By Rachel Lynette
It would be great if kids would only use the bathroom at recess and lunch, but in the real world, kids often need to use the bathroom during class – sometimes at the most inconvenient times! Here are five ideas for managing this little inconvenience. Put your bathroom passes on lanyards. Require students to wear them around their necks when they go to the bathroom.
Here is a fun activity that integrates creative writing with math by having students use dice to write a non-rhyming poem. Students will also get practice with syllables. You could do this as a whole class, if you have enough dice, or at a center. Here is what to do: Give each student a pair of dice. Students roll the dice and add them up
Every teacher knows that you must have specific procedures in place for your classroom to run smoothly. Here is a checklist that you can use to make sure that you have a procedure or a routine for everything. This would be a great tool for a first year teacher, as well as a good reminder for those who have been around awhile. You can download
Giveaway over – have reached Over 100! I left home for an hour and came back to find 74 new emails! This is well over the 100 originally promised, but since I did not catch it, I am going to give a free product to everyone who emailed me before 1:45 Pacific time today (Thursday). Please be patient, it may take a little while to get
Minds in Bloom is pleased to welcome guest blogger Carmen Y. Reyes. This post originally appeared in the TpT seller forums and is reposted here with permission. Carmen specializes in tools for helping with classroom management, communication, learning disabilities, and understanding how students learn. She is clearly an expert in her field with years of relevant experience. Her ideas would benefit teachers in every subject
Here are some fun and free Christmas (and Hanukkah) activities from Minds in Bloom to tuck away in your files until December! Christmas Would You Rather Questions for Kids Christmas Analogy Fun Christmas Break Scavenger Hunt Twelve Days of Christmas Math Word Problems Christmas Tic-Tac-Toe Journal Prompt Grid Hanukkah Vocabulary Matching and Word Search Menorah Logic Puzzle You can find even more free Christmas activities over at
Grab this FREE back to school Presentation that’s great for virtual learning! Get to Know Each Other This Year! Students love those first day ice breakers! Here is a quick and really fun get-to-know-you activity for the first week of school. Have each student take out a sheet of notebook paper and write three interesting, but not widely known, facts about him or herself. Students
Here is a fun way to recognize colleagues who go above and beyond to be helpful. It involves creating a special award that is passed from person to person, often with much aplomb. To implement this program, find something you can use as an award – ideally something kitschy from a yard sale or a thrift shop. We used a duck made out of some sort of rattan material.
At first glance There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom by Louis Sachar doesn’t look like the kind of book you would read aloud to your class. It comes across (at least to me) as more silly than anything else. Although there is certainly humor in the book, There’s a Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom is so much more, and it is one of my very favorite
Here is a fun way to take the game Jenga™ to a whole new level while helping your students to get to know each other better. Just download these free Jenga statement slips, cut them apart and tape them to the bottom of your Jenga™ blocks (great job for a student or parent helper). Play the game as usual, but when a student pulls
“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” -Albert Einstein Famous quotes are a great resource to use in the classroom! You can use them on posters and banners, on worksheets, on parent notes, as writing prompts, in PowerPoints and so much more. But sometimes it can be hard to find just the right quote. Quote sites
Here is a fun way for students (or campers, scouts, or whatever you have) to test their powers of observation while enjoying nature. A nature walk is also a great way to introduce the concept of camouflage. To do this activity, you will need a short stretch of trail in the woods, ideally one that is not used a great deal – a couple hundred feet is
If you are going to a small town parade for Independence Day, you will most likely have to get there at least an hour before the parade starts in order to get a good place to sit. While you could bring along the Gameboy or iTouch to keep your little ones entertained, why not engage them in an activity that will make them more a
