by Stefanie Schropp Stefanie Schropp is the Gifted, Talented, and Enrichment Coordinator on her pre-K through 8th-grade campus. In addition to teaching pull-out classes for 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade G/T students, she also “pushes in” to teach whole-class enrichment lessons in all elementary and pre-K classes. On top of that, she teaches a G/T middle … Read more
Even if you don’t recognize this principle, I’m confident that you’re familiar with it. The Premack Principle is also known as “Grandma’s rule” and the gist is “no dessert until you eat your dinner!” More specifically stated, it is delaying a preferred activity until a less preferred activity has been completed. What does this have … Read more
Recently, while reading about philosophy in children’s literature, the book title The Search for Delicious caught my eye. The title was intriguing, and I immediately recognized the author, Natalie Babbitt, who also wrote Tuck Everlasting, a book we’ve read with 3rd-grade gifted students in my district. After I read it, I knew I would want … Read more
Last year, I shared some of my favorite activities for the first days of school in Back to School 2020 ~ A Few Ideas to Surprise and Delight. Many of you asked if I could elaborate on how these activities introduced and connected to the universal themes in 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Find K-2 Thematic … Read more
One size never fits all in any classroom. When it comes to activities and projects, it’s helpful to have some flexibility in the design so that students with varying abilities and interests can benefit. We definitely want projects that promote meaningful deep dives into content and a GAME DESIGN project is one I can highly … Read more
Giggles, giggles, and more giggles. Students are often nervous the first time they circle up to participate in a formal Socratic dialogue. In a previous post, I discussed many different approaches to facilitating meaningful student dialogue including Shared Inquiry and Philosophical Chairs. Here are some ideas that can help you introduce student-led dialgoue, as well … Read more
If you’re a fan of special “academic” days of celebration such as Pi Day, Powers of Ten Day, and Fibonacci Day, celebrated on November 23rd, then we have something in common! What student isn’t interested in anything that involves “celebration?” It can be a good thing to set aside whatever studies are happening at the … Read more
One of my favorite puzzles at Brainzilla is called LOGIC EQUATIONS. This type of puzzle combines algebraic equations with a logic grid, so it’s a fantastic complement to Hands-On Equations™! If you’re short on time, here’s a quick tutorial! In just over two minutes your students can learn how to solve these. You can find … Read more
Students appreciate it when we set them up for success. No presenter- at any age- wants to see an audience looking bored or disinterested. Modeling and teaching students HOW to present to audiences in engaging ways should be a big part of what we do as teachers. One way to engage an audience is to … Read more
