Author: K.Graybill

Kim Graybill is a veteran Family and Consumer Science teacher who teaches both middle and high school in Pennsylvania.

Towering Block ZONK Review Game

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There’s an App in the iTunes store called the “Zonk Review Game”. It looked like a fun, interactive game. Unfortunately, there was a small fee to purchase which made it a “no go” for me as my school district doesn’t pay for Apps. I started asking myself how I could adapt this game using games I already had…and guess what? I figured out that I could use my towering block games as a substitute for the digital game. The beauty of this adaptation is that it’s still interactive, still competitive and easy to create and use. And if that wasn’t enough…this activity gets bonus points because I can reuse it over and over again in any content area. Read on to find out how you too can adapt and create this game for your own classroom review games.

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Chicken Tender “Chopped” Challenge

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What is it about cooking challenges that gets students so excited?  In my Career & Consumer Sciences class, my students always want to know if we are going to cook!  In order to prepare them for adulthood and living on their own, I do incorporate some survival cooking!  I try to teach them basic skills, preparing foods or meals that have a lot of versatility or options!  My students love chicken tenders and so this challenge was well received and gave them some different ways of preparing chicken tenders using the same four ingredients. Of course, you don’t have to limit this challenge to one specific class or age group as it would work well with junior high level students too because of it’s simplicity!

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Teen Living Website

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Teach a Teen Living course and looking for current materials? Be sure to check out Pat Papazoglou of Beloit, Wisconsin. In this post she shares her Teen Living website with us which focuses extensively on middle school curriculum. Her outstanding website covers a lot of different topics from money management to textiles and sewing to child care and family!

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Activities for Teaching About Identity Theft

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In today’s day and age where so much of what we need to do requires us to use personal information, it’s critical that we teach students about protecting themselves from identity theft.  In this post I will share some of the resources and activities I use with my students when teaching this topic. What I especially like about what I’m about to share is the project extension menu that allows students to have a choice in the way they choose to complete their final project.  Because of the personal choice option, students can choose according to their ability, their learning style and their knowledge of technology…and personally, I think I get better projects because I’m letting them decide!

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Fruit Lesson & Galette Lab

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Consumption of fruit in the daily diet is important for all age groups!  What’s to love about fruit?  A lot actually!  Fruit is available in many forms from fresh to frozen to canned and even dried.  Fruit is a nutrient dense, low calorie food that can be eaten alone as a snack or incorporated into a meal or dessert.  Fruits can be eaten raw or cooked and there are so many to choose from, some more seasonal than others!  This fruit lesson focuses on the classification of fruits, how to select quality fruits and explores enzymatic browning. It also features delicious galette labs.  Galettes are unique to most students and a little different than making pies, but they are easy to make and amazingly delicious especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!

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Escape the Pay Check Conundrum

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Back again with another breakout style review activity!  This time the escape or breakout centers around pay check deductions and math calculations.  Created because, honestly, even though teaching about pay checks is important, it can be boring!  This review jazzes things up because student teams are competing against each other as well as the clock to get to the prize box!  In the process, they are honing their math skills.  Win-win for those of us who need to incorporate core concepts into our curriculum!  The beauty of this breakout is that it can be done both with locks and boxes if you have them or digitally if your don’t!

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Children & Self-Esteem

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Teaching students about self-esteem is important at any age, but it’s super important to emphasize how critical it is to a child’s development. In this lesson I share some ideas and activities that help students understand what self-esteem is, the difference between positive and negative self-esteem, how it’s developed, why it’s important and who/what helps to influence it. So, read on to learn more about this lesson!

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Evaluating Children’s Books

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Hands down…teaching about literacy and all that it entails is one of my most favorite concepts to teach in child development!  Maybe it’s my love of reading, my love of great children’s books or my love of seeing children engaged in reading great children’s books!  Either way, it’s an engaging and fun unit to teach and share with my students.  In the past I’ve shared many posts about literacy and reading to children, but I have never shared my lesson on evaluating children’s books.  Read on to learn more about this lesson!

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SKETCHNOTES: The “Magnificent 7” Baking Ingredients

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After reading Tisha Richmond’s blog & book titled, “Make Learning Magical”, I wanted to give sketchnotes a try. The problem was, finding a good topic. In addition, I wanted to amp up the excitement to get my students to buy into the concept.  Since there are 7 baking ingredients, I decided to call them the “Magnificent 7” because of how well they work together, similar to the characters in the movie of the same name. The first day of sketchnotes was met with mixed reviews….some students grumbled, while others really got into it.  Later, some of the students who were a bit skeptical said they actually liked it and found it relaxing! I loved that my students bought into this concept and I have to admit they were fun to grade!

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A Twisted Love Poem Activities & Updated “No One Would Tell” Resources

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Ever feel like you need to breathe new life into some of your units?  That’s just how I felt with some of my dating violence activities! Not that they still weren’t great activities, I was just getting tired of using them and needed something fresher. In this post you will find a few of the new activities and resources that I created that involve a poem, a teen girl visual and an updated movie for use in this unit. So, choose one, two or all three to try out the next time you teach about dating violence!

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