Ground Hog Day - Lesson Plan Ideas

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Did you know that Feb. 2nd is Ground Hog Day? Why not spend a day celebrating this furry little creature!Doing theme related or holiday lessons can be a lot of fun.

If you are planning to create a packet of Ground Hog Day skill sheets, this coloring sheet would make a great cover. I love to include a word search for skills/topics being taught in the class, and morning work time is the perfect opportunity for this. It's also a great way to familarize your students with vocabulary that might be discussed throughout the day.

For reading time, practice fluency by reading some creative Ground Hog poems. This offers a break from the every day stories or other topics of discussion that might be going on in the classroom. Students love to practice reading poetry with partners. They also enjoy doing choral readings with small groups. If you would like to read some factual information about Ground Hogs, click here. A fun new bookmark is also a way to encourage students to read.

Carry your activities over to writing time, and let the kids either write an informational paper about the details of Ground Hog Day, or make up a creative story to share with the class. A few themed writing papers can be found here: Ground Hog Writing Paper 1, Ground Hog Writing Paper 2.

If you would like to end the day with a fun treat, check out this absolutely adorable Ground Hog cupcake: directions here.

Barack Obama - Printable Lessons

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Yes, the inauguration has passed, but it is not too late for your students to know a bit of information about our new President. After all, this was a very historical event, therefore focus should be given to it within the classroom. For my students, I created a Barack Obama packet on the day of the inauguration. It consisted of a cover sheet, which was a coloring sheet of President Obama, a word search of Barack Obama, a reading comprehension section, a cause and effect activity sheet of Obama happenings and a matching of important facts related to Barack Obama or the election. Of course, you can add to the packet if you have other fun activity sheets. Also, if you have ideas of your own, don't forget to share those under the comment section. If you are looking for more fun, try this Barack Obama bingo game. I actually ended up using this for in-door recess on a cold day. Instead of calling out BINGO, I had them say, "BARACKO!" The kids loved it!

Although I did not use this Obama packet, teachers of younger students might benefit from it.

Responding to Literature in the Elementary Classroom

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So, your kids have finished reading a book. Now what? How about have them respond to it. There are a variety of ways to respond. Most often you probably use a response notebook, but let's face it, that can get old after a while. Don't get me wrong. They have a purpose! But, if I am getting tired of reading them, I know my kids are probably getting tired of writing them. In this case, it is simply time for a break. Remember, a response to literature is communicating what you think and understand about what you read. It may be done while you are reading or after you are reading, but there are many modes of sharing this. As I searched for ideas in cyberland, I came across the wonderful website Work Sheet Place. Click here to see the response to literature activity sheets. If you like them and use them, share your comments so that other teachers may benefit.

Fractions and Decimals Lesson - Meet Mr. Fractimal

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Mr. Fractimal is a skill coloring sheet that involves having the students color-in decimals to the tenths and fractions. This is one of those fun quiet activity sheets that you can do as a follow-up lesson. I like to do activities like this when I want the kids to wind down and be quiet. It's nice to have those types of activities every now and then. On this skill sheet, students can choose their colors. They don't have to use the same color on each shape unless they want to. They will look to see what decimal or fraction is pointing to the shape and color it to match. There are shapes on the left and right of the sheet, and although it does not state this on the sheet, I had my students color the left and right to match each other. Click here to find Mr. Fractimal: a decimal and fraction lesson plan.

Critical Thinking in Math - Guess my Number

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This is a great game/lesson to do when you have a block of waiting time, such as at bus call. Or, you can play this at the start or end of a math lesson. The object of the game is for the kids to guess the number you are thinking of. They must narrow it down by asking questions. I typically limit the number of questions they can ask because it makes them have to think. The catcher is that the questions have to contain math vocabulary, which is a great review. For example, they can't say, "Is the number on the right a 7?" You might have them say, "Is the digit in the one's place an odd number between 6 and 8?" The attached sheet is a sample sheet that I give the kids the first time I play. It sort of takes them through how things work and what is expected as far as how the questions must contain math terms. Click here to see this critical thinking math game.

Decimals to the tenths place - elementary lesson plan

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Here is a fun lesson plan on decimals, and it is right in time for Valentine's Day. But, keep in mind that you don't have to wait for this holiday in order for your kids to enjoy it. I have already tried this out on my class of third graders, and it worked great. You will need to buy colored candy hearts from the store. I actually used the sweet tart hearts that come in large bags. I bought those cute little snack sized baggies and I put ten hearts in each bag. Remember, this lesson is on decimals to the tenths place, so you can't just give them a handful. In order to make grading the sheet easier on me (and we know how important that is), I put the same colors in each bag. I believe I ended up giving each child, 3 red, 3 blue, 2 orange, and 2 purple. Have fun with this plan, and if you use it and like it, please come back and post a comment on the website. Thanks. Click here for the Candy Hearts Lesson Plan: Decimals to the Tenths Place.

Elementary Lesson Plan Website

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Wow! This is my first chat here in the lesson plan lounge. I am excited about posting all kinds of elementary lesson plans. Although I get many ideas from the internet myself, I thought it would be neat to create a place where I shared some of my favorites. I have been known to spend hours upon hours browsing sites in order to find creative and fun lesson plans for all subject areas. There are some wonderful lesson plans floating around in cyber-land, and many are FREE. I have found lots, but I simply can't imagine how many are out there just waiting to be discovered. As a teacher, I find teaching is more fun if I have an interactive lesson plan that keeps my students engaged, so that's why I go searching. Please know that any template or skill sheet you find on my website that has my website http://www.lessonplanlounge.blogspot.com/ on it, I made. I own all the rights to it. If you decide to print one of my skill sheets, please recognize me and my website by leaving the website address at the bottoms of all sheets. I do appreciate it. :-) There are many other websites I will link to when I make reference to how I used them in the classroom. Please make sure you give credit to those people/websites, and only reproduce for classroom use or as directed on their websites. I am not selling ideas that I did not create. This website is simply an avenue to direct other teachers to the sites that are available in this very large cyber community of teachers.