Monthly "Home" Work Calendars

Monthly “Home”Work Calendars provide activities that connect school learning with their home environments. The calendars are based upon different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy of thinking skills. While some days children will use list, count, and find from the lowest level of thinking (the “knowledge” category) other days will require them to plan, create and rate from the highest levels of thinking, “synthesis and evaluation”. I have included activities for each of the 6 Thinking Levels. The calendar can provide parents with ideas on the types of activities that they can be doing with their children to connect learning between school and their lives.

Calendars include opportunities to build skills in math, language, speaking, reading, writing, science, social studies and many other valuable skills that bring learning to life for children. Many activities require parent involvement that will lead to better communication skills. Don’t miss this opportunity to provide the homework families often request with valuable activities that you know allow children to enjoy and experience learning in a natural environment. Children can complete any box on the calendar for any day which will give children choices and build motivation. You, as the teacher, can decide how many boxes a week or month you would like students to complete. Show our children that homework can be fun!

In addition to the calendar I have supplied thoughts and research on the topic of homework. The CCSS, along with 21st Century Skills move us in the direction of teaching children to learn and to become independent learners. I hope this will help as you connect home school with “home”work.

November "Home" Work Calendar

 

December "Home" Work Calendar

 

Teaching Tip #3 - Talking Stick

Cure the call out with this easy tip

Teaching Tip #2 - Sound Spoon

Easily add a phonemic awareness activity to your daily schedule that kids will love.

Teaching Tip #1 - Expert Book

Classroom management tip to allow teachers to spend more time with individuals and small groups.

Primary Research Packets

The Common Core Standards, along with 21st Century Skills require that children are more active in their own learning. There are frequent references made to students learning to conduct research projects at various grade levels. Some grades add “with guidance and support” but each grade is challenged with developing lessons that incorporate “gathering information”, “project-based questions”, “using multiple sources for relevant information” and “sort and present information learned”. Children are naturally inquisitive and educators should grasp that opportunity for learning by developing “short research projects that build knowledge about a topic”.

The primary research packets were developed to aid children in “learning to learn” and is based upon Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. You may choose to use one page, several pages or the entire packet to meet the needs of the children in your class. Challenge your high learners with the entire packet or support lower level learners with basic skills by utilizing just a few of the pages. The research packets can be used by the entire class as a shared project, by a small collaborative group or each child in your class could complete the packet individually.

The following packets are now available on Teachers Pay Teachers:

Pumpkin Research

Apple Research