High Interest Nonfiction Magazines

I just found a really cool website that sells Time for Kids-esque magazines.  They focus on Social Studies and Science, and they present the information in kid-friendly terms.

Kids Discover offers many free worksheets and vocabulary cards that go along with each subject.  You type in a unit of study in the search box.  For example, "Constitution".  When you scroll to the bottom of the page, you will find vocabulary units and teacher's guides you can download.

 

I especially like the prereading activities that present students with a set of statements about the topic.  It asks them to decide whether the statements are true or false before reading.  After reading and discussing the topic, students go back and either correct or confirm their previous guesses.  It also asks them to provide page numbers that support their answers.

 

The best part?  You don't have to buy the magazines to get the free resources!  I find that they are general enough to match up with my units of study without having to buy the magazines, but I think I might buy them in the future.  They look like they have some great nonfiction text features kids can sink their teeth into.

 

Do you use any other magazines for Social Studies or Science?  How about prereading activities?

 

 

 

Great New Series of Books

I just finished reading the first four books in the "S.W.I.T.C.H." series for my latest book review.  These are pretty neat stories about twins that get transformed into various insects by their scientist neighbor's S.W.I.T.C.H spray (Serum Which Instigates Total Cellular Hijack).

 

 

One of my favorite things about this series is the vocabulary is readable on a third grade level, and includes plenty of pictures to support the text.  Another great thing is that readers don't need to start with the first book to understand the characters or plot of each book.  Each volume reintroduces them, but not in a roll-your-eyes-because-you've-read-it-before kind of way. 

I'm always looking for great series books that reluctant readers can sink their teeth into.  Do you have any that you'd like to share?

Patrick Henry Readers Theater

I love to use Readers Theater whenever I can in all subjects.  The problem is that once you get into the upper grades, there aren't too many scripts that are on grade level.  I also find that there aren't too many Social Studies scripts.  So, I made one of my own.

This Readers Theater will help students to become familiar with Patrick Henry's famous speech at St. John's Church that called his countrymen to arms. It works well as either an introduction or a review. It also reviews the difficulty George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had with coming to the decision to declare war on King George. Other concepts mentioned/reviewed: French and Indian War, taxation without representation, Intolerable Acts, The Boston Tea Party, Bacon's Rebellion, burgesses.

You can pick up a free copy at my TpT store by clicking here.

Do you have any Readers Theater scripts you've created?  I'd love for you to share!

Listen to Word Problems

I don't know about you, but my students can always use extra practice with and learn new tools for completing word problems in math.  I recently came across a method that makes it more like a game for partners or trios.  It's called "Listen to Word Problems".

Although this works really well for math, it could easily be applied to science, or any other subject that requires students to systematically process information to come up with an answer.

You can pick up a free copy of this at my TpT store by clicking here.

Do you have any other fun activities for helping students with tackling word problems?

Solar System Videos

I like to use short videos to introduce new concepts or review old ones.  This works well in all subjects, but I've found some really great videos for teaching the Solar System.

This is a rap song that shows and describes the phases of the moon.

Another video about the phases to the tune of "Forget You" by Cee Lo.

This video talks about what makes the seasons (Earth's tilt, proximity to the Sun).

I'm sure there's many more high-interest videos out there to help with teaching about the Solar System.  Care to share?  :)

Introducing the American Revolution

I'm always trying to find ways to incorporate reading into other subjects.  I especially like it as introduction to a text.  Jean Fritz's books are fantastic for this purpose in history!

I have students read the book in pairs or trios.  After reading it all the way through, I have them go back and answer the questions in the packet.

You can pick up a free copy of my packet at my TpT store by clicking here.

Do you have any other great books to use for the American Revolution?

Steps to Long Division Bookmarks

This is a dual-sided bookmark that presents the steps for long division in two ways. The first uses the mnemonic of the family (daddy, mommy, sister, brother, rex, cocoa), and the second uses a cheeseburger (does McDonald's serve cheese burgers). The bookmark format allows students to keep this visual reminder in their textbook, or even in their nightly reading books for a handy study guide.

I like to print, cut, glue the two sides together and laminate them so they last longer.  You can pick up a free copy of the bookmarks at my TpT store by clicking here.

What tips and tricks do you have for helping students learn and study the steps for long division?  I'd love to hear from you!