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Save Time With Digital Teaching Slides for Quick Practices and Anytime Problems in Math Expressions

Do you remember hearing “Do The Blue” but don’t remember what it refers to? Quick Practices (K-6th), Daily Routines (K-2nd), and Anytime Problems (3rd-6th) are all parts of the  “Doing the Blue” section of lessons in Math Expressions. “Doing the Blue” are the main components of the lesson that should be taught. Quick Practices, Daily Routines, and Anytime Problems are an important part of the process and student learning in math.  These practices and routines focus on concepts and skills throughout the year that are needed for student mastery.  They build classroom belonging and develop student leaders, as well as...

Help Students Move from “Renting” to “Owning” Vocabulary: 3 Ways to Build Background by Emphasizing Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary development is crucial to student success, however, overused vocabulary tactics can grow uninspired and tiresome. Read more below to learn about 3 different ways to help move students from “renting” to “owning” vocabulary. Why Teach Vocabulary Development While vocabulary is often closely linked with reading comprehension, vocabulary development is actually crucial to success in all 4 language domains of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. While teaching vocabulary, you ground students in the lesson by previewing language that is important to the content of the lesson, it helps students recognize and interact with vocabulary throughout a lesson and encourages students...

Focused and Targeted Instruction Using NWEA Scores and IXL Skill Plans

One way to use NWEA data to drive instruction is to use skill plans within IXL. With IXL’s skill plans, students can turn their pinpointed NWEA results into skill plans to quickly grow their math knowledge. Skill plans are available for math, reading, and language assessments.  Creating a personalized MAP skill plan 🎉 Elkhart teachers, this step has already been completed for you for all students that completed NWEA within the testing window! Skip ahead to the bottom of this section to learn how to manually enter data for students that missed our testing window! If you are an IXL...

Focused and Targeted Instruction Using NWEA Scores with Free eBook

Are you looking for ideas on how to utilize NWEA data in meaningful ways to inform instruction and put the data to work?  Teach. Learn. Grow. blog contributor – Kathy Dyer and Senior Curriculum Specialist for NWEA, John Wood – provide great ideas and techniques for getting the most from MAP Growth data in their free ebook “Using MAP Growth Data to Inform Instruction”. This valuable resource also provides real examples on how you can apply MAP Growth assessment data in your classroom to help improve instruction, set goals, predict proficiency, and even help with parent communication. Check out the...

Beyond Drill: 3 Ways to Use IXL in Your Classroom

IXL often has a bad rap amongst students. While it is easy for teachers to use and assign, misuse of the program and an overemphasis on drill will cause burnout for your kids. Whether you have been using IXL for years, or have yet to start, read below for three ways to get your class excited about using IXL. IXL in Centers/Stations As your students move through rotations in your math or literacy class, it is often challenging to have work that all students can do independently. Whether it is gaps in learning, struggling readers, or lacking background knowledge, there are many...

Focused and Targeted Instruction Using NWEA Scores with Khan Academy Math

NWEA MAP data is powerful and can be put to great use to accelerate student learning and Khan Academy offers personalized math practice using NWEA scores.

Ready-to-Use Activities to Teach About Labor Day

Think of your favorite ice cream flavor. Can you guess how many workers it takes to produce that delicious cone of mint chocolate chip? 🍦We celebrate these (and all!) workers on Labor Day.

Celebrate the achievements of workers in the United States throughout its history with the exploration of Labor Day.

Check out these ready-to-use resources that may help you weave Labor Day into your instructional day a little easier!

Spotlight on Strategies: High Impact Teaching Strategies to Support All Learners

Finding new and creative ways to engage students can be challenging. We know that it is best practice to use multimedia content in the classroom, which helps the teacher engage the students and in turn helps the student to be more involved and retain more information from the lesson. Sometimes finding those resources and strategies, however, can be difficult.   Subscribers to Discovery Education have access to an extensive collection of multimedia resources, as well as a collection of creative, research-based instructional strategies, known as Spotlight on Strategies (SOS).  These strategies are presented by teachers for teachers to support implementing multimedia...

Become a Smekens Pro with these Digital Resources

Do you recognize this binder? If you have never seen this be sure to reach out to Tara White and she can help get you the resource. Turn to the first page and follow the directions to access your digital playbook resources. When you use your access code you will be able to get to a website to access Digital Anchor Charts Roadmaps (Editable or Filled in) Signs / Printable Cards Worksheets Videos FAQ page Lesson Ideas Watch the video below for a quick walkthrough of the digital playbook. Digital Anchor Charts If you watched the walkthrough, you saw the...

Story-Based Templates

“For decades I’ve argued that, as the stories once told around a campfire are now being told with the glow of a computer monitor, we must ensure that the new forms of storytelling are as compelling as the old.” David D. Thornburg, PhD Are you looking for ways to get your students thinking and creating their own compelling stories? Below are many ready-to-use templates that can help students think about stories they’ve read or heard and apply it in an independent and/or collaborative way. These templates can be used to reflect back on stories as well as to plan ahead...

5 Ways to Use Edpuzzle with Elementary Students

For some teachers, bringing technology into an elementary classroom can be overwhelming. What tools should you use? How much is too much? Or enough? What if the kids break their iPad? While these are all valid concerns, you’d be amazed at how seamless the experience of integrating edtech into your class can be. First of all, the kids are already used to using technology in their daily lives, so you don’t have to worry about going through that awkward learning curve (unless it’s for you!). Secondly, rather than turning kids into zoned-out zombies, when used correctly, technology will actually stimulate...

Using Common Icons in Seesaw

Creating and using common behavioral and academic language across grade levels within our schools increases success and accessibility through repetition and consistency. SIOP has taught us that visual cues provide needed support for English Language Learners. In our team, we are implementing common language and visual support together to create common icons in our digital lessons can increase accessibility for all students.  As a second grade teacher, I have learned that providing consistent icons on my Seesaw activities creates a more user friendly and accessible activity for all students. I spend less time helping students know what to do and where to go so...

Teaching Young Learners Coding through Unplugged Activities

I’m an advocate for teaching children coding. From our 5 year olds sitting anxiously on carpet squares, to our 18 year olds just itching for graduation day, I believe all students should be exposed to coding in their classrooms. I want to believe that a lot of people agree with me, but sadly, this is what we hear most often: We already have so much to cover. Isn’t this just one more thing? And let me tell you, we get it. You DO have a lot to cover. So, let us help you. Let’s talk about how we can embed...