Brain Warmups

Here is a great website to get the kids thinking in the morning. I like to give kids Plexers or Brain Teasers to get them thinking to start the day.

I write them on the white board and go around the room.

I give each student about 25 seconds to answer.

These are a lot of FUN!!

Here is the site: http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/braint8.htm

Web School for Language Arts

Over the years, I have found that teaching language arts can be a cumbersome task. There is so much to cover. Fortunately, I found a web site that tunes in to the important pieces of Grammar that need to be taught.

The web site is called Web School (http://webschool.wash.k12.ut.us/).

I use a game called Mad Libs. This is where the kids are given a topic and they fill in the blanks with nouns, adverbs, adjectives, etc.. This helps them remember in a fun and meaningful way.

We do this as a whole group activity. When the puzzle is finished, it is read out loud.

**In some puzzles, names are used. Please do not use a child's name in class.

Pre-Lesson Extensions

Before I start a lesson, I usually like to get the students warmed up and ready to tackle the information. This is where I incorporate short video clips from the IDEAL Portal.

Here is a sample format that I use:

• Introduce Place Value in Math
• Have students take out Journals for note taking purposes
• Go to IDEAL Portal and search for place value videos
• Select 4th grade
• Download video clip (1:30-2:00)
• Show on TV screen
• Begin Lesson

I have found this tool to be invaluable in helping all learners, especially visual learners, increase test scores on Benchmark tests and the AIMS.