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Saturday, November 27, 2010

Teaching Tip: Lesson Plan Ideas For December


Teaching Tip: Lesson Plan Ideas For December
 
Here are some great ideas for adding the theme of December to your classes. Look at some complete lessons for you.
1. Create a geographic map displaying where different holidays are celebrated in December.

2. Have students research the traditional gifts of
Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

3. Show students how
poverty can affect the holidays.

4. Have students create an
elf cartoon strip.

5. Have students
draw a map of what they think Santa's property looks like.

6. Have students
chart Santa's route and chart distance and speed needed.

7. Engage students in holiday
math word problems.

This Week in History
1782: Britain signs agreement recognizing U.S. independence.
1877: Thomas Edison demonstrates the hand-cranked phonograph.

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops."
Henry Brooks Adams


About Weekly Teacher Tips 
This newsletter is brought to you by teach-nology.com -Source

Weekly Tips for Teachers  Issue 542: November 29, 2010

More Resources: http://www.mrscjacksonsclass.com/

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

December Events 2010


December Events 2010
This page includes Birthdays and Special Goings-On! 
(Don't forget...the blue indicates a link to the WEB!!)
Printable Version of December Events
The Teacher's Corner Resources Use this calendar in conjunction with our Daily Writing Prompts! 

More Lesson Plans! Also see our other December Lesson Plans, Thematic Units and Activities
The Teacher's Corner Resources Looking for Printable Calendars to add your own events to? Printable December Calendar!



December Themes and Holidays mrdonn.org

Sunday, November 21, 2010

December Planning Calendar-Events, Holidays, Celebrations


December, 2010

Dec 01, Wed - 
Dec 31, Fri
Holiday Gift-Giving Season 
Special Occasion Ideas for the Classroom: TeachersFirst Editors' Choices

Dec 01, Wed - 
Dec 09, Thu
Hanukkah 
TeachersFirst's Hanukkah Resources

Dec 01, Wed - 
Dec 31, Fri
World AIDS Day and HIV/AIDS Awareness Month 
TeachersFirst HIV and AIDS Resources

07, Tuesday
Pearl Harbor and World War II 
TeachersFirst's Pearl Harbor and World War II Resources

Dec 08, Wed - 
Dec 18, Sat
Thinking Teacher Blogs China! 
Read about TeachersFirst's cross-cultural projects and more. Share comments and questions.

17, Friday
Wright Brothers' First Flight Anniversary 
TeachersFirst Presents A Century of Manned Flight

25, Saturday
Christmas 
TeachersFirst's Christmas Resources

26, Sunday
Kwanzaa 
TeachersFirst's Kwanzaa Resources

December Events, Holidays, Celebrations


Saturday, November 20, 2010

Christmas for Kids


Christmas for kids is one of the most special times of the year, and we know it! Christmas is coming! Need help? Free inspiration, crafts, decorating ideas, planning sheets, recipes, printables and more! Starting a collection of Christmas ornaments for a child, someone special, or for yourself can help recreate fond memories each year as you decorate your Christmas tree. Christmas is the perfect time for crafting with your children, so have a look and get some inspiration on these Christmas Craft pages!
Source: 













Friday, November 19, 2010

Pumpkin Spice Cake Recipe


Pumpkin Spice Cake by Rita Mars
 
Ingredients:  1 Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mix ~ 4 eggs ~ 1 cup sour cream ~ 1/2 cup sugar ~ 3/4 cup vegetable oil ~ 1 tsp vanilla extract ~ 1 regular size can mashed pumpkin ~ 1/2 cup chopped pecans toasted in about 1 T butter ~ Caramel ice cream topping.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour tube or bundt cake pan.  In a large mixing bowl, place all ingredients except the pecans and caramel, beginning with eggs, oil, sour cream, sugar, vanilla and pumpkin, ending with cake mix on top.  Mix on low speed just until dry ingredients are mixed but don't over-mix.  Pour batter into prepared cake pan, place on a cookie sheet on the middle rack of preheated oven.  Bake around 50 minutes to an hour or just until done.  Remove from oven and let cool for about half an hour.  Place chopped pecans in small nonstick skillet with butter and just barely toast.  Turn upside down on serving plate.  Let cool until cake is barely warm to the touch.  Drizzle a little caramel over top of cake, sprinkle the toasted pecans on top of caramel and press slightly so they stick, then drizzle more caramel over the pecans, just so it runs down the side of the cake a little, this makes it pretty. 

More Recipes at http://www.mrscjacksonsclass.com/recipesatoz.htm
 
http://www.mrscjacksonsclass.com/recipes.htm

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Transition Activities for Teachers









 



    Easy Transitioning for Primary Grades


    From Diane Postman, a teacher in Yorktown, Virginia:

    “I taught preschool and primary grades. Here are some thoughts 
    on transitioning for those age groups: 

      1.   Have a visual schedule so transitions are expected.
      2.   Play music.
      3.   Give the children a fun way to move from place to place. It can be thematic. E.g., crawl like a spider when teaching spiders. It will make them WANT to change locations.
      4.   Be ready for the next activity so there is no waiting.
      5.   Start the activity right away. No need to wait for
            everyone to be settled. If you start, stragglers will join more quickly and the fast ones won't get ‘antsy.’
      6.   Show them that the next activity is going to be fun.  Kids transition best when engaged.”


    Transition Tactics


    From Marilyn Tomaszewski, a second grade teacher in Garden 
    City, Michigan:
    “A couple of my students have difficulty transitioning to the
    other locations within the school and difficulty when sitting
    without something for their hands to do. At a craft store, I 
    purchased the mini tote bags for only $1.99 each. They contain
    items to assist them with transitions, such as a Koosh ball 
    for sensory input, a book of photos of school locations,
    and items to keep their hands busy but quiet like a  
    Magna Doodle, a mini dry-erase board with a marker and
    an attached eraser. These bags and their contents have
    helped prevent behavior problems; helped reduce
    disruptive, self-stimulatory behavior; and,helped save
    my sanity! The inexpensive mini tote bags could be 
    used for many purposes.”


    Works4Me
    Published by the National Education Association, 1201 16th St, NW, Washington, DC 20036.  Browse All Tips-Source
    http://www.nea.org/tools/BrowseAllTips.html 


    More Resources: http://www.mrscjacksonsclass.com/classmanagementideas.htm









Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Thanksgiving Books-Theme Resources


Thanksgiving Books-Stories-Poems 
 
The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving by Ann McGovern
Thanksgiving Is For Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland
On The Mayflower by Kate Waters
Pilgrim Children Had Many Chores by Gina Lems Tardif
Did You Know? by Sandi Hill
Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl by Kate Waters
Samuel Eaton's Day:  A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy by Kate Waters
Tapenum's Day : A Wampanoag Indian Boy in Pilgrim Times by Kate Waters
Feeling Thankful by Shelley Rotner
Story of the First Thanksgiving, The by Elaine Raphael
One Little Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims by B.G. Hennessy
Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness
Alligator Arrived With Apples : A Potluck Alphabet Feast by Crescent Dragonwagon
Story of Thanksgiving, The by Nancy Skarmeas
Thanksgiving by Alana Willoughby
The First Thanksgiving Day: A Counting Story by Laura Melmed
First Thanksgiving, The by Linda Hayward
Thanksgiving Is… by Louise Borden
First Thanksgiving, The by Garnet Jackson
If You Sailed on the Mayflower by Ann McGovern
Off to Plymouth Rock by Dandi Daley MacKall
Story of the Pilgrims, The
by Katharine Ross
Thanksgiving Day by  Gail Gibbons
Giving Thanks: The 1621 Harvest Feast by Kate Waters
Daily Life in the Pilgrim Colony 1636 by Paul Erickson
Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas
The Wampanoags by Alice Flanagan
Corn is Maize by Aliki
I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Judith Schachner
Eating the Plates: A Pilgrim Bokk of Food and Manners by Lucille Recht Penner
Homes in the Wildreness: A Pilgrim's Journal of Plymouth Plantation in 1620 by William Bradford  
Gobble: The Complete Book of Thanksgiving Words by Lynda Graham Barber
Turkeys, Pilgrims, and Indian Corn: The Story of the Thanksgiving Symbols by Edna Barth
Colonial Kids: An Activity Guide to Life in the New World by Laurie Carlson
Big Holidays Celebration by E. McKinnon
Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen
Oh, What a Thanksgiving by Steven Kroll
Pilgrim Courage by E. Brooks Smith
Thanksgiving by Miriam Nerlove
The Coming of the Pilgrims by E. Brooks Smith
The Pilgrims First Thanksgiving by Ann McGovern
The Plymouth Thanksgiving by Leonard Weisgard
The Thanksgiving Book by S.O. Higgans 

See Source for -List of Books and More
 
More Resources:



Happy Thanksgiving Card-Poem



Children Learn What They Live


Children Learn What They Live 
By Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.