Thank you Teachers!

There are many teachers that I am personally grateful for this school year – especially the ones who have been teaching my two oldest sons.  When we first came here to Morocco – neither of my sons spoke a word of French or Arabic.  Now, thanks to these amazing teachers – they are speaking both and my oldest son is reading and writing too!  These teachers remind me of this quote that’s been floating around pinterest.  There are so many teachers around the world who are also reflected by this quote.  As teachers we know this to be true, so often teachers achieve through their hard work, their effort, and their determination - feats that seem impossible. 

In recognition of all of these amazing teachers, I wanted to do something to say thank you for Teacher Appreciation Week.  So, I turned to the amazing authors at Global Teacher Connect and them to contribute to a Global Gift Giveaway.  Starting tomorrow (May 1st), and continuing every day until May 11th, you will be able to go to Global Teacher Connect and get a FREE teacher resources, that you will be able to download directly from Google Docs.  It’s our small way of saying Thank You!  to all the teachers around the globe who are making miracles happen for their students.

So, hop on over to Global Teacher Connect and check out the amazing authors from around the world who will be sharing a FREE teacher resource with you this week.  But, before you go – tell me about one teacher in your life who you are thankful for right now.

   

The Winners Are….

Thank you to all those who entered the Fresh Start Giveaway.  Here are the packages that were available for the giveaway:

Fresh Start Bulletin Board Package, worth $38: Basic Phonics Kit ($10) Shape Words ($1), Word Family Word Wall Cards($12), 13 Sets of Calendar Numbers ($15)

The winner is ……………………………  Valerie Munoz!!


Fresh Start Primary Journals Package, worth $36.50: Narrative Writing Journal,($10) Informational Writing Journal ($10), Primary Math Journal ($5), Science Discovery Journal ($5), Read Aloud Journal ($6.50)

The winner is …………………………… Bobi Campwell!!

Fresh Start Intermediate Journals Package, worth $44.50: A Year’s Worth of Writing Journals ($28), Reading Response Journal($10), Read Aloud Journal($6.50)

The winner is …………………………… Gabby Smith!!

Fresh Start Intermediate Math Package, worth $54: Multiplication Vocabulary Packet($6), Fractions Vocabulary Packet ($6), Geometry Vocabulary Packet ($6), Geometry 2 Vocabulary Packet ($6), Addition & Subtraction Vocabulary Packet($6), Differentiated Math Problem Solving($4), Multiplication Facts Tiling Puzzle ($8), Multiplications 2 digit x 1 digit Tiling Puzzle($8), Multiplication 3 digit x 1 digit Tiling Puzzle ($8)

The winner is …………………………… Cheryl Hoff!!

 

Congratulations to all of the winners!  Stop by tomorrow to find out about another giveaway going on!

Monopoly Math

I LOVE to play board games at home, but I also enjoying using them in my classroom. In addition to encouraging cooperation, turn taking and a variety of other social skills, I find I can often use the games to work on math and literacy skills. So, every Friday, I am going to post a Friday Game Night post, giving tips on how to use a particular board game in your classroom. Here’s this week’s Friday Game Night Tip:

**** I’m sorry this Friday Night Game Night is appearing on Saturday afternoon – I was actually having a Friday Night Game Night with my kids last night and forgot to write the post! **** 

Monopoly – Part 1 (Math)

Monopoly is an amazing game for teaching economics, but it’s also great for different math concepts. Here are some ideas on how to use it in your classroom. These ideas are all for the standard version of Monopoly, but could be adapted to fit Monopoly Junior for primary students.

1. Standard Play/Team Play – Playing Monopoly by it’s regular rules includes a lot of math and economics skills, including: making change, counting money, strategizing (also known as problem solving), multiplying (when you have all 3 properties, double the rent) etc.  Play with a group of 5, or split your class into 5 teams and play as a whole class.
2. How much does a Hotel cost?  Working on multiplication, or repeated addition?  Give kids a property card and ask them to figure out how much it costs to get a hotel an a certain property (property value + 4 houses + 1 hotel).  How’s that for problem solving?
3. School-Opoly Math Bulletin Board – Grab this free copy of my School-Opoly board from Google Docs and make a Monopoly Math Bulletin Board (if you can run it through a poster-maker, it’s all the easier).  Make it as simple or as complex as you’d like – students can use it in a center or you can have teams and use it as a whole group activity.  Simply write math problems onto the board, student roll the dice, if they get the answer correct, they get to “own” that property.  When the game is done – the person who owns the most properties wins.
4. Student Made Problem Solving – Let students use the property cards from Monopoly to make up their own word problems.  For example:  If you want to put 3 houses on St. Charles Place and each house costs $50, how much will you have to spend?

I hope some of the ideas will help you use Monopoly in a new, different way. Find more ways to use board games in your room by clicking HERE. Keep playing games and watching your students learn.

Fresh Start–Big Giveaway

It’s that time of the school year where we all start looking toward the future, to next school year and getting ready for a Fresh Start. This weekend, I am starting a Fresh Start of my own. Raki’s Rad Resources is moving over to a new logo and a new blog! I’m so glad to have you with my for my that I’d like to set you up with a Fresh Start Package. I’m going to be giving away these four Fresh Start Packages, each valued at over $35 worth of Quality Teaching Resources, at the new blog, and there’s a Fresh Start Freebie for all! Scroll down to find out how to enter.

Fresh Start Bulletin Board Package, worth $38: Basic Phonics Kit ($10) Shape Words ($1), Word Family Word Wall Cards($12), 13 Sets of Calendar Numbers ($15)
 
 



 



Fresh Start Primary Journals Package, worth $36.50: Narrative Writing Journal,($10) Informational Writing Journal ($10), Primary Math Journal ($5), Science Discovery Journal ($5), Read Aloud Journal ($6.50)






Fresh Start Intermediate Journals Package, worth $44.50: A Year’s Worth of Writing Journals ($28), Reading Response Journal($10), Read Aloud Journal($6.50)









Fresh Start Intermediate Math Package, worth $54: Multiplication Vocabulary Packet($6), Fractions Vocabulary Packet ($6), Geometry Vocabulary Packet ($6), Geometry 2 Vocabulary Packet ($6), Addition & Subtraction Vocabulary Packet($6), Differentiated Math Problem Solving($4), Multiplication Facts Tiling Puzzle ($8), Multiplications 2 digit x 1 digit Tiling Puzzle($8), Multiplication 3 digit x 1 digit Tiling Puzzle ($8)





 
 


Click on this picture to download theses files FREE for everyone! Important Information Sheet, Language Survey, Guided Reading Lesson Plan, Computer Project Matrixes – Math & Writing









Enter to Win:
You may enter to win one package, or all 4, but each entry can only count towards one package. However, there are 10 ways to enter, so you may have more than one entry for each package. Here’s what you do:
Click on the package you want to win and complete the entry form for each way you have entered. Each entry requires it’s own entry form. Here are the things you can do to enter:
1.) Follow the new blog – www.rakisradresources.com.
2.) Grab the new and improved button and display it on your blog.
3.) Sign up for the Raki’s Rad Resources News Release (find the sign up form on the side bar).
4.) Follow Raki’s Rad Resources on Teachers Pay Teachers or Teacher’s Notebook.
5.) Follow Raki’s Rad Resources on Facebook.
6.) Follow Raki’s Rad Resources on Twitter.
7.) Follow Raki’s Rad Resources on Pinterest.
8.) Follow Global Teacher Connect – the collaborative blog for teachers around the globe.
9.) Share this giveaway with your followers on a blog, facebook or twitter.
10.) Leave a comment here telling me one thing you do to start each school year with a fresh start.

Entries close Saturday, April 28th at 11:59 p.m. Winners will be announced on Sunday, April 29th.

Critical Thinking Games

It’s time for the Wednesday Website suggestion!! For two years, I was the Technology Specialist at a school in Georgia. During that time, I amassed a large collection of websites that I use with my students. If you want to search through some of them, you can check out my IKeepBookmarks site. Or, you can check back here each week for the Wednesday Website suggestion.

I don’t know about your kids, but my kids are really starting to tune me out.  It might have something to do with there only being 32 days of school left.  (How many days do you have?)  So, I have been going through some of my website collections looking for something that will hold their attention.  This week’s website of the week is Cool Math Games 4 Kids.  If you’ve never visited their site – it’s an amazing compilation of math games that work on tons of math skills, including critical thinking.  I spend a lot of time on critical thinking in my classroom, (In fact, I wrote a guest blog post for Fabulous Fourth Grade Froggies on critical thinking that you might want to check out.) so I have been working on these three critical thinking games with my students. 

Be warned – these games are addictive to ADULTS as well as children, and can be played happily for hours, thereby draining you of your grading time! 

 

B-Cubed is a great critical thinking game.  It is like a 3-d maze.  Every time you move the yellow cube on top of a grey cube, it makes the grey cube disappear.  The object of the game is to make all o the grey cubes disappear before you make the red cube disappear.

 

 

Bloxorz is a greatly addictive strategy game.  You must twist and turn the tall box to get it through the hole.  There are many, many levels!

 

Phit is a tetris-like game where you use all the pieces and try to get them to fit into the yellow box.  It’s a great visual thinking game!

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this Wednesday’s Website suggestion – check back each Wednesday for a new Wednesday's Website suggestion and click HERE to view previous Website suggestions.

TESOL Teaching Tip #22 - Teach Well

My class consists of 19 students, of which only 1 speaks English only in his household, and even he began his life in a bilingual environment. The other 18 speak at least one, if not two other languages in their homes. Most of my students speak Arabic, but many also speak French. I have 3 who speak French and not Arabic, 1 who speaks Spanish, and 1 who speaks a Philippine dialect. All of my students speak SOME English, but to varying degrees. My job is to teach them English, while also teaching them everything we normally teach in school (reading, writing, math, science, social studies etc.) Fortunately, I am certified to teach ESL and have some experience with English Language Learners. Due to my unique teaching position, I have had some readers ask for tips on teaching English Language Learners. So, from now on, I will now be doing a Teaching Tip Tuesday geared especially towards teaching English Language Learners. Here’s this week’s Tuesday TESOL Teaching Tip:

ELL Teaching Tip #22: Don’t Forget Best Practices
A few years ago, I participated in SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) training.  SIOP is a model of teaching specifically designed to help English Language Learners gain more from content instruction in the general classroom.  The training was wonderful and truly helped me with my English Language Learners, but the main focus of the training was simply utilizing “best practices”.  We all know what best practices are – they are the tried and true strategies that give all students a chance to participate in learning in a hands-on manner that will increase understanding and improve the chances of comprehension and storage in long term memory.

So, the English Language Learner Teaching Tip of the Week is to remember to teach in the way you as a teacher know is best.  English Language Learners may have some special needs, and need some special considerations – but in general they are just another student in your classroom who needs to learn.  Strategies that help the rest of your students learn will help ELL’s learn too – especially if they are hands-on, collaborative, fully explained and modeled to students.

While we are all familiar with “best practices”, it is easy to get away from them in the reality of our classrooms.  Here are a few reminders of some best practices that help our students – ELL or not:

1.)  Model, model, model – rather than just talk about what students should do, model it!  Show (don’t tell) students exactly where you want them to cut, how you want them to measure, how many counters you want them to use, which supplies you want them to use etc.  For students who don’t have a lot of language, these visual models can greatly help them to understand the expectations.

2.)  Think, pair, share -  two heads are better than one.  Give students a chance to share with each other and see if their thinking is on the right track.  This strategy also give all students the opportunity to “share” to someone, thereby stopping the “But I NEVER get a chance to answer!”s.

3.)  Use objectives – don’t assume students will know what you are teaching.  Tell students what you are expecting them to learn, work on, and understand.  By reviewing objectives with students, students have a clear idea of what thy need to do and a way to self-check and/or monitor themselves.  Check objectives before AND after your lesson, so that students can monitor their learning.

Do you enjoy the weekly TESOL Teaching Tips? Do you want to know 
more about teaching English Language Learners? I presented on this topic at the Everything’s Intermediate Expo on April 21st.  If you missed the Expo, it’s not too late to catch the presentation, click HERE to find out how to view the presentation.



Find more TESOL Teaching Tips here, and come back every Tuesday for a new tip!

Writing Journal Updates

Thanks to my proofreaders, I have been doing some massive updates on many of the products I have available on Teachers Pay Teachers.  One of the updates I have up to this week is my Intermediate Writing Journals.  I have updated the Narrative Journal and the Persuasive Journal.  Tonight, I am going to try to get the Informational Journal done, and then I am hoping to get the Response to Literature Journal completely updated for the big giveaway event that’s coming this Thursday (be sure to check back on Thursday for the details!) 

In addition to sprucing the appearance of these journals up, I have added Student Reference Sheets and I have made them into official E-Books with clickable links on the Table of Contents, so that you no longer have to scroll through to find the page you want.  Grab a free preview each of the two completed journals by downloading the free prompts – a week’s worth of writing on both the Narrative and Persuasive writing genres – from my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.