Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22. It’s an annual event held worldwide to demonstrate support for ecological awareness. The April 22 date was designated as International Mother Earth Day by a consensus resolution adopted by the United Nations in 2009. Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and is celebrated in more than 192 countries every year!

#Earthday Lesson Plan Contest

In celebration of Earth Day this  Month of April, Georgia-Pacific will host their first lesson plan contest on, Teachingwithsoul.com  and they want YOU to participate!

Guidelines:

• Submit a lesson plan for talking to students about conservation on Earth Day.
• Each lesson plan must include a Pinnable image that can be posted on Pinterest with the hashtag #GPEarthDay.
• For ALL details on entry requirements and how to submit your lesson plan, head over to Teaching with Soul.
• As of this posting, the contest ends, Friday April 12 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. (May be extended.)

Prizes: Submit your Earth Day lesson plan to this contest and you could win great prizes for your classroom, such as a tablet, $500 Staples gift card, and products from Georgia-Pacific.

Start planning that awesome lesson plan, NOW and enter to win a great prize!

For complete contest rules, click here [LINK].

Photo credit:  via  woodleywonderworks, Georgia Pacific

No funds? Few resources? Constant demands? No problem.

I’d like you to meet Storybird.

Go ahead, hold your hand out and give Storybird a proper handshake. You will like her, I promise.

Storybird is a way to connect cool art to fun words penned by your students. Storybird provides artwork and templates and allows your students an easy avenue to create free online books. Here’s a better explanation.

In addition to being very teacher friendly, Storybird’s fun features include ways to complete the following:

• Issue assignments.
• Inspire creativity.
• Embed anywhere to share with classmates or parents.
• Easily grade assignments.
• Improve writing.

Interested in hearing a step by step tutorial? I thought you might be. Check this out.

What about you? What exciting online resources have you discovered to enhance writing in your classroom?

Amy L. Sullivan teaches kids and loves words.

We have all the information we need at our fingertips, right?

Well, sort of. Thanks to the internet, there’s plenty of information out there. But students still need to be taught how to use that information responsibly.

My high school sophomores write a research paper using MLA endnote citation, and it’s not their first. Our high school requires an acceptably written research paper each year, and our students move on well prepared. It’s not an easy task for students or teachers — lots of grading, as you can imagine.

How do you successfully teach research techniques? Here are some suggestions:

1. Consider your students’ level and ability. Ours is a unit school (PK – 12), and research techniques are introduced in the lower school. Don’t expect students to know it all, obviously. Consider this a building block project; raise the bar a bit every year.

2. Break the project down into bite-sized bits, and communicate the schedule clearly.

3. Communicate your source expectations clearly and early. If using internet sources, teach students how to discern between the good and the bad.

4. Check student work each step of the project so you can catch big problems while they can be more easily fixed. It’s a lot easier for a student to fix source problems early than it is when the weight of typing the entire paper is on his shoulders.

5. Be flexible but consistent. Flexible with those of differing abilities and those with less exposure to this kind of project. Consistent with deadlines, especially with those familiar to the project. If you start moving deadlines around, it’s harder for the students and the teacher.

6. Talk about the problem of plagiarism, and take it seriously. CBS News did a great story on the subject, and Youtube has a number of good videos you can show your students. Watch and pick one that will speak to them.

7. Be sure your students understand documentation at the appropriate level – or they’ll find themselves plagiarizing. Show them how to give credit where credit is due. Choose the method that will work best for you and your students and give them examples. There are many websites that show examples and some that even put the information into citation form for you, but choose one for your students so they can be sure they’re following your instructions.

8. Reward them on the day the paper is due! A research paper is a lot of work. Your students will have learned a valuable skill and worked hard, so bake some them brownies!

No matter what field they enter, all our students will have to handle information. They’ll have to discern between credible and bogus sources, and as people of character, they should all know how to give credit where credit is due.

What about you? Do your students undertake a research project? Share some of your suggestions with us.

Laura Groves

I am currently visiting America’s Mart in Atlanta– a huge shopping expo for store owners. I have been hunting and hunting for some spectacular teacher gifts for our store– something that really helps students show just how much their teachers mean to them.

While walking through hundreds of booths in my search, I started thinking about the virtue of gratitude– How can we help to teach our students to be thankful?

One of the best things that I did with my students was to have them create class thank you cards! Whenever we had a parent helper or volunteer do something for our class– we made sure that they received a card. The students always looked forward to creating them.

Here are a few great ideas for creating your own class thank you notes. It’s such a simple idea that instills a great sense of appreciation in our students.

1) Make a Sticky Note Thank You Card

2) Create a Photo Card

3) Make Thumbprint Cards

Integrating subject areas is a must if you want to cover the entire curriculum in depth throughout the year. And really, it does not have to consume your planning time to integrate your curriculum. It will also save you valuable assessment time if you can assess for more than one subject area at one time.

For example, you can integrate health-related standards such as goal-setting, empathy and safety into a cooperative Language Arts assignment or Science investigation.

Rather than having students learn and practice transition words in isolation as a language arts skill, have them use them to write the steps to solving a multiplication equation. In this instance, you can assess multiplication skills and writing skills at the same time!

Integrating is really quite simple once you get into the habit of actively looking for ways to do it. Next time that you create an assignment for your students, ask yourself how you can target at least two different subject areas within it.

For more ideas on integration, you can view my blog post about Social Studies integration by clicking on the image below.

I’m teaching new curriculum this year. Actually, it’s a new-to-our-state course: Middle Grades World History.  A course I haven’t had since freshman year in college. 24 years ago.  One of my students figured it out right before Christmas. “Wait,” he said,  ”You’ve never taught this before? Why are you teaching it to us?” (I would never accuse a seventh grader of mincing words.) We’re often called to new curriculum due to changes in grade level, change in location or district/state/national revamps. I’m not a fan of change – too stressful. (I once cried over changing vacuum cleaners.) I have found some essentials to a smooth and effective transition:

1. Organization - This is the most difficult for me. I’ve learned to keep a copy of the state standards in a three-ring binder along with the unit plans my teammates and I are developing as we swim this broad sea. I take it to all my meetings, and most importantly, I review the standards and our work from time to time or I find myself adrift.
2. Collaboration – Two other teachers in my grade teach the same course. I trust them and depend on them. Our principal set aside a planning period per week for official unit planning. During that time we have team norms and a note-taker. We leave the meeting with clear expectations for who is doing what until we meet again. But we plan far more than during the official professional learning community. We talk/email/text about learning targets, activities, resources, assessments, what worked and what didn’t work every day. I would drown without them.
3. Internet Resources – I admit that I find the wealth of information on the web a bit overwhelming, but here are a few of my go-to sites that are applicable to all fields:

• Teachers Pay Teachers - An open marketplace for educators where teachers buy, sell and share original teaching resources. (Part free, more for a fee)
• Brain Pop - BrainPOP^® creates animated, curricular content that engages students, supports educators, and bolsters achievement. (Part free, more for a fee)
• Quizlet - You can study anything. Find or create what you need to learn. (Free)
• PBworks - Online team collaboration to get work done. Capture knowledge, share files, and manage projects within a secure, reliable environment. (Free)

Surviving new curriculum does not have to lead to misery.  I’m remembering why i teach – to discover and facilitate discovery. No, I don’t have to add misery to my plate – just stay organized, collaborate and allow myself time to wade the vast waters of internet resources.

So, how about you? When is the last time you changed curriculum? How do you best manage without misery?

Looking for a new way to bring vocabulary words to life?  My third graders are studying dinosaurs and their many characteristics.  One of the learning goals for my unit is for the students to define the meaning of herbivore, carnivore, and omnivore.   First, I traced a meat eater, plant eater, and both a plant and meat eater on a large piece of butcher paper.  Next, I collected grocery ads from local supermarkets.  Students in groups looked through the ads cutting out food that their dinosaur would possibly eat.  They glued their pictures on the inside of the dinosaur making a food collage.  During the activity I walked around the room questioning their food choices.

At the end, I asked one of my third graders the essential question of the lesson.  So what is a herbivore, carnivore, and omnivore?  His response, “Herbivore plants, carnivore meats, omnivore not picky.”

Student engagement – that’s what we’re all going for, isn’t it?

How do I get my kids involved enough that they “own” their learning?

Group work is one way—but like all techniques, it’s not a panacea. Successful group work takes planning on the teacher’s part.

Here are some hints:

• Consider the size of the groups. This may vary according to the task you’ve assigned. Make sure there’s enough for members of the group to all accomplish something.
• Consider the selection of students. We all have those “get-it-done” students—the ones you can give any task. Don’t group them all together! Spread the wealth. We all have good facilitators, too—the students who are peacemakers, help others work together, or are just extremely organized. Sprinkle one of those in each group, if you can.
• Consider your last group experience. If it wasn’t a great one, ask yourself why. Who seemed frustrated? Be sure to mix up your groups from time to time, to give students a chance to work with new people and learn negotiating skills in new settings.
• Consider your objectives. Make sure they’re clear to the students. You’ll get the best results if they understand clearly what you’re looking for.
• Have Plan B in your pocket, just in case a group self-destructs or a student is just not a good fit.
• Evaluate your group work. Give students a questionnaire that asks for their reactions to working in a group. They’ll love having a chance to express their thoughts.

Haven’t tried it in a while or need to shake up your group work concept? Making plans for the new semester? Give group work a try!

by Laura Lcc Groves

You have morning duty, a lunch meeting, and afterschool tutoring. You don’t have time to dig up good ideas. I understand.

Here’s a place to start.

1.  100 Best YouTube Videos for the Classroom. A word to the wise, always preview.

2.  20 iPad Apps for Teachers.

3.  101 Excellent Sites for English Teachers. Geesh, I could end the post here. So much goodness. Bravo, author, Erik Schreefel.

4. As if that wasn’t good enough, Erik Schreefel knocks it out of the park again with 101 Websites That Every Elementary Teacher Should Know About.

4.  An interactive Bloom’s Taxonomy Wheel which includes activity suggestions for each section. Caution: Very addicting.

5. 10 Things Not to Say to Kids. This list is directed to your own kids, but it applies to the classroom too. I’m pretty sure I’m guilty of everything except #4.

6.  You need a report card comment, but you can’t come up with anything. Try something from this list of 101 Report Card Comments to Use Now.

7.  This is a little random, but 1,031 different types of paper you can download for free. Graph paper, check registers, Yahtzee paper. All at Printable Paper.

8.  48 Ultra Cool Summer Sites for Kids and Teachers. Fine, I know summer isn’t exactly here yet, but we are almost half way!

Do you have any favorite lists to add?

Amy L. Sullivan teaches Special Education.

Many teachers are looking for ways to differentiate to meet all levels of learners in their classroom.  This could be a daunting task.  A great place to start is your classroom library.  Do you have shelves of unread books?  Make these books part of your Language Arts block.

First you will have to label and sort your books according to lexile levels.  This website allows you to type in the title of any book and it will display the reading level.  http://www.lexile.com/about-lexile/grade-equivalent/  Next you will have to color code your books according to lexile levels.  Just use a round colored sticker and place it on the inside cover of the book.  I created the following system for my own third grade classroom.

• Grade 1  Blue        Lexile 150-299
• Grade 2  Yellow    Lexile 300-499
• Grade 3  Green     Lexile 500-699
• Grade 4  Red        Lexile 700-849
• Grade 5  Orange   Lexile 850-950

Place these books in color coded baskets or bins in your classroom library.  Students can then choose books according to their levels.  Now you are ready to add an independent reading piece to your Language Arts block.  Students are reading authentic literature at their level and you, the teacher, are differentiating at the same time!