Category: Uncategorized

Mindful Eating: A Talking Point Lesson & Activity

Talking point lessons may just become a reoccurring series!  I love when I stumble upon a topic that is both interesting and engaging, but doesn’t require a lot of time and effort. These types of lessons are great for sub plans, unexpected assemblies, early dismissals or weather delays that can wreak havoc on keeping classes on the same timeline. Many districts are requiring teachers to present their students with e-lessons on snow days.  What better way to do this than with a talking points lesson that you can cater and adapt to your needs!  This lesson and activity revolve around “mindful eating” because most of us often do the opposite!  So, learn more about how you and your students can become more mindful of your eating! On a side note, if you have a topic that might lend itself well to a talking points lesson and/or activity, please let me know in the comment section below and I’ll see what I can do!

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A Child Called It : Teaching Activities

I have been incorporating the novel A Child Called It into my curriculum for at least 15 years. During that time, I have developed and/or accumulated many resources that reinforce the events and themes of the novel.  This unit takes me 2-3 weeks to teach, depending on the projects I choose to assign from the below list.

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: An Interactive Lesson

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is one of those theories that is so versatile that it can be taught in a variety of ways and in a variety of classes. I know personally I’ve taught it in my child development course revolving around an infants needs and in housing lessons regarding how homes meet our needs. I also teach this concept in my Individual & Family Studies course when talking about what drives our behaviors, goals and even our decisions.  The interactive lesson that ensues is the one I use in that class. It was set up to also include some reading and writing strategies and techniques because, in our school, we all have to help reinforce these concepts so that our school scores improve. However, I did also include some “hands-on” activity with play-doh as well as some technology because…it’s always fun to mix those two mediums together!  Have fun and see if your students enjoy learning about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs!

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Ageism Lesson Plan

Aging is an event that happens to all of us, whether we like it or not! Students are often uncomfortable talking about aging because they fear it and, not only do they want to avoid it, they often think it won’t happen to them. They often view aging only from the physical perspective…little do they realize that it’s already happening to them in other ways. This lesson encourages students to view aging biases that are out there, including some they might hold and others that may have been directed at them! It doesn’t take long for students to see the similarities between the young and the old!

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Insurance Lessons for Middle & High School Teachers

This lesson plan, shared by Taylor Covington of The Zebra, introduces students to a broad overview of insurance. The concept of this website is to make understanding insurance as ‘black and white’ as possible, hence the name ‘zebra’. At the end of the lesson, students will be familiar with basic insurance terms and concepts. This curriculum will provide supplemental information for a unit on Personal Finance. The lesson can be covered in two 50-minute class periods, and hopefully, is as easy for the teacher to follow as it is for the kids to learn!

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The Basics of Soup!

Did you know that January is National Soup Month?  Soup is the perfect comfort food for a typically cold, winter month or any other day for that matter!  To celebrate this meal which has so much to offer in the way of health benefits, versatility in its types, and cultural ties, I’ve created a Hyper-Slide of activities to help students learn more about soup.  Read on to see how you can add a mini soup unit and lab to your repertoire!

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Happy New Year!

  Wishing you and yours a joyful and restful holiday season! We would like to take this time to thank you for visiting our website this past year along with your contributions, suggestions and comments! May we continue to be…

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Parental Feeding Styles

Until recently, I wasn’t aware that the parenting styles affected anything other than how children are treated in regard to following rules, handling misbehavior and discipline. Well, it turns out that parental feeding styles can also be applied to the way that eating patterns and habits are managed with children. This lesson incorporates this information and has students researching strategies to help children develop a healthy relationship with food. So, read on to learn more about how you can teach this concept and theory in your child development, parenting or nutrition classes.

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Masks, True Identity & Healthy Relationships

It all started with a give away! Twisted Boards was giving away 3-D boards resembling masks. All I had to do was share back how I used them in my class. My students are still talking about this lesson…to me, to their peers and to other teachers! Since completing this lesson and project, I’ve seen a significant difference in my students as well. Many are coming out of their shells, volunteering to go first in oral presentations, sharing more about themselves and more importantly connecting the concepts to other lessons! Read on to see how I incorporated these masks/boards into my curriculum.

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Characteristics of Development: Station Activities

After teaching about P.I.E.S: The Areas of Development, I move directly into the characteristics of development because they tend to go hand in hand. This concept seems to be a bit more difficult for my students to wrap their brains around, so to help them better understand, I have  interactive stations set up throughout the room that they work through, completing activities that mirror each of the characteristics.  Students must utilize their notes to help discern between the answers. Students enjoy completing the activities and after discussing correct responses and showing the connections, most students have an easier time with the practice scenarios that follow.

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