John Blake

I love using literacy and math workstations as a way for students to independently practice skills we cover in class. These quick and easy stations provide a multitude of activities from which students can choose, which allows for easy differentiation. To help my students keep track of their progress in workstations, I developed this one-page checklist. It gives the students space to check off the stations as they visit them. It also provides a behavior/work habit analysis for each day's station

The 100th day of school has arrived! It's time to celebrate those first 100 days of learning with an assortment of six activities/games that your students will love. You can plan a fun-filled day of learning around these activities that your students will never forget. Start the day with a terrific writing prompt: "If I had $100..." There are two versions of this prompt response sheet depending on the ability of your students. Students will love the coin toss and dice roll activities. The jellyb

Are you looking for a great activity that combines math skills, social studies concepts, and a fun learning experience? Well, look no further! My Market Day Starter Pack for Classroom Communities provides everything you need to begin this awesome activity in your classroom. I have been doing classroom community and Market Day in my classroom for over a decade now and my students have always loved it. Market Day is a chance for students to take the reins of their learning by becoming small-busine

Every fall we have a pumpkin in our classroom. One of the things my students love to do is decorate and measure our pumpkin. I designed this simple sheet to give my students a place to record their estimates, measurements, and thoughts about our pumpkin. There is even a place for them to draw the pumpkin with the face they think we should carve in it. This Word document can easily be modified to fit the needs of your students. Copyright Geaux Teach Online Store. The purchasing teacher has permi

Using money in math problems can be confusing for younger students, so we practice with coins a lot in our math centers. One of our favorite learning centers uses this activity page and a bag of coins. I randomly pack the bags with a variety of plastic coins, so no one has the same amount; this ensures there won't be any obvious cheating. Using their bag of coins, the students follow the simple directions on the activity sheet to solve several money math problems. The sheet can easily be modifie

One of my students' favorite math center activities is the measurement walk. We use pedometers and a trundle wheel that measures in meters (you can adjust the form to feet or have students calculate distance if needed). My students walk in pairs and sometimes use a timer so they are not out of the classroom too long. As they walk they follow the simple directions on this classroom activity form to calculate the number of steps walked or the total distance. It's a great way to have them practice

One of our weekly math activities is an estimation center. Each student completes a copy of this form during the week and then we announce the person who came closest to the actual amount on Friday; that person wins the prize for the week. I try to keep the items small (paper clips, buttons, M&Ms, etc.), so the center doesn't take up a lot of space. Having the children think more about the strategies they use to arrive at their estimate eliminates wild guesses. It also gives me a good indication

You're going to love these simple, child-friendly math activities. They are made to fit perfectly on a standard clipboard, giving your students the freedom to roam as they learn. There are 10 different activities that cover skills ranging from computation to geometry. Place these in your center area with the checklist that is provided and your students will have no problem selecting an activity and completing it with little or no assistance. This is a Word document, so you can modify the activit

It's the first day of school and you've lost your voice before it's time to line up for lunch! Need a quick and easy activity that will keep your new students engaged? Reach for our Back-to-School Scavenger Hunt! Our scavenger hunt has several items that you might find in a typical elementary grades classroom, but it is easily modified to fit the specific needs of your classroom. Students can work independently or in pairs to find and count the classroom objects listed on the activity sheet. A