Did you know that if you learn just 14 Greek and Latin roots, you can unlock the meanings of hundreds of words? Clearly, students of all ages benefit from vocabulary instruction that includes an introduction to Greek and Latin roots, and there are so many great resources and methods. I’ve tried different approaches over the … Read more
It’s always great when a really challenging activity requires absolutely NO PREP! Most of my gifted elementary students loved logic puzzles and problems of all kinds. In our classroom, we had a logic center I created by pulling the pages out of PERPLEXORS workbooks, putting them in sheet protectors, and then filing them in labeled … Read more
When I ordered the logic game Chocolate Fix from ThinkFun (affiliate link), I thought it would be great to set out as a center for my kindergarten, first, and second graders. What I discovered is that the levels of this game, a little like Sudoku, can challenge kids all the way through fifth grade, and … Read more
Of all the BIG IDEAS my students and I have had, there’s one that stands out as the craziest, most fulfilling, most educational, and the most fun! It was the creation of a three-room, hands-on mini-museum for our school, complete with scheduled tours and docents, and inspired by San Antonio’s Doseum. Students always seem to … Read more
After nearly four decades in the classroom, I am still enthusiastic when it comes to creating meaningful and engaging experiences for kids, and I love to share. So Big Ideas for Little Scholars has been born. I know parents and teachers of advanced and gifted students need all the help they can get, so it’s … Read more
