IT'S ABOUT TIME, TEACHERS, for CREATIVITY PROJECTS!

• Do you want to cultivate creativity without adding to your overloaded schedule?
• Do you want to build constructive home-school connections?
• Do you want a full year of project assignments that will build right brain thinking?
• Do you want resources that are print-and-go?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, then -

Destination: Imagination via Creative Thinking is perfect for satisfying your goal of building creativity. These products are designed to be completed at home, giving overly eager parents a constructive way to work with their students. (Teachers of gifted students are well acquainted with this problem phenomena.) Sharing their projects with the class gives students the opportunity to speak meaningfully. This product line is designed to be teacher friendly by providing a weekly assignment sheet, award certificates to recognize the creators' efforts, and tips and tricks to ensure success.

Destination: Imagination via Creative Thinking was designed for gifted students to promote the 4 traits of gifted children: fluency, flexibility, elaboration, and originality. But really, what child wouldn't benefit from working on those aspects? I have found the projects work very well with heterogeneous groups and have successfully used it with 1st - 5th graders. But you don't have to take my word for it. Try these FREE samples before you buy the collections:

Each volume of Destination: Imagination via Creative Thinking supplies projects for a full semester.

Here's a preview of Volume 1:

IT'S ABOUT TIME, TEACHERS, for SUDOKU!

 

Teaching your students to play SUDOKU has so much more value than just fun. Working on these puzzles gives your learners experience with problem solving skills, critical thinking abilities, perseveration practice, and improved focus. If you haven't introduced SUDOKU to your class, let me help you.

Use this animated PowerPoint presentation to break the process down into digestible bits.

Get it here:

Once you've given your students the tools to solve the puzzles, give them puzzles!  These are differentiated:

I use SUDOKU for:

• a critical thinking center
• differentiated instruction for enrichment and gifted students
• challenging fast finishers
• an anchor activity
• indoor recess
• a class reward

You may wish to provide "pre-sudoku" practice with Latin Squares.  They give similar practice on 3x3 through 7x7 grids. Here's an example:

IT'S ABOUT TIME, TEACHERS, for $1 WORDS!

 

Have you ever shared Because of Mr. Terupt, by Rob Buyea, with your class?  If you haven't, it's about time to try it. This delightful book tells about Mr. Terupt's 5th grade class from the perspective of various students. Your learners will enjoy the novel because of its authentic characters and realistic action.  Year after year, my learners sprint to the library to secure the sequels.  It warms my teacher's heart to see them have such enthusiasm for reading.

Throughout the story, Mr. Terupt sprinkles $1 WORDS. $1 WORDS are those that equal exactly $1 using the following table of values:

As a lifelong logophile, these words fascinate me. I embraced the challenge to find words worth exactly $1 and, with the help of my computer guru son, promptly found more than 600! Naturally, I had to create $1 WORD activities to challenge my students.

Many educators invite their learners to find $1 WORDS; just find some. What could be more frustrating to a child than to start blindly calculating the value of words with absolutely no parameters? The odds of finding one must be astronomical!! So I created clues:

My enrichment students loved this challenge so much that I scrambled to write >450 clues just to keep ahead of them!

You will love them, too, because they provide a lot of bang for your buck! When pursuing $1 WORDS, your learners will exercise a plethora of skills: computation, vocabulary, spelling, parts of speech, prefixes, suffixes, base words, participles, singular, plural, proof-reading, critical thinking, research, calculator, problem solving, ...

TRY IT BEFORE YOU BUY IT! with the free version.

You can find 6 more $1 WORDS products in my store.

You will also find bundles of these units, saving you 30% off of the individual prices.

IT'S ABOUT TIME, TEACHERS, for VALENTINE'S DAY!

 

Are you ready for the sweetest day?  Get your classroom ready with this FREE set of 💘 banners:

This literacy center is also FREE:

Introduce these 💜ly literacy activities:

There's a lot to 💙 in these math products:

You & your learners will absolutely 💗 an activity that combines word work, computation, and critical thinking:

These critical thinking resources are universally 💖ed by students:

IT'S ABOUT TIME for HINK PINKS, et al.

 

Kiddos learn best when they're having fun and few things are more fun that HINK PINKS, HINKY PINKIES, & HINKITY PINKITIES! These word riddles will exercise a multitude of vocabulary skills (definitions, synonyms, parts of speech, rimes, syllables, ...) while challenging students to problem solve. These task cards prompt your learners to interpret data, make inferences, draw conclusions, and analyze new infomation.

Here's how they work:

• HINK PINKS are riddles that call for a 2 word answer. The 2 words must each have 1 syllable and they must rhyme. In the above example, the clue, seize pinching shellfish, has the answer grab crab.
• HINKY PINKIES differ from HINK PINKS in that the answer to the riddle must be 2 words with 2 syllables each. The HINKY PINKY above offers the clue, Pacific wave actions; the answer being ocean motion.
• As you may have guessed, HINKITY PINKITIES require answer words with 3 syllables. The clue above, enormous ocean can be answered with gigantic Atlantic. 

Intriguing aren't they?

It can take students a while to catch on to this word play. Begin with HINK PINKS and solve several together. Demonstrate your thinking. Offer your learners the use of dictionaries and thesauri (print or digital). Complete as many as a group as necessary until you see the lightbulb go on. Once your pupils have a good command of HINK PINKS, move on to HINKY PINKIES. HINKITY PINKITIES are the most challenging, not only because of the vocabulary necessary for the answers, but because the language of the clues is more complex.

Intrigued?  Try this FREE unit, just in time for Groundhog Day:

I'm such a fan of HINK PINKS, et al., that my store offers more than 3 dozen products. There are holiday sets and specially themed sets, such as the OCEANIC HINK PINKS, et al. seen at the top of the page.

The above bundles each contain 4 individual products; the bundles save you 30%.

HINK PINKS, et al., are staples in gifted education, but let me assure you they are great for regular education students, as well. I have used them successfully with 1st graders! Just realize that younger students will need more support.

My HINK PINK, et al. products cover the major holidays and a plethora of special themes.

What if you teach kindergarten or ELL? Then you should try HINK PINKS and HINKY PINKIES for KINDERS. These sets provide visual clues; no reading required.  Check out the FREE set:

If you are new to HINK PINKS, et al., I hope you'll try them.  My students literally beg me to bring these task cards out.