April is National Autism awareness month so I thought it would be a good time to share a mini-lesson on the subject. The Autism Mini-Lesson gives an overview of Autism, dispelling the myths from the facts and culminating with an awareness project. This would be a great addition to your disabilities unit or use as a stand alone for your child development or parenting classes.
Earth Day is right around the corner and if you’re in need of a lesson and activity around sustainability, then you definitely want to check out “Which Bag is Best?”. In this lesson, students explore various types of bags and then use their critical thinking skills and the decision making model to make an informed decision. Additionally, students will make an earth-friendly repurposed bag from a t-shirt in class that can be used for their gym clothes or shopping. Don’t have sewing machines? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered!
When teaching about healthy dating relationships, it’s important to explore where we get our ideas about love! Why? Considering how the media dramatizes everything, often making it difficult to discern the realistic (healthy/positive) from the unrealistic (unhealthy/negative), the Love Project has students exploring a variety of media sources to analyze and deconstruct the message. Continue reading to learn more!
When teaching about what influences our food choices, it’s important to include the impact of social media. This lesson, Influence & Impact of Social Media on Food, Diet, Nutrition & Body is a ready to use resource that does that in a variety of ways. Be sure to check it out!
Do you teach a Parenting or Child Development class and need a new idea for teaching about child safety? Sharing a new Child Safety Lesson & Spot It Activity for you to try! The beauty of this lesson is that it is versatile and can be used digitally or you can print off the slides and set it up as stations to incorporate movement into your routine!
In my Exploring Foods class, I try to cover a variety of ethnic and regional foods. Quesadillas are a perfect fit for both Mexican and Southwestern cuisine! In this post, you will find a web-based assignment where students learn more about quesadillas before preparing in the lab.
Recently, I saw a kit for a Peep Cookie Coop and it made think that this could be a great STEM challenge for students in the spring of the year, similar to the
gingerbread houses many do in the winter. The “Marshmallow Peep Coop: STEM Design Challenge” is a great opportunity to test your students’ creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving skills while they have fun designing and implementing STEM concepts. Continue reading to learn more!
It’s March and that means spring, warmer temperatures and basketball playoff games! Why not add some excitement to your class by adding a Dessert Madness Championship? This can be around general or specific desserts such as muffin madness, cookie madness, pie madness, ice cream madness…you get the idea. This also makes for a great bulletin board display if you choose to enlarge everything!
When you teach about grains, do you include quinoa? If not, you might want to consider exposing your students to this ancient grain. In this Quinoa Mini-Lesson & Lab, students get a quick overview followed by a tasty 43 minute lab and quick project! Take a look, give it a try and give your students a chance to try a potentially new food!
One of my favorite “issue” topics to teach about is food waste. Too much of our hard earned dollars are spent on food and feeding our families for it to end up in the garbage! If you teach about food waste and are looking for some new, engaging ways to teach the concept to your students, I encourage you to check out this “New Ways to Teach About Food Waste” post.
