A Pirate's Life For Me!

Many times, multiple steps in directions can be daunting for young children and those with disabilities.

Today we made treasure maps to help with following directions.

Materials:
Paper
Clip art of map (I googled "Treasure map" and cut and pasted into a Word document)
Water
Bowl
Teabags
Markers
card stock

Directions:
Print clip art of the treasure map onto regular typing paper.

Crumple the map into a ball, then straighten it out again.

Slightly wet teabags and tap on the map to instantly "age" the paper.

Label the map according to the number of steps in the directions.
Print directions on card stock.

Today we used this for the dreaded LONG DIVISION!


Blackbeard’s Coins

Look at Blackbeard’s first number.
How many Davey Jones = Blackbeard? That is Jack Sparrow
Jack Sparrow x Davey Jones= Blackbeard’s coins
Blackbeard lost some coins.
Keep going until you have used up all of Blackbeard’s gold.
Argghhh Matey, Check Your Work or Walk the Plank!!!!

I must be honest, I have used this for getting kids to clean up after themselves as well!

It works for any activity requiring multiple steps.

There you have it!

Rubbing Elbows with the President

Ok, so not necessisarily rubbing elbows, but more like rubbings of presidents.

Dipping into my preschool bag of tricks, looking for a project to do with the littles while discussing what it means to have a new president, I came across this fast and fun project.

Materials:
Coins of various denominations
White paper
broken color crayons (at our house that is pronounced crowns don't aks why)
scissors
glue
craft sticks

Lucky us, we has some half dollars and silver dollars.
Place the white paper over the coin.
Rub with the side of the crayon on the paper to reveal the presidents face.
Cut on the line to incorporate fine motor skills.
Glue the coin rubbing onto the craft stick.

Enrichment Activities:
Discuss the differences between the coins including size, shape, and color.
Ask why do some face the left and others face right.
Sort by attributes.

For older ones:
Think about conversations the presidents would have had if they were alive at the same time. Make up conversations to tell a story.

Find the sum, difference, product or quotient of various presidents.
1 Roosevelt + 2 Jeffersons + 5 Lincolns = 1 Washington

You know you always wanted to rub elbows with George Washington,

There you have it!

Getting It RIGHT

The right hemisphere of the brain focuses on patters, sequence, rhythm and visual representations to store and access information. Rote memorization of multiplication facts can be tricky for students who are right brained thinkers.

Right Brain Math is an approach that builds upon the research supporting visual patterns as a means to put the tools of multiplication into the hands (or brain) of those right brain learners.

For example, multiplying by three can be awkward. Here is how Right Brain Math works with multiples of 3.

Start by drawing a tic-tac-toe board.

Next, begin in the bottom left corner and number the squares 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9


Now assign each row a number.

The top row is 0,

the middle row is 1 and

the bottom row is 2.

Slide those numbers in front of each digit on the row as shown below.
Now you have a chart of the multiples of 3. Aren't patterns fun!

There you have it!

I Cheated!

Welcome to Holy's Hints~No Desk Required!

I stole this post from our family blog....well since it IS our blog, I guess I didn't necessiarly "steal" it...just moved it :)



As promised, my very first ever blog about teaching tips.....here goes nothing.

As a parent, I strive to rear independent, well-rounded children. Life experiences contribute to future learning. Because of these personal experiences, children are able to make connections with the material they choose to read.

Enter one of my favorite books "So You Want To Be President" by Judith St. George. Usually I pull this book out in February to prepare for President's Day, but being an inauguration year, hello!


Buy it here from Scholastic!

Presidents come in all shapes, sizes, backgrounds and personalities. This books captures the hilarity of the pitfalls and plus points of those who serve the highest office of our nation. Above all the humanity of the man behind the office is captured in this children's book.

Packed with silly though interesting facts and caricature type pictures, your young child's interest is sure to be peaked. Which may lead them to ponder...Hey...I want to be president someday.

To go along with that, we are making flag wind socks this weekend.

Materials:
Blue construction paper (duh!)
50 Silver Star Stickers (you know what I'm talking about the old school foil ones)
Red and White party streamers (find it on sale and get bonus points!)
Glue
Pipe Cleaner
Hole punch

Directions
Stick the stars (in straight lines) on the blue construction paper. Mom's will LOVE this as it keeps the kiddos busy for at least 20 minutes. For older kids, have them name the states in order of induction into the Union--afterall the stars do represent the number of states in our great nation. Next, use the glue to attach the red and white streamers to the bottom of the starry blue paper. Bend the paper to form a tube and fasten with glue. Finally punch two holes in the top of the blue cylinder and thread the pipe cleaner through to make a hanger.

Wa-Lah! There you have it!

By the way, if you want to learn more about a lady who has a funny sense of humor and shares it with children, check out Judith St. George.

What's In A Name?

I once heard that the best learning is done on the edge of chaos. I have no clue who, if anyone famous, ever uttered these words, but none the less I believe it.

I also know that the best learning does not always occur when a child is in a seated position regurgitating what has been forced down....*think multiplicaiton tables!*

This is my little attempt to debunkthe myth that a quiet classroom is a happy classroom...we prefer to fly by the seat of our pants!

So there you have it...~ No Desk Required!