Free Winter Centers/Games - Merry Christmas, Happy Winter!

Merry Christmas, Happy Winter!

You know I was going to put this set for sale on TPT but in light of recent events, I really just want to say thanks to all the Teachers/Parents out there helping our kiddos everyday. Just a small version of pay it forward in the Holiday Spirit.

In this set you will find 4 different center directions for kids.  This is perfect for room moms to use in parties or for teachers to use as quick, fun centers. I created these for my son's first grade class but I really think it could be used for any grade level.

1. Roll a Snowman
2. Cookie Decorating
3. Thumbprint Ornament/Bookmark
4. Create a Snowman Game

Thank you teachers and faculty for all you do for a precious young thinkers each day.
May you all have a blessed holiday.

Click Here For The File

A Message From the Thanksgiving Turkey

Okay, I seriously love this set. :)  It is such a fun poem... Elijah cracked up at it the whole time, which is usually a good test to see if other kiddos will like it too.

This set includes an original poem, differentiated poetry writing sheets, question stems, question cards, question box labels, question (with partner talk) organizer, and inference organizer.  The great thing about all of these organizers is that they can be used with ANY Thanksgiving book. So really, the poem is just an added bonus with this.  :-)

Visit my TPT store to preview the entire set.  
Enjoy!

Young Thinkers Planning For Christmas

Can you believe it's already time to start planning for Christmas?  I decided to let my young thinker help me plan for the holidays in a more organized and focused fashion this year. I found this picture on pinterest that suggested kiddos get four gifts. One thing you want, one thing you need, one thing to wear, and one thing to read (or enjoy).

It was also a good opportunity for us to talk about wants vs needs.  I really like the simplicity of this.  Little E is enjoying thinking and planning for his wants and needs.  :)

Another Great Election Resource for HOME or SCHOOL

I just stumbled across this PBS Website that is great for young thinkers to learn about the candidates.

If you are looking for an more in depth discussion of the BIG IDEAS that each candidate supports then the Time For KIDS website may be your ticket.  

This could also be used with my BIG IDEAS Election Pack.

Mad Scientist "Sensory/Feel Boxes" For Halloween

I remember when I was in school my favorite thing that we did at Halloween parties were the "feel boxes".   So, I have made them a few times for Elijah's parties... Trying to pass on the memories, ya know?

Generally, I use the book There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat.  Which works great!

However, since I had already done that for him, I wanted to switch things up a bit this year.  I decided to do a mad scientist theme because he is SUPER into SCIENCE right now.   And I wrote a poem to go along with materials I already had for the most part.  

Here's the poem:

The mad scientist is crazy!

The mad scientist is a loon!

He tip-toes from beaker to beaker

In circles around the room.

Always checking concoctions

that bubble, fizz, and pop.

Shelves upon shelves of goodies

In cabinets from floor to top.

Sneak a peek inside?

You may not like what you will find

Some jars green and gooey

Filled with slime of the Ogre kind.

Dig around a little deeper

And three brown boxes you will see

Each labeled “Hazardous” or “Toxic”

To keep out you and me.

But fear not my little friend

It’s not as bad as all that

In box one you’ll find monster fur

And the wings of a bat.

Box two has a most unique surprise

Cold, slippery and thin

Just wiggly little worms 

Touch them and you will grin. 

Box three is last but not least

Reach in and you will be

Feeling something spectacular

The sharp points of werewolf teeth.

But you better be extra careful

Snooping around the room 

The mad scientist is crazy!

The mad scientist is a loon!

The  materials I used for each:

Ogre Slime- Mystery Matter: 2 cups Corn Starch, about one cup of water, 3-5 drops of green food coloring (Great for science lesson too! It exhibits characteristics of both a solid and a liquid depending on how you use it.)

Monster Fur- Cotton Balls, Pulled Apart

Bat Wings- Dried Apricots or Dried Apples

Worms- Cooked Spaghetti (cook it a long time... it will get very slimy)

Werewolf Teeth - Candy Corn
Another tip- wet wipe containers work well for the boxes! :)

This is an example of the labels that I used for the boxes.

* I'll post pictures tomorrow!! :-)

Scholastic Story Starters = WONDERFUL WRITING FUN!!

I just happened across this website called Scholastic Story Starters for our little thinkers in grades K-6.... AND IT IS WONDERFUL!  I can see this working well for parents or teachers.  

Here are some screenshots of possibilities.

Step One: Choose Genre.

Step Two: Name & Grade Level

Step Three: Spin for your prompt.

Step Four: Choose Format.

Step Five: WRITE, WRITE, WRITE.

Step SIX- Share your writing with your friends & family.

Six steps to a fun writing project at home or at school.  

Calling all SUPER HERO SCIENTISTS!

Okay, this is one of my favorite things! I cannot wait to do this lesson with our kiddos (and my son) on Saturday at The Center for Gifted Studies Super Saturday Class.  I am leaving this free for the first 20 downloads.  All I ask is that you either follow/share my blog or follow me on TPT.

I'll post pics of kids doing this activity later this week.

Enjoy!! :-)

Download this Unit FREE FOR THE FIRST 20 followers! :-)

Spelling, Spelling, Bo-Belling...

Ugh.  Spelling.
I ALWAYS hated spelling in school.
ALWAYS. (Period, end of sentence.)

Now, I watch my little thinker struggle with it.
(Yes, struggling is a part of being a little thinker.)
Little E. doesn't hate spelling.
He's got a good teacher that gives fun assignments.
Like go outside and write your spelling words with sidewalk chalk.
Where were the sidewalk chalk assignments in the 90's?

Anyway, we are always on the hunt for something we can do to keep spelling fun for Little E.
My husband uses this website with his class.
www.spellingcity.com
Some of this site is for "Pay" members only.
We don't do the pay parts.
There are lots of options that are free.

Check it out. :-)

All Children ARE Artist... (& Thinkers)

I love this.
I believe this.
But not necessarily limited to art.
All forms of creativity
Creative Play
Creative Writing
Creative Problem Solving
Creative Thinking
Innovation
Somewhere along the way
We begin to feel the need to be streamlined.
So the question is...
How do we foster it?
The answer won't be found in a box.
Or another brick in the wall.
Maybe the first step is awareness.
I believe this.
Do you?

*Image from lionheartedstuff.tumblr.com

It takes a village.

It takes a village to raise little thinkers. 
I'm thankful for my village. 


Joe had a stroke before he was born; so, he's learning to walk a little later than most  babies.

Which is hard because these fun little toys...

don't provide my sweet pea with enough support for balance.  I mean really, it basically looks like a lawn mower.  Think of the shape... How many people with mobility issues do you see walking with things like this?   That wasn't what my boy needed.

Then I was on pinterest and came across this toddler that was dressed as the old man from UP for Halloween. Low and behold, if that kid didn't have a tiny walker made from PVC pipe.

The great news is you an buy PVC walkers from medical/special needs companies... 

The bad news is they cost $300 or more.  

I'm luck to have a big thinker in my family.  

This guy...

I've got a pretty good big brother.  He looked at the picture and said he could make it. 

And make it he did!!  Look at those WKU Decals, Name & Shiny Red Paint!  

He loves it! :)

Even when he falls, he laughs.

*Thanks to Little E for anticipating the fall.  The pillows were his idea...such a good little thinker.

Wanna see Joe learning to walk with his shiny new walker?

"OOOOOKAY!"  Joe always says this when he is learning something new.  

You can hear it at the end.  :-)

Can you hear Little E cheering him on! He's a great big brother too. 

But you know the best thing about this walker?  

Joe feels so proud and independent when he's standing, holding on.  

It breaks his villagers hearts.  He calls it his "ishous" aka delicious. 

Grin on, sweet boy.  Your village is proud of ya too. 

Election Unit for Young (or Old) Big Thinkers!

Today's ago I got this idea for an election unit... So yesterday I spent A LOT of time creating it.  The good news is.... IT'S FREE FOR A SHORT TIME on my TPT store.  Please, check it out. Use it at home or school with your young thinkers.

When I made this pack I really was thinking at first that I would making it just for kids at school.  However, the more I thought about it I realized that it could work for families too.  Granted you may not go through every piece or have your young thinkers write down research but it would provide good talking points.

Please visit my TPT STORE for this item.

For Example:  Little E has always been into elections. (Last time around he was for "The Cain" often arguing with his dad who was for O-Rock.)  But this time he heard the part in the debate where Mitt Romney mentioned getting rid of Big Bird.  Since hearing that information he has made it his mission to bring awareness to this issue. (He tells EVERYONE!)  That really struck a cord with him.   So, we have conversations around the "Big Issues" as they relate to my six year old Little E.

I have left some of the big issue pages blank so young thinkers can write in their own big issues.  Our schema determines the issues that are important to us; therefore, it is interesting to find out what interests our kids.  Kids are never too young to learn about democracy... and more importantly KIDS are never to young to THINK about BIG IDEAS! :)

Election Math Fun!

This task is aligned to Common Core for grades K-2; however, it may work for other grade levels depending on the readiness level of your students.  Modeled from one of my favorite Van de Walle activities.  

Visit my TPT store for the Election Math Center. :)

Young Thinkers saying Thanks!

I think one of the most important things we can teach our young thinkers is to be thankful. Regardless of circumstances, there's always a reason to feel blessed.  I want my kids (children, nieces, nephews, students-anyone!)  to learn to say thankful.  Grand-Daddy John in our family is big on thank you cards. I must say, I have not always been the best at having my kids write them.  Even as a teacher I used to hand out paper and have kids write thank you notices (or drawings) to our guests.  But even then the process was often rushed.  Last night while browsing Pinterest, I stumbled across an app called Red Stamp that was featured on Momfilter.com 

I thought how perfect!
We can teach our little thinkers to be thankful ...
AND
How to write for an authentic audience..
WHILE
Using technology.  
(It is FREE!)

I took some screenshots on my phone of the process if you'd like to see a little of what you can do before you chose to download it.

The icon for the Red Stamp is the last app on this screenshot, white with red letters.  Just so you know what you're looking for after it downloads. 

This is what it looks like when you open it up.  There are pages and pages of categories to choose from.  I went with the thank you section because that's what my Little Thinker needed to write. But as you can see from this screenshot you can send anything from holiday cards to calendars.   

Once you've opened up your selection, you have EVEN MORE CHOICES!  You can select various categories along the top to narrow down the type of thank you (holiday/calendar/invitation) that you want to send.  

Think now that you've picked out your card you are done choosing, right?  Wrong.  If you look along the side of this screenshot you can see that you have many choices regarding font size and color.  This is nice because you can pick one that works well with your photo.  (Oh, and you don't have to send a photo-card but why not when you have such cute Little Thinkers to choose from?)

If this isn't the bees-knees I don't know what is.  You can take a photo, choose from your camera, instagram, or facebook.  How cool is that?  It's even got social media covered.  So if you have a facebook account for your family/class you probably already  have tons of pics to choose from.

There are even three filter choices for the photos.  I went with color on this one but the black and white & Sepia look nice too. :)

Now for the writing part.  Have a hard time knowing what to say?  Well if you click the speech bubble on the card, it will give you suggested phrases.  You can use this one or not.  We didn't use it because Little E knew what he wanted to say.  However, I wanted to share this feature.

Now your card is all finished you can decide how you want to share it with others.

If you want a more traditional approach you can even mail by post!  I'm not sure of the cost of this service though because I haven't actually done it.  We emailed our cards out.  

One super sweet thank you card from Little E, my oldest Little Thinker.  :)

Celebrating THINKERS, not KNOWERS (For Families and Teachers)

"Great job on that test."

"Jo is just perfect."

"You are so smart."

I used to say things like this with the best of intentions. I was building the kids self esteem, right?

When I first learned that saying these types of things to our young thinkers was wrong, it made me take a step back.  Why not?

The problem comes into play when students begin to think they need to know everything.   I tried to be careful of this when I was teaching by saying these types of things instead...

"Wow, you've learned a lot since the pretest."

"Jo you just made the best choice."

"You worked so hard studying that new material."

I wasn't always perfect, but I did try... at school anyway.  I felt pretty successful too.  

Until my four year old Little E said "Mama I am such a Knower."

Uh-oh.  While that good advice had translated over into teaching... It didn't make it to my  parenting skills.  I did tell Little E what a SMART boy he was he was ALL THE TIME!  

And what I created was a little monster.  He now thinks he KNOWS everything.  And what's worse than that he melts down when he doesn't KNOW something.  I'm starting to reverse this little monster thinking because it's not healthy for him.  

So just this morning a few minutes ago, I said "You're my good little thinker." 

He smiled his gapped tooth 6 year old grin and said,  "I know."  

He likes being a little thinker just as much as he likes being a knower. :)

Monster Mash Poetry

We do the Monster Mash...POETRY STYLE! :)   I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE teaching kiddos figurative language.  This mini-lesson pack has everything you need to work with your young thinkers on analyzing, writing, wondering, and reflecting on poetry with similes.    I'd love to give one of these packs away. Please follow my blog (and maybe share it with others) and I'll enter your name in the give away when I reach 25 followers!!

Oh, and this pack is aligned to Common Core for grades 1-3.

Monster Poetry Mini-Lessons on TPT

Happy Fall... Let's Make Inferences with POETRY!

I love writing, making inferences, and fall. So, I decided to put all of those things together into this Halloween/Fall Making Inferences model lesson.  It contains an original poem that I wrote for my own young thinker, "Little E".  He, like every child I have ever worked with LOVES silly poems.  This this one is right up his alley.

The poem is called "Knock, Knock- Don't Answer the Door!" and it includes a fall themed inference organizer.  I aligned this one to common core for grades 1-3 but it could be modified to work with other grade levels.  If anyone that has purchased this one sends me some pics of you doing this activity with your class, I'll give you an item of your choice from my store for FREE!  It would warm my heart to see other classes enjoying this activity! :)

Knock Knock Don't Answer the Door... Making Inferences on Teachers Pay Teachers

Want to read the poem? :)

Connect and Infer

Making inferences is tricky business.  Often I find that I don't like the making inferences questions that come with traditional basil textbooks... well there are usually a lot of things I don't like about those traditional textbooks.  They never seem "real" enough for me.  But, what I have learned over the years is that if students can make connections, wonder/think about the text (or other media/experiment) then they can make inferences. Regardless of age or ability.  There inferences may or may not be correct but that is okay.  (This is where learning to celebrate mistakes and a risk free learning environment comes into play.)

Making inferences is tough business.   Here's how I made it easier...  Two column note-making.  We would do these together as a class... Model, Model, Model. Anchor Chart, Anchor Chart, Anchor Chart. 

Ask students to list something they read, saw or heard then ask them to write their thinking about it.  I have also used a three column version of this chart that includes a place for connections to the text but that may or may not be needed.  Here are my organizers for making inferences.   Please check them out. :)  Hopefully, they will help your young thinkers!

Inference Sheets on Teachers Pay Teachers (3 Organizers)

Schema & Making Connections Continued!

Okay, to go along with the previous post.  Here's some of my FAVORITE organizers that I've created for students to use.   This is only $1.99 and it includes 10 pages of graphic organizers that you can use with your young thinkers.  Because of the open ended nature of these thinking sheets they will work for grades K-6.  They are  ideal for those who are gifted and talented because students there is no ceiling on their thinking... meaning they can make connections to their hearts content without limits.  These organizers also help students meet the speaking and listening portion of the ELA common core, at a wide range of grade levels.

Here's a preview.

 

Link to Making Connections/Schema Organizers on Teachers Pay Teachers LESS THAN $2.00.

Schema, Schema, Schema... Making Connections

 You know in college when we learned about Jean Piaget... I liked his ideas.  I even hoped at one time to be able to go take a class in Ireland and Scotland centered around his ideas but that didn't pan out.  However, I'm embarrassed to say that it wasn't until 9 years into my teaching career that it actually clicked for me... why his ideas were so important. 

Schema,
Schema,
Schema.

Jean Piaget is the grandfather of this term.
Prior Knowledge,
Background Knowledge,
Connections
What ever you call it
Schema is the foundation for ALL learning.
Whether you are talking about learning your ABC's or Quantum Physics.

It's all based on Schema.
See, we can only learn something if we have a bit of knowledge, or hook to hang it on or folder to put it in.

Click below for an example. Follow these directions, no cheating...
1.  Read the paragraph.  Do NOT scroll down and look at the image or you'll ruin it. :)
2.  What is the paragraph about?
3.  Scroll down and look at the image.
4.  Reflect.  How did that picture help you understand the paragraph?

Schema Glog

See, I told you.  If you had seen that photo first the paragraph would have made sense the first time you read it.
We want to teach kids through relational (many) connections to their experiences (or other hooks in their brain.)  If you go back to the glog and click on the word "schema" you can learn more about it. (There's even a clip of my favorite math guy the late John Van de Walle speaking about making connections in math.)
 Also, clicking chart-stand graphic will take you to a psychology glog with a little slide show about how children learn.  Neat stuff... And it makes so much sense.
We also know that engagement is important to learning... SCHEMA, again folks.
If I cannot connect learning to something you know or care about, significant learning will NOT occur.
Another confession:  I used to think we only activated schema at the start of the lesson then I could continue to teach my heart out.
Ugh, wrong again.
That's why kids need to reflect through out the lesson.
Why, you wonder... Picture this.
You are sharing a story with young children (or lesson, or giving directions, or anything, really...) what happens?
Student 1: "Mrs. B that reminds me of the time my brother fell down."
Student 2: "Oh, Mrs. B I fell down once and broke my arm."
Student 3: "My dog had a broken leg when he got hit by a car."
Student 4:  "My Dads car tore up."
Sound like a familiar carpet time to you?  One of the hardest things to do as a teacher is to get kids to STOP reflecting on their schema.  So really, if you think about this when planning your lessons, giving kiddos time for reflection throughout the activity can really help students to activate their own individual schema about the topic you are studying.  (It's important to remember because our experiences are always unique... so is our schema.)
The other thing I'm just learning is tied to schema is also exemplified  in the conversation above.

KIDS NEED TO TALK TO LEARN...
Saying things out loud helps them to connect to schema.  I mean, I have always let my kids talk out their learning, pair share, triads, whatever you call it.  But its just now making sense to me as to WHY they have to do it.  They are processing and sharing their schema...  (Which leads to QUESTIONS and Wondering... Agh... That will be another blog soon.)
So, I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I just now really connecting to what a great idea good 'ole Piaget was on to with Schema... I had kids make connections since my first year in the classroom.  (Although at first I only taught it as a thinking strategy in reading- How awful is that?) But I never saw the BIG PICTURE that schema is a part of EVERYTHING.


But you know, in college I probably didn't have enough (any) teaching experience to fall back on.  So, what I was learning and studying was not yet meaningful to me.  I thought it was sorta interesting but I didn't have the experiences (or SCHEMA) to attach it to yet.

Here's one of my favorite pictures of Mr. Jean Piaget...  Such a happy man, on a bike, with a basket.

Interesting tidbit.  Did you know Piaget began developing his theories on how children learn while giving the IQ test to young children while working with Simon of the Binet-Simon IQ Tests?   He noticed that kids of a certain age all had the same wrong answers and was curious about the pattern.  

Click HERE for Thinking Sheets to go along with SCHEMA

Wonderings, Questions, and Curious Young Minds.

As the mother of young thinker I can attest to the fact they seem to ask many, many, questions a day.  So, when I came across a Newsweek article called Creativity in Crisis, I didn't find it as any surprise young thinkers as a hundred questions per day.  It seems like very time I turn around Little E, my son, is asking me a question.  (One of my favorites most recently was 'Mommy is it normal to feel invisible?' Literal question here, not figurative. He loves imagining; I love him.)  Sometimes, it seems every other word he says is "How" or "Why"

What I did find alarming about this article is that it said by the time our children are in middle school they all but stop asking questions.  When I first heard... I got my feathers up.  What do they mean students stop asking questions?  Elementary school is the gap in that sentence... Preschoolers ask questions Middle School students don't.  Once I took time to let the message of that sink in, I found that I agreed with them.  My upper elementary kids didn't ask as many questions as my third grade students did... which made me wonder, Why?  Why are younger kids more curious.

At first I thought, "It must be that younger kids have more to be curious about."  As I pondered that statement I decided that wasn't a good enough reason either.  Shouldn't learners of all ages whether they are 2 or 12 be curious?

So, I created some organizers to help kids think about the things they wondered.  We spent part of each day talking about what we wondered.  Heck, I even wondered aloud all day long to my students.  I had to let go of being the TEACHER or "Knower" (as Little E calls it) and instead showing kids that I was just another learner.  I found regardless of the age or ability of students I was working with the more I modeled being curious, the more they were comfortable with sharing they they also didn't know everything.  This was a big obstacle for my students who were gifted/talented.  They are so used to being the 'Knowers' it is often hard for them to admit being curious, especially if they are upper elementary.  But in time, they'll start asking questions too... Once it becomes the culture of your class.

Here's the link to the organizers that I've used to promote wondering. This pack is less then $1.00 and includes three organizers.  If you would like this for free, just comment on this post or follow this blog and I'll have a drawing to give one away.

Link to my TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS: Wondering Organizers

Young Innovators

A couple years ago my former team teacher, David Baxter and I, were charged with the task of teaching our students to be innovative thinkers.  At first we entered this task all bright eyed and bushy tailed but soon realized that while everyone was talking about innovation... there were few (or no) examples we could find of students actually working towards becoming innovative thinkers.  So after spending some time analyzing the true meaning of INNOVATION with our mentors, Dr. Julia Roberts and Dr. Tracy Inman at The Center for Gifted Studies at Western Kentucky University, we created this... THE INNOVATION MODEL.  We found the business world was inundated with innovation models.  Which got our gears turning... If the REAL WORLD had innovation models, shouldn't education?

The innovation model is not linear.  Because students may need to enter at various points when they are solving problems.  We also, intentionally included soft words.... Wonder, Connect, Notice.  Many of these words were added because we noticed they were words our students used frequently when they were thinking through problems. Check back soon, I plan on posting more information on thinking strategies you can use to help your children/students become innovative thinkers soon!

*Note- The innovation model is currently in use at GEMS Academy (www.projectgems.org) in Warren County Public Schools, Kentucky by David Baxter and Jennifer Smith.  

Young Thinkers, BIG Ideas!

Welcome to my blog!  Teaching young thinkers has been a passion of mine for the last ten years.  I am so excited to get this blog up and going.  In the last decade I have worked with students in grades K-6 at all ends of the spectrum.  My first teaching position was with students who were struggling in reading and math and my most recent was with students who were identified as Gifted and Talented in Math and Science.

One thing I have found that one thing units them all regardless of interest, ability, or age is the desire to THINK in the classroom.  If we give students the opportunity to WONDER, to CREATE, to CONNECT, to INNOVATE... they will!  However, this is easier said than done.  I wanted to create this blog as resource for other teachers and parents.  I've spent the last several years researching and creating various graphic organizers or thinking sheets to help promote this type of thinking with my young learners.    I'll share some free on this blog and link to my products on Teachers Pay Teachers shop also.