December can be a very difficult time of the year to teach and keep students engaged as there is usually alot going on! That’s why it’s even more important to assign activities or projects that will keep them focused and on task. The beauty behind the Gifts That Keep On Giving project is that it is very hands-on and helps you at the same time create a wall display or bulletin board that is informative, colorful and festive for the time of the year!
Another great lesson coming your way from Katelyn Propper is about Target Groups & Children’s Books. Katelyn uses this in her Understanding Diversity class. The lesson explores what target groups are, characteristics of them and who they are made up of before assigning a project using children’s books. Read on to learn more.
We are all born with characteristics that influence our behavior, mood, disposition and adaptability to our environment; AKA “temperament”. The focus of this lesson titled, Infant Temperament, is to help students understand what it is, how it is determined and how it applies to parenting and babies in very engaging ways.
How many of you remember playing Simon Says when you were young? Or using your imagination in pretend play activities? Both of these activities have deeper developmental benefits for children than most realize. Following Directions & Pretend Play focus on these two important developmental tasks and how they can impact success in educational settings. Read on to learn more!
For years I found teaching about Consumer Rights dry and boring, and so did my students! That all changed when I figured out how to make teaching about the Consumer Rights more engaging. So, here you have it: a variety of different activities to make this important topic more interactive! Note: This post is just to introduce students to their consumer rights. There will be additional posts coming that have students applying the consumer rights information to other content areas.
Ultra-Processed Foods…talk about a topic that is in the news regularly…this is it! To help students learn more about Ultra-Processed Foods, I’ve created a variety of activities around the topic including chat stations, a drag and drop food sort, a dilemma for students to investigate and even a flashslide and warning label follow-up. Pick and choose or do them all!
Many schools are teaching a course around the priciples of education and cover the pioneers of education. Sometimes teaching about “famous” people can be dry and boring, so why not add an element of competition and gamification to jazz it up! The Great Race: Pioneers of Education places the learning in the hands of your students! The activity is from EduProtocol Field Guide (called The Great American Race). Students are responsible for preparing the clues for the race and then compete individually or in groups to see knows their pioneers the best and is the first to successfully complete the race!
Set the tone of your class by engaging students right off the bat! Try using one of the “Guess Who? Games”, especially if you teach a food, fashion or child development class. These games get them thinking creatively, communicating and moving pretty quickly. Not only will you set the stage to the type of classroom you will run, but it let’s them know that your teaching style is probably very different than most typical classrooms!
The first week of school can be a bit chaotic until rosters are finalized! Because of this, many teachers wait to start actual course content until then and fill in with a variety of team building or get to know you types of activities. With the Invention Mash-Up, students can have fun being creative, collaborating and communicating as they design a new product! Read on to see what this is all about.
I know it’s only July, and it’s summer break, but I want to share a beginning of the year, Get to Know You Action Figure Activity with you. This activity will help you not only ease back into the school year, but help you get to know your students more quickly and give you an instant bulletin board to boot! It also is a fun way to use AI in a creative, meaningful way….check it out!
