February Lesson Plan Ideas

February Lesson Plan Ideas
Looking for some great ideas to include the theme of February in your lessons? We have a bunch.

1. February is African American History Month. Here are some lesson ideas.

2. February 4th is Rosa Park's birthday.

3. February 11th is National Inventors' Day. Perfect time for a science fair.

4. National Weatherman's Day. Why not have students predict and track the weather? Then compare to the actual results. This can be a writing or a scientific method activity.

5. Valentine's Day - We have 60 lesson ideas for you on that one.

6. Presidents' Day - We have a ton of ideas in our Presidents' Day guide.

7. Feb. is Love Your Pets Month - Have students write a thank you letter to their pets. More ideas can be found here.

8. Superbowl Sunday - include a football themed game to review your content. Each correct answer is worth 10 yards. An incorrect answer is a turn over. Make 10 slots on your board and break the class into 2 teams.

 

Source:  Weekly Tips for Teachers

Issue 551: January 31, 2011  This newsletter is brought to you by teach-nology.com 

 

More February Resources http://www.mrscjacksonsclass.com/februaryfun.htm

 

Clipart http://www.pppst.com/clipart.html

 

 

National Puzzles Day and Month-January 29

Word Play Theme Unit- Puzzles Day is January 29th.- January is Puzzles Month. 

http://www.edhelper.com/wordplay.htm  Word Play Theme Unit Puzzles Day and Month

http://www.teacherplanet.com/resource/puzzle.php National Puzzle Day Resources 

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/January/puzzleday.htm  History

http://www.ehow.com/how_2020201_national-puzzle-day.html Activities

http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/  Puzzlemaker

http://www.puzzlebuffs.com/museum.htm Museum

http://mathforum.org/students/elem/probs.html  Problems and Puzzles

http://puzzles.about.com/  Puzzles

http://ateachersviewpoint.blogspot.com/2010/01/national-puzzle-day-is-january-29.html  Puzzles

http://www.mrscjacksonsclass.com/games.htm

Chinese New Year Ideas

http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/monthly/january_resources.html  Jan. Theme-Chinese NY

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/chinese-new-year/  Chinese N Yr. Act.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/books/holiday/chinesenewyear/info/index.shtml Activity Book

http://www.kckpl.lib.ks.us/ys/crafts/dragon.htm  Dragon Puppet

http://www.funlessonplans.com/holidays/asianyr.pdf  Chinese Lantern

http://holidays.mrdonn.org/chinesefestivals.html  Festivals

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/unitplan.jsp?id=20  Chinese Inventions

http://abcteach.com/directory/basics/social_studies/places/asia/china/ China Printables

http://www.crayola.com/lesson-plans/detail/chinese-new-year-dragon-parade-lesson-plan/ Parade

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/chinese-year-starts-today-20424.html Unit

http://www.mrscjacksonsclass.com/chinesenewyear.htm Themes-Lessons-Activities-Crafts

http://www.phillipmartin.info/clipart/homepage.htm Phillip Martin Clipart

Recess IEP Tips for Teachers

Recess IEP

From Diane Postman, a teacher in Yorktown, Virginia:

“When I taught preschoolers with disabilities, I did indoor recess once a week in order to focus on specific IEP objectives. Here are a few ideas which could work with other student populations as well. • Review nursery rhymes. For example, read ‘Jack be Nimble’ and make a candle from a toilet paper roll. Recite and jump over the candlestick. Read ‘Jack and Jill’ and use formed and flat mats to make a hill and a flat area. Crawl up and roll down. • Make obstacle courses. This can be done by just moving a little furniture. Here’s an example of a course: a crawl thru tunnel, roll across a mat, ride on a scooter board, stomp on bubble plastic then walk on small plastic or tin-can stilts. • Use indoor equipment. A bean bag toss is fun! If you don't have one, use buckets, baskets, or the like. • Use a small parachute. Put items on it and have children shake them off, retrieve them, and start again. Some fun shaking items are balloons, rolled socks, very soft and light toys. • Go on an animal walk!”  Source: http://www.nea.org/tools/BrowseAllTips.html and http://www.nea.org/tools/Works4Me.html

Works4Me shares ideas with other instructional staff.

Published by the National Education Association,
1201 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036.

February Anthology of Poetry

February Themes of Love and Friendship: Anthology Collection From Nellie Edge ©2008
A  Little Wheel Turning (American Folk Song) There's a little wheel a- turning in my heart, There's a little wheel a- turning in my heart, In my heart —, In my heart —,  There's a little wheel a- turning in my heart!	Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln, kind and good,  Is honored and loved  by many.  To help us remember this  president,  We put his face on  the penny. traditional	Oh, My Darling Valentine  (To the tune of Clementine) February is a short month 28 days or 29 In the middle is a love-day, Won't you be my Valentine? Oh, my darling Oh, my darling Oh, my darling Valentine. In the middle is alove-day, Won't you be my Valentine? anonymous
I Love You Little I love you little. I love you big. I love you like A little pig. traditional	I Love You, I Love You I love you, I love you, I love you so well; If I had a peanut, I'd give you the shell. anonymous	Valentine I made a penguin yesterday So jolly fat and fine. I put a red heart on his chest And named him Valentine. traditional adabpted by Nora Flanagan
Roses are Red Roses are red, Violets are blue, Sugar is sweet, And so are you. traditional	To My Valentine If apples were pears And peaches were plums And the rose had a different name, If tigers were bears And fingers were thumbs,  I'd love you just the same! anonymous	Make New Friends (American Folk Song) Make new friends, But keep the old. One is silver, And the other's gold. A circle is round, It has no end. That's how long I want to be your friend!
I Like Hearts  (To the tune of Twinkle Little Star) Red Hearts, White hearts, Pink hearts, too. I like purple hearts.  How about you? Blue hearts, Yellow hearts, Green hearts, too. I like rainbow hearts. How about you? adapted by Nellie Edge	Valentine Faces  This is Valentine happy. This is Valentine sad. Now you see her sleepy. Now you see her mad. This is Valentine in  pieces small. But in my mailbox, she's  best of all! traditional adapted by Suzie Haas	Skin-na-ma-rink Skin-na-ma-rin-ky din-ky dink, Skin-na-ma-rin-ky doo, I love you! Skin-na-ma-rin-ky din-ky dink, Skin-na-ma-rin-ky doo, I love you! I love you in the morning, And in the afternoon. I love you in the evening, And underneath the moon. Skin-na-ma-rin-ky din-ky dink, Skin-na-ma-rin-ky doo, I love you! traditional
I Love You Little, I Love You Lots I love you little, I love you lots, My love for you would fill 10 pots, 13 kettles, 14 pans, 3 teacups, and 6 dishpans. anonymous	You Are My Sunshine You are my sunshine, My only sunshine. You make me happy When skies are gray. You’ll never know dear How much I love you. Please don’t take My sunshine away. traditional	I Love The Mountains  I love the mountains I love the rolling hills I love the fountains I love the daffodils I love the fireside When all the lights are low. Boom-dee-ah-da, Boom-dee-ah-da Boom-dee-ah-da Boom-dee-ah-da Boom! traditional
Love Somebody Love somebody Yes, I do. Love somebody Yes, I do. Love somebody Yes, I do. I love somebody— But I won’t tell who!	Love Somebody Love somebody Yes, I do. Love somebody Yes, I do. Love somebody Yes, I do. I love somebody— And it is you!	L-O-V-E Spells Love L-o-v-e  spells  love. L-o-v-e spells love. L-o-v-e      L-o-v-e           L-o-v-e spells love. Nellie Edge
L-i-k-e Spells Like L-i-k-e spells like. L-i-k-e spells like. L-i-k-e      L-i-k-e         L-i-k-e spells like. Nellie Edge	I Love You 1, 2, I love you! 2, 3, do you love me? 3, 4, are you sure? 4, 5, long as I’m alive! traditional	I’m a Little Groundhog  (To the tune of Twinkle Little Star) I’m a little groundhog short and stout, February second  I come out. If I see my shadow, they will shout Six more weeks of winter— no doubt! traditional

Source: Nellie Edge's  February Themes of Love and Friendship: Anthology Collection at: http://www.nellieedge.com/freepoetry_feb.htm and Newsletter at http://www.cooleremail.net/users/nellie/A2011newsletter_FebruaryNewsletter2011.html

Valentine's Day Themes in Your Classroom

When many people think of Valentine's Day, they picture chocolate hearts, roses, and gushy cards. However, there are other ways that you can incorporate this romantic holiday into your classroom. Here are some fun and creative ways to add learning to the love. 1. Get some hearty exercise. Your heart is one of the most important muscles in your body, supplying all the other parts with the oxygen and nutrients that they need to thrive. You can incorporate this into your Valentine's Day lesson plans with cardiovascular activities, learning to take heart rates, or discussing the effects of fatty foods or drugs on the heart. 2. Make a heart. Valentines have been a long-standing tradition of Valentine's Day, so here is a good chance to bring out the creative skills. Beyond the classic cutting, pasting, and applying glitter, you can have students work on their writing skills, penmanship, or spelling. Consider having them make cards for members of the staff, such as janitors or the food service workers. 3. Start a conversation. Conversation hearts have been around since the civil war, and each year, new sayings are added. Challenge your students to create their own custom sayings that would fit on the average conversation heart (five or less characters in one line, or two lines of less than four characters). Or, have students pull out half a dozen candy hearts and work them into a story line. 4. Graph it out. Younger students will enjoy learning to count and graph with the assistance of conversation hearts. Give each student a single serving box and have them graph the contents (how many pink ones, how many yellow ones, etc.) You can even compare as a class to see which color was the most popular. 5. Heart healthy menus. Since Valentine's Day is all about heart, how about the health of your heart? Encourage students to come up with ways that they can eat better to make their heart healthier (such as skipping fast food for the month of February), come up with balanced meal plans, or even cook some heart healthy recipes. 6. How the heart works. Your study of Valentine's Day and the heart can also look into heart health and diseases. Talk about the different chambers of the heart, listen to each other's heartbeats with stethoscopes, or discuss heart diagnostic equipment like EKGs. 7. Share heart quotes. Love has been an often quoted subject throughout literature. Have students match the quote to the original source, or look up their own quotes that convey their feelings. 8. It is all in the blood. A study of the heart can also take a look at the entire circulatory system. Talk about the heart, lungs, and different blood vessels and their jobs. Older students can discuss the different blood types and how different cells in the blood have different jobs. 9. The heart has a rhythm. Students are usually familiar with the rhythmic sounds that the heart makes as it is beating. You can use this as an introduction to rhythm in music classes, and have students clap out other rhythms in song. 10. The heart is in the mail. For some students, the holidays may be the only chance they get each year to see relatives that live out of state. This can be a great way to introduce map reading skills, discuss different climates, or learn to read airline schedules. Older classes can use the internet to plan imaginary trips to far off countries and discuss flight plans and what to pack for the weather. Since not every person that you send a Valentine to lives in the same home, this can be a good opportunity to discuss how the mail system works. You can also look into the history of mail, like the Pony Express, or discuss how stamps are made. Since the post office often puts out holiday stamps, you can have students design their own stamps for Valentine's Day. Sharing the love and the science behind Valentine's Day is easy to do with these activities. Source: Newsletter-Jan. 26, 2011  http://www.worksheetlibrary.com/teachingtips/valentinesday.html  Remember you matter, educators make the world go around! Cynthia Hughes & Carol Bailus (Newsletter Editors) Worksheet Library

Groundhog Day Arts-Crafts-Projects-Ideas

Groundhog Day Themes-Lessons-Activities

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson048.shtml  Groundhog Day Party!

http://www.themeunits.com/February_bk.html  Groundhog Day Act.

http://holidays.mrdonn.org/groundhog.html  Resources-Clipart

http://www.teachingheart.net/groundhogdaysite.html  Theme Unit-Books-Poems

http://groundhog-day.123holiday.net/  History

http://www.universalpreschool.com/how-to/groundhog_day.asp  Groundhog's Day Fun

http://www.mrscjacksonsclass.com/groundhogday.htm  Themes-Lessons-Projects

Books:

“A Garden for a Groundhog” by Lorna Balian
“Geoffrey Groundhog Predicts the Weather” by Bruce Koscielniak
“Groundhog's Day At The Doctor” by Judy Delton
“It's Groundhog Day” by Steven Kroll
“My Shadow And I” by Patty Wolcott
“Shadow” by Gomi
“Wake Up Groundhog” by Carol Cohan
“Will Spring Be Early? Or Will Spring Be Late?” by Crockett Johnson
“Woodchuck” by Faith McNulty

Valentine's Day Ideas-Tips-Lessons

Valentine's Day in Your Classroom
Looking for some fun ideas on how to bring some V-day cheer into your class? Here are some great ideas with full lesson plans to follow:

1. Love those mixed boxes of chocolates? Have students write about it.

2. Practice compound words with a neat matching activity and candy hearts.

3. Have students create a friendship poster.

4. Graph different color candy in this fun activity.

5. Get students moving and help them learn how to raise their heart rate.

6. Have students map the circulatory system.

7. Our word family arrows activity is always a student favorite. 

"To me the sole hope of human salvation lies in teaching."  George Bernard Shaw

This newsletter is brought to you by teach-nology.com

Weekly Tips for Teachers Issue 550: January 24, 2011

More Valentine's Day Ideas http://www.mrscjacksonsclass.com/valentinesday.htm

Valentine Arts-Crafts-Party Ideas-Activities

http://www.mrscjacksonsclass.com/valentinesday.htm  Valentine's Day Themes, Lessons, Activities, Worksheets, Crafts

Ben Franklin Day

http://bensguide.gpo.gov/benfranklin/  Ben Franklin for Kids

 

http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org/site/sections/education/Kids/default.html  For Kids

 

http://www.fi.edu/franklin/birthday/faq.html  Ben Franklin-FAQ

 

http://www.lessonplanet.com/search?keywords=ben+franklin&media=lesson  Lessons

 

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/franklin.html  English Lessons

 

http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/teachersguide.html  Teacher's Guide

 

http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/rotten.html Glimpses of the Man

 

http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/franklin/franklin.htm Pocantico Hills School 

 

http://www.imahero.com/herohistory/ben_herohistory.htm  History

 

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/page/f/franklin.shtml  Unit

 

http://library.thinkquest.org/J002420F/proverbs.htm  Proverbs

 

http://people.pppst.com/ben-franklin.html  Resources-Clipart

 

http://www.usmint.gov/Kids/games/franklinsTry-n-Fly/  Try-n-Fly Games

 

http://www.fi.edu/franklin/birthday/  Resources-FAQ

 

http://www.fi.edu/franklin/birthday/tri-corner.hat.pdf  Tri-Corner Hat Pattern

 

http://www.mrscjacksonsclass.com/benfranklin.htm  Theme-Lessons-Resources

 

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Traditions

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Traditions-Kids Activities

 

http://www.teachingheart.net/happymlkbooks.html  Theme Unit Lessons

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/MLK/  History and Unit

http://edhelper.com/DrMartinLutherKingJr.htm  Dr. Martin King Unit

Five Ways to Celebrate Dr. King's Birthday with Kids by Katy Abel  

Printable Readers about Dr. King  Marcia's Lesson Links

Printable coloring page of Dr. King Thinkquest.org

http://k2printables.com/mlk.htm  Printables

http://sunniebunniezz.com/holiday/mlkingdy.htm Traditions-Kids Activities

http://holidays.mrdonn.org/MLK.html Resources

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/martin-luther-king-jr-day/  Activities

http://webtech.kennesaw.edu/jcheek3/mlk.htm  Resources-Links

http://webclipart.about.com/od/holiday/l/blmlk1.htm   MLK Clipart

http://www.faithclipart.com/category/martin-luther-king-clipart.html MLK Clipart

http://www.mrscjacksonsclass.com/drmlking.htm  Themes Lessons Ideas

http://www.teacherplanet.com/resource/martinlutherking.php Resources-Links

http://www.pppst.com/clipart.html  Free Clipart for Teachers-One Up Above

January and February Themes-Lessons

PLEASE VISIT MY SEASONAL HOLIDAY THEME PAGES-LESSONS-ACTIVITIES-CRAFTS AND PRINTABLES FOR TEACHERS:

JANUARY FUN THEMES, LESSONS, ACTIVITIES, CRAFTS, IDEAS

WINTER-SNOW THEMES, LESSONS, ACTIVITIES RESOURCES

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY-JAN.17TH THEME, LESSON, IDEAS

JANUARY CALENDAR EVENTS, CELEBRATIONS, THEMES

BEN FRANKLIN DAY-JAN. 17 THEMES, UNITS

POLAR EXPRESS THEMES, FUN ACTIVITIES, LESSONS, BOOK IDEAS

A.A. MILNE'S BIRHTDAY IS JAN. 18-WINNIE THE POOH DAY THEMES

VALENTINE'S DAY THEMES, IDEAS, ACTIVITIES, ARTS, CRAFTS, LESSONS

CHINESE NEW YEAR THEME UNIT, LESSONS, PROJECTS, IDEAS, CRAFTS

FEBRUARY THEMES, LESSON PLANS, PROJECTS, IDEAS, ARTS-CRAFTS

SUPER BOWL DAY THEMES, RESOURCES, LESSONS, ACTIVITIES,

BLACK HISTORY MONTH THEME UNIT, LESSON PLANS, ACTIVITIES, CELEBRATIONS

WINTER HOLIDAYS, THEMES, LESSONS, PRINTABLES, IDEAS

Winnie-the-Pooh Day-January 18

 Winnie-the-Pooh Day-January 18

January 18, 2010 is Winnie-the-Pooh day. But what is there to celebrate about Winnie-the-Pooh and why on January 18th?
Winnie-the-Pooh is one of the most beloved children’s book characters of all time. Not only children, but adults as well, enjoy the adventurous stories of the pudgy little bear in Alan Alexander Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories. Winnie-the-Pooh was published in 1926, followed by The House at Pooh Corner in 1928.
Although the Winnie-the-Pooh character is the major attraction in these classic children’s stories, he would be nothing without his "supporting actors": Tigger, Rabbit, Eeyore, Piglet, Owl, Kanga and Roo. And we certainly can’t forget the boy child, Christopher Robin. If it weren’t for Christopher Robin, the Winnie-the-Pooh stories would never have come into existence.

Source: http://www.suite101.com/content/unusual-january-holiday-a326035  Winnie the Pooh Day

 

http://www.lair2000.net/Pooh_Corner/pooh_characters/AAMilne.html A. A. Milne

 

http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-milne-aa.asp  A. A. Milne

 

http://www.yoarra.250x.com/colora.html  Pooh Coloring Pages

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie-the-Pooh  Winnie-the-Pooh History

 

http://www.mrscjacksonsclass.com/winniethepooh.htm Themes-Lessons-Resources