Valentine's Day STEM Activities that Students will LOVE

It's almost that time of year, Valentine's Day! This year why not add some flair to your Valentine fun with a STEM activity. 

Think outside the box this Valentine's Day with these four Valentine STEM activities that students are sure to fall in love with. Click on the pictures to learn more!

Keep your students creating and designing this Valentine's Day with activities like Cupid's Bow and Arrow. For this activity the students receive a letter from Cupid informing them that he has lost his bow and arrow. The students are then instructed to build him a new and improved bow and arrow. 

Another fun Valentine STEM activity is Design a Candy Box. For this challenge the students must create and build a box to hold an entire bag of conversation hearts. 

One of my favorites and an activity that students are sure to love is Valentine Mail Delivery. For this STEM activity the students receive a letter from the post office explaining that they need the students to build a plane to help deliver all of the gifts and cards in time for Valentin's Day.

Another engaging Valentine STEM activity is Valentine Flower Design. For this project the students must design a new species of flower for Valentine's Day. The new flower must contain all of the flower parts and it must solve a problem that flower gardeners face.

You can get all four Valentine STEM activities at a discounted price with the Valentine STEM Bundle. 

For other STEM activities check out the STEM section of my TPT store. 

I hope you have found this blog post helpful. To stay connected with Carly and Adam's teaching tips and classroom freebies be sure to follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, and subscribe to our blog!

We would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave your feedback in the comments. We can't wait to connect with you!

-Carly

Increase Student Fact Fluency with Emojis

No matter what grade level you teach odds are that your students love emojis. My students are no exception!

One day as I was thinking about this ridiculous craze it hit me. Why not use the students' love of emojis to motivate them to learn their math facts? 

A couple of years ago I discovered the many versatile uses of the clip chart. One of these uses is as a math fact motivational tool. To learn more about other clip chart uses check out my blog post, 5 Ways to Use Clip Charts Other Than Behavior. 

Using this concept I designed several emoji theme clip charts for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Check out the examples below. 

How does it work you may be asking? Simply print the chart, laminate it, and tape the pieces together. Next, write all of your students' names on clothespins and clip them to the bottom of the chart. As students pass each timed test they clip up the chart.

Students love to track their progress, and you will love how easy and motivating this system is!

For other clip charts check out the clip chart section of my TPT store. 

I hope you have found this blog post helpful. To stay connected with Carly and Adam's teaching tips and classroom freebies be sure to follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, and subscribe to our blog!

We would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave your feedback in the comments. We can't wait to connect with you!

-Carly

Make Your New Year's Resolution Be STEM (January STEM Activities)

The new year is always a great time for teachers to reflect on the school year. What things are going well in your classroom? What aspects could use some improvement?

Are students engaged in learning? Are they collaborating with one another and using problem solving skills on a daily or weekly basis? 

Have you tried STEM in your classroom? If not the new year is the perfect time to get on board with STEM!

I am so excited to launch my newest batch of STEM activities for January! 

Check out Build a Polar Bear Den.

For this challenge the students receive a letter from the STEM polar bear stating that their challenge is to build a snow den for a mother polar bear and her cubs. 

Another fun STEM winter activity is Design a Snowflake. For this activity the students receive a letter from the STEM snowman stating that they need to design a snowflake using symmetry. 

One of my favorites and an activity that students are sure to love is Build a Penguin Raft.

For this challenge the students receive a letter from the STEM penguin stating that they need to design a raft in order to help the penguins move around better in the water.

Another engaging January STEM activity is the Martin Luther King Jr. Build a Podium challenge. For this activity the students design a podium for Martin Luther King Jr. to use when he delivers his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. What I love most about this activity is that it integrates Science, Social Studies, Reading, Math, and Writing!

You can get all four January STEM activities at a discounted price with the January STEM bundle. 

For other STEM activities check out the STEM section of my TPT store. 

I hope you have found this blog post helpful. To stay connected with Carly and Adam's teaching tips and classroom freebies be sure to follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, and subscribe to our blog!

We would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave your feedback in the comments. We can't wait to connect with you!

-Carly

Winter STEM (Keep Your Students Engaged During the Long Winter Months)

I don't know about you, but I love the winter season. That is, I love to enjoy it from the comfort of my own home as I sit in front of the fire with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa.

Is anyone else with me?!?

The fact of the matter is that after the holiday season the winter can seem to just drag on and on especially for teachers. Being cooped inside ALL DAY can make even the most well mannered class lose their minds.

That is why I am so proud to present to you winter STEM activities to get you through the rest of the winter season.

Keep kids engaged with activities such as Build a Snow Fort. 

For this challenge the students receive a letter from the STEM snowman stating that there will be a snow ball fight contest. In order to win the contest the students must build a fort for protection.

Another fun STEM winter activity is Build a Sled. For this activity the students receive a letter from the STEM snowman that they forgot to bring a sled so they will need to design one in order to go sledding with their friends.

One of my favorites and an activity that students are sure to love is Build a Snowman.

For this activity students compete in a snowman building contest to see who can build the tallest snowman. 

Another engaging winter STEM activity is Snowball Fight. For this activity the students design a snowball catapult in order to win a snowball fight. 

You can get all four winter STEM activities at a discounted price with the Winter STEM Bundle. 

For other STEM activities check out the STEM section of my TPT store. 

I hope you have found this blog post helpful. To stay connected with Carly and Adam's teaching tips and classroom freebies be sure to follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, and subscribe to our blog!

We would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave your feedback in the comments. We can't wait to connect with you!

-Carly

All I Want For Christmas is STEM (Classroom STEM Activities for the Holidays)

Lately, I have been really interested in integrating more STEM activities in my classroom. I love that my students are engaged, and they love the hands-on aspect of STEM.

I just completed a bundle 4 of STEM activities for December. You can check them out in my TPT store HERE. 

What I love most about these STEM challenges is that they are presented to students in the form of a letter from the STEM elf. In each letter to the students the elf states the problem for the students and gives them the list of materials with which they may use in order to solve the problem.

The bundle includes:

Christmas Tree Challenge: Students must build a Christmas tree out of plastic cups.

Santa's Sleigh: Students must build a wind powered sleigh for Santa out of paper and a straw.

Silent Jingle Bells: Students must figure out a way to silence a jingle bell.

Make a Dreidel: Students must create a dreidel for Hanukah using only the materials provided.

If you have your students learn about Christmas around the world be sure to check out my Holidays Around the World STEM activities. Learn about how they celebrate the holidays in America, England, Israel, Germany, and Sweden. 

This product includes all of my Christmas STEM challenges and connects them to holiday traditions in other countries. Click on the picture to learn more. 

For other STEM activities check out the STEM section of my TPT store. 

I hope you have found this blog post helpful. To stay connected with Carly and Adam's teaching tips and classroom freebies be sure to follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, and subscribe to our blog!

We would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave your feedback in the comments. We can't wait to connect with you!

-Carly

Why I Finally Took A Vacation Day As A Teacher (And Why You Should Too)

I have been a teacher for six years. During my time teaching I can't recall a time that I have ever taken a vacation day. 

Sick days, I can remember a few of those, but I have never taken a day off just because. Well, that is, not until yesterday.

As a teacher I know the burden and guilt that comes from taking time off of work. Not to mention the fact that writing sub plans can be a pain. 

However, as a teacher it is important that we make time for our families and that we make time for ourselves. After all if we are coming to school tired and stressed out we will not be in the right frame of mind to help our students anyway.

This realization is one that has been a long time coming for me. It  actually took a promotion this year from teacher to teacher mom to help me get my priorities in order. As a part of this priority shift I have been spending less time at school and more time at home with my family (and I feel happier and less stressed because of it). 

In fact the reason I took a day off was so I could spend time with my daughter. I was also able to get caught up on some TPT projects.

Teaching is a tough profession, and I know that some of you may be reading this thinking there is no way I can afford to take time off of work. Well, I am saying that you CANNOT afford to NOT take time off of work. 

In fact I challenge you this school year to take at least one vacation day or mental health day. Let me know how it goes. I guarantee you will return to work refreshed and that you will be a better teacher for taking the time for yourself.

I hope you have found this blog post helpful. To stay connected with Carly and Adam's teaching tips and classroom freebies be sure to follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, and subscribe to our blog!

We would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave your feedback in the comments. We can't wait to connect with you!

-Carly

5 Ways to Use Clip Charts Other Than Behavior

Clip Charts are very useful classroom tools. Although they are most commonly used for classroom management, they have many other uses as well. I have been successfully using Clip Charts in my classroom for multiple purposes none of which have to do with behavior. 

The following is a list of 5 alternate uses for Clip Charts in the classroom. 

1) Increase Fact Fluency

One way that I have used Clip Charts in my classroom is as a motivator for students to learn their math facts. Students love clipping up the chart as they master each set of facts. You can check out my math fact fluency Clip Charts in my TPT store by clicking on the pictures below (available in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). 

2) Teach Sight Words

Another way to use Clip Charts in the classroom is as a motivator for students to learn sight words. Students clip up the chart as they master each list of words. Learn more by clicking on the image below. 

3) Track Data

Like it or not data is such an important part of teaching these days. One way to make it fun and motivate students is to use clip charts to track data. In my classroom students track their personal data in data binders, but we also use clip charts to track our whole class data. One example of how this can be used is to track NWEA data. Click on the image to learn more.

4) Increase Student Motivation

As teachers it is important to set up a routine so that students know what to expect each day in the classroom. Although a predictable routine is essential, it can lead to students getting bored. For example at my school students are on the same technology programs each day during their math and reading blocks. Once the novelty of these programs wears off the students tend to get bored. My solution to this was to increase student motivation on these online programs by having students track their progress using Clip Charts. To learn more about how I increase student motivation on Lexia click on the image below. 

5) Track Reading Levels

Another way to use Clip Charts in the classroom is to track student reading levels. Students love passing the next reading level and clipping up the chart. It is a great way to increase student reading motivation and celebrate student successes. To learn more click on the image below. 

Hopefully, after reading this post you have some great ideas on how you can utilize Clip Charts to help motivate students in you classroom. If you have any questions or need help feel free to reach out. We love hearing from and collaborating with other teachers.To stay connected with Carly and Adam's teaching tips and classroom freebies be sure to follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, and subscribe to our blog!

We would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave your feedback in the comments. We can't wait to connect with you!

-Carly