Last Lesson of Block 3-Paperclip Measuring

My last lesson in block 3 was in math. Math is not my favorite subject let alone to teach it. However I was very pleased with out it turned out. The lesson was on measuring to the nearest inch and half inch. I had the students do an activity with me where we measured paperclips in inches and centimeters. The students were very interested and actually took me by surprise.The students usually have a tough time in math but today they were focused and involved in the lesson.They were so focused I was a little nervous if they were understanding it, but once I saw their workbook pages, that they worked on with a partner, I was able to see that they indeed understand the material. I did some one-on-one time with a few students that needed extra help. With that extra help they seemed to all at least get the basic understanding of how to measure. I really feel that hands on activities are the key to get students involved and focused on the material.

Lesson On {Wants and Needs}

I got to do a fun lesson on wants and needs this last week. It was one of the most effective lessons I did with my class. They loved the class activity.

First I reviewed what are wants and needs, how are they different, are there things that depend on situations, how to make choices, what is better to buy first, savings. After the review, I showed pictures of items that they might buy and they were supposed to tell me if it was a want or need and then I would stick, with magnets, the item in the right column. This created a lot of discussions. It got the students engaged, asking questions, doing deeper thinking. I was very pleased with how the students did. After the activity the student went back to their desk to do similar activity by themselves.

I was so pleased with how the students did. I will be for sure doing this lesson again :)

Salt Dough Maps

Salt dough maps can be a great way to study your state or country with a hands on activity. These maps can expand on geographic awareness.

Things you can look at after making the maps.
Trade
- how the land of a place can effect how countries or states import and export.
-Compare countries and how they interact with each other.
Topographical information
-location
-landforms
-water
Culture
-human interaction
-environment interaction
How to read a map
How countries change over time
-land
-government
-war
-politics

Students can put together powerpoints alone with their maps to assess and apply their learning. This also gives the other insight onto many other places as well as the one they researched.