By Rachel Lynette
It may seem silly to read about ideas to help you teach main idea! It seems like such a simple… well… idea! But, even though the main idea of a text is the most central and important underlying idea, it can often be difficult for young students to recognize. Most main idea practice is just that – practice. Many textbook worksheets have students read a
You may remember learning about parts of speech oh, so long ago in your own elementary school days. Perhaps your teacher just discussed the different parts of speech and then handed out a worksheet or Daily Oral Language (DOL), expecting you to figure out how to use the parts of speech in an actual sentence. How intimidating is that? But learning about the different parts of
Mental math may seem like an ingrained skill that doesn’t require practice or development. But, elementary students who are still growing may lack the capacity to solve math problems in their head. Practicing mental math prepares students for harder math equations and also helps them to solve equations more quickly and accurately. Without the help of a calculator or scratch paper, students have to rely
We are so excited to welcome a new guest blogger today, Terri Maples! Terri is a second grade teacher and spends a lot of time teaching reading fluency in her classroom. Her post today is all about fluency fun in her classroom and how she uses Rachel’s winter-themed reading fluency task cards to engage her students in practicing their reading skills. Keep reading to get
The standardized testing season will be here before you know it. Whether this time of year excites you or frightens you, it’s time to prepare your students for the big test. Teaching them test-taking vocabulary can really help. Not only will your students perform better on the text, they will also gain confidence in their abilities to understand and respond to difficult questions. Read on
Minds in Bloom is excited to have Belinda Givens on the blog today! Belinda is sharing a great post with us all about differentiation using Boom Cards™ from Boom Learning, Inc. Enjoy her post below! We’ve all been there: small group intensive instruction and every student in the group is on a different level. You have a student who is answering all the questions, eager to
I am so excited because Teachers Pay Teachers and Boom Learning℠ have both given us the green light to sell Boom Cards™ on TpT! What this means for you is that there is a good chance you already have access to several Boom Card sets! That is because I have bundled access to the Boom Card version, along with the printable task card version, for over
I love task cards! I have made a ton of task cards, and I feel really good about having them in my TpT store because I know they are effective and can be used to get kids actively involved in their learning. But sometimes, I make worksheets (currently rebranded as “printables“), and then I don’t feel so good. Worksheets are often not the ideal way
I am so, so excited about the Boom! Cards app, which allows students to use task cards on any mobile device or computer! You and your students are going to love them! You’ll love Boom because… It’s so easy and so effective! Boom comes with a suite of teacher tools. You can assign specific decks to individual students or the whole class. You can also
One of the nice things about task cards is that they can be used without a lot of preparation or planning as a filler activity, at centers, or when you have a sub. Those activities can be real lifesavers (especially when you are having one of those weeks), but by taking a more intentional approach, you can use task cards for so much more. You’ve
Hey there! I hope you are having an amazing Teacher Appreciation Week! Whatever they are doing for you (and I hope it is a bunch), it isn’t enough. If you got the appreciation you deserved, you would be treated like rock stars and professional athletes. So, two things. First off, TpT is throwing its annual Teacher Appreciation Sale on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Of
Today, we’re welcoming Sharon from Classroom in the Middle! She’s sharing her ideas on a combined reading and writing unit with a mysteries theme. Are the finer points of reading comprehension and written composition still an elusive mystery to your students? To one degree or another, reading and writing can be a bit mysterious to all of us, so why not play up the mystery theme with
Lately, a lot of teachers have been asking me about how they can use task cards with their students. One of the things I love about task cards is that they are a very versatile teaching tool – there are tons of ways to use them! So, I decided to do a round up of all of the ways I know to use task cards. I hope
Task cards are a great option for reinforcing skills and offering enrichment because, unlike worksheets, they can be used again and again. You can make your own to target specific areas and, of course, there are many for sale, including mine (pictured above). Print on card stock, ideally in color, but grayscale will work, too. If you laminate them, they will last for years. You
Our guest blogger today is Mary, who comes to us from M Moore Educational Resources. She’s sharing nine ways to use task cards, which have been highly successful in her classroom. Task cards are so versatile, even in middle and high school! They are great because students feel they have a choice in which task they do first, and in middle school this is a great
Hi! I’m Lyndsey from Lit with Lyns, and I’m thrilled to be doing a guest post on Minds in Bloom. Over the past couple of years, I have become somewhat (ok, extremely) obsessed with using task cards in my classroom. It started when I purchased Julie Faulkner’s Cite Textual Evidence Teaching Pack that included task cards. Once I saw how engaged my students were, I
