Word Choice!

Help students expand their vocabulary and make their writing more descriptive by switching up their words! 

Introduction video: WORD CHOICE!

Next, pull out 2 identical postcards (pictured above). Read and project them onto the white board. Students compare and contrast the letters. Call students up to circle the words that are similar with different shades of meaning (synonyms). Ask students which letter was more successful, why? 

Then, play a whole group game: Hello My Name Is. Give each student a name tag with a word on it. They must go around the room and identify their match: a synonym for their word. Afterwards, have the students try to find an antonym for their word. 

Project: Younger students can create a Synonym City to display in the classroom! Click here for details. Older students can rewrite a song independently or in a group. Check out this activity here!

Post-It Note Area/Perimeter

Have you used post-it notes for a creative math lesson yet?! They're a fantastic tool to introduce the concept of area and reinforce perimeter. For this lesson, students used 25 or less post-it notes. We made a prediction: Do different shapes that have the same area have the same perimeter? Working in groups of 4, students mapped out their design and figured out the area and perimeter of their shape. Then, they found a blank wall to construct it! Click here for printables! Featured in The National Counsel of Teachers of Mathematics - thanks to my ECE professor! - if you belong, check out the article here!

The Bones of a Good Essay

Check out my post at We Are Teachers: Teach students about how to write a good essay - free task cards (visual / tactile learning) and body motions to teach essay organization skills (kinesthetic).

Plus, there is a free poster created by We Are Teachers and Zaner Bloser.

The Case of the Missing Sides!

Students transform into Perimeter Detectives as they try to solve The Case of the Missing Sides! After they figure out the unknown side lengths of 10 real world irregular polygons, they must infer what they are part of! - Click here to download!

Introduction (Fence for the Vegetable Garden)

Students compare and contrast regular and irregular polygons. They are introduced to the term perimeter by relating it to a garden fence. Then, they rap along with Heath: Rap video by Heath!

Perimeter Detective

Next, they investigate real world irregular polygon photographs. They must find the length of the missing side for 10 items! Then, they use their detective skills and infer what the objects are part of! Tell your students to think creatively! Note: Older students could convert side length measurements. - Conversion Chart included in the package! Exit Slip - For reinforcement, students apply their new skills independently by figuring out the missing side lengths of five irregular polygons. Then, they rate their understanding by drawing a checkmark in the box that fits their current knowledge of the content.

5 Peer Revision Strategies

Visit We Are Teachers to see my post sponsored by Zaner Bloser: 5 Peer Revision Strategies That Actually Work! Click here for the writing wheel checklist featured above!

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF

Visit We Are Teachers to check out my post on ways to tie Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF into your curriculum!

Big, Bigger, Biggest Sentence!

This whole group activity helps students learn about sentence stretching from their peers. They work as a group and learn by watching their classmates. First, split students up into groups of three. Each group comes up to the front of the classroom. The first student makes up a simple sentence. The next person adds more detail. The third person adds even more detail. The group stays up there until each group member has had a chance to create a simple sentence (be the first person to start the sentence round). To add some competition, you could give kids so much time to create their sentence. They get a point if each team member can think quick enough - sentence makes the cut before time runs out!