Assessment (Students Edition)

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Check out this assessment choice board for students.

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Please ensure students know the difference between revising and editing. Use these acronyms to help them remember what they should be doing.

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Cobbs- How are you showing what you know and what you have learned? (Student Edition)

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Cobbs- How are you showing what you know and what you have learned? (Student Edition)

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Team, this resource is for our inquisitive students. Check this out for different activities that you can assign to students so they will be able to demonstrate what they know and what they have learned.

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Cobbs-Enchambered- Live Escape Room Activities for students

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Cobbs-Enchambered- Live Escape Room Activities for students

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Team, check out these riddles and brain teasers for students for the end of the year!

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Enchambered is an escape room venue based in Sacramento California, located next to the corner of Howe Avenue and Arden Way. Centrally located, we are right up Howe from Sac State and a few minutes from Midtown Sacramento. We currently offer three immersive escape experiences with another for themed games in the works for this location.

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Thanks for all that you do for the ELA Department! More of our teachers need strategies and resources to help guide their instruction. Your hard work does not go unnoticed!!!!

~ Principal Anderson

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STAAR Frequency Distribution at a Glance 2021-2023

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STAAR Frequency Distribution at a Glance 2021-2023

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What will students see on the upcoming Reading STAAR Test? Check out this document...

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Are students stuck when trying to express what they've learned? Try providing them with some of these Thinking Stems to help them arrange their thoughts.

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Black History Month Podcasts for Students

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Black History Month Podcasts for Students

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Want to try something different? Have students listen to a few of these Black History Month Podcasts. The possibilities are endless.

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Jeff Glade Tech - Black History Month Podcasts - 2024

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Cobbs- How Can Teachers Tell If Individual Students Are Learning?

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Cobbs- How Can Teachers Tell If Individual Students Are Learning?

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Are your students having problems mastering concepts? Check out this infographic for assistance.

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Do you need a refresher? Check out this resource for a quick "How To" Session on Teaching Arguments and Claims

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How to Teach Arguments and Claims in Middle School — Teaching Intentionally

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This is the step-by-step way I teach arguments and claims to my middle school students. Students learn how to identify the claim and analyze the argument with this lesson plan. A free argument and claims resource is included.

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55 Black History Videos for Students in Every Grade Level

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55 Black History Videos for Students in Every Grade Level

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Optional-During the Month of February, let students watch a few of these videos for bell ringers. Then have them respond to the videos by asking a question, stating their opinion, discuss something new that they have learned, or make a real-world connection.

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The past several years have certainly been unprecedented ones-a pandemic, civil unrest, political turmoil, and more. Through it all, racial injustice has taken center stage. At times, we've all navigated uncomfortable conversations, but it's more important than ever to dig deep and be the leader our communities deserve. Here's a list of Black history videos for students in every grade level.

Jump to:

Black History Videos for Elementary School

The Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"I have a dream ..." Your students might know Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words, but what do they know about the iconic civil rights leader who said them?

The Life of Rosa Parks

Learn about Rosa Parks, often called the "Mother of the Freedom Movement," and what made her so brave and remarkable.

"I Am Jackie Robinson" by Brad Meltzer | Read-Aloud

Jack Roosevelt Robinson broke the baseball color line and became the first African American to play major league baseball in the modern era.

The Story of Frederick Douglass

Are you learning about the abolitionist movement in the United States? The emancipation and subsequent freedom of Frederick Douglass is explored in this educational video.

The Breathtaking Courage of Harriet Tubman

Take a closer look at the life of escaped slave and American icon Harriet Tubman, who liberated more than 700 enslaved people using the Underground Railroad.

Muhammad Ali Biography

This video tells the story of Muhammad Ali, a legend in boxing and Black history.

Malcolm X (Civil Rights Leader)

Malcolm X was a civil rights leader whose life journey brought him from fighting for equal rights "by any means necessary" to fighting for justice with peace.

"Teach Me About Garvey" Read-Aloud

Teach Me About Garvey shares the story of Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican political activist and founder and first president-general of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, through which he declared himself Provisional President of Africa.

Brown v. Board of Education

Brown v. Board of Education was a case brought to the Supreme Court in 1954 after Linda Brown, an African American student in Kansas, was denied access to the white-only schools near her house.

"A Picture Book of Jesse Owens" Read-Aloud

Before Usain Bolt or Tyson Gay, Bob Beamon, or Carl Lewis, Jesse Owens was perhaps the greatest and most famous athlete in track and field history. A Picture Book of Jesse Owens tells his inspiring story.

Black History Month Tribute to Mary Mcleod Bethune

Take a trip back in time as we celebrate Mary Mcleod Bethune, an icon in education.

"Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History" Read-Aloud

This chapter of Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History tells the story of James Mercer Langston Hughes, one of the earliest innovators of jazz poetry. He is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance.

"Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History" Read-Aloud

This section of Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History shares the journey of Ruby Bridges, the first African American child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis on November 14, 1960.

Sojourner Truth-Abolitionist & Women's Rights Pioneer

Sojourner Truth was an American abolitionist and women's rights activist. She was born into slavery but escaped with her infant daughter and became the first Black woman to successfully sue a white man for a family member's freedom, in 1828.

How Nelson Mandela Fought for Equality and Freedom

Nelson Mandela is famous for his fight against apartheid in South Africa. His unique efforts for peace and reconciliation transformed his country, and he ultimately became president.

"Little People, Big Dreams: Maya Angelou" Read-Aloud

In this read-aloud of the international bestseller from the Little People, Big Dreams series, discover the incredible life of Maya Angelou, the powerful speaker, writer, and civil rights activist.

Black History Month Profile: Serena Williams

Serena Williams has won 23 Grand Slam tennis singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era, and the second-most of all time.

NASA Black History Month Astronaut Profile - Jeanette Epps

NASA astronaut Dr. Jeanette Epps talks about inspiring young girls and recalls who encouraged her to reach for the stars when she was growing up.

Calvin Peete Profile: Black History Month

Calvin Peete was the first successful Black player to not move up through the caddie ranks. Now a World Golf Hall of Famer, he won the prestigious THE PLAYERS Championship in 1985.

Can Kids Change the World?

The fight for civil rights didn't just include adults, it included kids like seven-year-old Ayanna Najuma, who braved harsh consequences to make their communities more inclusive. To learn more about Ayanna and other Kids Who Fought for Change, visit this resource from Scholastic.

Why Do We Celebrate Black History Month? Facts for Kids

Watch as these kids explore how Black History Month was created to honor and celebrate the contributions of African Americans to the United States.

Miss Jessica's Black History Month Song

This Grammy-nominated song from Miss Jessica's World is a celebration of Black excellence in American history both past and present. ​You can download the karaoke version for the classroom!

Sesame Street: Celebrate Black History Month Compilation

Celebrate Black History Month on Sesame Street! Join Elmo, Gabrielle, and Tamir as they sing their new song, "Listen, Act, Unite," from Sesame Street 's "Power of We" special. Then, rediscover favorites from Will.I.Am's "What I Am" to Erykah Badu's song about friendship.

"I Am the Dream" Black History Song for Kids

Head over to Mr. Pete's Playhouse for this new anthem for kids. "I Am the Dream" inspires kids to believe that they can be and do anything while celebrating the strong Black figures who helped pave the way for them to succeed!

The Undefeated | Black History Month Kids Read-Aloud

Join Ms. Mera as she reads the powerful book The Undefeated, written by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Kadir Nelson.

What Black Lives Matter Means to Kids

Join the Kind Crew for a powerful episode with motivational speaker Nyeeam Hudson as they share how to use the power of art and honest conversations to fight racism.

Black History Videos for Middle and High School

Black Lives Matter: Crash Course Black American History #51

Learn about the Black Lives Matter movement and some of the major events that contributed to the rise of BLM, including the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and George Floyd, and the way that social media was used to gain support for the movement.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Dred Scott sued his master for his freedom, and Judge Robert Taney ultimately issued two historically consequential rulings. First, African Americans were not citizens and had no right to sue in court. Second, Congress did not have the constitutional authority to ban slavery from the states.

Jesse Jackson: Crash Course Black American History #44

Reverend Jesse Jackson is a Civil Rights activist and icon who began his long career working with Martin Luther King in the 1960s and continues to contribute to the movement for Black lives today.

Emmett Till-American Freedom Stories

On August 24, 1955, a white cashier lied and claimed that 14-year-old Emmett Till flirted with her. Four days later, two white men tortured and murdered the teenager. His murder galvanized the emerging Civil Rights Movement. This is one of the most moving Black history videos for students.

Harriet Tubman: Biography

Harriet Tubman was an incredibly brave woman who sacrificed her own life to free hundreds of slaves from plantations via the Underground Railroad.

Shirley Chisholm: Crash Course Black American History #43

In 1972, Shirley Chisholm ran for president of the United States of America. While she didn't win, she did have an incredible career in politics, holding a congressional seat in the New York delegation for decades.

The Electrifying Speeches of Sojourner Truth

Get to know the story of Sojourner Truth, a woman born into slavery who became known as a powerful orator and outspoken activist.

Marcus Garvey: Biography

Marcus Garvey was an orator for the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, and although at times controversial, he is considered a national hero in Jamaica and inspired the Rastafari movement.

Brown v. Board of Education in PBS's The Supreme Court

This video covers the Supreme Court's historical rejection of segregation in southern schools. This is one of the most relevant Black history videos for students on this list!

Women and the Black Power Movement: Crash Course Black American History #40

Women have always been a powerful (and largely underappreciated) force in the movement for Black equality in the United States. Learn more about how they contributed to several organizations and the Black Arts Movement.

NASA Black History Month Employee Profile - Matthew Bailey

Matthew Bailey is the operations manager for the National Transonic Facility Complex at NASA's Langley Research Center. The facility is currently testing a model of the Space Launch System, the rocket that will send humans to the Moon by 2024.

Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas: Crash Course Black American History #46

Revisit the Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Clarence Thomas during which Anita Hill testified that Thomas, her former coworker, had sexually harassed her when they worked at the Department of Education. Thomas's nomination was ultimately confirmed by a margin of 52-48, making him the second Black American appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Oprah Winfrey-American Media Proprietor and Talk Show Host

Watch a mini-biography of Oprah Winfrey, who ascended from an impoverished childhood to become one of the most powerful and influential celebrities in the world.

Rap and Hip Hop: Crash Course Black American History #47

Learn more about the origins of rap & hip hop, and the cultural significance of artists including Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan, the Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, N.W.A., Queen Latifah, and Missy Elliott.

Black History Month Profile: Gloria Walton

Gloria Walton is the CEO and President of The Solutions Project, a national non-profit that helps fund organizations looking to create climate solutions in communities of color.

Moments in History: Remembering Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall was one of the country's greatest jurists and civil rights advocates, but he was also a gifted storyteller.

The Tuskegee Experiment: Crash Course Black American History #29

This video covers a dark and horrifying chapter in American history, the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, which was carried out by the United States Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1932 to 1972.

Civil Rights and the 1950s

Take a trip back to America in the 1950s and the early days of the civil rights movement.

The Harlem Renaissance: Crash Course Theater

In the 1920s, there was a blossoming of all kinds of art made by African Americans in Harlem. Authors like Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston were writing plays, and Black theater companies were drawing larger audiences than ever before.

The Black Panther Party: Crash Course Black American History #39

Learn about the Black Panthers, a relatively small, relatively political party that made it their mission to expand the rights of Black Americans and had a major impact on US history.

Quincy Jones Biography: Life and Career of the Producer and Composer

This short documentary celebrates the legendary life and career of top American jazz musician, composer, arranger, record producer, and entrepreneur Quincy Jones.

Equal Protection: The 14th Amendment

Spark a discussion on the 14th Amendment with a focus on the "equal protection" clause and how it relates to civil rights.

Nelson Mandela: Civil Rights Activist & President of South Africa

Nelson Mandela was a nonviolent anti-apartheid activist, politician, and philanthropist who became South Africa's first black president.

Maya Angelou-Civil Rights Activist & Author

Maya Angelou was an American author, actress, screenwriter, dancer, poet, and civil rights activist best known for her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Beyoncé Is the Highest Grossing R&B Artist

In honor of Black History Month, Billboard featured Beyoncé, highlighting some of her most incredible achievements.

Hurricane Katrina: Crash Course Black American History #49

Crash Course's Clint Smith discusses his experience as a teen in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Black residents were hit the hardest with structural racism playing a catastrophic role.

Serena Williams and Misogynoir: The Meaning of Sexism and Racism Towards Black Women

Author and SUNY Stony Brook professor Crystal M. Fleming explains what misogynoir means and why Serena Williams calling out sexism at the 2018 U.S. Open Final was a critical moment for Black women.

Barack Obama: Crash Course Black American History #50

Barack Obama was the first Black man elected President of the United States in 2008. Learn more about his early life, political career, presidential campaign, and legislative milestones.

Black Lives Matter Movement

Watch Global Citizens share their thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement. This is one of the best Black history videos for students right now.

Want more video suggestions? Be sure to subscribe to our newsletters so you can get our latest picks.

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55 Black History Videos for Students in Every Grade Level

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Looking for lesson ideas for February and beyond? This list of Black history videos for students is perfect for all grade levels.

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10 Inspiring Black History Month Activities for Students

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10 Inspiring Black History Month Activities for Students

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Black History Month is approaching. Check our some of these activities for your students! We love to see it!

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February is Black History Month: the celebration of African American history, contributions, and achievements that's recognized annually across the United States and Canada.

For teachers, it's a great opportunity to teach with intention, honoring the tradition and showing students its importance, along with the importance of Black history and culture.

And this year, it's more important than ever to uphold this tradition and celebrate Black history - no matter where your students are learning.

Use these 10 activity ideas to teach Black history all month and keep your students engaged, whether they're in-class or online!

Guidelines for teaching during Black History Month

When teaching Black history, remember to:

P.S. If you want to help parents talk about Black history and racial issues with their kids at home, use these 8 tips for parents as a helpful resource to start with - including additional resources for anyone who wants to learn more.

10 Black History Month activities for your students

Use these activities throughout the month (and the rest of the year) to keep Black history at the forefront of your lessons and encourage your students to keep learning more.

1. Quote or fact of the day

Every morning, greet your students with a new quote or fact that's relevant to Black history.

Say them aloud during your lesson, add them to your bulletin board or send them in an online message (or all of the above, if you're feeling ambitious). After this, you can open a discussion with your class about the relevance of each quote or fact.

Your students will love looking forward to what each day brings!

2. Person of the day or week

Take time to talk about Black influencers and their accomplishments. Highlight a different person every day or week and center your lessons around them!

Explore categories like:

Actors

Artists

Writers

Athletes

Activists

Musicians

Politicians

Filmmakers

Historical figures

Heroes and iconic leaders

Scientists and mathematicians

Tip: Try to look beyond typical historical figures and popular celebrities. There are plenty of Black contributors students may not have even heard of yet - use this chance to introduce them!
3. Black history trivia & games

Bring some fun (and maybe a little competition) into your lessons this month! Find trivia and games that focus on Black history, or repurpose other classroom games to incorporate Black History Month questions and answers.

4. Worksheet activities

Teach students about Black history while they work on fun activities at their own pace. Send worksheets to students online or print them out for independent classroom learning.

5. Virtual events

Classroom learning is great, but there's so much students can learn from their own experiences!

This year especially, there are plenty of online activities and events celebrating Black History Month. So why not choose a youth-appropriate one your class can participate in?

6. Timeline activity

Provide more context on important events in Black history with a bit of chronology.

Have students put together their own timelines, whether individually or in groups, that focus on specific historical events or people. They'll have fun putting all the events together and learn lots along the way!

7. Study (and create) art

Art in the Black community carries so much historical and cultural significance that can inspire some great, illuminative lessons.

Assign one of these activities from Creative Child, or get students to:

Write a story

Make a video or podcast

Create visual art or crafts

8. Use relevant media

There's so much good media out there to help you teach Black history - use it to your advantage!

Read books or watch videos with your class, then discuss the themes and lessons of each piece of media. After this, you can assign work based on them.
Try these books:

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold

The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson

9. Host thought activities

Strengthen collaboration skills with various thought activities during February. These will get students thinking and help them learn new ideas and perspectives from each other.

Start by posing a relevant question to your class, like:

Why do we celebrate?

What does Black History Month mean to you?

How can we fight intolerance in our everyday lives?

Encourage plenty of participation, then discuss everyone's answers together!

Give your class a larger assignment they can work on for the entire month, like a collaborative media project or group presentation - like this one from The Core Coaches on Teachers Pay Teachers.

These bigger projects let students build on what they're learning and work together towards something they can be proud of!

Additional resources

Get inspired by these extra resources to help you even more:

P.S. Want to make your math classes more engaging? Research shows Prodigy make math more fun and can even contribute to better test performance! Discover more about Prodigy's adaptive math platform today!

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10 Inspiring Black History Month Activities for Students

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February is Black History Month: the celebration of African American history, contributions, and achievements that's recognized annually across the United States and Canada. For teachers, it's a great opportunity to teach with intention, honoring the tradition and showing students its importance, along with the importance of Black history and culture.

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Try having students answer a few of these text-dependent question stems after reading a text to demonstrate their understanding.

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New Scoring Process for STAAR Constructed Responses 2023-2024

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New Scoring Process for STAAR Constructed Responses 2023-2024

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Please read this document regarding how STAAR Constructed Responses will be grade moving forward.

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Cobbs- 6 Ways Teachers Can Support Dyslexic Students 

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Cobbs- 6 Ways Teachers Can Support Dyslexic Students 

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Stop, Plop, and Roll (Informational Texts)

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Stop, Plop, and Roll (Informational Texts)

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Spiller - Grammar Reference Sheets for Student Distribution

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Spiller - Grammar Reference Sheets for Student Distribution

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Team, these vocab and grammar reference sheets will be good for students to have in their spirals or composition notebooks to use when needed. They will definitely come in handy.

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Supporting ELLs in the Mainstream Classroom: Reading Instruction (Must Read)

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Supporting ELLs in the Mainstream Classroom: Reading Instruction (Must Read)

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Team, we must make sure that we are reaching and teaching all of our students. This article gives 10 different strategies to ensure that we are reaching our English Language Learners. Please read.

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1. Read to students every day

2. Support students' comprehension as much as possible

3. Teach the alphabet when necessary

4. Teach phonics in context

5. Check comprehension frequently

7. Support native language literacy

8. Encourage reading outside of the classroom

9. Establish an English Language Learner Center

10. Make up individualized activity packs for your newcomers

You are welcome to print copies for non-commercial use, or a limited number for educational purposes, as long as credit is given to Reading Rockets and the author(s). For commercial use, please contact the author or publisher listed.

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Supporting ELLs in the Mainstream Classroom: Reading Instruction

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You can and should use what you already know to be effective, research-based reading instruction to English language learners (ELLs). However, ELLs will need additional support in learning how to read, and the strategies here will help you to provide assistance in your everyday teaching, particularly for newcomers (students who have recently arrived in the U.S.).

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Creating STAAR Writers- SCR & ECR Presentation (Region 10)

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Creating STAAR Writers- SCR & ECR Presentation (Region 10)

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Everything you need to know about SCRs and ECRs is in this presentation. Be sure to refer back to this presentation often.

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https://bit.ly/STAARwriters Creating STAAR Writers Region 10 Literacy

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Lead4ward Instructional Strategies Playlist for Teachers

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Lead4ward Instructional Strategies Playlist for Teachers

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Check out a few of these strategies to use in your classrooms for added student engagement.

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Cobbs- Customizable Google Forms Templates 

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Cobbs- Customizable Google Forms Templates 

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G Suite

If you have been reading the Ditch That Textbook blog for awhile now you know that we love to use familiar tools in new and exciting ways. Google Forms is no exception. Forms are used in the classroom as an effective way to gather information and assess student learning and they can be used for a variety of activities.

But what if we made sharing and creating activities tailored to your class just a little bit easier?

That's where Google Forms templates come in.

This post has 15 Google Forms templates that you can use in your class tomorrow. These templates are easy to use, customizable, and perfect for a variety of subjects and grade levels.

Surveys & Signups

Exit Tickets & Retrieval Practice

Interactive Activities

Lesson Planning

Explore-Explain-Apply HyperDoc Form

The framework for an Explore Explain Apply HyperDoc is simple, yet provides the teacher and the students with a concrete way to dive into a well thought out digitally designed lesson.

Explore: Students gather background knowledge on a topic on their own. This can be through articles, videos, images, and more.

Explain: The teacher fills in the holes with explanation. This can be whole-group instruction, or it can be teacher-provided videos, articles, images, and more.

Apply: Students take what they've learned and use it. They create something to show what they know instead of just answering questions.

FREE teaching ideas and templates in your inbox every week!

Subscribe to Ditch That Textbook

©2023 Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller.

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15 Google Forms templates you can use in class tomorrow

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If you have been reading the Ditch That Textbook blog for awhile now you know that we love to use familiar tools in new and exciting ways. Google Forms is

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Cobbs- 25 Quick and Easy Tips for New Teachers 

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Cobbs- 25 Quick and Easy Tips for New Teachers 

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I have compiled 25 quick and easy tips for new teachers to help you navigate the challenges of teaching. I remember when I started my career as a new upper elementary teacher; It was both exciting and challenging. As a new teacher, you may feel overwhelmed by all the responsibilities and expectations of your new role.

With the right strategies and mindset, you can create a positive and engaging learning environment for your students and set yourself up for a successful school year. From establishing a positive classroom culture to using positive reinforcement and fostering a love of learning, these tips for new teachers will help you build the skills and confidence needed to become a successful upper elementary school teacher!

The Top 25 Tips for New Teachers: Ideas for Success

The tips for new teachers below are in no particular order, nor are they a complete list. Instead, the list is a quick and easy guide to get you started and prepare you. They are also not just tips for new teachers but for any teacher really.

1.) Establish a Positive Classroom Culture. It's important to create a welcoming and supportive classroom environment so that you are fostering a positive learning experience for your new students. Teach the children about active listening and respecting one another so that they feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, perspectives, and needs.

2.) Get to Know Your Students. This is so very important. Take the time to get to know your students' interests, strengths, and needs. This will help you tailor your instruction and activities to their learning styles and engage them more effectively. You can find a free interest survey here in my post 10 Ideas to Get to Know Your Students.

3.) Plan Your Lessons in Advance. In upper elementary, students need structure and routine. When you plan your lessons ahead of time, you can keep things consistent, be well-organized, engaging, and plan a variety of activities that will meet the needs of your students.

4.) Provide Differentiated Instruction. With that said, you are going to have students in your class that are not on grade level yet, students who have mastered the grade level standards, and everywhere in between. This may seem challenging but through differentiation you can create lessons that not only meet students where they are academically but also create lessons based on their interest and learning style. This helps tremendously with student growth.

5.) Collaborate with Colleagues. I know this can be hard if you are an introvert like me. However, collaborating with other teachers can help you gain insights into effective teaching practices, help with lesson planning, and provide support when you need it. If your school doesn't offer it, consider seeking out mentorship to help you during your first year or two.

6.) Use Positive Reinforcement. Elementary students can be motivated through positive reinforcement. This helps build their confidence and encourages continued success. You can use praise, rewards, or other positive reinforcement strategies to encourage students to do their best. This also helps create that positive classroom culture (#1).

7.) Be Patient with Yourself and Your Students. Every year teaching comes with rewards and challenges. It will require a little patience as you learn and gain experience. I imagine I didn't really need to put this in this list of tips for new teachers but sometimes we need gentle reminders.

8.) Create a Positive Home-School Connection. Communicate regularly with parents about classroom activities, events, and their child's growth. Encourage a partnership that supports student success and seek their feedback.

9.) Use Technology Wisely. Technology is a great tool and an engaging way to enhance learning, but it should be used thoughtfully and purposely. Make sure you are using technology tools and resources that align with your learning objectives and as always, use them in ways that are safe, age-appropriate and effective.

10.) Prioritize Self-Care. Teaching is demanding and a stressful profession. It's important that you make time for activities that will promote physical and mental health such as exercising, meditating, and socializing. Check out these 8 Must-Do Ideas for Teacher Self-Care. You may even want to consider positive self-talk to stay motivated and focused. Encourage yourself with positive affirmations and reminders of your strengths and successes.

11.) Seek Feedback. As a new teacher you are going to wonder regularly if you are doing it right or if you could do better. It's extremely common among teachers to always try to improve and do their best. You can gain insight into areas of improvement and opportunities of growth through feedback from colleagues, administrators, and even students.

12.) Embrace a Growth Mindset. Not only should you encourage growth mindset in your students, but you should also embrace it yourself. When you model growth mindset you are showing students that mistakes and challenges are opportunities for learning and growth. Help students feel comfortable with taking risks, making mistakes, and learning from their failures. Check out my growth mindset content here.

13.) Continue with Professional Development. Most schools provide professional development but if they do not, make sure you are seeking opportunities for ongoing learning and development to enhance your teaching skills and expertise. Professional development opportunities, such as conferences, workshops, and online courses, are better than any post with tips for new teachers! (This will also help you stay up-to-date on current research, best practices, and trends in education.)

14.) Use Assessment and Data to Guide You. The assessment does not need to be summative. I encourage you to assess regularly even if it's merely by observation. Assessment can feel like a dirty word, but it really does help us determine where our students are and where we need to go. It does not need to be in a test form. In fact, it can be as simple as these 24 Exit Ticket Ideas (with a freebie!). Information gained from observations, assessments and other sources inform your instruction and helps you adjust your teaching strategies to meet the needs of your students.

15.) Incorporate Hands-on and Experiential Learning. Research has shown that students benefit from concrete and inquiry learning. Plan activities that allow students to explore, create, and discover on their own. Use this as the start of your scaffolding experience.

16.) Use a Variety of Instructional Strategies. If you've been around a while, you know that varying instructional strategies is one of my passions. I love to mix things up in the classroom. This method engages students, motivates them, and allows them to be active in their learning.

17.) Seek Out High-Quality Resources. There are lots of free options online and at first you may have the thought that you'll take anything you can get your hands on. But after a while you end up with a large collection of lookalikes on your computer taking up space that you really aren't going to use. (I speak from experience.) At first glance, they all look like something that will help your students practice or review, and they're free, so why not!

What you really need are resources that are going to make your students think, goes deep into the concept, and aligns with your curriculum/standards. If you have to hodge-podge resources together, you're wasting valuable time and it's not a high-quality resource. Provide your students with resources that are more than just a worksheet. Once you find that high-quality resource, you can reuse it year after year.

18.) Use Humor (appropriately). Sometimes the only way to get through things are through humor. While I know that I shouldn't have to say it in this post, it is tips for new teachers so maybe it's not thought of. Anyway, sarcasm is not humor nor understood by children. Avoid humor that is inappropriate, offensive, disrespectful, or could even be misconstrued as such.

19.) Emphasize Growth over Grades. I'm not saying grades are not important, but it's essential that we focus on student growth and progress rather than just a final grade. While a jump from a C to a C+ looks like very little, the movement in growth could be HUGE.

20.) Prioritize Equity and Inclusivity. Create an inclusive and equitable learning environment that recognizes and values the diversity of your students. Use culturally responsive teaching strategies to ensure that all students feel welcome and supported in your classroom. Celebrate the diversity of your student by honoring their backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.

21.) Encourage Student Ownership of Learning. Right now apathy is widespread among students. We need to encourage students to take ownership of their learning by setting goals, monitoring their progress, and reflecting on their achievements. Provide opportunities for student choice and collaboration to help them feel more invested in their learning.

22.) Use a Classroom Management System That Works. At one time we used classroom management systems that would be considered embarrassing and punitive today. It has been determined that positive behavior management strategies such as positive reinforcement and restorative justice can be more effective measures for promoting positive behavior in the classroom. However, different teachers have different classroom management styles that work best for them. Experiment with different strategies and find the ones that work best for you and your students.

23.) Build Relationships with Your Students. Along with getting to know your students, it's essential to create relationships to show that you care about their well-being and success. The well-being of the students is a top priority and students should know that you care about their physical, social, and emotional well-being. Students are more successful when they feel liked and supported. This post provides some steps to Building Relationships with Students.

24.) Build a Support Network. This is especially important your first year when you navigate the ups and downs of teaching. Build a supportive network of colleagues, friends, mentors, and family members who can provide guidance, advice, support, and just be a sounding board to listen or comfort you when you need it.

25.) Make Learning Fun. For some reason over the years I have felt like the word fun was not allowed because if you're having fun then you aren't teaching or the kids aren't learning. In fact, it's like you have to replace the word fun with "engaging" so it's more appropriate. This is absolutely not true. One of the best tips for new teachers I can give is that students can learn and have fun at the same time. You are allowed to create lesson plans that are fun! Learning should be fun and engaging, especially for elementary students! Use games, puzzles, and other activities that make learning enjoyable and memorable.

While I could likely keep going on my list of tips for new teachers, I felt I needed to stop. I wouldn't want you to feel overwhelmed just reading a list! Just do the best that you can and realize that will make mistakes. As the first year progresses, you will learn who you are as a teacher and what works for you. Each year will get easier and no matter what, you will love what you do, the children you have, and the difference you make each day!

Thank you for choosing this rewarding career! May your first year be the best.

Consider checking out my blog regularly for tips, heading to my TpT Store to purchase high-quality resources to help you get through the year, or if you teach math and science, join my email list for regular newsletters.

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I have compiled 25 quick and easy tips for new teachers to help you navigate the challenges of teaching. I remember when I started my career as a new upper elementary teacher; It was both exciting and challenging. As a new teacher, you may feel overwhelmed by all the responsibilities and expectations of your new ...

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Team, try these out. Students can use these for group/ class discussions. Maybe they might be having trouble organizing their thoughts... then BAM! They can look at these for a sentence starter!

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Cobbs - Conflict Resolution with a Wheel of Choiced

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Cobbs - Conflict Resolution with a Wheel of Choiced

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One year, when I was working as a principal, a group of 5th graders seemed to have conflicts many times a day. So much so that it made instructional time difficult, and recess breaks were full of incidents, both verbal and physical. Conflict resolution and management were challenging processes that always required the teacher's attention. Of course, there are some student issues and conflicts that will always need to be handled, managed, and resolved by an adult. But how can we set students up to resolve conflicts on their own (when appropriate), and why is this important?

Students will eventually need to resolve disagreements and issues independently as they get older. However, some minor conflicts are appropriate for younger students to resolve on their own after receiving tools, guidance, and modeling. One way to help them succeed is by giving them choices for healthy responses to conflict. A visual tool, like a Wheel of Choices, can work wonders! Let's explore how to get started with this tool.

Why is conflict resolution important?

Conflict and disagreement are a normal part of being human. Unfortunately, we all know this doesn't go away or decrease with age. And (unpopular opinion alert), it's important for students to know that they don't have to like, play with, or be friends with everyone in their class. However, regardless of friendship status, we must treat people respectfully and work through conflicts and disagreements in healthy ways. So, let's teach conflict resolution skills early on! Learning to effectively navigate conflicts sets students up for more success in life. It helps them:

Deepen relationships

Build resilience

Identify their feelings

Acknowledge the feelings of others

Gain confidence

Build leadership skills

Grow in empathy

Broaden perspectives

Achieve goals

Build active listening skills

And more

What is a Wheel of Choices?

A Wheel of Choices is a visual chart that provides students with healthy ways in which they can respond to and work to resolve conflicts. When a dispute arises, students can reference the wheel and choose a response to try. The goal of the Wheel of Choices is for students to eventually be able to resolve minor conflicts independently, confidently, and successfully. Here are ideas for introducing the wheel to students:

1. First, talk with your students about conflict. What is conflict? What conflicts have they experienced (without naming names)? How did they work through them? You can also discuss healthy and unhealthy responses to conflict.

2. Then, reiterate that conflict and disagreement are normal, and they aren't necessarily "bad"! When issues arise, it's an opportunity for growth that can help us learn about each other and ourselves.

3. Next, introduce the Wheel of Choices as a reference tool for students. You can introduce the whole wheel or add one strategy at a time, explaining each strategy and modeling them in brief mini-lessons. You could also brainstorm your own strategies as a class to add to the wheel!

4. As conflicts arise, begin prompting students to use the wheel. Work with them on choosing strategies to support them in resolving issues together. It may take trying several choices from the wheel to solve a disagreement, and that's okay!

5. After some practice and time working under your guidance, the students might be ready to try using the wheel independently.

Tips for Using the Wheel of Choices

After using a Wheel of Choices with the 5th grade students I mentioned at the beginning of this article, here are some things I'd recommend:

Role-play the different strategies with students.

Remind students that respectful dialogue is imperative.

Place a wheel in areas where conflicts tend to happen (playground, cafeteria, etc.).

Give each student their own mini-wheel.

Talk to parents so they can encourage using these strategies at home, too.

Be there for students during conflicts to guide them.

When appropriate, encourage independence.

Celebrate successful resolutions!

Example Use of the Wheel: Jose and Cassandra are arguing over whose turn it is to kick during kickball. Things are getting heated and escalating. Cassandra suggests they look at the Wheel of Choices to help them reach a resolution. Cassandra chooses "Make a deal." Jose has an idea! Since the two have different opinions, they could play Rock, Paper, Scissors (best two out of three) to decide who kicks first. Cassandra agrees to the deal. Jose wins two out of three. He kicks first, and Cassandra will go next.

Strategies on the Wheel:

The strategies shown on my wheel are not at all set in stone. Feel free to access the editable template and add your own strategies or ones that you and your students think of together! Let's explore the choices I included on my wheel:

Share. Listen. Restate. Explain how you're feeling. Listen to how the other person is feeling. Restate what they explained about their perspective to make sure you understand how they feel.

Take responsibility. Apologize. Make a change. If you make a mistake, own it. Say that you're sorry, but sorry isn't enough! Explain how you'll make a change.

Ask, "How can I help?" If a student shares how they're feeling, ask how you can help. Then, listen to what they say.

Give a bug and a wish. Share what's bugging you and then what you wish the other student would do. "It bugs me when you won't let me have the ball. I wish we could take turns!"

Brainstorm a solution. Work together to problem solve! Brainstorm ideas and pick one to try.

Ask an adult for help. If you need help solving a problem or are hurt, uncomfortable, or unsafe, go to an adult you trust immediately. Tell them what happened.

Use an "I feel" statement. Tell the other student how you feel and what made you feel that way. "I feel angry when you won't let me have the ball."

Decide to let it go. Think about what happened. Sometimes, if it's a small thing or an accident, you can make a choice to let it go and move on.

Make a deal. Work together on a compromise! Find a win-win deal that will work well for everyone.

Cool off! Then, come back to the wheel. Sometimes, taking a break and some deep breaths is good before trying to resolve a conflict. If you need a minute to think and cool down before you can speak respectfully to a student, take the time you need!

End with a... Once a conflict is resolved, choose how you will show it! End with a high five, a hug, or a handshake to show it's over and you worked it out.

We saw a lot of success in resolving conflicts using the Wheel of Choices! Every resolution was celebrated, and students were proud to take ownership and become more independent problem solvers. It's very brave to be vulnerable and share feelings with another person, whether you're an adult or a child. However, learning to do so at a young age can build confidence and resilience when students recognize they can overcome difficult situations. What do you think? Is this something you might try with your students? Are there any strategies you would add to the wheel? Share them in the comments!

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A Wheel of Choices for Conflict Resolution

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Wanting to work with your students on conflict resolution? Try using a Wheel of Choices with healthy strategies for them to choose from!

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Cobbs- 8 Tech Projects for Differentiated Learning 

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Cobbs- 8 Tech Projects for Differentiated Learning 

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Cobbs- Five Digital Tools for Note-Taking and Outlining 

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Cobbs- Five Digital Tools for Note-Taking and Outlining 

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Do students sometimes have trouble with annotating? Try giving them an annotation bookmark to assist them with talking important notes.

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Team, you can use these for Bell Ringers or Warmups to help students with their editing skills. Check it out!

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Cobbs- 10 Questions Teachers Can Use to Monitor their Own Behavior

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Cobbs- 10 Questions Teachers Can Use to Monitor their Own Behavior

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Are you unwittingly contributing to your students' behavior challenges??? Use these questions to check yourself.... Let's all encourage more POSITIVE BEHAVIOR!

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Cobbs- Questions for Instructional Coaching

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Cobbs- Questions for Instructional Coaching

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Sometimes students need a little brain break/ educational game break. Let them play an educational game for 5 min then it's back to business.

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Suitable for grades 2 - 6, Grammar Gorillas lets you select the correct part of speech to feed the gorillas & to win. Play Grammar Gorillas online, here.

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Free educational word games for children. Our language arts games Online reinforce the skills that are vital to elementary students. We offer many spelling and word activities.

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I love, love, love this website! You can customize your own BINGO cards and you can print them off or students can play virtually.

Try Creating a Literary Elements BINGO and review academic vocab and definitions with your students!

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Make printable and virtual bingo cards

Make your own bingo cards with this free, simple app. Our bingo card generator randomizes your words or numbers to make unique, great looking bingo cards. Watch a demo.

To make customized 1-75 or 1-90 number bingo cards please use our 1-75 Bingo Generator or our 1-90 Bingo Generator.

Next Step "

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myfreebingocards.com - free custom bingo card generator

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Create randomized printable and virtual bingo cards for free in seconds with our bingo card generator. You can customize the title, background and content.

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Please use this resource when creating STAAR Aligned question stems.

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Please use this resource when creating STAAR Aligned Question Stems.

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This is vital information not only for new and novice teachers, but also for veteran teachers as well. Team, check out this resource to improve classroom instruction.

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Cobbs- 8 De-escalation Tips for Teachers

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Cobbs- 8 De-escalation Tips for Teachers

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Team, let students explore their creative side with this storyboard generator! If you haven't done so already, try it out!

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Storyboard That: Free Online Storyboard Creator

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Storyboard That: Create free storyboards online with ease. Design visuals, comics, and graphic organizers. Try it now and start creating!

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Team, this is a great resource to use for teaching/ reviewing Grammar and Language Conventions with your students! You definitely need to check this website out!

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The tadpole of punctuation, the comma separates single words, phrases, and clauses into manageable chunks so that readers can more easily absorb the ideas in a sentence.

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Informational Text Summary Graphic Organizer

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Informational Text Summary Graphic Organizer

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I found that my students responded well to this graphic organizer. I hope it helps! -- Dr. Hall

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Summary Graphic Organizer for Informational Text

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Cobbs- Questions to Ask/Answer during a check-in meeting. (Team Leads, this is for you!)

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Cobbs- Questions to Ask/Answer during a check-in meeting. (Team Leads, this is for you!)

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Cobbs-Using Blooms to Create Higher Order Thinking Questions 

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Cobbs-Using Blooms to Create Higher Order Thinking Questions 

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Let's continue to increase the levels of rigor in our classrooms by creating higher order thinking questions to ask students. Check out this chart for assistance.

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Cobbs- Instructional Thinking Strategies & Activities 

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Cobbs- Instructional Thinking Strategies & Activities 

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Team, here are some great activities to help students track their thinking. Check them out!

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Often, the most successful activities in my classroom are those where we And because they have a clearer idea of how to do it, they produce make student thinking visible. Deeper learning happens when I pull back the curtain on the process students need to follow, so they can clearly see what needs to be done.
much better work.
In the past, whenever I gave students a complex task, like literary analysis, there was always a struggle. Some would sit there, somewhat paralyzed, because they just couldn't figure out where to start. Others would go through the motions, but just skate over the surface, missing many of the important elements of the text. Usually only a few would take off and give me amazing work.
Often I'd blame this on lazy thinking. However, once I realized that it might just be the result of the inability to "see" how to complete the task, I did something to change that. When I did, my students were suddenly feeling more confident and ready to work.

(the lesson plan for each one is part of my 👉🏻 Here are three of my favorite ways to do make thinking visible for my students Active Learning Exercises (Click for a preview and a FREE active learning exercise ):

Visible thinking activities for analyzing a text & providing support:

Literary analysis is far from easy for most of our students, so I make sure I scaffold the process with them. First of all, I model how to close read and give them lots of opportunities to collaborate with each other when they do. And, after we read a chunk of a text, we do activities that help them visualize the process of analysis.
For example, after we read a section of The Book Thief I asked students to decide which elements of the section were most important. I assigned each group one of these sections and had them brainstorm assertions that stated the purpose of the section.

They chose their best one and wrote it on a piece of 11 x 17 paper. Then, they began adding evidence to support the assertion.

After several minutes, I they passed their sheet to the next group, who had to add more evidence to the sheet. And, if they didn't like the original assertion, they wrote a new one on a sticky note and added it to the poster.

We did this a couple of times, and each time, the new group used a different colored marker, so I could see who did what. When they were all done, the students could
Finally the poster went back to the original group, so they could see what was added. Then, each student had to choose one quote from the page and write a statement that explained how it supported their statement about author purpose.
see the process that they need to follow to fully develop an assertion with multiple pieces of evidence.

Creating a mind map for visible thinking:

One of my missions this semester was to get my IB students to zero in on key facts in a section and to make their assertions about the text based on those facts. I want them to learn to filter what's important for understanding author purpose, so they can get better at taking notes while they read. They've worked a lot on this, and when they finished
The Book Thief , I had them use key facts to create a mind map to help them figure out Zusak's purpose in the last few sections of the novel.

We began the activity with the students brainstorming the key facts from the section. Then they chose the ones they believed to be most important and wrote them on the "key fact strips" I gave them.

Next, I explained that I wanted each group to create a mind map poster, one that would take a viewer through the group's thought process as they tried to decide on the overall purpose of the section. I told them they could put the poster together whatever way they wanted, but the assertion should be at the top, and they needed make their thinking very visible.

Not surprisingly, they all had a very similar assertion, but it was fascinating to see how they all explained it, and which facts and evidence they chose to use as support. Their approaches to creating the poster were different too, but regardless of how they did it, each group was actively thinking, discussing, and learning as they did their mind maps.

When they finished, each group did an informal presentation of their poster to take their classmates through their thinking process, and by the time we were done, everyone had a much better understanding of that section of the novel.

Hexagonal thinking:

Another visible thinking strategy I used during our study of The Book Thief was hexagonal thinking, a powerful strategy to get students to see the connections in their texts. ( Get your version here).

I gave each group a set of shapes with the names of major characters, themes, and events in the middle of them. Each student had to randomly grab three to five of them and put them together on a sheet of paper (they did not glue them down). Then, they had to brainstorm all of the connections they could see.

After they did their individual work, they shared their ideas with group members. At that point they tried to find other connections and put these shapes together in the middle of the group.

When they finished I asked them to decide which was the most interesting connection and to share it with the group.

Because they will need to write a compare and contrast essay at the end of the term, I added another layer to this, and gave each group a handful of shapes, in different colors, from the other two texts we've read ( Night and Antigone). Then they had to try to add at least one of them to the connections they'd found in The Book Thief.

As they did this, they wrote down the connections they found and we repeated the process above. Want to try it with your students? Each of these activities was effective for the same reasons: they allowed the students to clearly Click here.
see a learning process in a way that just talking about text does not. Also, the kids love the interactive nature of these activities, so it really ups the engagement factor!
UPDATE: here's a new one I tried in 2021 - and another one!
What are your favorite visible learning activities? Let us know in the comments! And, if you'd like a whole pile of active learning lesson plans, click here or

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Often, the most successful activities in my classroom are those where we And because they have a clearer idea of how to do it, they produce make student thinking visible. Deeper learning happens when I pull back the curtain on the process students need to follow, so they can clearly see what needs to be done.

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Five Ways to Make Awesome Stations Lesson Plans!

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An overview of strategies to use when planning a stations lesson in your secondary classroom. Includes 5 important questions to ask and help in how to planning a great lesson.

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The Big List of Teacher Reflection Questions.pdf

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Over 40,000 eBooks for Students to Choose from 

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Over 40,000 eBooks for Students to Choose from 

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Try setting up your classes so students can access over 40K eBooks to choose from! Reading is FUNDAMENTAL!

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Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

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Cobbs- 16 Anticipatory Ideas to "Hook" students at the beginning of the lesson

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Cobbs- 16 Anticipatory Ideas to "Hook" students at the beginning of the lesson

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Check out these apps and websites for cool and creative classroom timers!

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Keeping track of time can be a full-time job for some students in a group. Why not make that job easier with a countdown timer? Even as an adult, when leading workshop sessions and classroom activities, one app is close at hand for me: either the iPhone Stopwatch or a Google time keeper. Let's take a look at several free timer options you can use in the classroom. FREE is the key word for all time trackers on this list. Paid countdown timer solutions abound, like CountingDownTo or CountDownKings, but this list will give you quite a bang at no cost.

Hot Tip: Video Countdown Timers

Running a slide show and need an embedded counter? Give these YouTube videos a spin. You can insert them into your slide deck and play them as videos. Whether it's a 5 minute Mario Roller Coaster Countdown with Music, a simple 5-min timer, these are easy to use. Younger students may prefer this minion timer with...farts. There are many more of differing lengths.

1. Aftel.net

Koos Looijesteijn (@koos@octodon.social) created Aftel. It comes with a wealth of features! This countdown timer is adjustable, even after you start it. Need more or less time added to the count? Click on the plus or minus symbols. Need to pause the count? Use the PAUSE button or RESET to start over. This countdown timer is so well thought out that it will soon become your favorite.

Although it comes in stock grey, you can adjust the colors and make the background flash, play sounds, and enable dynamic background colors. What's more, you can start with a green background, then when a quarter of the total time elapses, it switches to orange. When a tenth of the time remains, Aftel will switch to red. While more features are present, it also stops your device from dimming or locking the screen. This can be a lifesaver in a workshop or class setting where you are walking the room.

2. Online Stopwatch

Online Stopwatch brings you their countdown timer. This colorful countdown timer offers full-screen mode, advertisements (ugh!), and numbered buttons. You can SET and CLEAR time presets. It also features a PAUSE button to make halting time easy peasy.

The only issue with this timer? Banner ads appear on the screen when you first arrive at the site. What's more, a banner ad continues to appear when the full-screen countdown timer is at work.

3. Live Countdown Timer with Animations

Wish you had something interesting happening on the screen during your countdown? Some may see this as a distraction, but Time and Date's countdown timer offers animations:

Once you select the theme from the thumbnails shown, you can customize components. Those components include Countdown Title, Month/Day/Year, Hour:Minute:Second, and Event Location. What's more, you can detail the font style as well.

This makes counting down to a date far in the future easy. Take a look at this birthday countdown:

This timer offers popular countdowns, too. Those include a countdown to the New Year, to an eclipse, or for a season (e.g. fall). This makes this timer one of the most versatile. While banner/side advertisements are present, full-screen mode eliminates most. You are also able to share links to timers on social media.

4. Tick Counter

Tick Counter offers countdowns to dates or time periods. It also makes it easy to load a background of your choice and change the color of the timer name, border, and digits.

After you make your countdown timer, you will be able to share a link to it. What's more, an embed code allows you to place it on a website. Instructions for other types of websites and platforms are available.

Various Web-Based Timers

As you might imagine, there are many timers that offer a wide variety of features. Here are a few of my favorites. Be aware that most, if not all, have advertisements. You will have to decide what is appropriate for your teaching and learning situation.

Toy Theater's Timer. This timer allows you to specify the shape of your timer. Shapes can be any geometric shape you choose, each a different color.

Egg Timer. With no built-in ads, this timer offers preset times for 5, 10, 15, 30 minutes. It also offers a few customization options.

Dayspedia. This website offers a stopwatch, online clock, timer online, and countdown timer. Other features appear on the website.

User-Configurable Countdown Timer. This timer from Harvey Mudd College is a javascript that runs in your browser. This means you could save it the HTML page for offline use.

While there are many other timers available for free, these are a few that jumped out at me.

Chrome Extension Timers

Let's take a look at some Chrome Browser Countdown Extensions. Here are a few you can try:

Of course, you can always rely on Google Search's built-in timer in a pinch. Or if all you have is your smartphone, ask Siri to set a timer or open the clock app (works on Android) to set a timer. I hope you find one (or more) from this list that serves you well!

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Need to keep track of progress towards a future date or measure time for a class activity? Try a countdown timer!

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Cobbs-Stems for Higher-Level Class Discussions

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Cobbs-Stems for Higher-Level Class Discussions

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Here are some idea to use when working on the grade level/content bulletin boards. Remember to complete by September 22nd! 😉

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101 Back-to-School Bulletin Board Ideas From Creative Teachers

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Superheroes, Star Wars, s’mores, emojis, and more.

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Sentence Starters to prompt Classroom Discussions

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Sentence Starters to prompt Classroom Discussions

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Are students stuck?
Have students use a few of these sentence starters when they're writing their thoughts out..

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Cobbs- Simple Questions to Encourage Student Voice

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Cobbs- Simple Questions to Encourage Student Voice

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Cobbs- Strategies for Student Engagement 

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Cobbs- Strategies for Student Engagement 

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Team, take a look at some of these strategies. Use a few of these strategies to take your student engagement levels up a notch!

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What Is Active Learning?

Active learning is an approach to teaching that encourages students to engage in hands-on activities, problem-solving, and critical thinking. In an elementary classroom, active learning involves designing lessons that allow students to explore and discover new concepts through meaningful experiences. It is a student-centered approach that shifts the focus from the teacher to the learner, where the teacher acts as a facilitator rather than a source of information. Active learning promotes the development of important skills such as collaboration, communication, and creativity.

What Are the Benefits of Active Learning?

Active learning also involves giving students opportunities to reflect on their learning. This can be done through discussions, journaling, or self-assessment activities. Reflection on student learning helps students make connections between what they have learned and their own experiences, which can deepen their understanding and retention of new information. By promoting active learning in the elementary classroom, educators can create a more engaging and effective learning environment that fosters creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration among students.

How Does Active Learning Help Students Meet Their Learning Objectives?

Active learning strategies help students meet their learning objectives in several ways.

First, active learning engages students as active participants in the learning process, which can increase their motivation and interest in the material. When students are actively involved in their own learning process, they are more likely to retain information and understand concepts. This can help them meet their learning objectives by improving their ability to recall and apply what they have learned.

Second, active learning methods and cooperative learning strategies often involve collaboration and communication, which can help students develop important social and interpersonal skills. By working with others, students can share their ideas, receive feedback, and learn from different perspectives. This can help them meet their learning objectives by improving their ability to work effectively with others and communicate their ideas clearly.

Third, active learning strategies often require students to apply their knowledge to real-world situations, which can further student learning and help them develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. For example, a project that requires students to research and propose solutions to a real-world problem can further student thinking and help them meet their learning objectives by engaging students in applying their knowledge in a meaningful way.

Finally, active learning strategies often provide students with immediate feedback on their learning, which can help them identify areas where they need to improve and adjust their learning strategies accordingly. This can help them meet their learning objectives by helping them identify and address areas where they need to improve.

Interested in a FREE PDF outlining 21 lesson hooks, 41 differentiation strategies, 24 assessment ideas, and 10 posters & exit tickets for active learning? Click here.

12 Examples of Active Learning Techniques to Start Using Today

Reciprocal Questioning

To implement reciprocal questioning in an elementary classroom, teachers can have students read a text or passage and then pair them up to take turns asking and answering questions about the material. Teachers can model the types of questions students can ask, such as clarifying questions or questions that require students to make connections to their own experiences. Reciprocal questioning can also be used during class discussions, where students can ask each other questions to deepen their understanding of the material.

This strategy can turn a simple reading or traditional lecture into active learning with absolutely no prep work.

Game-Based Learning

For game-based learning, the instructor can use educational games or create their own games that align with the learning objectives. Teachers can also incorporate game elements, such as points or rewards, into other activities to increase engagement. Before playing the game, teachers can provide students with an overview of the rules and how the game aligns with the learning objectives. During and after the game, teachers can ask reflective questions to help students make connections between the game and the concepts being taught.

Teachers can also utilize websites that promote game-based learning such as the following:

You can also buy or create a jeopardy game that aligns with the course material so that students can practice skills together.

Check out a Jeopardy game for reading comprehension below. Click on the grade level you're looking for.

Peer Teaching

Peer teaching activities can be implemented by assigning small groups or pairs of students to teach a concept to their classmates. Teachers can provide resources and guidance to help students prepare their teaching materials and facilitate the teaching process. Teachers can also provide feedback to help students improve their teaching skills and ensure that they are accurately conveying the information.

Peer instruction helps students understand concepts better because they know they're in charge of teaching their peers, so they'll want to make sure they're prepared.

Role Play

To implement role play, teachers can assign students roles or characters related to the class content or concept being taught. Students can then act out scenarios that help them understand and apply the material. Teachers can provide guidance and feedback to help students accurately portray the roles and incorporate the learning objectives.

This is a great active learning technique for students who prefer to move around during learning or who like the theater.

Socratic Questioning

Socratic questioning involves asking open-ended questions that encourage critical thinking promote analysis and reflection. Teachers can model this approach by asking students questions that require them to analyze and evaluate the material. Teachers can also encourage students to ask each other questions during a class discussion or participate in small group activities.

Students learn better when they come up with the idea themselves, rather than being told a new concept by their teacher. Socratic questioning helps them do this.

Think-Pair-Share

Think-pair-share involves having students think individually about a question or concept, pair up with a partner to discuss their thoughts, and then share their ideas with the class. Teachers can provide clear prompts and questions to guide the thinking process and encourage students to answer questions and listen actively to their partner's ideas.

I have used this strategy the most because it requires absolutely no prep. I have also used this when I need a minute to prepare the next part of the lesson or when another teacher pops into my classroom for a quick question. It keeps students engaged, makes them think about the lesson, and gives me a minute to either give feedback or take a second for myself.

The Muddiest Point

The muddiest point is an activity where you ask students to write down the most confusing or difficult concept from a lesson or activity. Teachers can collect student responses during class time and address them during the next class, providing clarification and additional resources to help students better understand the material.

It can be interesting to see students' feedback. There have been times when I thought I was teaching a particular point very well, but after getting feedback from my students, I realized I was missing something in my instruction.

Three-Step Interviews

Three-step interviews involve students working in pairs, with one student interviewing the other about a topic or concept. Then, the roles are reversed, and the other student interviews the first student. Finally, the pair shares their new knowledge and ideas with another pair. This activity encourages collaboration, communication, and critical thinking skills.

This is similar to the think-pair-share strategy. It's fun to see students share new information with each other and get excited about what they're learning.

The Pause Procedure

The pause procedure involves pausing the class periodically during the course of a lesson or activity to allow students to reflect on and process the material. Teachers can use this time to ask reflective questions or provide feedback on student understanding.

This can definitely draw out your lesson timewise, but it is so cool to see how deep you can get your students to go with their learning when you give them space to process and reflect.

Summarization

To implement summarization, teachers can have students summarize the key points or concepts from a lesson or activity in their own words. This can be done through written summaries, one sentence summaries, class discussions, group work, a minute paper, or small group activities. Summarization helps students develop comprehension and retention skills by requiring them to synthesize and organize information.

Summarization is a great check-in before you continue your lesson. It gives you feedback as to whether your students are understanding the lesson, or if there's a gap that you need to go back and fill before continuing.

Problem-Based Learning

Problem-based learning is an active learning strategy that involves presenting students with a complex problem or real-world scenario or case studies that requires them to apply their knowledge and skills to solve problems and find a solution. This strategy promotes critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and collaboration, as students work together to analyze the problem and develop a solution.

To implement problem-based learning, teachers can provide a scenario or case study that aligns with the learning objectives and guides students through the problem-solving process. Teachers can also facilitate discussions and provide feedback to help students stay on track and ensure that they are accurately applying the concepts being taught.

This active learning strategy works particularly well at the end of a unit, where students can put their new learning into practice as they solve a real-life problem.

Provide Opportunities for Feedback and Reflection

Providing opportunities for feedback and reflection is crucial when using active learning strategies in the classroom. Teachers should create a supportive and non-judgmental environment where students feel comfortable giving and receiving feedback. Teachers can encourage feedback and reflection by modeling these practices themselves and by providing clear and specific feedback to students.

Feedback can be given in various forms, including verbal feedback, written feedback, or peer feedback. Teachers can also ask students to use self-assessment tools or rubrics to help students assess their own progress and identify areas for improvement.

Reflection is also an important component of active learning strategies. Teachers should provide time for students to reflect on their learning experiences and think about how they can apply what they have learned in real-world contexts. Reflection can be done through writing assignments, class discussions, or individual reflection activities.

Teachers can also guide students in setting learning goals and creating action plans for achieving those goals. By providing opportunities for feedback and reflection, teachers can help students develop metacognitive skills and become more self-aware and motivated learners.

Getting students to think about their own learning is a great skill that will help them throughout their academic lives.

Conclusion

Active learning is a student-centered approach to teaching that emphasizes hands-on activities, problem-solving, and critical thinking. Implementing active learning strategies in the classroom promotes collaboration, communication, and creativity among students, while also improving their ability to recall and apply what they have learned.

These strategies, such as reciprocal questioning, game-based learning, peer teaching, role play, and others, help students meet their learning objectives by engaging them in the learning process, developing their social and interpersonal skills, promoting critical thinking and problem-solving, and providing immediate feedback on their learning. Teachers can use these active learning techniques to create a more engaging and effective learning environment that fosters student success.

Further Reading:

Check out more information about these and similar strategies, on Prodigy's article here.

Find out how to engage your students from the beginning with lesson hooks here.

Learn how to differentiate content, process, product, and learning environment here.

What Is Active Learning?

Active learning is an approach to teaching that encourages students to engage in hands-on activities, problem-solving, and critical thinking. In an elementary classroom, active learning involves designing lessons that allow students to explore and discover new concepts through meaningful experiences. It is a student-centered approach that shifts the focus from the teacher to the learner, where the teacher acts as a facilitator rather than a source of information. Active learning promotes the development of important skills such as collaboration, communication, and creativity.

What Are the Benefits of Active Learning?

Active learning also involves giving students opportunities to reflect on their learning. This can be done through discussions, journaling, or self-assessment activities. Reflection on student learning helps students make connections between what they have learned and their own experiences, which can deepen their understanding and retention of new information. By promoting active learning in the elementary classroom, educators can create a more engaging and effective learning environment that fosters creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration among students.

How Does Active Learning Help Students Meet Their Learning Objectives?

Active learning strategies help students meet their learning objectives in several ways.

First, active learning engages students as active participants in the learning process, which can increase their motivation and interest in the material. When students are actively involved in their own learning process, they are more likely to retain information and understand concepts. This can help them meet their learning objectives by improving their ability to recall and apply what they have learned.

Second, active learning methods and cooperative learning strategies often involve collaboration and communication, which can help students develop important social and interpersonal skills. By working with others, students can share their ideas, receive feedback, and learn from different perspectives. This can help them meet their learning objectives by improving their ability to work effectively with others and communicate their ideas clearly.

Third, active learning strategies often require students to apply their knowledge to real-world situations, which can further student learning and help them develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. For example, a project that requires students to research and propose solutions to a real-world problem can further student thinking and help them meet their learning objectives by engaging students in applying their knowledge in a meaningful way.

Finally, active learning strategies often provide students with immediate feedback on their learning, which can help them identify areas where they need to improve and adjust their learning strategies accordingly. This can help them meet their learning objectives by helping them identify and address areas where they need to improve.

Interested in a FREE PDF outlining 21 lesson hooks, 41 differentiation strategies, 24 assessment ideas, and 10 posters & exit tickets for active learning? Click here.

12 Examples of Active Learning Techniques to Start Using Today

Reciprocal Questioning

To implement reciprocal questioning in an elementary classroom, teachers can have students read a text or passage and then pair them up to take turns asking and answering questions about the material. Teachers can model the types of questions students can ask, such as clarifying questions or questions that require students to make connections to their own experiences. Reciprocal questioning can also be used during class discussions, where students can ask each other questions to deepen their understanding of the material.

This strategy can turn a simple reading or traditional lecture into active learning with absolutely no prep work.

Game-Based Learning

For game-based learning, the instructor can use educational games or create their own games that align with the learning objectives. Teachers can also incorporate game elements, such as points or rewards, into other activities to increase engagement. Before playing the game, teachers can provide students with an overview of the rules and how the game aligns with the learning objectives. During and after the game, teachers can ask reflective questions to help students make connections between the game and the concepts being taught.

Teachers can also utilize websites that promote game-based learning such as the following:

You can also buy or create a jeopardy game that aligns with the course material so that students can practice skills together.

Check out a Jeopardy game for reading comprehension below. Click on the grade level you're looking for.

Peer Teaching

Peer teaching activities can be implemented by assigning small groups or pairs of students to teach a concept to their classmates. Teachers can provide resources and guidance to help students prepare their teaching materials and facilitate the teaching process. Teachers can also provide feedback to help students improve their teaching skills and ensure that they are accurately conveying the information.

Peer instruction helps students understand concepts better because they know they're in charge of teaching their peers, so they'll want to make sure they're prepared.

Role Play

To implement role play, teachers can assign students roles or characters related to the class content or concept being taught. Students can then act out scenarios that help them understand and apply the material. Teachers can provide guidance and feedback to help students accurately portray the roles and incorporate the learning objectives.

This is a great active learning technique for students who prefer to move around during learning or who like the theater.

Socratic Questioning

Socratic questioning involves asking open-ended questions that encourage critical thinking promote analysis and reflection. Teachers can model this approach by asking students questions that require them to analyze and evaluate the material. Teachers can also encourage students to ask each other questions during a class discussion or participate in small group activities.

Students learn better when they come up with the idea themselves, rather than being told a new concept by their teacher. Socratic questioning helps them do this.

Think-Pair-Share

Think-pair-share involves having students think individually about a question or concept, pair up with a partner to discuss their thoughts, and then share their ideas with the class. Teachers can provide clear prompts and questions to guide the thinking process and encourage students to answer questions and listen actively to their partner's ideas.

I have used this strategy the most because it requires absolutely no prep. I have also used this when I need a minute to prepare the next part of the lesson or when another teacher pops into my classroom for a quick question. It keeps students engaged, makes them think about the lesson, and gives me a minute to either give feedback or take a second for myself.

The Muddiest Point

The muddiest point is an activity where you ask students to write down the most confusing or difficult concept from a lesson or activity. Teachers can collect student responses during class time and address them during the next class, providing clarification and additional resources to help students better understand the material.

It can be interesting to see students' feedback. There have been times when I thought I was teaching a particular point very well, but after getting feedback from my students, I realized I was missing something in my instruction.

Three-Step Interviews

Three-step interviews involve students working in pairs, with one student interviewing the other about a topic or concept. Then, the roles are reversed, and the other student interviews the first student. Finally, the pair shares their new knowledge and ideas with another pair. This activity encourages collaboration, communication, and critical thinking skills.

This is similar to the think-pair-share strategy. It's fun to see students share new information with each other and get excited about what they're learning.

The Pause Procedure

The pause procedure involves pausing the class periodically during the course of a lesson or activity to allow students to reflect on and process the material. Teachers can use this time to ask reflective questions or provide feedback on student understanding.

This can definitely draw out your lesson timewise, but it is so cool to see how deep you can get your students to go with their learning when you give them space to process and reflect.

Summarization

To implement summarization, teachers can have students summarize the key points or concepts from a lesson or activity in their own words. This can be done through written summaries, one sentence summaries, class discussions, group work, a minute paper, or small group activities. Summarization helps students develop comprehension and retention skills by requiring them to synthesize and organize information.

Summarization is a great check-in before you continue your lesson. It gives you feedback as to whether your students are understanding the lesson, or if there's a gap that you need to go back and fill before continuing.

Problem-Based Learning

Problem-based learning is an active learning strategy that involves presenting students with a complex problem or real-world scenario or case studies that requires them to apply their knowledge and skills to solve problems and find a solution. This strategy promotes critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and collaboration, as students work together to analyze the problem and develop a solution.

To implement problem-based learning, teachers can provide a scenario or case study that aligns with the learning objectives and guides students through the problem-solving process. Teachers can also facilitate discussions and provide feedback to help students stay on track and ensure that they are accurately applying the concepts being taught.

This active learning strategy works particularly well at the end of a unit, where students can put their new learning into practice as they solve a real-life problem.

Provide Opportunities for Feedback and Reflection

Providing opportunities for feedback and reflection is crucial when using active learning strategies in the classroom. Teachers should create a supportive and non-judgmental environment where students feel comfortable giving and receiving feedback. Teachers can encourage feedback and reflection by modeling these practices themselves and by providing clear and specific feedback to students.

Feedback can be given in various forms, including verbal feedback, written feedback, or peer feedback. Teachers can also ask students to use self-assessment tools or rubrics to help students assess their own progress and identify areas for improvement.

Reflection is also an important component of active learning strategies. Teachers should provide time for students to reflect on their learning experiences and think about how they can apply what they have learned in real-world contexts. Reflection can be done through writing assignments, class discussions, or individual reflection activities.

Teachers can also guide students in setting learning goals and creating action plans for achieving those goals. By providing opportunities for feedback and reflection, teachers can help students develop metacognitive skills and become more self-aware and motivated learners.

Getting students to think about their own learning is a great skill that will help them throughout their academic lives.

Conclusion

Active learning is a student-centered approach to teaching that emphasizes hands-on activities, problem-solving, and critical thinking. Implementing active learning strategies in the classroom promotes collaboration, communication, and creativity among students, while also improving their ability to recall and apply what they have learned.

These strategies, such as reciprocal questioning, game-based learning, peer teaching, role play, and others, help students meet their learning objectives by engaging them in the learning process, developing their social and interpersonal skills, promoting critical thinking and problem-solving, and providing immediate feedback on their learning. Teachers can use these active learning techniques to create a more engaging and effective learning environment that fosters student success.

Further Reading:

Check out more information about these and similar strategies, on Prodigy's article here.

Find out how to engage your students from the beginning with lesson hooks here.

Learn how to differentiate content, process, product, and learning environment here.

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12 Active Learning Strategies to Engage Students - Teaching Heart & Soul

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Active learning isn't too far away with these 12 active learning strategies that support the learning process! Examples of active learning include class discussion, peer instruction, reciprocal questioning, game-based learning, Socratic questioning, exit tickets, and think-pair-share. Using active learning techniques encourage students to engage, solve problems, and collaborate with classmates.

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Cobbs- Reading Response Fiction Choice Board

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Cobbs- Reading Response Fiction Choice Board

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Cobbs- Reading Response Non-Fiction Choice Board

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Cobbs- Reading Response Non-Fiction Choice Board

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25 Activities to Use with Vocabulary Words/ Classroom Word Wall

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25 Activities to Use with Vocabulary Words/ Classroom Word Wall

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Spelling Bee

Hosting a classroom spelling bee is another activity that will reinforce the correct spelling of each word on the word wall. Splitting the class into teams and making it a friendly competition will increase engagement and participation. If students are not comfortable speaking in front of the class, or if you don't want to put students on the spot, you can transform the spelling bee into an oral spelling test.

Mind Reader

The essence of this game is for students to guess the word based on a series of verbal clues. In order to teach students how to play, start off by giving them clues and let them be the mind readers. After students have a clear understanding of the game, they can play on their own in pairs or teams. Sticking to a set number of clues for each word adds urgency and avoids boredom.

Keep it simple, and require students to use each word in a sentence. Placing the words in context creates relevance and cements meaning, making it an ideal practice activity for learning new words.

Matchmaking

The open-ended and creative nature of the matchmaking activity makes it a favorite for students. Essentially, there is never a wrong answer. Working in pairs, students make authentic connections between two words from the word wall. Building associations between words reinforces meaning and gives students a chance to work with each word in a low-stakes environment. You can assign word combinations or let students choose on their own.

Flashcards

Students create a set of flashcards for all the words on the word wall. The physical act of writing out each word and its definition will reinforce understanding and recognition. Plus, the flashcards can be used as a future study aid.

Fill-In-The-Blank

Synonyms and Antonyms

20 Questions

Pick one word from the word wall, but don't reveal which one. In order to guess the word, students are permitted to ask twenty yes or no questions. Based on answers to the yes or no questions, students try to determine the correct word. After learning how to play, you can break the class into pairs to play on their own.

Word Search

Make learning fun with a game of vocabulary charades. First, place students into teams. Next, call on a volunteer to act out the word from the list of word wall words. Teams can only shout out three guesses. The team that guesses correctly, earns a point. Game play continues in this fashion until all words have been played, or time runs out.

Flyswatter Splat

Another students favorite, flyswatter splat reinforces word meaning with engaging game play. First, list (or project) all words from the word wall on the board. Next, split students into two teams, and select a student from each team to be the first "splatter". "Splatters" stand next to the list of words on the board. The game begins when you read a definition of one of the word wall words. The first student to "splat" the correct word with the fly swatter earns a point for their team. Game play continues until all definitions have been read.

Acrostic Poems

In order to complete this poetry activity with your students, assign a word from the word wall to each student. Have students write the word vertically on a piece of paper. Each letter of the word will start a line to their poem. The poem must be reflective of the word's meaning. Lines can be made up of single words or phrases, and rhyming is not necessary.

Students match each word with its correct definition. Depending on existing knowledge of the words, students may need to use a dictionary to check their work.

Around the World
120 Root Words, Prefixes, and Suffixes Word Wall with Flashcards
Crossword Puzzle

Completing a traditional crossword puzzle will give students an opportunity to learn the definitions of each word. If you want to take more of a hands-on learning approach, you can let students manipulate the word wall words into their own crossword puzzle using letter tiles or letter cards. While this version doesn't necessarily reinforce the definition of each word, connecting and arranging the words will reinforce spelling.

Student Additions

When it is clear that students have a solid grasp of all the word wall words, give them the opportunity to add more words. Adding relevant words moves students from the basic levels of cognition to the more advanced levels of critical thinking.

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25 Vocabulary Activities To Use With Your Classroom Word Wall

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Make your word wall interactive! 25 engaging activities that will allow you to make the most of your classroom word wall.

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Bring a Character to Life (Optional Activity for Lab or Enrichment Classes)

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Bring a Character to Life (Optional Activity for Lab or Enrichment Classes)

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Team, here are some graphic organizer templates you can use for active learning.

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If you are a reader like me, you can read a few pages of a book, pause for a second, and come to the realization that you can't remember what you just read. Maybe you're driving somewhere, and for a split second, you forget where you are driving. These types of experiences can happen easily because we are not actively thinking. The same thing happens to learners in our classrooms. In order to avoid these situations and seek deeper learning experiences for students that help them retain information, active learning instructional strategies can be utilized.

What Is Active Learning?

Active learning is a term used to refer to instructional strategies focused on getting learners to actively process new information such as through reflection, collaboration, writing, and more. Through active learning experiences, learners can retain more information than through passive learning experiences, such as note-taking. So it is important that educators implement active learning instructional strategies to improve learning outcomes. For those wanting to learn more about active learning, visit Cornell's Center for Teaching Innovation.

Using Graphic Organizers for Active Learning (GOAL)

One easy way to incorporate more active learning strategies is through the use of graphic organizers. In order to make it easier for educators to find and use these resources, I designed a series of 80 "GOALs" or "Graphic Organizers for Active Learning". These GOALs are free, ready-to-use, and designed as dual-language resources. For districts such as ours in San Antonio, with 20% emergent bilinguals, it is crucial to have resources that are available in English and Spanish. The graphic organizer templates are organized into different themes such as problem solving, collaboration, SEL, writing, and more to simplify the process of finding the exact template you need for lessons. The templates are designed with fun graphics and are meant to be engaging to your audiences.

The Graphic Organizer Templates

Here is a menu of eight categories of graphic organizers. Each category contains 10 different designs to choose from. The designs are created in , an amazing design tool that is offering free services to K-12 schools. When you click on one of the designs, you'll notice an option to use the template in Canva, meaning you can customize the template to fit exactly what you need, or you can use it as-is. Be sure to create a Canva account if you don't already have one or talk to your district's IT department about setting up access for your entire district.

Graphic Organizer Formats

When ready, you can print the graphic organizer for your students as a PDF file, or you can use these files with the ed tech tools of your choice. Since the GOALs are designed in Canva, you can download a PNG or a JPG file in order to place the graphic organizer into popular tools such as Kami, , Seesaw, or . For those educators ready to app smash these templates into ed tech tools, here is a guide with short video tutorials to help you get started.

As educators, the instructional strategies we implement should seek to make learning more effective. Active learning can do this for our students, but it helps to have the resources we need to get started. It's an added bonus if the resources are free, too! Make active learning a "GOAL" in 2023 by downloading these templates today.

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80 Graphic Organizer Templates for Active Learning

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Did you know that using graphic organizers can promote active learning? Here are 80 free and fully customizable templates for you to explore!

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FIVE JAMBOARD BELLRINGERS TO START THE SCHOOL DAY

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FIVE JAMBOARD BELLRINGERS TO START THE SCHOOL DAY

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Team, here are some engaging ideas for Bell Ringers to start the year off. Take a look!

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Jamboard is such a good tool for creating quick, interactive activities to warm up students' brains at the beginning of class. I can't think of a better time to jump into a Jamboard than when the morning school bell chimes. Here are five bellringers that you can copy and run with!

This bellringer will really get your students thinking about making a choice. Similar to "Would you rather...", options include:

If you could only have one utensil, would you choose a fork, knife, or spoon?

If you could visit only one landmark would you choose the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, or the Great Wall of China?

If you could eat only one fruit, would you choose an apple, banana, or orange?

If you could eradicate a species of animal, would you choose alligators, snakes, or spiders?

Would you rather live in a skyscraper in a large city, a hut on the beach, or a castle in a foreign county?

Would you rather only eat tacos, pizza, or hamburgers for every Saturday meal?

Students will take a look at a picture and be challenged to consider what they see, what details they notice, and what they think is happening in the image with this bellringer. The Jamboard comes with a selection of post-it-notes that include the prompts:

I notice . . .

I wonder . . .

This makes me think . . .
Photos include:

Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo

Snow scene

Breakfast time

The Girl and a Bubble

A Road in the Desert

The Crown Fountain in Chicago

A Maker Costume

Each slide is a different color. Students think of one item for each color (banana for yellow, sky for blue, etc.) and either type it on a sticky note or in a text box. For a challenge, see if they can come up with different items for each color without any duplicates. When finished, they could also find an image to go along with the items they listed for an extended bellringer.

Share one of the quick debate topics, and students can pick a position and defend their decision. It's always interesting to hear the different arguments for and against! The 10 topics include:

Is a hotdog a sandwich?

Does a straw have one hole or two?

Is your thumb a finger?

Eat rice with a spoon or a fork?

Is chess a sport?

Should you eat ice cream in a cup or a cone?

Is cereal a soup?

Does a snake have a tail?

Is cheesecake a cake?

What is the correct way to put on socks and shoes? Sock, sock, shoe, shoe OR sock, shoe, sock, shoe.

There are 12 "This, Not That" puzzles to choose from on this bellringer. How does this work? Each frame gives five statements and you have to figure out from those statements what a person likes. For example, let's take Emily.

1. She likes minutes, not hours

2. She likes the Seven Dwarfs, but not Snow White.

3. She likes poems, not novels

4. She likes power naps, not dusk to dawn sleeps.

5. She likes skirts, not jeans.

If your reasoning led you to believe she likes things that are short - you are CORRECT! Sometimes these puzzles can be a little tricky. So teachers, if you do not have time to figure out the answer, email me at preimers@tcea.org, and I can send you the answers.

I know that educators are always looking ideas for bellringers. Please feel free to drop a link or comment in the chat if you have any to add. Let's ring that bell!

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Five Jamboard Bellringers to Start the School Day

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Here are five Jamboard bellringers you can use to get your students ready for the school day. Click the link, make a copy, and they're yours!