YouTube Tuesday: Calculating Elapsed Time

Welcome to another YouTube Tuesday! Have you checked out the YouTube Tuesday page yet? Lots of great videos to be found there!

Today's video is made by a couple of teachers mucking around, but is one of the best videos I've seen teaching about how to calculate elapsed time! I love how a T-Chart is used to calculate time that has elapsed, and the teachers' crazy antics will keep your kids entertained while they learn. Great work guys!

Top 5 Pins of the Week: non-fiction notes, place value slider, pyramid dioramas, rekenreks and lapbooks!

Happy Monday! It is back to school for us here in Sydney this week, but we have had an extra day's reprieve with a long weekend public holiday. Time for some inspiration to get us back into the mood for school!

5. Non-Fiction Notes

Get it here!

What better way to start our countdown than with a freebie?! Jessica Heeren has created a fabulously free two-page graphic organiser to help students organise their thoughts while reading non-fiction texts. If you decide to download this fantastic freebie, be sure to leave a rating and a short feedback comment to show Jessica some love! Thanks Jessica!

4. Place Value Slider

See it here!

Suzie over at the 'Suzie's Home Education Ideas' blog has devised a terrific place value manipulative to help students to understand place value. The best part about it is that Suzie has made it available as a free download! Included in the download is everything you see in the picture, as well as a three-digit version. Thanks Suzie!

3. Pyramid Dioramas

See it here!

What is a pyramid diorama? It is an innovative way for students to present information and show their learning. Jimmie Lanley has written all about them here and has included lots of pictures, templates and instructions, as well as a video tutorial to make it super easy for all of us to get in on the action. Thanks Jimmie!

2. DIY Rekenreks

Ever heard of rekenreks? Me neither, until I stumbled across this blog post via Pinterest! Rekenreks are a fantastic tool that can help students to have a greater concept of five and ten. They were originally developed by a Dutch mathematician, and the name loosely translates as 'calculation rack'. Donna Boucher, over at the Math Coach's Corner blog has developed an easy, inexpensive way to make your own rekenrek and has written a step-by-step tutorial on how to make them, using lots of detailed pictures. She has also kindly provided a link to a comprehensive free booklet on using rekenreks in the classroom. I'm super-keen to try rekenreks out in the classroom now and am so pleased to have another tool in the tool kit for Maths. Thanks Donna!

1. How to Make a Lapbook

Maybe you're already familiar with lapbooks, but I'd never even heard of them until a few weeks ago! If, like me, you're a newbie to lapbooks, this great little video will both introduce them and show you how to make them. Lapbooks are a great way to organise information and would be a fantastic study-helper for students. What a terrific idea! 

Be sure to check out the Little Green Pinterest page for more inspiring ideas!

For those heading back to school this week after holidays, all the best for the new term! For everyone else, keep on keeping on! 

Pins of the Week: work on reading, mistakes, reward balls, hungry caterpillars and a treat for Mum!

Another week, another handful of inspired ideas. Here we go!

Work on Reading

Visit Mrs Clancy's blog here.

Do you have kids constantly at you during reading? Help them reflect on how they can do it on their own with Mrs Clancy's terrific chart! I love the use of post-it notes for the kids to choose their favourite technique!

Hooray for Mistakes!

Read the article here.

Yep, you read it right - hooray for mistakes! Our kids need to know that mistakes are the key to learning - a tough idea to sell in our culture of high-stakes testing. This article is seriously excellent!

Reward Balls

Visit the original blog post here.

Kids love to be rewarded, but it can be expensive and, let's face it, counterproductive to constantly reward them with bought goods. Enter this simple and effective reward system, which started its life as a home job allocation system over at the NieNie Dialogues blog and was somehow transformed by the magic of Pinterest! Write simple rewards on the balls and have your star students choose a ball. Too easy!

Fun with The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Visit the Nurture Store blog here.

Who doesn't love The Very Hungry Caterpillar? This great blog entry has some excellent ideas to accompany a unit of work on this excellent book, starting with that terrific salad, of course!

A Treat for Mum

See some examples of the photos here.

We've just had Father's Day here in Australia, and although I know Mother's Day is some time away, I just had to include this great idea for a gift. Over at the Soaring Through 2nd blog, this great backdrop was used for a beautiful photo to send home as a gift. Students posed in front of the backdrop with a small chalkboard in their hands telling why they love their mums. Melts your heart, doesn't it?!

I hope you've been as inspired by these pins as I was. Have a great week!

Freebie Friday - KWL Chart Graphic Organiser

Hooray! It is Friday again, and time for another Little Green freebie! Your fabulous freebie this week is a KWL Chart Graphic Organiser, which you can download here.

Download your free KWL Chart here. 

KWL stands for 'Know', 'Want to Know', and 'Learnt'. Students complete the first two columns of their chart at the beginning of a new topic of study to reflect what they already know and what they want to know, then complete the 'Learnt' column at the end of the unit to show what they now know about the topic.

This sample shows an example of how KWL Charts can be used in Mathematics.

KWL Charts can be used in any subject area, and are a great informal assessment tool for gathering information about your students.

This page gives some ideas for using KWL Charts in different subject areas.

Now, I know my KWL Chart is not as fancy as the one I blogged about last week, but sometimes a simple format is what you need! If you do download this freebie, please don't forget to rate it - it only takes a minute and is a great way to give me feedback about what you like.

Before I sign off, I also wanted to hit you with a quick shameless plug for my first paid resource (Eek! Here we go!) on my Teachers Pay Teachers store: a cute set of 1-10 Number Posters featuring adorable owls on a green chevron background.

Get your set here!

A sample poster.

They cost a mere $3, which, I hope, is a reasonable price for what you get! Be sure to follow me on TPT so you don't miss out on any of my products! Ok, shameless plug over!

Enjoy your freebie KWL Chart and have a great weekend!

Freebie Friday - Y-Chart Graphic Organiser

Woohoo! Friday is upon us once again, and round these parts that means another fabulous freebie!

Today, your freebie is a Y-Chart, which you can access here.

Download your free pack here.

The pack is the second in my series of graphic organisers and contains more than just the black and white Y-Chart for you to print and copy. It also contains a sample to show you how the chart can be used...

You could jointly construct a chart like this on the first day of school to set expectations.

...and also contains some ideas for use in a number of subject areas.

These are just a few ideas - Y-Charts are useful in most subject areas!

You can download your free Y-Chart pack from my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking here.

Enjoy your weekend!

Pins of the Week

Happy Monday everyone! Lots of Pinterest inspiration this week, so I'm excited to share some of the goodies I've found. All these and more can be found on my Pinterest boards.

Learn Haiku from the Master at Kid World Citizen

http://goo.gl/kkdkaT

I have only just discovered the Kid World Citizen website, and what a treasure trove it is! This particular pin takes you to a page about Basho, the great 17th Century Japanese poet, and provides ideas for some rich learning about the man and his work. Great stuff!

The KWL Chart Re-imagined!

http://goo.gl/hW4aBm

I've been a fan of the KWL Chart for a long time, but this free printable takes it to a whole new level. The link takes you to the Teachers Pay Teachers site of Rebekah Benson, where you can download and use this printable and more. Make sure you follow her store if you use her freebie - TPT manners people!

Emperor Penguin Life Cycle Poster... FOR FREE!

http://goo.gl/vkosoc

It doesn't get much better than this kids - a high quality free poster to print and use by Zina Diretsky at the National Science Foundation. Beautifully illustrated and full of great information!

Visual Timetable Reward System using a Pill Box!

http://goo.gl/QUkcHd

What a neat idea this is! The link takes you to a blog post where the idea is explained in full and you get to read about the teenage helper who came up with the system to use with an autistic student in her care. The basic idea is that you use an oversize pill box to store small treats (a couple of jelly beans or non-edible treats could be used); put a visual timetable label on each lid; then, as each task is completed, the student gets to open the lid and have the treat. Genius!

Story Stones

http://shop.craftingconnections.net/product/story-stones

What an imaginative way to provide a story prompt! The link takes you to the Crafting Connections website, where you can purchase a set of Story Stones, but you could also make your own if you are crafty.

Have you seen any great pins lately? Please share! And please share if you use any of the pins above in your own classroom!

Freebie Friday - T-Chart Graphic Organiser

Happy Friday everyone! To celebrate, here is your Friday Freebie - a T-chart graphic organiser!
 

T-Chart Graphic Organiser by Little Green

This fabulous freebie is the first in a series of graphic organisers that I am working on. They will all be freebies and will be available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store. 

The pack comes with a black and white photocopiable blank chart...

T-Chart Graphic Organiser

...and a page of ideas for using the T-Chart.

T-Chart Graphic Organiser - ideas page

It also contains a 'filled-in' sample for anyone who is unfamiliar with the format.

T-Chart Graphic Organiser - sample page

So, that's it folks. I'd love to hear what you think. Click here for your freebie!

Enjoy your freebie and have a great weekend!