Monday Freebie - Bill of Rights Resources

For the last four years my methods class in science and social studies has been team taught with an amazing social studies specialist from a local school division. This semester the class has returned solely to me, and I'll admit to being a bit nervous about it. So, I've been spending a lot of time brushing up on content and pedagogy for elementary social studies.

Since Constitution Day is just a few short weeks away, today I'm sharing a packet of resources on the Bill of Rights. In this packet you'll find a series of notebook pages for students to illustrate each amendment and write about them in their own words. You will also find a cut and paste activity where students sort rights and protections into the categories of individual freedoms, rights of the accused, and protection from government. Finally, you'll find a few suggestions for web sites and children's book that may be helpful.

Here's what the pages look like.

 Download Bill of Rights Resources. 

I hope you get a chance to use these resources in your home or classroom. Please let me know if you try them and how they work! 

Connecting Math and Science to Agriculture

I've been a strong supporter of Agriculture in the Classroom for many years now. We in Virginia are fortunate to have an excellent program with a terrific team of writers and facilitators. I invite them to my class every semester so that my pre-service teachers can see how agriculture concepts and ideas can easily be integrated into the curriculum.

Here are a few of the outstanding resources they share with teachers EVERYWHERE (not just in VA).

Math Ag-tivities contains more than 130 pages of lessons and reproducibles for grades K-6. Each lesson incorporates interesting information about agriculture along with the mathematics concepts. Students gain skills to solve math problems while learning agricultural facts about livestock, various commodities, and plant growth.

The Garden Chef: Cooking Through the Food Groups provides teachers with a cooking and activity book that incorporates skills from the core subject areas. This book is divided by the five major food groups: Grains, Vegetables, Fruits, Milk, and Meat & Beans. The recipes feature nutritionally wholesome foods and contain extension ideas for teachers to use in elementary school classrooms.

Barnyard Banter is a collection of quick lessons and activity ideas to accompany 29 different books with an agricultural theme.

Jump Start Your School Garden is a guide intended to help educators integrate the use of the garden - whether it is an outdoor garden or an indoor container garden - into their science and mathematics curriculum. Additionally, tips and suggestions have been included for schools who hope to begin a garden or to enhance an existing one.

You'll find many more resources, like a searchable lesson plan database and extensive booklist, on their Teacher page. On the Volunteer page you'll also find some quick, fun activities.

I know I've left you much to explore, but before you go, have a bit of fun with the Peterson Brothers and think about how important agriculture is to each and every one of us.

Monday Math Freebie - Numbers to 20

As I prepare for the start of the semester, I find myself working on materials for teaching number sense and place value.

In this packet you'll find three sets of numbers sense puzzles to 20. Each set contains the number in graphic as well as standard and word form. One set uses ten frames, one tally marks, and one base-ten blocks.

Here's what the puzzles look like.

 Download Number Sense Puzzles to 20. 

I hope you get a chance to use these puzzles in your home or classroom. Please let me know if you try them and how they work! 

Monday Math Freebie - Problem Solving Booklet

While working on some word problem/problem solving resources, I thought it might be nice for students who weren't journaling in math to have their own problem solving booklets.

In this packet you'll find two versions of the cover (one says word problem book and the other says problem solving book) and a blank problem solving page. On the forms students draw a picture, use a number line, and write an equation to solve the problem. They must also give the solution to the problem and explain how they know the answer is correct.

Here's what the pages look like.

 Download the Problem Solving Booklet.

If you are looking for some word problems to use with these booklets, check out these resources for Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI).

• South Dakota Counts: CGI Problems (70+ pages of questions for K-5!)
• CGI Problem Sets
• Math Made Fun: Cognitively Guided Instruction (Scroll to the bottom of the page for downloadable resources.
• MindSong Math: CGI Word Problem Files
• CGI Word Problems

If you're not familiar with CGI, check out this helpful chart from Teacher Tipster.

I hope you get a chance to use this booklet in your home or classroom. Please let me know if you try it and how it works!