MAD LIBS

Mad Libs are stories that have been generated, but the words have been removed and put in place with blanks spaces. This game can be played in pairs or groups to encourage class engagement and build social relationships. 

One player is acting as the reader and asks the other players to fill in the blanks with adjectives, nouns, exclamations, colours and many more fun combinations. Once the blanks are filled, the story is read out loud and hilarious results will come alive. There are many ways where you can access these generated stories. 

They could be printed, or created as a PDF to share with your class or even colleagues. There are also websites where these stories are generated and the blanks are filled right on the website. Sources will be posted below. 

 

As well as being fun and engaging, it is a great way to help teach language arts. There are also interactive lessons and activities that will reinforce grammar, reading, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency and writing skills.

Check some out!! 

https://www.madlibs.com/ 

https://www.glowwordbooks.com/kids/madlibs/

Gianluca@NU (OTECC)

Meditation and Mindfulness Apps for Kids

Many parents say meditation is a helpful tool for their kids. More research is needed to understand how meditation might specifically benefit kids with learning and attention issues. Nevertheless, it can be a good way to help all kids cope with stress and "quiet the mind." Here are a few meditation app suggestions for kids:

 

Headspace

One of the most important ways meditation is able to help kids excel in the classroom is by improving their working memory capacity, one of the brain's key executive functions for cognitive development and a particularly important one when it comes to developing core academic skills such as literacy and mathematics.

 

Smiling Mind

Smiling Mind is a free meditation app geared toward kids and adults. The meditations for younger kids seem to be parent-child focused, as many of them speak directly to the parent and include activities (e.g., close hugging) that are most appropriate for a parent-child relationship. There are also lesson plans for teachers that can be paired with the student meditations provided.

 

 

Stop, Breathe and Think Kids

Stop, Breathe & Think Kids offers children a fun and easy way to identify and process their emotions. From counting breaths to friendly wishes or frog jumps, each activity brings fun rewards to keep them engaged.

 

 

 

Each of these apps is available to download for free on iOS and Android devices. To download the app, search the app name in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. 

 

Written by Julia G (OTECC) @ NU

Addressing Racism in the Classroom

In many schools around the world, teachers celebrate diversity by incorporating multicultural themes in their classrooms. Multicultural education is about recognizing and celebrating differences (i.e., heritage). Unfortunately, multicultural education has been diluted into something that applies mainly to dress, dances, and dinners. Effective multicultural education should emphasize similarity as well as differences. When educators begin to use multicultural education as a tool to incorporate and promote discussions around the way people live, learn, and believe, the discourse becomes valuable. By focusing on our commonalities, such as our basic human qualities, we are able to move towards dealing with the tougher issues of race and racial discrimination.

When addressing racism in the classroom, educators should check in with families and caregivers to gain an understanding of students' backgrounds. It is always important to make sure students have opportunities to learn not just about the identities of students in the classroom, but also about diverse cultures and backgrounds that aren't reflected in the classroom.

            Finally, by creating a classroom where open and honest communication can occur and as educators, we provide a voice for our students who often believe they do not have one. As educators we can also provide our students with examples, historical backgrounds, and activities to learn more about other ethnicities and cultures in the classroom.

  

Written by Julia G (OTECC) @ NU

Do Video Games Help Students Learn?

Seeing the topic of 'video games in learning' was very surprising to me. When I think of video games, I think of violence, aggression, and wild driving, not learning valuable skills that can be applied to classrooms. However, after reading the article titled, "Are Video Games Good for Learning," and questioning some of my friends on their gaming choices, my mind is a little bit more opened to the idea of video games helping students achieve their goals in the classroom.  

The article provided readers with the explanation that video games are good for learning for two reasons: good commercial games are built on sound learning principles that are supported by research in the learning sciences, and video game technologies hold our great promise for moving beyond entertainment to building new learning systems for serious purposes in and out of school (Gee & Mogridge, 2006). While reading, I was trying to compare the facts of features of games with high learning potential and the features of a good game to one game that my friends are recently fixated on called BitLife. This is a text-based life simulator that uses realism to live another life, so, you constantly make choices to continue through your life such as what career you want, where you want to live, etc. This game does have some of the features mentioned in the reading that are essential for students to learn outside of class such as the distributed intelligence via the creation of smart tool, and open-endedness. The player is guided by the knowledge that is built into the game and what other characters are doing and are able to utilize trial-and-error to go on with their lives and make the right choices. The players also set their own standards of accomplishment so they can be heroes, doctors, lawyers, etc., and they can even project their own goals onto their characters. Additionally, they get a sense of motivation through how they build their life, the role of failure through aspects such as if they do not press 'study' they do not pass school and do not get the career they strive for, and they can customize, create strong identities, there are pleasant levels of frustration and a cycle of expertise.

Nonetheless, despite the game having these features, players are not learning anything deeper about the choices they are making. My opinion after this comparison is that, while there are video games that can be utilized in teaching students' essential skills, I do not think that they are being played as much as the violent and aggressive games that we are all familiar with. And while BitLife has some of the important features of a good game and some features of a game with learning potential, as do most games, I do not believe the players are taking life skills from it. They are just playing these games and leaving the skills and motivations that they get in the game rather than bringing them into the classroom and real-world scenarios. One big recurring question from the article was that of can students bring 'this' skill into their classroom abilities? My hypothesis about this is that students enjoy the challenge from the game because they chose to play it. They never choose to be in their math or science class, so they lack the same motivation that they use when playing the game. This is why I think they do not absorb the skills from their games and apply them to real life. 

Sabrina P (OTECC)@NU

ASCD Article: Wordle

What Wordle Reminds Us About Effective Phonics and Spelling Instruction

Games can engage young learners, and help them identify rules and patterns in language all on their own.

It’s hard to miss the meteoric rise of the Wordle craze. This game is not only a gift for lexophiles but also for educators. It reminds us that effective phonics and spelling instruction requires carefully designed, explicit teaching combined with volume reading, vocabulary building, and high levels of engagement. 

The object of Wordle is to guess a five-letter word in six attempts. After each attempt, the game tells you which of the letters you guessed are in the word in the right place, which letters are in the word but in the wrong place, and which letters are not in the word at all. With 26 letters in the English alphabet, the game would be nearly impossible as a purely statistical exercise. But knowledge of English orthography (how words are spelled) puts the challenge within reach. Studying how to be successful with Wordle can be helpful to educators because it can remind us of some key points about effective phonics and spelling instruction. 

To find out what are the top five Wordle reminders, click here >>>>> TOP 5

Together We Can Accomplish Things

I received this movie today. I was wondering if I could share it with my friends.

Very informative for kids. Watch:

                                                Brought to you by Farnaz@NU (OTECA)

Canada's First People Map

This is a map that I think each Canadian teacher should have hanging in the classroom. 

Courtesy of Farnaz@NU (OTECA)

Land Acknowledgement

 

Land Acknowledgements often begin academic conferences, cultural events, government press gatherings, and even hockey games. They are supposed to be an act of Reconciliation between Indigenous peoples in Canada and non-Indigenous Canadians, but they have become so routine and formulaic that they have sometimes lost meaning. 

 

Métis artist and educator Suzanne Keeptwo wants to change that. She sees the Land Acknowledgement as an opportunity for Indigenous peoples in Canada to communicate a message to non-Indigenous Canadians - a message founded upon Age Old Wisdom about how to sustain the Land we all want to call home.

This is an essential narrative for truth sharing and knowledge acquisition.

Watch an interview with Suzanne Keeptwo

Brought to you by Farnaz@NU (OTECA)

Fake ticket for a Grad Party

By Farnaz 

MathUP

This website is called MathUp. I learned about this site through my mentor from my first placement in teachers college! This is how our class guided our math lessons.

What is MathUP?

“MathUP” is a Canadian online learning resource that provides professional development for teachers, math activities for students, and math support documents for guardians that offers multiple strategies to work towards math mastery for every student.

MathUP offers a set of focused tools to help build capacity in teaching mathematic through professional learning for both teachers and administrators. It empowers teachers and principals with the knowledge and processes to build a successful math learning environment and school math culture.

Click here (or watch below) for a MathUP Tour >>>> https://youtu.be/NfPhyLQz4H0

 

For more info, go to the website >>>>>> https://www.mathup.ca/

I hope you find this helpful!

Courtesy of Brooklyn@NU

Are You Experiencing Teacher Burnout>

With the current wave of COVID-19 resulting in more cases than ever and a resurgence of mental and emotional stressors, we've all been hearing the term "burnout" a lot lately. But how is burnout different from just plain old exhaustion? Learn to recognize the signs in yourself – and colleagues – and get techniques to help you cope with it.

Want to know more? - Click the picture below:

Courtesy of Pearson Canada

Math Playground

Math Playground is a free online educational tool available for teachers, parents, and motivated students. Providing mathematical games and activities for kids in Kindergarten to Grade 6 to work on and practice their math skills in fun, innovative, and engaging ways! Offering challenging logic puzzles, computation practice, problem-solving, and math videos, children are encouraged to explore an array of math curriculum concepts ranging from whole numbers and fractions to algebra and geometry.

Click the video below to get a sense of what Math Playground is all about:

Here's Puppet Hockey on Math Playground, a favourite:

Get started and have fun - Visit: www.mathplayground.com

Alyssa (OTECA)@NU

Ereading Worksheets - Free Online Learning Resources

Ereading Worksheets provides educators, tutors, parents, and students with free high-quality reading worksheets, activities, and resources aligned with Curriculum Standards for home or classroom use. Ereading Worksheets uses a skill-focused approach where each exercise targets a specific skill set. These activities can also be browsed by grade level. The resources on this site cover a broad range of reading, figurative language, language arts, and writing skills and have a growing collection of online reading activities!

Find out more information at >>>> https://www.ereadingworksheets.com/ or click the picture.

Alyssa M (OTECA)@NU