Try a mystery powders lab in your third, fourth, or fifth grade classroom. Your students will love it! You can use it as an activity in your mystery genre study,…
Logic puzzles build deductive reasoning – and they’re fun! First, teach your kids how to eliminate possibilities. That way, they can uncover solutions. Then teach them to create their own…
Fingerprinting activities bring fun to the classroom! Kids love studying dactyloscopy, or the science of identifying fingerprints. Recording their own prints, analyzing others, and even some creative art projects will…
Secret codes make kids think like detectives. Add some cryptograms and ciphers to your mystery unit. (Or just do some for fun!) Your upper elementary students will love it. (more…)
Observation activities help kids tune in. Try memory games, sensory activities, hidden pictures, and drawing to heighten awareness. Then apply these skills in classroom instruction. (more…)
Are you purposely teaching incidental vocabulary? Improve your teacher talk. Simply weave definitions and pictures into daily lessons. From this, kids’ vocabularies grow. Furthermore, they learn how to determine meanings…
When kids find word meaning in a text, comprehension improves. How can you facilitate this? First, use direct instruction to teach kids the strategies they need. Second, ask them to…
Elements of poetry are fun and easy to teach. Start with key vocabulary. Then analyze some kid-friendly poems. Finally, ask students to memorize with poetry blackout and write some poems…
Teaching women’s suffrage is a great way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Let kids research famous suffragettes to learn more. (more…)