Presidents Trivia Sale

The only thing better than a Presidents' Day sale is a sale on presidents! For a short time only, Thank a Teacher is offering our brand-spankin'-new Presidents Trivia I Have/Who Has Game for a measly buck and a quarter, a whopping 65% off our regular price of $3.50.

You probably have 5 quarters spinning in the bottom of your washing machine right now. Or look under the couch cushions. It doesn't matter if they are sticky! Or pass up that doughnut that you shouldn't eat anyway, and you will have a game you can play with your students every February forevermore.

It's a fun mix of ki 
d-friendly facts like "What toy was named after Theodore Roosevelt?" to information every citizen should know. Like George Washington, we cannot tell a lie: Presidents Trivia I Have/Who will delight and inform students across the nation. 

Buy it today! Use it all month!    Now Only $1.25

We would love, love, love it if you would follow us on Teachers Pay Teachers if you liked this product! www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/thank-a-teacher

Life Science Name Bug Art Project

This is an easy project making imaginary bugs out of a student's name written in cursive. Write name on the fold,cut out and decorate. Label with real world bug parts and display. Easy, no prep and fun!

9-11

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/9-11-Heroes-Thanking-Our-First-Responders-863386

For all teachers, there was a time in their lives when 9/11 had no more significance than 9/10 or 9/12. In 2001, the world changed horribly and not one of us will forget where we were when we heard the terrible news. Our students, however, weren’t born yet. We wanted to teach the importance and meaning of this date in age-appropriate ways. Last September, our Thank A Teacher TPT store was brand new. We wanted to create a product that teachers would feel good about using with their elementary and middle school age students. Our idea was to focus on the First Responders, the true heroes of 9/11. The response was amazing. We had over 2000 downloads by teachers. The assignment involved writing about First Responders in our communities and lives. Then teachers could share the letters and artwork with local fire departments, police etc. The men and women who received these letters were so touched by the kid’s gestures of appreciation and support. We were thrilled that our product generated such a huge outpouring of love, thanks, and remembrance for the First Responders of 9/11/2001 and their successors. 

I Found A Cool New Tool that's Free!

www.classtools.net

Problem: I've used a bunch of online and manual timers and they work ok. But this online timer adds two cool new features that I haven't seen before. My first problem is that if kids don't look at the screen, they don't see the countdown. My second problem is interuptions. I give 2 minute multiplication tests. It seems like someone always someone walks in after I start the timer. 


Solution:This timer solves both those problems. Don't let the boring picture fool you. For kids who don't look up at the timer, there is now a music component! I use timers for cleanup and this timer has a 3:30 Mission Impossible Song which works perfectly. Other songs are available and you can add your own. The second issues of interruptions or late starters is solved by having multiple timers going on a once! Genius! I can't wait to try this out!

Bud Not Buddy Text Support

Confession: my teenager's middle name is "Tech Support." Not really...but it could be true! Everybody needs a little tech support sometimes. Teachers, in addition, appreciate a little "Text Support" as well. What is text support? It is all the background information for the novel you are teaching that you would love to have at your fingertips...if you just had the time to do the research. Problem: Students sometimes have a hard time relating to--and consequently, comprehending--a historical novel. Much of the book may be foreign to a 4th, 5th or 6th grader: the era, the culture, and the setting. As teachers, we sometimes assume kids "get" more than they actually do. Solution: I created a "Visual Text Support" PowerPoint slide show for the novel Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. My purpose was to generate student excitement and familiarity with the story while offering a visual context for historical background and vocabulary. I also wanted supporting activities aligned with Common Core objectives, and of course it needed a very cool but simple art project. Let's face it...I wanted the whole package! Results: This comprehensive slide show I created made a huge difference in my students' engagement with the text and understanding of the story. It has been a flexible teaching tool that has proven to be an excellent way to scaffold the text for ELL students, while all students benefited from the enriched historical background. 

Doodle Art

I love art! If I can incorporate it with math even better! I've created these really fun math worksheets that students create a scene by correctly answering the math problem. If it is correct the picture will look like the answer key. Students love it, super easy to correct and makes for a cute display! I just finished a coastal scene with problems at 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade level. Each grade level is a separate product. These are great for summer fun, sub work, assessment and review!

Gold Rush Series: The Early Days Unit

Problem: LeAnn and I (the teachers behind Thank A Teacher) love the California Gold Rush. That shouldn't be a problem except we have way too much information! Sometimes too much of a good thing leaves us feeling a little overwhelmed. LeAnn does her Gold Rush unit near the end of the school year which means she sometimes has to edit the material to fit the schedule. We wanted to create our own curriculum that covered everything important but was flexible enough to use in a variety of ways. We also wanted each section to be able to stand alone, so we decided related activities should be included.

Solution: We decided to create a comprehensive Gold Rush Series of informational and engaging original texts each focusing on a specific aspect of the California Gold Rush. The first in the series is called "The Early Days" and focuses on the back story and first few months of 1848. We cover John Sutter, Sutter's Fort, James Marshall, Sutter's Mill, Sam Brannan, methods to test gold, and the entry of the U.S. into the territorial picture.  

The rest of the series will cover the following: Gold Fever, Routes to California, Minorities in the Gold Rush, Mining Techniques, and Daily Life as a Miner

Results: Because the text is so visually enticing, I used my Promethean Board to project the PowerPoint slides. We read the text in chunks, as a whole group, then break up into groups to complete the discussion questions.  I also preteach from student copies in my guided reading groups some of the historical vocabulary and text features. I’ve had students beg to do social studies, that’s making history come alive!