Need a Fun Review?

Problem:   You've taught the unit and want to review for the test but how can you make it memorable?

Solution: Make it a Family Feud Game! My class loves these! It takes about 30 minutes and everyone is totally engaged.

Results: Content is not only remembered but students have to classify the information by importance to gain points and their team advantage!

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/California-Explorers-Family-Feud-Game-994213

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/California-Indian-Foods-Family-Feud-Game-980913

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Geography-Family-Feud-Game-994298

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/California-Missions-Family-Feud-Game-995670

Games Available:

Geography Family Feud
California Native American Food
California Explorers
California Missions

Give them a try and save at the upcoming TPT cybersale!

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Problem: If you teach 4th grade in California you know that resources are difficult to find about the California Native American tribes and if you do find them they are usually not written at an engaging appropriate reading level for upper elementary students.

Solution: We have created this series about Native American Tribes in California. These short expository texts are aligned to the Common Core can be used as guided reading resources, close reading texts, and resource information that you can make digitally available for your students.

Color copy on cardstock and laminate for multiple years of use!

Text, photos and comprehension questions are included as well as a full preview! Please follow us to be updated when we add new tribes. Email us if you want a particular tribe and we will do that one next!
www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/4th-grade-4ever
www.4thgrade4ever.blogspot.com
4thgrade4ever.gmail.com

Veterans Day Free Activity

Problem: How to get students to understand the real meaning of Veterans Day and to make the day personal to them.

Solution: Students will ask their parents to help them compile a list of Veterans in their family and group of friends. They can go back as far in history as they know. They copy each Veteran's info down on a star, then decorate and display at school.

Results: Students are astounded by how many friends and relatives, both past and present, have served in the Armed Forces. The sheer number of stars on the classroom door or windows sends a visual message that this holiday is one where students get to honor their own military heroes.

Background

Twice a year we celebrate the United States Armed Forces. Do you know the names of the two holidays? Do you know the difference between the two?

If you said Memorial Day and Veterans Day, you were right! Memorial Day is a day to honor the men and women who died while serving in the military. It is always observed on the last Monday in May, so the actual date changes from year to year.

Veterans Day honors all people who served in the Armed Forces. It originally marked the anniversary of the end of World War I which ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 1918. That is why we observe Veterans Day on November 11th.

You may notice that Veterans Day is sometimes spelled with an apostrophe and sometimes not. Even though there should be an apostrophe in "Veterans," most sources skip it!

Activity

Have students take home the stars and fill out a star with the name and branch for any family member or friend, past or present. If they know more information, they can add it.

For example:      (Basic Info)  Joe Smith       Air Force

 (Added Info) Joe Smith, Air Force; WWII/Korean War; Radar Operator; Good Conduct Medal

 Students can decorate their stars however they wish. Hang stars on classroom doors. If you want to do as a school-wide activity, have students tape up their stars at the front of the school or another visible spot. Students will get a visual image of how personal this holiday really is for all of us and how important it is to honor all military veterans' service to our country.

Get the free activity at http://www.teacherspayteacheers.com/store/4th-grade-4ever

While you are there follow us for more freebies and fabulous curriculum!

 

My Favorite Clean Up Game Freebie

Problem: How to get students to clean up after themselves?

Solution: Secret Trash Game

The object of the game is for the students to clean up the classroom quickly! 
How to Play: I identify something that is trash, or needs to be put away. Sometimes I pick one thing and sometimes it is several. I don't tell the students what it is. I give them a 1-2 minute time limit and tell them to GO! They will come up to me and say, "Is this it?" but I never tell until the room is clean.
I remind them that it isn't just trash! It can be a chair that needs to be put up or a glue bottle put away. I gather everyone around and announce the winners! In the past I've given a prize from my prize box but I've started doing brag tags this year.

Brag tags are laminated cardstock tags that student collect for rewards. I give them for academic achievements, good citizenship, special events, and celebrations. The students are given a metal bead necklace and collect these all year long.

Results: The classroom is clean without complaint, and they even ask to play Secret Trash! The students love the brag tags! I love them because they are not candy, are inexpensive and easy to make. I'm giving away the "Secret Trash" Freebie on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Freebie-Secret-Trash-Game-Brag-Tag-954577

Find the Mistake: Embarrassing But Entertaining Real World Grammar Mistakes

Problem: How do you get students to buy in to the importance of proofreading when it is so deadly dull?

 

Solution: By making proofreading text a hands-on fun competition and real world relevant, students can't resist finding adults' embarrassing errors and gleefully fixing them!

 

Results: I collected photos of real life places and situations (thank you, Internet!) that had text with errors in grammar, usage, spelling, and punctuation and more. After creating a PowerPoint presentation, I divided the class into two teams and gave each team a fly swatter. New ones are nice, but that is entirely up to you! I showed a slide and one student from each team held a flyswatter. The first of the two kids to run up and "swat" the error on the screen and corrects it correctly wins a point. The fly swatters are handed off to two more kids. Show a few slides or dozens depending on time.

Extra-credit: Ask students to find errors on signs, billboards, menus, posters...anywhere out in the real world...and take a digital photo, send it to you, with an explanation of the error and how to fix it.

Teacher Freebie!!!!

We are offering weekly freebies to build your collection of Embarrassing But Entertaining Errors! Download them now at our TeachersPayTeachers store and take a look at the great products we have to offer. Fun games, vivid vocab, and tons more. We are twin sisters who not surprisingly both love to teach. We so love curriculum that is engaging, interesting, and a great value that we decided to create it ourselves. We think you will like it too!

Follow us at www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/4th-grade-4ever !

Top Ten Ways to Make Our "I Have...Who Has? Games Even More Fun!

My students love a game. I do too, but a game's got to earn its keep in my classroom. A great classroom game is fun, challenging and curriculum-based. A perfect game is all that times ten! So here are my top ten ways I take a hard-working "I have...Who has...?"" game and make it my multi-tasking classroom star!  

10. Tisket-Tasket              Students use game cards as task cards. They can write their  
                                             answers on a worksheet.

9.   Jeopardy Style           Start the cards and do it backwards. Students read the  
                                            answer and the students look to their card for the correct     
                                            question.

8.   Exit Slip                       Better than a Group A boarding pass, students line up or 
                                            leave a few seconds early according to correct answers. Do 
                                            just a few for maximum interest.

7.  Kid Version                  Students make their own short game choosing 5-10 vocab 
                                            words, writing definitions and illustrating. Laminate and         
                                            keep the good ones for the archives.

6.  Whole Group-Off      Follow the usual rules, keeping track of time. Instead of trying
                                           to beat your own class CR (classroom record), compete
                                           against another classroom for bragging rights. Got an old
                                           trophy in the garage? Pass it from class to class as the 
                                           students jockey for first place.

5. Memory Game           A small group of students lay the cards face down, then flip 
                                           the first card. They turn over cards looking for the correct
                                           answer. The student who finds the answer reads the next
                                           question. Student with the most cards wins.

4. Ducks in a Row           Great for individuals, partners, small groups and OCD types.
                                           Take the mixed up cards and put them all in order.

3. Poster Child                Each student makes a poster for their vocab term. The term,
                                          definition, example or use in a sentence, and illustration must
                                          be included. Hang all over the classroom.

2. World Series               Kids play the game as partners or small groups. Get sporty
                                           and have team names and play-offs, etc.

1. Secret Word                Find a word in the cards that repeats 3-5 times like   
                                           ecosystem or globe. When ever someone says that word   
                                           everyone has to do a special action. It could be to quack like 
                                           a  duck, do the Dougie, play rock, paper scissors with their 
                                           neighbor. It’s up to you the funnier the better!

Have fun and learn! Jody & LeAnn

Follow us and check out all our “I Have…Who Has?” cards available in all subject areas at our Tpt store: www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/4th-grade-4ever 

These are just a few of our games available!

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