Digital Scavenger Hunts, “Goose Chases,” and Virtual Challenges

Scavenger hunts have come a long way since the days of hiding items and clues around the school! Today’s virtual challenges can really shake up a class routine and get students moving, thinking, and creating! Here are some ready-made resources created specifically for homebound scholars, as well as instructions for creating your own in a … Read more

Choice Boards and Menus ~ Sample Activities Ready to Share

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

Student-Created Escape Chamber: A Unique Project and Learning Journey

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

Learn a Card Trick ~ Explain the Math

If you like this lesson, you might also be interested in Mathemagic and Artichmetricks: Connecting Math Patterns to Magic or Learn a Calendar Trick ~ Explain the Math. Subscribe to the blog for updates and lesson ideas. Here are two “arithmetrick” challenges in which students learn to perform card tricks and then are challenged to … Read more

Kids With Class: Student-Created Videos for Extended Learning

I’m sure you’ve done it. You remember it. At some point in your school career, you had to stand before the class and teach a lesson or share something you had learned. Our teachers, and their teachers before them, knew what we still know: “Those who know, do. Those that understand, teach.” – Aristotle “While … Read more

Kid-Created Word Puzzles: FUN-damental Brainwork!

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

Beyond Sudoku: Kakuro and Futoshiki

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

Team Logic: Cooperative Problem-Solving for 3rd and Up

This is one way you can shake up the routine in a gifted class! Logic problems, such as Perplexors and Math Perplexors, promote deductive reasoning. Students use information and resources to reach a conclusion, the “correct answer.” In a previous post, I described how I set up a logic center that allowed my students to … Read more

Sideways Math! ~ Puzzling Problems to Riddle Math Masters

I always say a little prayer before reading this story to my fourth and fifth-grade gifted students. It’s one that I’ve seen almost drive kids to tears. Fair warning! If you’re familiar with the Sideways Stories series, but unfamiliar with Sideways Arithmetic (affiliate links), you need to know that the latter goes beyond offbeat and … Read more

A Greek Root is Worth 1,000 Words

Did you know that if you learn just 14 Greek and Latin roots, you can unlock the meanings of hundreds of words, maybe thousands? Clearly, students of all ages benefit from vocabulary instruction that includes Greek and Latin instruction, and there are so many great resources and methods. I’ve tried different approaches over the years, … Read more