Physical Education: Seven Pieces of Equipment for a Frugal Program

With tight budgets and position cuts the norm in many school districts, physical education often ends up being on the classroom teacher’s list of responsibilities. How do you implement a sustainable physical education program without diverting valuable classroom budget dollars on supplies? Here are seven simple suggestions to get you started.

Hula hoops.

Great for using with traditional hula hoop activities, for exercise stations outside and more, these things are easily found at dollar stores and other affordable retailers. Pick up a set of four to six to have on hand.  For more information on hula hoops and other items in the classroom, check out this article on classroom hacks.

A parachute.

This might be something you want to purchase per grade level, but for teachers of very young primary students, brightly colored classroom parachutes offer a springboard for numerous quality strength building and direction following exercises.  If you’re going to splurge on one piece of equipment for early primary, parachutes are an excellent choice.

A selection of various fitness balls.

Playground balls, basketballs and soccer balls can all be used for things like 4-square, kickball, soccer, basketball and fitness station drills. A collection of three to four makes a nice affordable start to your personal classroom collection of physical education equipment.

Popsicle sticks and reinforcement charts.

In a previous article on how to use craft sticks in the classroom, I covered a very affordable PE program that could be ongoing in your classroom for very little money or space.  Having students run around a course or track of a quarter mile and receiving an additional stick each time they go and recording the distance per student on a classroom reinforcement chart is efficient, cheap, well received by students and requires virtually no advance planning after the initial chart is up on the wall.

A whistle.

Cheap, simple and easy to overlook as a piece of valuable classroom equipment, a whistle provides as much support for your physical education lessons as it does for recess lineup.

Music.

You’ll need a play source as well as a good collection of music to use for cool downs, rock outs, and high stepping musical chairs on rainy days. Seriously, don’t forget the tunes.

Bandanas.

These have numerous affordable uses in the classroom, but when it comes to PE they are fantastic as a cheap solution to identify teams. Instead of paying big bucks for vest-style pull on tops to use for the traditional “skins and shirts” team identification, have half of the class wear their class bandanas around their necks in the voted upon color.

Most of these items not only work to support your physical education program, but also ensure you have a quality selection of playground equipment as well. Have you written about frugal physical education ideas before? Share your link in the comment section. You know we love to hear from you.

Photo Credit: Striatic

10 Free Resources for Learning and Technology Professionals

There are many free resources online designed to help learning and technology practitioners design curriculum, plan lessons, advance their career, and engage students in the learning experience. This article by Karen Schweitzer offers a list of 10 free resources to explore:

TED – This non-profit organization is dedicated to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Each year, TED hosts an annual conference that is attended by many of the world’s leading academics, learning technologists, and business leaders. TED’s blog and video podcasts are great for learning and technology professionals who want to stay-up-to date on tech news and innovations.

Tech & Learning – Tech & Learning is aimed as the K-12 educational community. It also provides a wide range of resources for practitioners who support learning and performance in the corporate or professional world too. Resources include blogs, tech forums, webinars, hot topics, articles, and tips.

Enterprise 2.0 Blog – The Enterprise 2.0 Blog is an Enterprise 2.0 Conference affiliate. The blogs offer a wide range of news and information about social learning and technologies in various environments.

Jane’s E-Learning Pick of the Day – Jane Hart is a social media and learning consultant. She posts new eLearning items of interest on her blog every day. She also offers a social media in learning blog and a directory of eLearning resources.

eLearningPost – This eLearning blog explores news and stories from around the web that are related to corporate learning and instructional design. The blog also frequently links to articles on knowledge management and learning communities.

The Bamboo Project – The Bamboo Project is a useful blog from education consultant Michele Martin. The blog seeks to educate individuals and learning professionals about lifelong learning and career development systems. Some of the things Michele likes to write about include learning, training, knowledge sharing, and professional development.

Dice – Dice is a good place for learning and technology professionals to search for jobs online. The site also offers career news and a forum to ask questions, chat, and network with other education and technology professionals.

Employment Engagement Network – This social network is dedicated to employee engagement. The network has more than 1,400 members and provides a place to chat, blog, and network online. The Employee Engagement Network also offers many free resources, including e-books and slide shows.

Blended Learning in the Workplace – This free, eight-page report provides a detailed survey of blended learning trends in U.S. workplaces. More than 118 corporate training and e-learning practitioners were surveyed for the report.

TeachAde – TeachAde is a social networking site for educators. The site is an excellent place to find additional resources and network with other teachers and education professionals.

This is a guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes for OnlineCollege.org, an online college resource. You’ll find her previous guest post, Twenty Professional Development Resources for Teachers, an informative and helpful read.  

Photo Credits: Per Ola Wiberg and Karen Schweitzer

Free Classroom Fitness Program for Teachers

Trying to find time to honor any type of fitness program in the classroom when PE has been virtually stripped from your school’s curriculum? Lucky to fit in one group activity per week along with all of the unexpected assemblies, special ed integration consults, math reviews and more? Kathy Kaehler, healthy living expert and personal trainer to the stars, has a great free program on her site that provides physical fitness activities to do with your students in workouts as short as one minute. Ready to read on?

Kathy’s program is called Schoolhouse Workout, and features a different one minute workout every month. Often, you’ll see Kathy leading it. Other times, a guest celebrity will be leading the troops. The workouts are in video, approximately one minute in length and are archived for your convenience. Your students won’t need any equipment, other than the occasional use of their desk chair. This makes it perfect for those teachers working in the trenches of various districts where supplies and equipment are either hard to come by, or difficult to replace such as remote international locations. As long as you have a decent internet connection, you’re good to go.

If your internet access is sporadic, get the workout parameters when you are at the internet cafe in the city and jot them down for use in whatever remote village you happen to be working in. Otherwise, just hit the play button and enjoy. Since they are only one minute long, I recommend using them in the following way:

If you are able to route the video to a larger classroom TV as a monitor, fantastic! Otherwise, just model for your students and roll with it.

Creative use of lesson length. Personally, I think the brevity of these one-minute workouts is the greatest strength of the program. Particularly in today’s schools where the term fitness program is virtually nonexistent. That being said, most teachers are used to a full thirty to forty-five minute activity. If that’s the way you still want to go in your classroom, fine. Use the one-minute video segments as a way to start the group activity off. To keep things more integrated for the kids however, I recommend a hybrid. For the first viewing of the video each month, use it as a kick off activity for something like kickball, fitness station rotation or my favorite frugal classroom fitness activity – the popsicle stick running program. ( See this craft stick project ideas post for instructions.)

From there, once the kids have become familiar with the order and moves of that month’s workout, use the one minute workouts throughout the day as a healthy way to transition between lessons. A few of the workout videos will require some room for push-ups and such, so you may want to select a couple of different workout videos to get you through the month. You have several options, since they are all archived on the site. Just choose one that requires a smaller amount of personal space if you are switching between two activities that are both desk related, or to take a minor break during a really long test. Have the kids flip over their papers to avoid peeking and rock out for sixty seconds to get the oxygen pumping.

To access the workouts, simply register on KathyKaehlerFitness.Com . Related Readings: Six Exercise Tips for Travelers and Affordable Inside Tips from a Celebrity Personal Trainer.

Inexpensive Classroom Supplies for Teachers on a Budget

Times are tight for schools everywhere. Teachers who do have a classroom supplies budget with their school or PTO are needing to pare things down as much as possible. Most are still dipping into their own monies to make ends meet in the classroom. With the economy as sluggish as it is, purchasing classroom supplies with take home pay is getting harder and harder to justify on the home front. Need some ideas for teaching on the cheap? Here’s a list of articles on supplies, resources and project ideas for saving money in the classroom.

• Shoestring portable puppet theater.
• DIY whiteboard with homemade cleaner.
• Three cheap classroom hacks using traditional bandanas.
• Cheap ways to go green in the classroom.
• Torn scrap paper mosaics.
• A homemade multipurpose game board.
• Affordable paper bag review game.
• Cheap classroom lessons using index cards.
• Using inexpensive glue sticks to your home court advantage in the classroom.
• Multiple project ideas for file folders.
• Using old fashioned clothespins in the classroom.
• Rock your management style with paper clips.
• Wooden craft sticks as an affordable instructional supply.
• Explore the power of using free newspapers as an instructional tool.
• Creative classroom uses for rubber bands.
• Get more use than expected out of those donated phone books.
• Turn garbage into gold with empty cardboard beverage flats from the school vending machine.
• Use binder clips as a cheap organizational aid.
• A list of great cheap classroom supplies for struggling school teachers.
• An interesting freebie resource for ESL teachers.
• A simple DIY classroom calendar project for cheap.

Other ideas would include checking out the classroom cheapies at Dollar Tree, or using the inexpensive suggestions in this article for art smocks and hula hoops. Do you have a great idea for affordable classroom supplies or resources posted on your blog or web site? Our goal is to turn this page into a comprehensive resource for teachers searching for cheap teaching ideas. Contact us with your site’s URL, and we’ll be in touch about a link exchange. In the meantime, please feel free to post a comment below. We love to hear from readers.

Photo Credit: Pink Sherbet

Free Middle Eastern Studies Resource: The Doha Debates

Those educators serving junior high through high school students who are looking for a quality media resource to study Middle East issues and current events have a fantastic freebie available to them at the click of a button. Read on.

The Doha Debates, carried regularly on CNN, have a web site of their own. What’s great about this is that if you miss an episode, you can catch the podcast, transcript and both high and low resolution video versions of each debate via their archives, which are organized by season.

They tackle such issues as marital choice, the wearing of hijab, and the ongoing Palestinian problems. There are also special debate sessions scheduled regularly where high ranking officials are brought to Doha for the students to ask direct questions. This recently included Shimon Peres, the first high ranking Israeli official to visit Qatar in more than a decade. Other guests have included Bill Clinton and Desmond Tutu. Occasionally, the debates are scheduled at an overseas location. For the most part however, they take place in Doha.

Since they are conducted (except for the special visitation episodes) in debate format with two speakers for each side of every motion, these make for an excellent classroom discussion resource. Work the archived episodes in as you see fit. Incorporate research from a free ESL current events resource or turn them loose to discover titles and URL resources from regular media. When the new seasons start each year, consider assigning research ahead of time based on the subject. Then host a classroom debate and vote prior to watching the high resolution video episode in class and compare results.

 However you decide to incorporate it, I don’t think you’ll be sorry. This is a quality resource with a high degree of political balance and professional quality. Available at DohaDebates.Com.

 Photo Credit: Doha Debates

More Classroom Ideas for Old Fashioned Index Cards

 

Looking for cheapskate lesson ideas? Love the idea of tried and true materials with major multipurpose potential? When it comes to affordability, index cards are hard to beat. Read on.

They come lined and unlined, colored and plain, small and large, blank on one side and ruled on the other. With all these options, it’s no wonder classroom teachers love to stockpile them. I’ve already addressed their uses for vocabulary study. These ideas provide strategies for using this flexible classroom supply in additional curriculum areas. Ready?

Flash cards.

Math facts, using two separate colors for masculine and feminine words in foreign language study, question and answer memorization and more are all ways to use these old-time cheapies effectively as study tools. If handwritten penmanship isn’t as precise as you’d like for the subject matter you are studying (foreign alphabets, mathematical equations), key the information into a printable table with uniform cell sizes using a basic word processing program. Then print, cut and affix.

Postcards.

These are a great activity to promote communication at all grade levels. Early primary pen pals, high school students writing to famous authors, requesting information and freebies from various programs and communicating with state and national leaders as part of a government study are all ideas where these would come into play. Four inch by six inch index cards are a great size to make your own postcards. I prefer the ones that are blank on both sides. On the back side, have students draw a line down the middle of the card while it is oriented horizontally. Then address as normal on the bottom right portion of the card and attach appropriate postage to the top right corner. Students will write a message appropriate to the assignment on the left side, and you can assign individualized card designs for the front of the student created cards.

Index card art.

Who knew these things were turning into an individualized art medium? I found this set of images from Flickr.Com, as well as one or two others from people who posted personal index card projects. Some ideas that come to mind for classroom use? Playbills for performances at schools for the arts, sketches that look like zoomed in photographs of simple items such as beach balls, sunglasses or flower blooms, abstract or free-form modern art assignments, working in a science-art connection while students are studying tiny life forms or cell anatomy (these would look GREAT as zoom-ins), buddy portraits, self portraits using miniature standing mirrors and charcoal pencils, recreations of famous works in miniature, book jackets for older grade levels reading novels and chapter books and recreations of headline photos and titles from a studied historical event or figure. A tightwad decorating idea for an older classroom would be a bold solid color wall and an arrangement of finished 4 x 6 or 5 x 8 index card projects protected in simple glass and steel clip frames. Think rows and columns like you’d see in a formal art display of repeating items.

Puppets.

There are a number of simple ideas you can use to create puppets from these little nuggets of classroom thrift. Three that come to mind are hinged shadow puppets, decorated craft stick puppets, and a simple 3 x 5 card folded in half with a stick-out dragon tongue and pop up eyes made from the classroom scrap box.

Project summaries or descriptions.

Call me a terror in the teaching trenches, but I seriously think art projects and math assignments are consistently overlooked as opportunities to include written assignment descriptions. When I assign a particular art or math project, I like to have the students write up a brief analysis or description on a small to medium sized index card and attach it somehow to the finished product. Since younger grades have the sentence writing requirements so heavily pushed in the curriculum, this is a great way to work in the skill. No more having them make something up that’s totally unrelated to your current theme, and writing it down on notebook paper. Can you say boring? Working in the sentence or paragraph writing as a project description keeps the writing assignment meaningful and shows them that their artwork is just as valuable as other classroom assignments. Love that.

Assignment modifications.

Trying to provide a successful inclusion experience for students with extra needs? Often their difficulty with completing certain assignments has more to do with being overwhelmed by the empty space of an entire piece of notebook paper. If you are assigning fourth grade persuasive paragraphs for example, why not hand out 4 x 6 or 5 x 8 lined cards to the entire class? That way, the students needing the modification don’t feel singled out since everyone has the same assignment length anyway.

Shorter assignments.

Why waste paper? If you have a project that can be accomplished in less space than a piece of looseleaf provides, assign the work on a medium to large sized index card. The work can be illustrated on the back and hung from the ceiling via twine and paper clips. These also look great on bulletin board displays. Think haiku or acrostic poems.

Interactive time line activities.

For any historic period or event you happen to be studying, assign a sub-event or important date to be written about, dated and illustrated on an index card. Have a horizontal time line with dates only marked off displayed on a classroom wall or above the chalkboard. Distribute student copies of a more detailed time line to discuss as a group. Call on individual students when their respective events come up in the conversation. It will be their turn to attach their card in the correct spot under the time line.

Mix it up.

This is certainly not the definitive list for classroom ideas using index cards. In fact. I found several other ideas of note while poking around for ideas to round out this article. Here’s a tip for introducing classroom rules and procedures at the beginning of the school year, instructions on how to make a jumping origami frog, another idea for custom designing your own classroom checklists and a fun format for working on math concepts that steps outside the box of traditional flash cards.

There you have it, folks. This is my hands down best Lesson Mag effort at providing you with index card strategies for an in-check classroom materials budget. For other ideas on how to use affordable supplies in your learning environment, check out these articles on glue sticks, newspapers, telephone books and file folders.

Photo Credit: Karin Dalziel

Vocabulary on the Cheap: Two Easy Hacks Using Simple Index Cards

 

Need a cheap way to get your students involved in spelling and vocabulary activities? Read on to find out how easily simple index cards can get the job done.

The classroom supply budget is a major concern to everyone in education. So is getting the kiddos involved in ways they can feel excited about. One of the easiest, most affordable ways I’ve found to do this over the years is with index cards. Bonus? These ideas work at multiple grade levels. While the list itself is slightly longer, I’ve found all of the ideas fall into two basic categories. Ready?

The two-sided approach.

Write one story word on the front of each card, and the corresponding definition on the back. This enables you to assign the good old fashioned writing down of the terms and definitions in a way that is meaningful for the students. It produces an end product they can use to practice with at home or with a buddy. Using them as flash cards during parent study support is one way to go. So is having the glossary on hand as a cross reference tool while learners put all of the words face down and have to guess the term by reading the definition.

Pair ‘em up.

With this approach, you’ll need two same-size index cards per vocabulary term. By writing the words on one set of cards and the definitions on the other, you open yourself up to a more diverse set of study options. Partner-based flannel board matching activities using the glossary as a cross reference tool, mixing them up in two columns on the board and sorting them together as a class, or mixing up both sets and arranging them upside down in rows on student desks to play “vocabulary memory” by trying to remember where matching sets of word cards are after repeatedly flipping them over for review and returning them to their original position.

As you can see, multiple options using only one traditional (and affordable) classroom supply item. What I love about index cards is their flexibility. In my opinion, they are right up there with file folders and craft sticks in the diversity department. Look for more index card ideas for the classroom in future posts. Happy teaching, everybody!

Photo Credits: Karindalziel and Troismarteaux

Project Hack: Some Thoughts on Glue Sticks

Tired of cleaning out individual glue caps with the closest available paper clip? I hear you. Here’s why glue sticks are one of my favorite classroom supplies . . . and why they always went on my new student “back to school” buy list during my classroom days.

No leaks.

Not on the desk areas, not in their backpacks, not in a box of your math manipulatives . . . nowhere. Sure, if you leave them out in the hot sun you may get some melting, but in general, these are not a messy project tool.

No clogs.

Ah, the freedom of starting a whole group art project without losing an entire free class period ahead of time cleaning out glue bottle nozzles. Just give the directions, distribute the materials and let them go for it.

Streamlined product dispensing.

Release yourself from over pouring, over squeezing, messy residue and more. Glue sticks are much easier for me to use as an adult, so I can only imagine how much easier they are for a young child still working on fine motor skills.

So take the plunge, free yourself from unnecessary glue bottle aggravation and set your students up for success.Go for the glue sticks, and imagine the power of streamlined student projects.

Photo Credit: Oskay

Fantastic Ideas for File Folders

Whether I’m starting fresh or recycling used one, file folders are on my short list for simple, affordable classroom consumables. Bonus? They’re super versatile. Read on for some teacher-friendly ideas.

Some of my favorite project ideas are the ones that involve the easiest methods and most affordable supplies. File folders meet both of those requirements. Here are a few simple things you can do with them in an educational setting.

Pattern cut-outs.

This is a great way to use folders that are a bit tattered around the edges. Trace and cut out one pattern, then replicate as many as you need for classroom “trace and cut” crafts.

Student-published book covers.

This requires starting with a fresh new folder for each child. Simple bind with staples or brass fasteners and use loose leaf paper or printed computer documents depending on student access to technology. Cover designs can also range from simple to elaborate depending on your consumables budget.

DIY journals or learning logs.

These are basically blank, fillable versions of the book cover idea above. Most instructors prefer class sets of those black and white composition books, but depending on your location, these may be hard to come by. Having a DIY option up your sleeve will help keep all of your learning programs available even in tough financial times.

Individual student calendar resources.

Here’s a link to a great way to have students follow along individually with group calendar work in the classroom. Home schooling? Your morning calendar routine will be even more streamlined. You do have to scroll down a bit to see the illustrations, but it’s there.

Mini offices.

These absolutely, totally ROCK! Heard about them years ago. Here’s a link to an excellent illustrated version of one.You basically have all the reference materials you would otherwise have to hand out individually and have students keep track of on one fold-up file folder office. I really wish I had known about these while I was still in the classroom. Personal verdict? One of the best classroom ideas I’ve ever seen. Bonus? Easily adaptable for all grade levels, K-12. Here’s another link to an idea of how you can use these in the classroom.

Individual privacy cubicles.

Basically, you assemble them the same way you assemble the “offices” discussed above. Put two of them together so they overlap in the middle and then staple them together. They can then be stood up on individual student desks for quiz and test taking, or as an extra integration support tool for those students who are easily distracted visually.

Easily stored games and learning centers.

There are loads of ideas out there. Here’s a link with a couple of interesting and simple ones. Want some more? Here are some printouts to just glue on and go.

These are just some of the ways I’ve found to use file folders in the classroom. I think you’ll see how flexible they are as a resource for affordable classroom programming. And there’s no denying they provide a huge bang for the buck. Got a great idea for a file folder project? Share your thoughts below.

Photo Credit: Mooganic

Classroom Uses for the Old Fashioned Clothespin

When it comes to cheap office supplies, clothespins are tough to beat. Bonus? There are loads of things you can use them for in the classroom. Following are just a few.

Project clamps.

Great for all the old stained ones that parents are getting ready to chuck anyway.

Art clothesline.

A bit old fashioned? Maybe. But they still get the job done, and are a great way to finish drying those water color paintings without clogging up desk space.

Communication with classroom specialists.

Working at a place where Post It notes are outside of your budget parameters? Clip a directional note to the seatwork of a student who leaves the room for support in another room.

Stick a magnet on the back and use it to hold student artwork or reminders.

This is also a great project to have the kids create and take home to the folks.

Get a grip on classroom snack storage.

They’ll help keep those plastic bags of crackers fresh.

Make a reindeer ornament at Christmas time.

Simple, affordable, and kids dig it. Here’s a link.

Insect crafts.

I’ve seen several different variations over the years that would be fun to try when doing a classroom unit on insects. Here’s a cute simple one with a grasshopper theme. I think the kids would have fun using these to keep their desk papers organized.

Make a multicultural doll.

Here’s a link to one celebrating Asian heritage. As simple as the design is though, I would think you could easily modify with various shades of paint to match different skin tones from around the world. I’m already picturing one dressed with an African tribal cloth. Here’s another link with resources on making clothespin dolls as well, with a couple pictured that could easily represent the heritage of certain European countries.Cute!

Make a center game using clothespins and the cardboard circles that come inside your pizza box.

I love this idea because it is so inexpensive.

Student communication.

I’ve seen teachers successfully use these for students to communicate their location. Each one would have one with their name on it clipped to one side of a poster board. On another side of the board or across the bottom would be various locations such as bathroom, nurse’s office, etc. Children simply clip their pin under the name of the appropriate destination. Simple!

These ideas represent my top ten picks only. As always, please feel free to share your ideas. These things are so cheap that almost any PTA should be able to pick you up a bag at the dollar store as part of a classroom support package.

Photo Credit: L. Marie

Paper Clip Ideas for a Rocking Classroom

Simple, cheap and around for as long as most of us classroom warriors can remember, these under-the-radar bits of office supply fluff can help you get the job done on multiple fronts. Read on for a list of affordable classroom tips involving the humble paper clip.

Ornament hooks.

Need a way for parents to hang those precious homemade ornaments your students just made? Or, maybe you need to find hanging options for a load of donated tree ornaments from the PTA. Either way, paper clips can be your best friend when it comes to this.

Hanging art displays.

If you have one of those old fashioned suspended ceilings with the metal grids in your room, then these work great. Over each student’s desk and anywhere else you might need to hang a sign or art item, attach one paper clip to the edge of the metal rib. Tie on a desired length of classroom twine, and then tie another paper clip on to the dangling end of the string. This is where you can clip on flat edges of lighter pieces of art work. Great for open house night.

Bookmarks.

In addition to rubber bands, paperclips can make awesome bookmarks. Bonus? They don’t fall out as easily as paper ones. Word of advice? Go with the coated ones if you don’t want your pages to get rust stains.

Plaster of Paris Project Hanger.

Embed one in the back of each student’s project on the side where they will want to hang it from the back. Allow to dry. Easy breezy.

Emergency Zipper Pull.

Got a primary student with a zipper malfunction? Thread one of these little gems through the hole and pull up. Problem solved.

Unclogging those annoying glue bottle nozzles.

If your administration or PTA hasn’t upgraded you to glue sticks yet, this could be one of those tedious problems from the good old days that you still need to deal with. Straighten out a paper clip and go for it. We’ll be pulling for you.

Emergency bra strap repair.

Have a hormonal high school student on high wardrobe malfunction meltdown? If the problem happens to be one of those broken plastic hooks, a paper clip can get the job done in a pinch. If the problem is further up the strap, a safety pin might be more what you need.

That’s it from my end. If you have additional bits of clip wisdom, feel free to post a comment. I’m sure we could all use additional suggestions for sticking to the classroom budget and having a touch of convenience at the same time.

Photo Credit: Sunshine City

Classroom Uses for the Age Old Craft Stick

These things have been around for as long as I can remember, including my years as a grade school student. Available in multiple sizes, they really go the distance for getting things done on the cheap. Need a few ideas for putting them to use and reducing your classroom materials budget? Read on.

Streamlined questioning practices.

While you can do this with the old fashioned popsicle size, I find it easier with the larger tongue depressor style ones. Put each student’s full name on a stick with a fine to medium tip permanent marker. Then put all the sticks in an empty coffee mug.Use this to randomly call students to answer questions by pulling one stick at a time until everyone has been called on at least once. Then start over. Learners of all ages perceive randomness as fair, so this also eliminates frustration outbursts from students who feel they may have been waiting too long and have a tendency to take it personally. It took me years to start doing this, and then I wondered what on Earth took me so long.

Super Simple Running Program.

Conducting the PE program all by your lonesome with say . . . absolutely NO funding? I’ve been there. Here’s an idea I picked up from an overseas teaching colleague that requires nothing but popsicle sticks and a reinforcement chart: Using your car after hours, measure out a quarter mile course around the playground, school grounds, etc. Try to make sure it’s a course you can see all parts of. Have a giant box of popsicle sticks prior to the class activity. Lead the group in a stretch and have them all start at the same spot on the course. Everybody then jogs / walks / runs around the course according to their own pace and ability level. Every time a student runs back by you at the starting point, hand them a stick. Four of them will equal one mile run. Keep track of everyone’s progress via a bar graph on a reinforcement chart. They love it, and the cost is minimal. You could even use sticks from the forest or jungle if there was no classroom budget for the popsicle sized craft sticks.

Puppet projects.

Stick puppets may not be fancy, but they get the job done. And with puppets being such a HUGE part of holistic story retelling for early language learners, this was something I used a great deal when teaching in Micronesia. When school financial concerns eliminated even these from the budget, I didn’t have a problem resulting to simple twigs. That’s how much I believe in puppet show story retellings for young learners.

Weaving shuttle.

Apparently, they make these things with grooves on the sides of the end. Who knew? When we were doing basic carpet weaving demos with yarn and small square looms in Kuwait, We just had the handymen notch grooves in the regular popsicle sticks for us. If your school has access to the notched ones, go for it. It’s great for simple weaving activities, and the kids really enjoy learning about the warps and wefts of carpet making and practicing simple designs. Even the intermediate aged ones.

Streamlining attendance and lunch count.

I wish I had thought of this one. The fact is, I only ran across this idea when researching extra information for this post.This teacher numbers a class set of jumbo craft sticks for little hands and puts a magnet on the back of each. Since they are not named, she doesn’t have to do it every year. The same number applies to the students for everything else such as coat hooks, cubby holes, etc. The kids place their numbered stick under hot lunch, bathroom sign out spot, etc. She uses the side of her deep file cabinet as a place where the magnets will work. Slick!

These are my top picks. If you have a project or management idea using craft sticks that you feel is exceptional, sound off in the comments section!

Photo Credit: S & S Worldwide

No Brainer Ideas for Newspapers in the Classroom

Loads of ideas are out there for using newspapers effectively in the classroom. Following are some of my favorites, as well as some interesting ones from around the web.

Desk covers for messy projects.

I always called these work spaces, but basically they were individual sheets of newsprint that when unfolded covered basically the entire surface of a standard elementary sized student desk. Great for gluing, painting, science projects, etc.

Paper mache.

Torn into small pieces, recycled newsprint is a dirt cheap art medium. Score!

Current events.

Even lower intermediate level students can usually find something they are able to understand and write about. Bonus? It’s a standard Friday homework assignment that requires no photo copying. Love it.

Spelling word search.

Have the students make a T-chart on a piece of loose leaf paper and write their spelling words down the left column. Then, have them search for as many of those words as possible, resorting to creating them from individual letters if finally necessary.

Parts of speech search.

Divide notebook pages into sections with various category titles such as nouns, verbs, conjunctions, adjectives, adverbs, etc. Assign a specific number of each part of speech to be found in the newspaper. Students should cut out individual examples of each and glue them into sections using glue sticks.

Make an old fashioned hobo or clown style hat.

Using several sheets of newsprint laying at opposite or bisecting angles across the top of the students’ heads, have them hold the papers on their head firmly while you press down to the sides of each head and wrap your way around using wide band masking tape. Then roll up the edges of the paper and staple, creating a sort of rim. Paint. You can also do another style of hat by placing the papers over the top of a large empty coffee can. Then do the same type of masking tape band and trip the edges out flat. Depending on how far down the coffee can you go, you will either end up with a stove pipe or band box hat. Paint and trim as desired.

Select articles ahead of time that fit in with what you are doing in class.

The five W’s, intro-body-conclusion, whatever. Have the students cut out personal copies of the article chosenfor your assignment. I remember one year when Hershey’s was choosing a new color of M&M. There sure were some fun lessons on main idea and predicting with that topic!

For weekly papers, have students create current event collages.

Using titles, excerpts and pictures, have students create a collage of the week’s events. Then assign a written summary according to the grade level you are instructing. Have the kids attach the summary to the bottom of the collage as sort of a “drop down” element of the art. Bonus? Parents dig ‘em!

Use the comic strips to practice transcribing dialogue.

Wish I had thought of this. Kudos to thosewho did over at I Love That Teaching Idea. Have your class work on their skills for writing dialogue correctly by using conversations between cartoon characters as a starting point. By working this in a few times per month, your kids will have that skill hands down! It’s a skill you’ll be needing to cover anyway. This way, they can actually have a bit of fun with the drill and practice, and read something they like anyway. Bonus? The limited vocabulary in the weekly comics is great for those kids who may have a tough time completing some of the lengthier assignments. Don’t you love it when inclusion efforts flow so easily?

Other interesting newspaper idea links from around the internet?

• Simple, easy to understand student assignment ideas using classroom newspapers.

• A fun activity celebrating newspapers and nursery rhymes. This looks like a great reading buddies activity.

• An article on using newspapers in the high school classroom as the entire course text. Interesting.

   

   

• An excellent article listing ten fantastic reasons to use newspapers in the classroom. I’m sold!

   

   

• Great overall resource for educators, including background articles and links to all sorts of print and online news media for students of varying ages. 

   

Well, that’s all folks. If you have links to online images of projects you’ve done or have additional newspaper in the classroom suggestions, don’t forget to drop us a line.

Photo Credit: Alosh Bennett

Rubber Bands in the Classroom

After a post I wrote on this subject a while back for Wise Bread, I started thinking about their use in the classroom and just how often educators put them into play. Here’s a quick rundown of a few ideas I’ve tried over the years.

Securing rolled up classroom art work.

Take down the art posters and drawings your students have done and roll them up with a trusty rubber band. This will make them easier to transport home in one piece.

Basic primary science.

These work great for younger grades when demonstrating the concept of expanding and contracting muscles. Lift up your right hand until it is even with the same shoulder and grab the rubber band between your thumb and forefinger. Grab the other end of the band with your left hand and hold it firmly against your shoulder. Then slowly and repeatedly extend your right arm to the straight position and bring it back again. A powerful and simple demonstration. Bonus? It’s dirt cheap and doesn’t require any special equipment.

Classroom Tie-Dye Activity.

Tie dye shirts are great for all grade levels. Not only does this make a great classroom art activity, if you go with one basic color or all use the same color combination, you’ll have class shirts to wear for field trips. This is fabulous for events where there will be large groups of people and if your students will be separating and gathering again at a different place.

Dioramas.

Nothing like a power band to close up a shoe box diorama project. They’ll actually have a prayer of surviving the trip home on the school bus.

Bookmark.

This one is also mentioned in the Wise Bread piece referred to above. However, I think it also bears repeating for its use in the classroom arena. Doing this with extremely young students could prove tricky and may result in some wrinkled pages. But for disorganized teenagers in need of some extra logistical support, this idea rocks. Simply stretch the band around the binding of the book and up the center of the inside on the page you want marked. It doesn’t fall out this way.

Make a rubber band ball.

These are easy to make and keep your loose ones from being scattered all over your desk drawer. I love them in the classroom because they have loads of what rock star blogger Linsey Knerl calls “fun factor”.Here’s a link to instructions on how to start one for your classroom.

With as long as these things have been around, I’m sure there are way more ideas out there from professionals such as yourselves.Remember to share the love and post your slamming suggestions below. Have a great week, everybody!

Flickr Photo Credit: B. Melcher

Teaching Ideas for Old Phone Books

When I taught in Micronesia, the phone company came at the start of every year to donate extras of the previous year’s book. In a school district that had very little in terms of a materials budget, this was one of those rare times when I had a full class set of anything. Here are my top picks for using these great freebies in the classroom.

Practice ABC order with a name chase activity.

Make sure each of the students has a book, and you should have one too. Call out the name of a person in the phone book and have students scramble to see who can find the right name. The first one to read off the correct phone number, gets a point. Decide ahead of time on a free prize, such as a homework pass signed by you. This works with the entire class or in small groups. Bonus? It’s a legitimate language skills activity that costs nothing, wastes no paper, and doesn’t leave you with extra paper work. Additional perk? It can be pulled off with absolutely no advance planning. Can you say cancelled assembly?

Recycle them as craft project work pads.

Doing something a bit gooey with the class and want to avoid desk cleanup? Take off the front cover and use the first page available to glue on, color over the edges of a pattern pieces, paint, etc. When the project is finished, each student can tear out that top page and use it as a drying space by the window for their work. The books can then be stacked on a shelf until the next time you have a messy craft project.

Use the books to familiarize the students with the community.

An extra perk of this approach is that the students will gain familiarity with the format of information recorded inside, and you’ll be able to instruct them on how to find information they might someday need. Here’s a cool link with some interactive lessons.

Alternative bulletin board backing.

Rip out the yellow pages and overlap the individual pieces to form an inexpensive covering for the backing of a bulletin board. The overlapping is what gives it the visual interest and keeps it looking interesting instead of cheesy. The pale yellow is a decent backdrop for blue construction paper-backed art projects. I’ve even seen a damaged dumpy apartment wall done in this stuff once and I have to tell you, it didn’t look half bad. The newsprint makes the backdrop a bit more serious, which is nice for a classroom with older students.

Paper mache.

Have the students tear the white pages into small pieces and bag them. When everyone has enough torn paper, commence with your art project of choice.

Got another creative idea for phone books? We’d love to hear it. Sound off below!

Flickr Photo Credit: How Can I Recycle This?

Beverage Box Ideas for Starving School Teachers

If you’re like most teachers, free is your favorite price when it comes to classroom resource materials. Enter the humble cardboard beverage flats.

You know the ones. They come holding soda cans by the case. Not the colored ones you rip open. The soda can flats I’m talking about here are those plain ones the vending machine person uses, or that are used to hold cases of canned vegetables. Preferrably the rectangular shape. About the size of a piece of art paper on the bottom and several inches deep, they are one of the unknown gems of classroom teaching. So make friends with your grocery stocker and school vending machine person. You’re going to want to load up on these things for sure. Move over shoe boxes!

To give credit where credit is due, this is one of those ideas I got turned on to by those resourceful folks on the island of Guam. If there is one thing I learned there as a teacher, it was how to be resourceful. Here are a few things you can do with the plain brown beverage flats that soda cans come in.

Marble painting.

All you need is one marble, one color of paint, one paint cup, a spoon, a sheet of plain photo copy paper for each student, and an empty beverage flat. Call up students one at a time while they are working on seatwork. Each student will place their piece of paper (you could even use the back sides of extra copies) face up on the bottom of the beverage flat after writing their names on the back. Have a small cup of the paint ready for learners to carefully drop the marble into. Have them fish it out carefully with the spoon, draining the excess paint against the inside of the cup and taking care to keep the marble coated. They will then drop the marble in the box and replace the spoon in the paint cup. Next step? Start rolling. The box will keep the marble contained and the paint will really last quite some time. They can go from side to side, corner to corner, or both. Each piece of art work will be unique and minimal art supplies are needed. Rock on!

Construction paper scrap boxes.

I like these far better than a larger box. First of all, each only holds enough to be easily sorted through by students working on art projects or book celebration assignments. They are much easier to reach into, even for me as an adult. Bonus? In the same amount of classroom space it would take to store a larger cumbersome scrap box, I can stack enough scrap-stocked beverage boxes to make an entire class activity work using small seated-together groups of students. Now this is the kind of idea I wish the mentors had given me early in my career. I really could have done without all the tedious, stay until ten o’clock at night to individualize the vocabulary list advice. No offense intended.

Briefcase portfolios.

This was one shown to me by a fellow third grade teacher on Guam, Carolyn Ferrares. Carolyn, you’re a rock star when it comes to classroom instruction on the cheap and easy. She basically showed me how to slit one of two beverage flats along the two corners (long side) to create a back flap. This was attached to the same side of the bottom beverage flat by poking two holes and adding brass paper brads. Then, the two beverage flats will slide together similar to the way a delivery pizza box works. If you want to go the extra mile, you can fashion an affordable rope handle through both thicknesses of the front edge. If this is too plain for you, you can either cover them with paper or spray paint them first. When decorated in their full glory, these things are absolutely precious. When I finally get my teaching supplies out of storage, I’ll put up a picture. If anyone else has done this, please post a link to the image. This is truly a great little project.

Triptychs.

Have each student paint three beverage flats in a single matching color. Then, they will need to develop a picture which is actually done on three separate pieces of art paper lightly tacked on the back with painters’ tape. Make sure in advance that the papers will each fit neatly on the centers of the back of the beverage flats. Separate the papers and attach them in order on each beverage flat. The open side will be used to hang each box in order by the top edge. I really love this project because the depth of the boxes gives the finished pieces a museum style look when hung against the wall. Bonus? It’s dirt cheap to do.

Science fair displays.

As with the triptychs, you’ll need three beverage flats for each student doing a science fair display. Cover them with butcher paper or paint and hinge together twine, tape or the medium of your choice. Put together the sections of your science fair project data and attach to the sections of the back sides of the boxes.

Story boards.

You only need one per student for this one. Attach a stapled together file folder to the bottom of the inside to holt stick puppets. Paint or cover the box and design the overall visual story elements (field, sky, trees, etc.) on the back either vertically or horizontally. The scenery should of course match the story title. Also assign written retellings of the story in question as a separate writing grade. Have students perform their retellings at the end of the school week.

There you have it. My favorite ways to use plain cardboard beverage flats in the classroom. Got any additional ideas? Let us know so everyone can benefit!

Flickr Photo Credit: Lorentey

Classroom Hacks: Binder Clips to the Rescue

 

 

Having previously written about the household uses of these office gems, I thought it might be fun to do a classroom version here. Following is a quick list of suggestions for various grade levels of classroom instruction.

Use them along with pushpins to display artwork creatively.

Out of staples, or just want a more industrial, grown up feel for displaying your students’ work? Clip the tops with binder clips and hang the steel hooks over the pushpins on a wall or covered bulletin board. Bonus? Parents dig the unexpected.

Note card holders.

Flickr Photo Credit: Gideon Strauss

Have a few students who need a tiny bit of modification when it comes to being able to look at the board and then back down at their seatwork? Or maybe you are still having to individualize a bit more even within small instructional groups. Turn a couple of binder clips upside down and use them to hold an index card with directions printed on them. Also great if you want to help out a kiddo with self esteem issues. Put a supportive statement like “you rock” or “keep trying, you can do it” on the card. Then place it on their desk so they can look up for an emotional boost whenever they want.

Edgy, modern oil painting display for high school students.

Flickr Photo Credit: Dano

After the paintings have dried, but before you send them home, display them on a colored background. These are heavier, so they will probably take nails instead of pushpins. Older students will dig this.

Keeping stacks of office communication together.

Particularly useful if you are sending a younger, more accident prone “helper” to the office secretary. This will give those with less coordination but otherwise great responsibility a chance to shine. Besides, you never know when you might bump into someone on the way. So if you use them all the time, nobody has to feel singled out at the one who needs the extra help.

Classroom easel support.

Need to keep those large pads of paper attached for morning language or on the floor brainstorming? A few large binder clips will get the job done.

Using art supplies to their fullest extent.

Similar to the way many people use them to keep their toothpaste tubes neat and completely “squeezed” this could be used for squeezable paint tubes as well.

Got any other pearls of binder clip wisdom? Let us know.

Flickr Photo Credit: Ms. Tea