If I had to name the ONE book that has most influenced my teaching practices in guiding students through challenging texts, it would have to be Deeper Reading by Kelly Gallagher. A high school English teacher, presenter, instructional coach, and author of a number of books, Kelly Gallagher is well known for his educational leadership … Read more
In a previous post, I shared instructions, tutorials, and links for introducing two types of Japanese number logic puzzles to your students: Kakuro and Futoshiki. Here are two additional types that are also less well known, along with tutorials and free resources you can use in your classroom. Hashiwokakero or Hashi o kakero means “building … Read more
Many teachers are creating CHOICE BOARDS and MENUS for their students during this time of school closures. If you’ve never created one, there are several different ways you can do it, depending on how you’d like to share it with your students. For example, this video shows how to create one in Google Docs to … Read more
Breakouts and Escape Rooms! Scavenger and Treasure Hunts! Have you tried these kinds of learning experiences in your classroom yet? Many teachers are now creating their own online escape experiences for students using Google Forms. Here’s one example, created and generously shared by Amy van Dyk, and here’s another one, created by Librarian Sydney Krawiec. … Read more
Teachers, if you cannot access the puzzles or tutorials, please contact your district about approving this website or access through a personal Gmail account. Even if you “request access,” some of the school servers block access. MESSAGE if you have a question! HERE’S A CHALLENGE! How many words with five or more letters can you … Read more
Not everyone is a writer, and many of my advanced students say they hate writing. But the brain is activated in a different way and learning is enhanced when a student writes, sketches, or even doodles by hand rather than texting or typing. Three things encouraged me to have my students create learning logs : … Read more
by the GATEway Gals Many teachers who work with advanced and gifted students create their own lessons and units, and some make them available for purchase. The GATEWay GALS are the first to write a guest blog post for BIG IDEAS for LITTLE SCHOLARS. In it, they share a little about their products and how … Read more
Teachers, if you cannot access the puzzles or tutorials, please contact your district about approving this website or access through a personal Gmail account. Even if you “request access,” some of the school servers block access. MESSAGE if you have a question! It’s been a couple of decades since Sudoku first appeared in newspapers in … Read more
If you have animal lovers in your class, especially dinosaur fanatics, you may have some students who find it intriguing and fun to learn the scientific names of animals. Beginning in early grades, students are introduced to the classification of living things. However, lessons in the lower grades usually focus on the main classes of … Read more
Here’s a construction activity that a group of students can complete in less than an hour using just newspapers and tape. It’s a great activity to integrate into a study of STRUCTURES or SYSTEMS, through lessons such as the ones found on the PBS site, Building Big. Before building these domes, you might want to … Read more
