What's the Key to Student Learning? Earthworms!!!

Every year when I would teach my rocks and minerals/soil unit, the kids had fun. There are lots of great things to do, but something was missing. I wanted a "Wow" factor.  When I saw an article about using earthworms in the classrooms the lightbulb went off! That was it! I could use earthworms to grab my students' attention, and reach into every area of the curriculum at the same time!  

Using Worms in Science

1. Science:  Of course the first thought about using worms in the classroom is science. During our study of soil I set aside one special day to invite worms into our classrom.  I got nightcrawlers from the bait store, aluminum pans with high sides, aluminum foil, a misting bottle, and made sure paper and pencil was available. Worms are escape artists, so it's important to keep a lid on them that is secure, but has holes in it. I used a piece of aluminum foil or tight cling wrap secured tightly around each pan. I then put small holes in the top to let in air. I did this when we needed to leave the room for lunch or whatever. 

So, what to do?  

1. Prepare your kids for the big day. Put up a sign announcing the date. Discuss with students that the worms will be guests, and must be treated with respect. Any student who does not treat a worm like a respected living thing must sit out, and watch only. Students who don't want to touch them don't have to. They can just watch worm behavior. I've done Wonderful Worm Day with my kids for years, and I can say that by the end of the day EVERY kid, even the most squeamish, have not only touched the worm, but have become friends with them.

2.  Make sure you have a spray bottle of water. Worms need to be kept moist, but NOT wet. (think of all those worms on your driveway after a rain) I usually just walk around while the students are observing, and give a spray where needed.

3. Do observations of the earthworms. I get three or four worms for each groups of four to five students. Students can keep notes on worm behavior. First ask them to draw the worm in as much detail as possible. Discuss that each line, and feature should be in the drawing. Ask students which end they think is the head.  Next put a black piece of construction paper over 1/2 of the aluminum tin. Record what happens. Do worm research on the computer, then make a poster with a group.

4. At the end of the day, take the worms outside with students. Go to a nice grassy spot and sit the students in a circle. I usually have a circle of boys, and a circle of girls. Put the worms in the center on the grass. If you have a stop watch it's fun to time how long it takes the worms to burrow into the ground. If the ground isn't too hard it's pretty fast.

Take lots of pictures! It's a day your kids won't forget. My kids talked about it even on the last day of school as one of their favorite activities.

I've included some fun worm sites below! Enjoy!

The Adventures of Herman the Worm

Worm Arts and Crafts for Kids

Learn About Earthworms

Ok! Now that you have their attention! Time to take Earthworms into the rest of the curriculum!

1. Math: You have their attention! Now it's time to use their interest to draw them into math. Use your curriculum to make up story problems involving worms. You can using any math strand, just include worms! If you can find worm pictures to include on your worksheet, all the better! Ask your students to get with a partner and make up one great story problem involving worms. Then ask students to swap their question with another group's question.

2. Social Studies:  Ask students to do research on where different kinds of worms can be found.  There's a giant blue earthworm that lives in Borneo, and a worm discovered in 2007 that actually lives below the ocean's surface. There's LOTS of terrific worms out there! This would be a great research project. Students must also give a one paragraph description of the country/area where the worm is found.

3. Reading: There are great books out there about worms, both fiction and non fiction. They are great to use in guided reading, as a class read-aloud, or for individual research. Below are a few of my favorites.

An Earthworm's Live (Nature Unclose) by John Himmelman

Earl The Earthworm Digs for His Life by Tim Magner

Earthworms (Minibeasts) by Claire Liewellyn

Wiggling Worms at Work (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) by Wendy Pleffer

4. Writing: Once students know all about earthworms, ask them to make their own diary of a worm. They should write a diary that covers one week, including activities worms would experience.  Research is always a good writing activity. Once the research is finished, ask students to create a poster about what they learned. When the study of earthworms is concluded, ask students to write about what they learned, and what surprised them. 

If you would be interested in my "Wonderful Worm Day" resource that gives handouts, ideas, and everything you need to have to conduct your own Worm Day, Check out:

Here They Come!

It's almost that time again! Didn't the summer just start???? 

Get some inspiration and great ideas for those first days of school right here! 

Getting the room ready is always, always a biggy on my list. I want my students to feel at home the first time they come through the door! Once they are in the classroom, those first lessons are crucial for setting the tone! I hope the ideas, sites, and the freebie make this your best year yet!

First is the classroom! 

Until the classroom is ready,  I'm a little crazy.  Here is a Pinterest board with every idea you will need for decorating your door, bulletin boards or classroom organization throughout the year! Get ideas, ideas and more ideas!

Click Here

Next comes those first day plans!

Do you need first day activities your students will love? Try some of these:

1. True or false? Give your students ten true or false statements about your curriculum this year. Ask them to write their guesses on a piece of scrap paper. Choose your very best curriculum ideas for the true answers (special days, special lessons etc) , and some really grueling terrible things for false, (for example "you will need to stay after school at least one hour each week to do extra work throughout the year). It's a fun way to give kids an idea about great things to come this year, and give them a laugh at the false statments. 

2.  Ask students to make a self portrait with a sentence or two describing themselves. Make sure you make one of yourself too. These are great to mount on construction paper and put into the hall for open house.

3. Sticker Pals:  Have enough pairs of stickers to cover your class. As students come into the room on the first day put a sticker on his or her hand. Make sure another student has a matching sticker. Soon after entering the room (before the stickers fall off!) ask each student to find their sticker pal. They then interview each other for about five or ten minutes to find out their partner's name, hobbies, etc. When all interviews are finished get in a circle and have partners introduce each other. 

4. Write a "Dear Me" letter. This is a letter students write to themselves on the first day of school. They can discuss their feelings about starting the new year, what they expect to learn, what they think will be hard/easy, or anything else they would like to include. Give each student an envelope for their letter, and ask them to write their name on the envelope and seal it. Collect the envelopes and put them in a special file. On the last day of school pass the letters back to your students to read and discuss. They make a great discussion for that last day, when books are put away and there is little to do. This makes that last day meaningful and memorable. Just a note: When you get new students throughout the year, have them do the same "Dear Me" letter as they enter your classroom. That way they won't be left out. 

5. End the day with a great book! I always read "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry. It's about Sam from the moment he is born and what he thinks. It is hilarious, and with a little "hamming it up" when you read it, they will absolutely leave school the first day with a smile! I read it every day before they go home. It takes about a week or so to finish. When they find out there are a lot more "Sam" books they are off to the library to find them!

6. Toothpaste Challenge. This one is to teach respect and let students know that respecting each other is a requirement in your classroom. Divide students into groups of three or four. Give each group a small travel size tube of toothpaste and a paper plate. Ask each group to squeeze out every bit of toothpaste they can. Next ask them to use only a toothpick and get all of the toothpaste back into the tube. Of course they can't. Explain that the toothpaste is like the words we say. Once they come out of our mouth, they can't be put back in again. 

7.  Ice breakers! For lots of icebreakers and other first day activities download my FREEBIE  below. Just click the "click here" link at the bottom of the pictures. 

I hope you've found some ideas that can make this year start out better than any other so far! 

For other ideas in guided reading, science, social studies and more be sure to follow me on Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.com/janbernard10/

Insects, and Spiders, and Bugs OH MY!!!

Nothing grabs a kid's attention like a bug! 

If you are ready to start your insect and spiders unit I have some fun ideas below, plus websites and games that will add just a little bit of creepy crawly fun into your unit. Oh! Don't miss the Freebies!

Integrate, Integrate, Integrate!

Bugs and insects are more than just a science subject! The thing I love the most about the insect and spiders unit is how easy it is to integrate it into all of the other subjects. 

1. Math: 

It's really easy to make math story problems into bug problems. Any grade, and any strand of math can be made into great (and fun) story problems. Your kids don't like story problems you say...just wait until those story problems are about bugs! 

2. Social Studies: 

If you are studying a country, research insects and spiders that live there. How are insects used in that country? Are they eaten? Is there folklore about insects there? If you are studying economics, how do insects impact that countries economy in either good or bad ways. A google search will help you here. 

3. Language Arts: 

Stories (both fiction and nonfiction) are all over the place! A look in your school or local library will give you access to bunches!

 a.  Do a "Bug Book Tasting"  Get at least as many bug books as you have students. Scatter them around the room on desks, tables etc. Ask students to start at any book. They have two minutes to look through the book, read a couple of pages, then when the bell rings they move on to the next book. Do this about ten times. It will spur their interest in some of the books enough to make them want to read the whole book. This is fun to do with any topic. 

b.  Use insect/spider articles that are free online for guided reading. Copy and print enough copies of the article for all members of the group. Check readability by copy and printing text into:  http://www.lefthandlogic.com/htmdocs/tools/okapi/okapi.php  Make sure you click either spache for grades 1-3 or Dale-Chail for grades 4 and up. There are LOTS of sites online. Here are couple of good ones. 

This site is great for upper elementary. It's full of amazing fact articles kids will love.   http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/

This is a great video about the history of eating bugs!

That gives you a "taste" of what's online. There's articles for any reading level.

If you are studying any skill in grammar, add bug pictures to it and watch you kids eyes light up! Here are two freebies to stick in your bug unit! Click on the link below the pictures to pick it up for free in my store. 

4. Science:

Just reading the text book can be pretty dry, and suck the fun out of any unit. (sorry, is my bias showing??)  Adding kids' magazine articles, interesting facts and videos certainly help get the information through (even to those reluctant learners), but you need reinforcement too. Have you tried task cards? If not, think of them as a small "bit" of information at a time. For example, it could be a question with multiple choice answers. Some have an essay answer. The point is that the skill is broken down into tiny parts. That makes task cards much less intimidating than worksheets. They can be done alone, with a partner, in groups, or with a game. Try using a simple game like pick-up-sticks with your task cards. Students can only take their turn when they answer a question correctly. Making your own task cards works well when you want to tailor your cards to your curriculum needs. Use the free task card form below to make your own. Really, they are not hard!! Download the google.doc below and copy it as many times as you need to make 20, 30 or as many task cards as you like. Use a sharpie to write your questions, cut apart and laminate. They will last a l-o-n-g time! If you would like a set of task cards on insects and spiders that is already done (that includes a teaching unit) click Here

Click Here for the Freebie

Another fun way to reinforce information is through PowerPoints. If you haven't used PowerPoint before, don't let it intimidate you. It takes about 15 minutes to get the basics by just playing with it. A Powerpoint is fun to use as a class project. Show the slide and ask students to write the answer, then check the answer. They are a great way to test students too. It doesn't feel like a test. If you would like a PowerPoint on insects and spiders already done click Here

Adding activities and videos to your insect/spider unit really hikes up the interest level. Here are a few great sites.

And more (and more) great activities to add to your unit!

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson192.shtml

This site from National Geographic is FULL of great insect videos!

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/hubs/insects/

If you have any other ideas/sites for insects and spiders, be sure to list them below!!

Do you need a great resource for teaching about insects and spiders? Check out:

To get TONS of great ideas and freebies follow my Pinterest board at:

Dragons Den Curriculum on Pinterest

Cause and Effect: 5 Ways to Make Sure Your Students "Get" it!

Learning how to identify cause and effect relationships isn't only a reading skill for students, it's important in their lives every day! Without the ability to distinguish why things happen, students are at risk not only socially, but academically as well. They need to know that actions have consequences that can be either beneficial or very negative. Teaching students how to identify cause and effect in literature is the perfect way to link this understanding to their everyday lives. Without this ability, many students are oblivious as to why consequences come back to bite them.

In reading, understanding cause and effect relationships helps students not only remember what they have read, but helps them make connections between characters and events. That's all about comprehension!

What to do:

1. Make a habit of asking why things happen, not only as students read, but in the classroom as well.  Why wasn't there enough time to play the game? Why was there enough time to play the game? The day is full of opportunities.

2. Ask students to justify their answers to "why" questions. Find evidence in the text, list reasons things happened at school the way they did.

3. Play the "Why Did It Happen?" game. Download the freebie at the bottom of this page. Pull out one or two of the cards during the day, and list on the board events that could have caused it to happen. Most are very open ended. They are a perfect filler for that extra five minutes you get every now and then. You can make your own "Why Did It Happen?" game with any book your students are reading (or you are reading to them). List things that happened in the story and ask students to remember what caused the event to happen. These cards can also be used as a story starter in writing.

4.  Make sure students understand the vocabulary involved with cause and effect. Words like "influence", "as a result", and "consequence" are words that need to show up in every student's vocabulary. Signal words like "first", "second", "next" and "finally" also need special attention, as well as the words "because", "since", "therefore", "consequently" and  "therefore". Students need to know that these words signal a cause/effect connection.

5. Show students how to use graphic organizers and flowcharts  to help guide students into understanding the cause and effect of a particular event. To help students understand that a cause can have multiple effects, use 4th cause/effect page below.

Thanks to Graphics From the Pond http://frompond.blogspot.com for the frame used on two of the worksheets, and Ron Leishman http://www.toonclipart.com for the graphics!

The first two pages in this free download are "Why Did It Happen?" cards. Choose one or two a day and brainstorm with students the causes of each event. Discuss with students which cause is the most likely. These cards can also be used as story starters. Write a story that shows the causes of the event. The second two pages are cause/effect sheets that can be used when students are reading to find specific cause and effect relationships. Note that the last page allows students to list multiple outcomes from one cause. They are perfect for guided reading.  Click on the link below the pictures to download your freebie from Google.doc

Click Here

Do you need a great resource to help with your guided reading groups? Check out:

 

12 Ways to Keep the STRESS Out of Testing

It's about that time! The big end-of-the-year tests are about to hit your favorite classrooms all over the country. Many kids just roll right through them, but for many it is a very stressful time. We all know stress impacts how kids do on these tests, so it's really important for all of us to find ways to help keep kids stay relaxed. The truth is, some kids will always freak out with tests, but a few simple strategies may just help keep the "heebie jeebies" at bay!



1. Teach the art of taking an exam. Your students will take LOTS of tests in their student lives, it's important that they know how. Tips such as:  how to fill in the circle completely, how to eliminate answers that don't make sense, and just concentrate on the top two possibilities. Reading the questions at least twice  and every now and again check to see if the number of the question and the number on the answer sheet match. I ALWAYS had at least one student get "off" and need to take important time to fix their error. Talk about stress!!

2. Stay calm yourself. Kids pick up the anxiety and stress of the teacher, fear is infectious.. Yes, I know the implications of testing can be huge. (That's a blog post in and of itself....not a very nice one.) But stay calm and carry on.

3. When students come into school during testing week, have relaxing music playing and the lights a little lower than normal. For morning work do games, or other relaxing activities. Even pictures to color are a relaxing activity for most kids.

4. Try to find some way to make testing days special. My grade level team wrote a request to the PTA  to buy Chick-Fil-A sandwiches for all of the kids each morning of the test. I can tell you, every kid came to school all week thrilled that it was testing week. A hungry kid doesn't do well on any test. It doesn't have to be anything that big. One year I gave each student a mint at the beginning of the test. There was research at the time that the smell of mind helped clear the mind. That may, or may not, be true, but the kids looked forward to it, and it made the beginning of the testing session a little more fun. I also gave my students two recesses during testing week. They love that, and anything that relieves stress is good!

5. Before handing out the tests, do some deep breathing exercises and stretching. Your students have probably been sitting since they came into school, and even if that is only 20 minutes before the test begins, kids need some movement before they get to work.

6.  Start each testing session off with a joke. It can be dumb, that's ok. If you need some ideas go to: http://jokes4us.com/miscellaneousjokes/schooljokes/kidjokes.html  There's LOTS of sites to get kid's jokes on the Internet. You might even want to post one joke a day on the door for kids to read as they come in the door. Nothing relieves stress like a good laugh.

7. As you go from one section of the test to the other, make sure to do some form of movement. Tensing and relaxing different muscle groups is a great way to relax. I like to start with the face, and move down to the toes. This is a sure stress reliever!

8. Make sure everyone has at least two pencils. If you pass out pencils to students, make it more fun by telling them that you were very lucky to have found lucky pencils for them. They were created especially to help kids do well on tests. Say it with a quirky smile, and they'll enjoy the joke too-plus you never know.....

9. Make sure everyone has gone to the bathroom and has had a drink before test time. I forgot this ONCE....it never happened again.

10. Make a big deal about not giving homework during test week. Make it special in any way possible.

11.  When blood flow is low, concentration goes with it. Tell students to "shake a leg" if they are feeling tired during the test. Just bounce one of their legs for a minute or so.  This might be something you could practice on the days leading up to the test, so it's not a new idea and doesn't get "overdone".

12.  If there is time, review answers. Kids often get finished before time is up. Impress upon them how important it is to go over questions and reread the directions. It is amazing how many careless errors can be caught.

Follow me on Pinterest for LOTS of great ideas and freebies at:
https://www.pinterest.com/janbernard10/

If you want resources to use all year that help students prepare for that dreaded testing date, check out my store on Teachers Way Teachers. Click on the picture below!

Meet Children's Book Author, Jennifer Maschari

Image courtesy of Open Image Studio

The Remarkable Journey of Charlie Price by Jennifer Maschari  

Ever since twelve-year-old Charlie Price’s mom died, he feels like his world had been split into two parts. Before included stargazing and Mathletes and Saturday scavenger hunts with his family. After means a dad who’s completely checked out, comically bad dinners, and a grief group that’s anything but helpful. It seems like losing Mom meant losing everything else he loved, too.

Maschari's first book, "The Remarkable Journey of Charlie Price" is a suspenseful, amazing journey about finding the balance between remembering and moving on. It is a combination of fantasy and realistic fiction that pulls in all readers, but rings especially true for those children who find themselves in the same situation. 


If you have been looking for an author to Skype with, you can't do better than Jennifer Maschari! She offers a FREE 20 minute Skype session to classrooms, after school clubs, Girl and Boy scout troops, and book groups. If you are interested, click on this link to reach her blog and get all of the information you need: http://jenmaschari.com


The idea for the book came from her own experience. When she was in fourth grade her father became ill and passed away when she was 16. Her experience working through grief gives the book its authentic feel.

Students will be very interested in the editing and revising process authors go through. Her book went through many drafts. Maschari says that she found the job of the copy editor very interesting. It is the copy editor's job to sort through all of the little details, and make sure everything makes sense. She reports that the copy editor pointed out that Charlie had on three different outfits during one short period of time, so that had to be corrected. The copy editor also checks details like the time it takes to go from one place to another, and grammar.  Maschari is currently working on her second book, and has already rewritten all of it expect 12 pages. Revising is not easy! That book will be out sometime in 2017.

Jennifer Maschari started writing when she was four years old. The first book she remembers writing was based on the book "Corduroy" She remembers that her mother put plastic wrap around the first and last pages, so it looked like a book. She continued writing in elementary school. She wrote poems in the style of Shel Silverstein, and lots of stories. She has one book that she wrote, but has not been published that I personally have read. It's hilarious, and one I hope will be published at some point.

For those teachers who have their own book they would like to publish, Jen reports that the most important factor in getting published for her was joining an on-line writer's class through Media Bistro. It helped her become a better writer, and helped her make important connections. She also suggests reading lots of current children's books to see what is going on in publishing. She says that it is important to focus on improvig your craft.

If you have read "The Remarkable Journey of Charlie Price" be sure to leave a comment below! It is remarkable indeed!

Rounding Freebies, plus Links and Games!!

Here I am in Ohio in April looking at snow.  Sigh.  I decided to cheer myself up by making a couple of buggy rounding printables that kids will really enjoy. The first one is for tenths and hundredths, the second is for hundredths and thousandths. Both include a grading key...it saves valuable time when grading! Students can color the pictures once they have finished answering the questions. Thanks to Ron Leishman for the terrific clip art! Now, if we can only get a few real bugs here in Ohio, I will not complain!! Just click on the link below the printables.

Click Here for Freebies

Games are always a fun way to reinforce rounding skills. Here are a few of my favorites!

This site has a number of fun rounding games for third and fourth grade, correlated to the Common Core!

Click Here

This fun games is correlated to the Common Core for third, fourth and fifth!

Click Here

LOVE this one because you can choose to use decimals or not!

Click Here

Hope these resources are helpful! Rounding takes a lot of practice, might as well make it fun!

Need a great rounding resource that your kids will love? Check out: 

Follow me on Pinterest to get LOTS of great ideas and freebies! https://www.pinterest.com/janbernard10/