students blog

  We’re very excited to be sharing a fun demonstration of density on   Teach Starter   today. Even if your children are too young to really understand the concept, they’ll still love watching different layers form when you add liquids of different densities to a glass and how different objects float on the different layers. The liquids with the greatest density sink to the bottom. You can add as many layers as you want, and experiment to see how they sit on top of each other. What you need Vegetable oil Water LEGO or other small objects. Other liquids to try are golden syrup, treacle, milk, honey, colored water. Instructions Pour some water carefully into a glass or jar. Very carefully add about the same volume of cooking oil on top. Then drop a couple of small objects into the mixture and observe what happens. Can you find something to float on each layer? What happens if you shake it? What do you think of our spooky Halloween density glass? The science bit Each of the liquids have a

  “I need help with a reading program and other resources to teach reading to struggling students who are coming to me in Grade 1. Where do I start?” Teaching a child to read is one of the biggest gifts you can give to them. Encouraging a love of reading is crucial in the early years of a child’s learning. However, learning to read does not just happen overnight. There are a number of stepping stones to teach a child before reading becomes a natural thing. In this blog we will aim to give you some Teach Starter resources that will help you on your journey in teaching young children to read. Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Teaching phonemic awareness and phonics is vital when teaching children to read. A child who has phonemic awareness can combine the separate sounds of a word and put them together to say the word correctly. Phonics is different. Phonics is the understanding that single letters and combinations of letters make certain sounds. Daily instruction and activities that relate

  Why is the English language system one of the hardest to teach and learn? The English language consists of 26 letters. These letters create approximately 44 sounds (phonemes). These sounds can be written in over 120 different letter combinations (graphemes). For example, the sound /f/ can be made using the letter combinations ‘ph’, ‘f’, ‘gh’, and ‘ff’. Whether you are a new teacher, an experienced teacher, or a parent, understanding the English language system can be very confusing. This blog post will outline some of the terms that are commonly used in the early years of schooling. The learning of phonics, and the development of phonemic awareness, is crucial in the early years of schooling. It assists in building the foundation for appropriate reading and writing development. Because of this, most schools have a specific phonics program in place. Some such programs include Jolly Phonics, Words Their Way, and Saxon Phonics. All phonics programs are slightly different; however, the t

  Teach Starter recently received a resource request to create some dictation passages. This stimulated some discussion in the Teach Starter office. We began to ask ourselves: How many teachers still use dictation as a teaching tool in their classrooms? How many teachers would consider dictation a waste of time, boring for the students, a ‘teacher-centered’ task? With today’s over-crowded curriculum, it is little wonder that traditional teaching strategies such as dictation are being increasingly pushed aside. This blog post will outline what dictation is, why it is considered beneficial, and some ways that teachers can extend upon the traditional methods of delivering dictation. What is Dictation? Dictation refers to a person (usually the teacher) reading a small piece of text aloud so that the listeners (the students) can write down what is being said. Once completed, the students check their own text against the original passage and correct any errors made. While this strategy has i

  You have just finished teaching a new concept. Do your students know what has been taught? Are they able to demonstrate their understandings? Have they achieved their learning goals? For students to become active participants in the learning process, a learning experience needs to have a reason; with clearly defined and achievable goals. Goal setting with your students will not only increase active participation and engagement, it will also develop higher-order thinking, create positive attitudes and behaviors towards learning and improve learning capabilities. Setting a plan for a learning or behavior goal in the classroom can be a whole-class or an individual activity. Setting Whole-Class Goals Whole-class goals are successfully achieved when the goal has been set collaboratively by the students. Students have a greater feeling of ownership and accountability of a class goal when it has been jointly constructed, with identified examples of what it will look like to achieve the goal

  As a teacher, one of my favorite things was finding cheap, easy activity ideas that would provide children with hands-on materials to help with their development in different areas of learning. Here are nine ways you could use humble popsicle sticks to engage your students in the classroom. Popsicle Stick Activities Handwriting Helper Draw a cat on a popsicle stick to help children during handwriting lessons. The cat provides a visual reminder of where the letters sit on the lines (head, body, and tail letters). Hands Up! This activity is a cute way to encourage children to put their hands up during small group or whole classwork. Cut out a hand template on colored foam, and stick on the end of a popsicle stick. Children love this! Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives Write different nouns, verbs, and adjectives on craft sticks, and then name foam cups with nouns, verbs, and adjectives. A great hands-on writing activity where children pick one popsicle stick from each cup and then create sil

  With the invasion of technology in classrooms, the teaching of handwriting has taken a back seat in some classrooms. Don’t get me wrong, technology is fabulous and a massive part of education in schools in today’s society. However, it should not be at the expense of basic practical skills such as handwriting. This blog will outline some useful handwriting tips and resources that can be used both at home or in the classroom to improve and help children with handwriting. The Teach Starter  handwriting resources   I mention in this blog are available in most fonts. Pencil grip tips Pencil grip is always a topic of debate. Does it really matter if a child doesn’t hold the pencil in the ‘correct’ tripod grasp? I am of the opinion that if it is effecting a child’s ability to write, then something needs to be done! Here are some easy, accessible ways to help children to hold the pencil correctly. Use a small bulldog clip. This encourages the ‘driver’ finger to sit on top and the thumb and i

  Are you looking for quality resources that will help improve your students’ sentence structure? In order for your students to write well, they need to become familiar with the various elements of grammar,  as well as have an understanding of the different types of sentences! This blog highlights a number of   sentence structure resources   and activities that you can use in the classroom to support your students on the road to quality writing. Sentence Structure Resources for the Classroom Dressing Up a Sentence Activity This activity will encourage younger students to add more descriptive language into their sentence writing. A fantastic template that can be used again and again. Students pick a simple, boring sentence from a pack of  60 flashcards . Then, students ‘dress up’ the boring sentence by using the  Dressing Up a Sentence template.  This template guides the students to add more adjectives and detail to their chosen sentence! For more information about this resource, check

  “The most interesting people you’ll find are ones that don’t fit into your average cardboard box. They’ll make what they need, they’ll make their own boxes.” – Dr. Temple Grandin Social stories are short stories written for children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Children with ASD find social situations very challenging, as they find it difficult to interpret the non-verbal communication of the situation they are in. Social stories help manage change and reduce anxiety issues for students with ASD by explaining how to behave in a specific social situation. They prepare the student for what is going to happen, what they should do in a particular situation and how they (or others) might be feeling. Social Skills Social skills have varying expectations and constantly change; they depend on the social situation, people or places involved. Students with ASD need to be taught specific social skills and appropriate behavior for each social setting they might encounter. Most childre

  “Little did the Mitchell family know that their furry family members had other plans. They were coming on holidays too! Milly and Molly liked the thought of lying in the sun by a pool every day – it sounded a lot more exciting than the cattery. They couldn’t wait to see if Hawaii had catnip cocktails and rooms full of scratching poles.” Writing Prompts Writing prompts are a great way to engage students with writing and encourage creativity. They provide students with choices and the opportunity to draw on ideas from known stories and personal experiences. Effective writing prompts create situations that interest students and provide them with some direction for their writing. Selecting prompts that are consistent with the interests and life experiences of the students in your class will assist them in achieving their writing goals. Writing prompts can be used for independent writing, guided writing, quick writes, partner writing, homework tasks and daily warm-ups. They can also be us

  “To blog is to share, to connect, to create, to inspire.” –  The Gingerbread Gem Blogging with your students in the classroom can be a fun and positive way to connect and share with parents on a regular basis. There are also many educational benefits that your students can gain from blogging. This blog will outline 7 benefits to classroom blogging and also some suggested platforms that you could explore. 1.Parent Communication Parents want to be continuously informed about what their child is learning about, what they did at school that day and how they are going in class. Especially in the early years. They also love to see photos of their child in their learning environment. It’s great to get into the habit of taking a few photos or a short video each day. It doesn’t take long and helps maintain open communication between home and school. At the end of the day or at the end of the week, post the photos and videos on a classroom blog with a summary of the learning that took place. I