Jump Starts and Joyful Sparks ~ Fresh Ideas for January

x——————————-x In the U.S., most students have a holiday break at the end of December and return to school sometime in early January. With the long month of January ahead, many teachers and students struggle to chase away those January blues! The past few years have been unprecedented in their challenges for students and teachers, … Read more

Happy New Year! Kick it Off with “Time and Date” Patterns and Calendar Puzzles!

Time and date patterns have gained in popularity in recent years and seem to pop up in my social media feeds almost every month. Every year, for example, on February 22nd at 10:22 p.m.(and 22 seconds), the date and time can be written as 2-22 22:22:22. And in the year 2022, the pattern increased by … Read more

Cosmic Conjunction! Jupiter and Saturn Meet in a Rare Planetary Rendezvous!

Here’s an event you’ll want to share with your students before the holiday break! On December 21st, Jupiter and Saturn will appear as a double planet! Their orbits will bring them closer together than they’ve been in centuries. This phenomenon is called a conjunction, and when it involves the two largest planets in our solar … Read more

A Classic Read-Aloud: “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry

When I think about the holidays in my classroom, many things come to mind: Snowflake Sudoku, The 12 Days of Christmas problem solving, and reading aloud the classic short story “The Gift of the Magi.” I bought the book shown here when my own children were little, but I used it more often in my … Read more

Gingerbread Man Loose at Christmas: A Marble Design Challenge (2nd-5th)

by Candace Coffee I first reached out to Candace Coffee back in the spring of 2020, when the pandemic hit and she generously shared some fabulous choice boards (find them HERE). Candace is the GT Educator/Specialist for Princeton ISD in Texas, and when she recently shared this holiday STEAM activity via social media, I reached … Read more