Tag: teacher tips

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Teaching

Self-Esteem: 3 Ways to Build it in the Classroom

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Children often struggle in the classroom if they lack self-esteem. As educators, we can help students build self-confidence. In this blog post, I will share three ways to help build self-esteem in the primary classroom.

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Children often struggle in the classroom if they lack self-esteem. Teachers can help students build self-confidence.

What is Self-Esteem?

According to www.kidshealth.org, self-esteem means “you mostly feel good about yourself”, whereas “Low self-esteem means you don’t feel very good about yourself.” (D’Arcy Lyness, PhD, June 2018).

Children with self-esteem typically like who they are, feel proud of who they are and what they know or can do. Children with low self-esteem may have a difficult time seeing that they are special and important. They may lack confidence in their abilities or knowledge.

Read more about this here.

By ClickView

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Self-Esteem Struggles Break My Heart

My heart breaks any time I discover a student who lacks self-esteem or struggles with self-confidence.

We’ve all been there at some point in our lives. As educators, we can support our students and help them see that they are amazing human beings who are loved and appreciated.

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Photo by Victoria Art on Pexels.com

Read this Blog Post: How Will I Grow My Mind Today?

3 Ways to Help Students in the Classroom

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Talk about It

a young boy and girl talking to each other

Create and Say Affirmations

the words "I am enough" written on a napkin


Free weekly planner page

Read Picture Books

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Please note that the following titles are personal favourites and suggestions. They are not affiliate links.

An image of Grace Byer's book, "I am Enough"
I Am Enough by Grace Byers
An image of Peter H. Reynold's book, The Dot
The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

Quick Review

Read this Blog Post: Teacher Tip | Celebrate Our Names

What Does This Look Like in Your Classroom?

How do you help students learn aboutthis topic?

What kinds of activities do you do to help your students build self-confidence?

This picture shows a resource by Minds to Grow called, "My Name is Super" on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Here’s a simple, printable template that can be used with students from Kindergarten to Grade 2.

Stay Connected!

Let’s chat on social media! Stay connected with Minds to Grow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. You can also keep in touch with linktr.ee/mindstogrow.

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Teaching

Quick Lesson Idea: Blank Paper Creation #1

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Short on time and need an easy-to-make activity for your Grade 1 or 2 students? Check out my first blank paper creation. This little booklet will keep students engaged and also make them feel proud of the finished products!

Task Description

To make this mini booklet, each student only needs one sheet of blank paper. It has four sections on the inside, including four flaps. It’s a fun little book to make and read!

This little booklet can be used in various ways. You can get really creative in how you choose to use it. Here are just a few examples:

  1. Topic and Facts (e.g., Topic: trees; Fact #1: There are many different types of trees.)
  2. Main Idea and Supporting Details
  3. What I Learned about….
  4. All About Me

Materials Needed

  • blank paper (Note: I used 12×18″ paper in my example)
  • pencil and/or pen
  • crayons and/or pencil crayons
  • scissors

Read this Blog Post: Quick Lesson Idea | Fish Tank Art

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See the Steps!


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Read this Blog Post: Phonics Instruction in the Primary Classroom

How Would You Use this Blank Paper Task with Your Students?

What are other ways that you could use this activity in class?

Here’s a simple, printable template that can be used across subject-areas and in so many different ways!

Stay Connected!

Let’s chat on social media! Stay connected with Minds to Grow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. You can also keep in touch with linktr.ee/mindstogrow.

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Teaching

3 Ways to Celebrate the End of the School Year with Your Class

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There are so many wonderful ways to celebrate the end of the school year. It’s important to celebrate being together as a class. In this blog post I will share three ideas for your class.

Party hat and streamers

1) Celebrate the End of the School Year with a…

Digital Memory Book

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Laptop, pencil and book

2) Or try this: Printable Yearbook Template

Printable Yearbook Template

Read this blog post: How to Plan Your School Year

3) What about a Special Class Event?

Class Fair

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What about You?

How will you celebrate with your students? I would love to learn about your ideas, too!

Stay Connected!

Let’s chat on social media! Stay connected with Minds to Grow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. You can also keep in touch with linktr.ee/mindstogrow.

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Teaching

Teacher Tip: Students Love Surveys!

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Students enjoy learning about each other with the use of surveys. It’s also an easy way to learn more about the young people I work with each day, too. In this blog post, I will share a few ways I use them in my primary classroom.

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Why Is This Important?

Surveys are part of my Math instruction during the school year (e.g., the math strand of Data Management ). Due to the often interactive nature of doing surveys, students enjoy using them in class at any given time. One of my students’ favourite thing to do is talk to their peers during class time. What they may not realize is that encouraging them to talk in such purposeful ways is integral to their learning! It’s a win-win!

Image shows a picture of several different simple surveys for young students to do in class.

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A Favourite and Helpful Video

Here’s a favourite video I love sharing with my students when we start learning about Data Management and collecting data. It’s by Scratch Garden on YouTube.

Skills Students Learn With Surveys

  1. Thinking of great questions to ask others (e.g., “What season do you prefer: Winter of Spring?”).
  2. Creating a variety of surveys (e.g., “I will create a T-chart or graph the responses with a pictograph.”).
  3. Collecting and sorting data (e.g., “I will use tally marks as I ask my friends the survey question.”).
  4. Reading data (e.g., “Five people said they prefer winter. Three people prefer Spring.”).
  5. Interpreting data (e.g., “More people prefer winter. I wonder why winter is the more popular season in my class?”).

Samples of Simple Surveys Used in My Classroom

image shows four simple surveys suitable for primary classroom
Four examples of simple surveys I use in my classroom.

How I Engage Students with Surveys in My Classroom

Whiteboard and Dry Erase Markers: When I ask my students to use these tools, any task becomes a more interesting one! My primary students enjoy drawing simple surveys (e.g., a T-Chart) and collecting data from their peers on their individual whiteboards.

Paper and Markers or Pencil Crayons: For my students who enjoy using various tools as they learn each day, having the choice to use markers or pencil crayons to do their math adds to the fun. I’ve noticed how some of my students even like using these tools to colour-code their data or design their surveys.

Clipboards: This has been a game-changer for me from a few years ago. When I hand a clipboard to each student, for some reason, they become like superstars and become engaged, excited to start working! They enjoy clipping their papers onto them, then moving around the room to speak to peers and record their answers. A clipboard for each student is a resource I love having in my classroom.

Click on the images below for more details on these helpful classroom resources! *non-affiliate / unsponsored links*

Using Surveys Outside of Math Instruction

Teaching my students how to use surveys in class helps them experience success in other areas of their learning, too. For example, once they know how to create a survey, students are ready to create them or use the skills to read one at any time.

Here are some other ways I use surveys in my primary classroom:

Science: When students are learning about animals, they enjoy making surveys on various animals. After learning about animal groups, I encourage them to create surveys for each animal group. Example: “What is your favourite type of mammal: a tiger or a fox?”

Homework Task: When my students are encouraged to create a survey, then use it at home with their family, it’s always great fun when they share their results the next day with their peers. It’s real-world information for them and a great discussion opener in class.

I’m done, now what? I’m sure you can think of at least one student in class who seems to finish assigned tasks in what may seem like a few moments. Here’s a great way to engage that student in a purposeful way and keep them occupied on a different task. I encourage that student to create their own survey template and keep it in their desk (e.g., folder, binder, etc.). They will be able to use it in class at a later time (e.g., ask their peers and record their responses).

Read the previous Teacher Tip: Try Something New: Phonemic Awareness Instruction

Questions to Consider

  1. How do you use surveys in your classroom?
  2. What types of surveys do your students enjoy creating the most?
  3. What part of data management is the most challenging for your students?

Stay Connected!

Let’s chat on social media! Stay connected with Minds to Grow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. You can also keep in touch with linktr.ee/mindstogrow.

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Professional Growth for Teachers, Teaching

Try Something New: Phonemic Awareness Instruction

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In order to further assist my students as they learn to read, I am using the book, Shifting the Balance by Jan Burkins and Kari Yates, as a resource. I will share my learning about the importance of phonemic awareness instruction from the second chapter, “Shift 2: Recommitting to Phonemic Awareness Instruction” and reflect on some ways I intend to use it in my classroom. It has also inspired me to try something totally new and I can’t wait to see how it all works out over the year.

READ THIS: “Shifting the Balance: Professional Reading for the Summer”

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What is Phonemic Awareness Instruction?

In the opening of this chapter, there was a description of how certain terms like phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, and even phonics are often used as if they all mean the same thing. I have also been confused over the years with the terms. Reading this chapter has helped clarify it more for me, but I will surely revisit this chapter often to build upon and review my learning.

According to the text, Shifting the Balance, phonemic awareness “involves only spoken sounds, without letters attached” (page 38), while phonemic awareness instruction is “teaching children to notice, articulate, and manipulate the smallest sounds in words” (page 35).

READ THIS: “Talking Builds Comprehension: Create Opportunities to Talk”

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Phonemic Awareness Develops Naturally?

This was one of the topics of “misunderstanding” in this chapter, that “phonemic awareness develops naturally” (page 36). Learning to listen, learning to read, is a whole lot of work! It takes great time and effort to develop these key skills. For that reason, students need the time and regular practice to work on becoming stronger in these areas.

Reading through this chapter made me realize just how necessary it is to consistently and explicitly teach students about the sounds they hear, especially as they learn to read. It made me think about how I’m going to plan for phonemic awareness instruction in my daily routines. I definitely want to approach teaching phonemes differently this year.

brown wooden blocks on white surface
Photo by Brett Jordan on Pexels.com

What are Phonemes?

Phonemes are the smallest sounds in words. These small, individual sounds (phonemes) are what I need to help my students learn more. There are 44 phonemes in the English language. Check out Jake Pool’s post, “44 Phonemes in English and Other Sound Blends” to see a nice breakdown of phonemes.

Here is a great video that models the 44 phonemes in English.

This Chapter is So Important!

This chapter is extremely important and I’m so glad that it’s part of this book. I have to admit, however, that it was overwhelming. There is so much helpful information packed into this chapter. It is why I will revisit the chapter many more times this year in order to try out different things!

A recommendation for making this shift calmed me down after wondering how I would be able to “do it all”. The authors suggest that educators “gather what you need for thoughtful phonemic awareness instruction” (page 50). Here are the four things they suggest teachers really need to do this:

  1. Instructional Routines
  2. Word Lists
  3. Multisensory Scaffolds
  4. Assessment Plan

WEBSITE: www.TheSixShifts.com

*non-affiliate / unsponsored links*

A Routine I Will Use for Phonemic Awareness Instruction

One suggested routine is to help students learn to observe how sounds are made. The reasoning behind this routine is to give children the opportunity to see how their mouth, lips, etc. make different phonemes. I instantly loved the recommendation to have students look in a mirror to see what their mouths look like when they make certain sounds…then I remembered that it won’t work this year in class since we are wearing masks due to the pandemic.

That’s when I decided I needed to find another way to help this process start in the classroom, despite the fact that we cannot see our mouths as we manipulate sounds.

I decided that I will use a Sound Wall, one with images of mouth shapes connected to the sounds being made.

I searched through many resources online and finally selected one by Simply Kinder. Check out this awesome resource here!

I plan on instructing my students carefully and not simply placing the images on the wall before explicitly teaching them about a specific sound. I want to encourage them to use it as a reference.

letter blocks
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Other Routines I Will Try Out This Week!

  1. Blending – Students will listen to the individual sounds (phonemes) I make, then guess the word! I already know my students will enjoy the mystery of it all.
  2. Isolation and Discrimination – This routine will help students identify words that have the same beginning, middle or ending. For example, which words have the same sound at the beginning: down, dog, tag?

Closing Thoughts on this Chapter

I have learned that I truly need to be intentional about phonemic awareness instruction. If I consistently and explicitly help my students focus more on this, it is my hope that I can especially help those who may be struggling readers and writers.

How do you use phonemic awareness instruction to help students learn to read and write?

Stay Connected!

Let’s chat on social media! Stay connected with Minds to Grow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. You can also keep in touch with linktr.ee/mindstogrow.