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Use up all that scrap paper in your classroom. While cleaning, discover how to create some unique projects. Paper fibers are broken apart when torn, which add a dimensional effect to collages and allows a hands on approach to learning lines, colors and shapes.
Papier mache birds are my favorite thing to do with paper scraps...but there are several other, less messy, options!
Papier Mache
aside from papier mache...see what you can do with torn paper scraps


Read on for more ideas and instructions; Full Article
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Fun Projects for the Classroom

December 20th 2010 04:56

Bring your students together by assigning fun classroom projects. Implementing projects throughout the year encourages cooperation and communication. New friendships can be formed while new skills are being learned. Classroom projects can be used to integrate several different subjects, reach out to the community and other classes, or used simply as teambuilding activities


Learn how to make board games, connect with other classrooms and more here
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Stepping into my first creative beginning writing class of the year was an eye opener. I quickly realized only two of the 12 students could write more than their own names.

A few quick revisions to my plans and we ended up having a fantastic year together. They progressed in both their story telling and writing skills by year end...thankfully. That class was a challenge...high energy, high creativity, high drama, little writing, yet lots of learning.

Creative Writing Lesson PlansStory Starters

Throughout the lesson time, I emphasize the elements of a story, beginning, middle, end and the elements, setting, characters and plot. By years end they were all fluent in those terms. Repetition is key!
Another beginning of the year activity, was to bring out a wide variety of magazines and let the kids tear out interesting settings and character possibilities. We set these in two big piles on the main table. Towards the end of the class, and in order to get help quickly cleaning up, I'd let the cleanest table go first picking out a setting and a character to tell an impromptu story.

a couple of reliable sources for interesting magazines...

* library book sales

* ask your neighbors, I discovered a retired couple down the street had been singlehandly keeping publishers clearing house in the money all these years. They had such a wide variety..which is also why many of my posted ideas include the sentence...bring out a variety of magazines....

* set a box out at school, church, your parents church...with a sign requesting magazines. This works well and also tends to bring out the surprising and obscure.magazines.

Throughout the lesson time, I emphasize the elements of a story, beginning, middle, end and the elements, setting, characters and plot. By years end they were all fluent in those terms. Repetition is key!

creative writing, beginning writing, elementary writing

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Educational Games for Teens

July 14th 2010 02:49
Capture a teens attention and help them learn and retain information with games. (The following ideas are often just as fun and challenging for adults) If it has been a long time since you played a game with your teen, give these a whirl. They are a far cry from mind-numbing chutes and ladders!
read on...
games for teens, chess, online games for teens, educational games

chess isn't the only game that challenges ( thankfully!)
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Science....and Father's Day

June 15th 2010 14:09
Incorporate science lessons into your summer fun. Using art materials to teach science is a sneaky way to slip abstract ideas into your child, making them easier to grasp. Let these ideas double as Father's Day gifts or activities for dad to do with their kids.

Read More
Make Grass Head Characters
Nature Journals
Fossils
grass head, father's day gift, grass characters, chia pets
Grass Head Characters

Consider making a grass head character for Father's Day!
Make a whole family, mom, siblings...dog?
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Matilda by Roald Dahl Activities

May 17th 2010 00:02
Matilda by Roald Dahl is a children’s classic. Many students will have already seen the movie by the time they reach your classroom, but that is not a reason to avoid this book. Roald Dahl did a great service to elementary school teachers when he wrote Matilda. The teaching opportunities abound in this book.

Matilda is a tiny genius who is stuck with a trashy, overbearing family. Her parents ignore her completely when they aren't being horribly nasty to her. She learns to take care of herself and cleverly manages to get back at them a few times. Entering school doesn't turn out to be the wonderful learning institution she might have hoped though. Faced with a enormous and evil headmistress, Matilda uses her superior abilities in this delightful story


[ Click here to read more ]
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Best Books for Preteen Boys

May 12th 2010 21:08
The best books for preteen boys encourage adventure and discovery.

Unfortunately technology, video games and endless TV shows that are geared toward this age group often keep them from hands on adventures


[ Click here to read more ]
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Jon Agee wrote and illustrated, The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau, a charming story full of surprises.


[ Click here to read more ]
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Fantastic Mr. Fox Lesson Plan

May 10th 2010 01:19
Fantastic Mr.Fox is an imaginative read aloud story by Roald Dahl. Use clever Mr. Fox and the gang to teach new descriptive vocabulary words and character analysis through engaging book discussions.


[ Click here to read more ]
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Coraline

November 20th 2009 01:26
My daughter loves the animated movie Coraline so loudly announced that it is Coraline week in our house giving me about five minutes notice to organise some activities for us to do.

Thankfully Coraline.com came to our aid and we were able to button eye images of both myself and my daughter as well as create online button flowers. There was also a fun print image in which the circus mice could also spell out my daughter's name


[ Click here to read more ]
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Cranberry Thanksgiving

October 2nd 2009 18:39
Cranberry Thanksgiving written by Wende and Harry Devlin in 1971 is one of those time honoured books that lends itself to family traditions - in the case of Cranberry Thanksgiving it is Cranberry Bread.

Cranberry Thanksgiving is the story of a young girl named Maggie who lives with her Grandmother near a cranberry bog in New England. The book includes some interesting characters and colourful illustrations and the story takes some interesting twists and turns, demonstrating that looks can be deceiving. It even includes Grandmother’s Famous Cranberry Bread recipe for you to bake at home


[ Click here to read more ]
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Don't Discount Second Hand Stores

September 18th 2009 17:35
Investigating a new area to live, I started checking out all the stores - second hand stores included and noticed what bargains they had to offer particularly in the way of kids educational computer games and books. We managed to make some great savings and many of the books and cds were priced at $2 or less!

The Little Bear Preschool Thinking Adventure normally sells for between $10 and $15 and we picked it up for $1. A definite bargain


[ Click here to read more ]
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Speakaboos

June 2nd 2009 02:38
The Speakaboo website served a great purpose this week as it gave us an online version of The Ugly Duckling to read and view as well as a follow on activity, but the site itself holds an interesting premise.

Coming soon, as the site announces, is a record your own story section which will allow kids and parents to record their own voices reading (or singing!) their favorite story, song, or nursery rhyme. Anything that aids in the improvement and creation of kids wanting to read or listen to stories is a great idea.
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Free Online Children's Books

April 13th 2009 02:26
As an expat abroad, I am always searching for new stories to share with my daughter.

The Children's Library is a non-profit organisation offering a wide variety of free paper books to be read online including stories such as Axle The Freeway Cat, Blinky Bill, Cinderella and Mother Goose


[ Click here to read more ]
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