Ladybug's Teacher Files Give Away

Ladybug's Teacher Files is holding a give away and the prize is an adorable blog template. Venture to her blog to learn the details on how to enter.  If I win, you will be able to admire one of her templates here at Vintage Teacher.  :0)  Click on the link below to go to the website, but don't forget to return to Vintage Teacher.

Ladybug's Teacher Files

Give away at Clutter-free Classroom

The Clutter-Free Classroom is having a great give-away.  There are lots of ways to enter.  The contest ends June 3.  Check it out---Don't forget to return to Vintage Teacher. Click on the picture below to go to the entry page.



Teaching Blog Addict has released early the steps to enter this week's Tag You're It! Monday activity.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to visit some awesome blogs and to get the chance to win a prize.

For more details, click on the button above. 

Good Luck!

Give Away--Three Fairy Tale Units

 The blogs of Curls and a Smile, First Grade Brain, Primary Perspective, and Another Day in First Grade have teamed up and having a give away of 3 Fairy Tale Units.

 

More details on how to enter can be found at  Curls and a Smile .

 

 

 

 

Counting Dominos to 12 Interactive Game

Counting Dominos to 12 Clickable Games

This clickable game requires students to count to 12 then "click" on the number that represents the number of dots shown. 

If they choose the wrong number, the "try again bus" will appear.

If they choose correctly, they will hear applause and the Learning Is Fun chalkboard will appear.

Thanks for looking at this game.  It is an original "clickable" game from Vintage Teacher.

Counting Dominos to 12 Clickable Games

FREE Memorial Day Resources

 Ingles 360 shared this free resource from Currclick.  The items and the coupon code ( memorialdayFREE )  are listed at the bottom of the linked page.  Memorial Day is a nice break from school and with the three day weekend a great time to enjoy family, but it is also the time to remember those that paid the ultimate price and those who are serving to protect us all.


FREE Resources for Memorial Day

Give away at Teaching Mrs. Lazenby's Blog

Mrs. Lazeby is giving away Ron Clark's book The Essential 55.

I love this book.  I reread it right before school starts.  He helps me to remember the excitement and the no limits approach I had the first few years I taught and many teachers lose as the years progress.

How to enter is listed at her blog.

Teaching Mrs. Lazenby's Blog

Teaching Blog Addict Kindergarten Blogs Selected

Teaching Blog Addict was just recognized as one of the top 50 Kindergarten blogs on the web by the California Teaching Credentials.

Congratulations Kindergarten Bloggers and Teacher Blog Founders!

Read the notification at Teaching Blog Addict.

Here is the link to the story on the web with the complete list. There are many other blogs from Kindergarten teachers that you may recognize. 

50 Best Blogs for Kindergarten

Featured Item - Analogies in Science

Analogies are completed by using the relationship from one set of words to complete a second set of words using the same type of relationship. 

This game/activity will use relationships in Science to practice this skill. 

It gives the Language Arts teacher the opportunity to support Science and to show students that word relationships exist in the world outside the Language Arts room. 

Science teachers this gives you the chance to discuss relationships in the Science world and review Science topics with your class.  In addition, you are supporting your students with their understanding of this type of figurative language.

The game questions may be hard for some students, so I always allow my students to use resources to come up with their answer choice.  This way we are also working on reference materials!

Don't be alarmed if you are thinking, "I don't know enough Science" or  "Analogies, I haven't thought about those things in years."  This game will help you out. 

Correct answers are rewarded with applause, the rectangle turns green, and the umpire appears declaring the runner "safe".  If incorrect answers are chosen, the rectangle turns red and you will hear the swoosh of a strike.

This game will add fun to the review of Science relationships and analogies!

Why not take a swing at Analogies in Science!

I Try and I Try (Part 1)

A hundred years ago when I was a junior and senior year in college, I was given the opportunity to take part in a Special Projects class that allowed me to work at least three hours a week in the public schools in the town that the college was located in.  This is where this interaction took place.

I was assigned to work with a wonderful Special Ed teacher in an elementary building approximately one block off campus.  Since the location was so close we agreed that I would come three days a week and would be given the opportunity to work with the same student each day.

I was assigned a second grader who was a wonderful, happy young man who enjoyed school immensely.

One day he came in and was very "frazzled".  He began walking back and forth in front of me speaking in a louder than normal voice moving his arms up and down visually showing his level of frustration.

The story he told me goes like this:

I didn't get to go to recess today again.  I had to get ORGANIZED.

Everyday my teacher tells me I gotta get organized.  I get organized and she comes back and says "Timmy, you gotta get organized." 

Then she goes through my desk and notebook and says,  "You gotta get organized!"

I get organized and the next day she says, "TIMMY YOU GOTTA GET ORGANIZED".

I twy and I twy and she keeps telling me, "Timmy you gotta get organized!"

He then walked up to my face, lifts his hands to the sky, clenches his fist and loudly proclaims while thrusting his arms upwards with each word:

"WHAT IS ORGANIZED?"

I have no doubt that he was totally frustrated.  He was doing his best to do exactly what the teacher had asked him to do.  I also know that his teacher was probably just as frustrated because she thought he was ignoring her request.

The problem was they had different opinions of what the word organized meant.

When I questioned Timmy what he was doing, I learned that he was doing exactly what the teacher did.  He moved the things inside his desk and was trying to keep the notebook at exactly the same spot and place she laid it on his desk.  He was standing up and walking around his desk because that was the only way he could write.  She kept asking him why he was standing when he could do a better job writing if he was in his seat.  He crammed everything in his desk so the top of his desk would be "organized."

After Timmy explained to me what he was doing, I explained to Timmy what I thought his teacher meant by organized and told him I thought he should give it a try.  He told me he would and stayed in during his next recess to get "organized."

On my next visit, the teacher I worked with approached me and told me that his classroom teacher had commented in the lounge that Timmy had finally decided to do as she asked and was finally getting "organized." 

I don't think his classroom teacher ever realized that Timmy had always been doing what she asked, but that the problem was Timmy didn't know what organized was.

I wonder how many times we have been disappointed with our students choices because they didn't understand what we wanted?  In the same sense, I wonder how many times as adults we have disappointed our students because we didn't understand their definitions of what they wanted from us?

Giveaway at Runde's Room

Runde's Room is having a give away to celebrate her followers.  The prize is a membership to a clip art site.  Another great give away.

Head over to Runde's Room and don't forget to return to Vintage Teacher.  :0)

Runde's Room

Another Giveaway

I visited Ashleigh's blog called Education Journey and she is having a give away.  The prize for this is a ten dollar gift certificate from Teachers Pay Teachers!  You want to enter this one for sure.   What a great prize. 

Click over to Education Journey to follow her blog and enter.  Don't forget to return to Vintage Teacher.  :0)

Education Journey

Today is Tag You're It!

Don't forget to go to TBA today to paricipate in the Monday Tag You're It! Activity.  The prize is a $25.00 gift certificate.  You pick the restaurant from the four chosen if you win.

Good luck!

Teaching Blog Addict

Joining Teachers Pay Teachers

There are thousands of free lessons available at Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT).  To be able to access TPT you have to join. 

Did you know that joining TPT is FREE. 

Have a lesson you really like and works well in helping students achieve?   Have you thought about sharing it with other teachers at TPT?  Did you know that TPT has had over two million dollars in sales? 

Do you need reasonable priced lessons?  TPT is the place to start looking.

Are you tired and you really need something to give your lesson that added "punch" to help your students understand?  TPT is the place to start looking!

Need a concept presented in a different way in hopes of reaching that group of students that just "don't get it"?  TPT probably has the resource you need to help them "get it".

If you home school, there are resources for you as well.  All age groups are included from preK-college.  TPT offers a variety of resources.

What are you waiting for?  To become one of the newest members click the link below.

Did you know that joining TPT is FREE?  Don't miss out on this opportunity.


Teachers Pay Teacher Membership Link

Primary Graffiti Give Away

Mrs. Saoud at Primary Graffiti is having a give away of three items.

The three items are Diary of a Ladybug, Camping Alpha Line, and Camping with Books Resources.  Sounds like a great giveaway.  She is selecting the winner of these lessons on Tuesday.

 .

To learn how to enter the drawing, please visit Primary Graffiti.  But don't forget to come back to Vintage Teacher.  ;0)

NEW ITEM - Cheering for Study Skills Game 2 ( A Tic-Tac-Learn Game)

Cheering For Study Skills Game 2 requires players to determine the type of information found in different reference books, such as an almanac, a thesaurus, an atlas, and an appendix.  There are also questions that deal with guide words in a dictionary.  (This game has different questions than Cheering For Study Skills Game 1.)

Knowing where to locate information is a life skill that all students need to know. 

To add a sense of fun and logic to this game, a tic-tac-learn game board is used.

This game is a fun way to have a quick review for a group with a SmartBoard or used on an individual computer it allows players to compete while reviewing what they know about study skills.

This is a read-only PowerPoint game file.

Thanks for looking.

Cheering For Study Skills (Game 2)

NEW ITEM - Cheering For Study Skills Game 1 (A Tic-Tac-Learn Game)

This PowerPoint game has students determining what information is found in the different parts of a book.  It also has the players finding the guide words that a particular word would be found on.

These are skills students will use when collecting reference work and documenting when conducting research.

To add a sense of fun to this game, the skill of logic is added with the addition of a tic-tac-learn game board.

This game is a quick and fun way to review with a group using a SmartBoard or to put on an individual computer for two students to play.

This is a read-only game.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

Cheering for Study Skills

Smilebox

Little Miss Kindergarten has made an adorable slide show called 'Veggie Tales" made using Smilebox, a resource I have never even heard of.  (I love new resources.)

Upon watching her slide show and reading comments on TBA,  I learned that Smilebox will give teachers a one-year FREE premium membership.

When you leave Vintage Teachers, please go visit Little Miss Kindergarten and see if Smilebox is a resource you could use.  I know I am looking forward to putting it into use next fall in my classroom. 

I predict that teachers and students at all grade levels will enjoy using this resource.

Thanks for sharing Little Miss Kindergarten.


Little Miss Kindergarten "Veggie Tales"

Plural Nouns

The 22 slide PowerPoint focuses on the correct spelling of plurals.  Each rule is accompanied by two example words that follow the rule when they are changed from their singular form.

To help students learn the rules, only one rule is presented per slide.

At the conclusion of this PowerPoint, there is a chart that students complete.  This chart has a self-checking option which provides immediate feedback to the class if used on a Smart Board.

Don't miss catching the Plural Express while the trip is on sale!

Plural Nouns-Common Rules for Spelling Them

Free Counting 1 to 10 PowerPoint Game as a Thank You

{Note:  Although I teach upper elementary, I had this idea for a lower elementary game. If you like it, please leave positive feedback at TPT. If you find a problem with it, please contact me and give me a chance to fix it prior to leaving negative feedback. Thanks}

This "Click It" Game is an interactive experience for students who need practicing reading numbers and counting from one to ten with a chicken theme.  Students play by "clicking" on the correct number from one to ten.

This game has sounds and if a player "clicks" on the wrong number by the hen on the nest, a big chicken coop will appear.  The player clicks on the coop and has to start over counting.  If the player successfully chooses the correct number, they will hear applause.  If the player successfully completes the task, all the chickens will  disappear into the chicken coop.

This game has been updated to include sounds and to respond to students back-clicking.   ( Back clicking - choosing numbers they have already been chosen. Don't know the correct term, but that is what I call it!)

This game is great for individual computers and/or to play as a class on the Smart Board. 

Be sure to get this FREE game as a thank you for visiting Vintage Teacher!

(MAC users please note this is a read-only file.   All worksheets are in pdf form.)

To download this, you must have a free Teachers Pay Teachers account. If you don't, click on the following link to get an account. Free Account to Teachers Pay Teachers   There are thousands of free lessons on Teachers Pay Teachers to download.

Why not sign up for a FREE sellers account when you register. Here is a link. FREE Sellers Account at Teachers Pay Teachers With a sellers account, you can buy and sell as well as download free items. There are thousands of free products available at Teachers Pay Teachers.

FREE COUNTING TO TEN GAME

Featured Item-Division Riddles

The new featured item at Vintage Teacher is Division Riddles.

Division Riddles is a read-only PowerPoint game that requires the players to think of division differently in order to solve the riddles.

This is a new clickable game from Vintage Teacher.

In order to play, students have to solve the division riddle and  "click" on the correct answer in the grid of choices. 

The twist of a tic-tac-toe game adds the additional skill of reasoning and fun to playing this game.

This game is great for use on a Smart Board for large groups divided into teams, but works just as well on an individual computer for two players.

Division Riddles PowerPoint Game

Featured on The Best of Teachers Pay Teachers Blog

I would like to announce that the Free Probability Game from Vintage Teacher is listed on the blog
The Best of Teachers Pay Teachers 

Be sure to go to check this blog out for great items made by other teachers in Teachers Pay Teachers.

I also want to thank them for the honor.

The Best of Teachers Pay Teachers Blog

Is This A Purple Elephant?

"Is this a purple elephant?" or "I know what to do, this is a purple elephant!" are comments often spoken throughout the year in my classroom.

Visitors look at me and my students like we are alien visitors from Mars when they hear comments about purple elephants and seeing the look of excitement on my student's faces.

Mnemonic devices and stories are tools that I frequently use to help my students remember and learn new things.

As a student who struggled learning in classrooms due to distractions, I took my notes and books home and "taught" myself the skills.  Some of the things I did were to use mnemonic devices to help me remember and repeated drill out loud to help me.  It drove my family crazy, but I knew the consequences of not being on the honor roll!  Going to school and being successfully was our job, in no uncertain terms. 

 When I began teaching in an urban district, the majority of my students who were put in my class were two or more years behind.  I was instructed to teach them on "grade level".

One of the first "grade level" math topics addressed is order of operations.  I do this so as a class we can work on addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  I also know that a vast majority of my students can't add, borrow to subtract, don't know their multiplication facts, and can't do division with two-digit divisors.  The first couple of years, I tried using the mnemonic phrase of "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally".  My students couldn't remember it and it was of no use.  One of the first questions I had to answer is what does please excuse my dear Aunt Sally mean?  They didn't mean in Math, they meant literally. 

One day following class I heard two of my top students talking in the hall.  The conversation was as follows:

Student 1:  Who says please excuse anybody!  And naming someone Sally wouldn't happen because it is lame!

Student 2:  Yea, I know.  I don't know anybody named Sally and why would I want someone to excuse her if I did?  What did she do?  She would have to ask them to forgive her, not me!

These girls' comments made the light come on in my head.  I went home and went on a search to try to find something that would help with order of operations that would make "the light come on" in their heads.  I searched forums and asked questions for months.  Suddenly someone shared with me the phrase they used.  I thought it might work.

I told my students we are going to review and try order of operations again.  I heard a collective sigh and a oh no!  I taught them the new phrase and we had a poster contest to illustrate it.  The rules were it had to have a descriptive picture, the phrase, and what each word stood for.  They loved it and all of a sudden they all began solving problems successfully.  When mandated testing time arrived, the supervising teacher in each of their testing rooms told me after the test the kids kept talking about the purple elephants problems and how easy they were.

Over the years I have continued using purple elephants to teach order of operations.  I now have a poster contest that they can enter.  A judge chooses the "best " poster.  The winner then reduces their poster to regular paper copy, and I make copies for all my students to put in their math notebooks in the reference section.

This past year I had a group of students who couldn't understand it, even with the help of purple elephants.  They just didn't get it.  One day at lunch, they asked me to tell them another story.  They loved stories.  They could always remember every detail, could tell the story in order after hearing it one time, and loved to hear the same story over and over.

Another light bulb moment for me!  I'll write a story dealing with purple elephants going to school!  When I finished they loved it!  They applauded and begged to hear it again.  (They even caught things like the math teacher's name,  Ms. Takes!)

When adults came in, they would ask them if they knew the purple elephant story and of course they didn't.  They would then tell me that we needed to read the story again so they would know it so they could help someone who didn't know how to work the problems.  When students came in from other rooms for time out, my students would tell me we needed to watch the story again so they could learn what to do since they were missing out on learning in their class.    

Purple elephants empowered my students by letting them discover that they were capable of learning and that I believed that they could. 

The seventh grade Math teacher came to me a couple years ago and wanted to know why the students out of my room would always say something elephants and could work order of operations problems.  They would remind each other these are purple elephant problems, smile, and work them in the correct order.  I just laughed and told him Aunt Sally went on vacation and the purple elephants came to school. 

Purple elephants not only teach my students order of operation problems, but also remind me as teacher that I have to listen carefully to my students, and the continued need to adapt to help each and every student learn as much as possible

I am sure you are wondering what the phrase is.  Before going any farther I want to tell you that I used this phrase because I knew my students would need to know how to work with exponents later in the year.  At the beginning I tell them that exponents will come later in the year, but we are going to learn where they go now so we will know.

The phrase is Purple Elephants May Destroy A School.  When they write it in their notes, I always have them underline as I did.  I do that so they will know that may destroy and a school go together and when we work on purple elephants problem it is whichever one comes first. 

Purple-Parenthesis 

Elephants-Exponents 

May Destroy-Multiplication/Division

A School-Addition/Subtraction

I did see a phrase that I thought was great if you don't need exponents.  It was Pizza Makes Daddy Act Silly.  My only thought was eventually they would need to learn exponents.

If you have any phrases that you use to help your students and you are willing to share them, please post them in the comment section below.

Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read this.  Have a great day!

Until next time,

Vintage Teacher

The story I wrote to share with my students is in my Teacher Pay Teachers store.  Click on the slide above to go to my Teachers Pay Teachers store.


(Added note:  I now have a Tic-Tac-Learn game for Order of Operations available in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store and at my Teachers Notebook Store.)

Father's Day Writing Activity

We often have children go home with something special for Mother's Day, but why not Father's Day?  This year why not show dads that we value their participation in a child's life.  If your school year is winding down, why not do this writing activity and have the child "save it" to give to their father or father figure in June. 

Since many children do not have their biological parents in their lives due to many different reasons, they often hesitate in actively participating in any holiday honoring parents.  For this reason, this Father's Day writing activity includes three different themes.  One is for Dad, one is for Grandpa, and one is for Someone Special to Me.

There are different pages and clip art for My Earliest Memory pages, my Favorite Memory, and three different acrostic poem outlines.

This 29-page pdf will allow students to "design" the packet that best fits their relationship with the "father figure" in their lives.

Included in the download:
  8 Cover pages
  3 Acrostic poem outlines (Daddy, Grandpa, Special)
15 Different Earliest Memory Pages
  3 My Favorite Memory Pages

This is a great writing activity or could be used in a writing center.

Thanks for looking,
Vintage Teacher

Father's Day Writing Activity

Exciting Give-Away by TPT Sellers

A group of Teachers Pay Teachers have gotten together and decided to have a give-away geared for teachers of grades K-3.  If you are a K-3 teacher and would like an opportunity to win FREE of charge some resources for your classroom, this is the contest for you.  Be sure to spread the word to friends if you think they would be interested in FREE resources for their classrooms or to even use with their own children.

Click on the following invitation to be taken to the page with the details and how you can earn 15 chances, yes I mean 15 chances, to earn these resources.

The contest ends May 22, 2011.

Thank you TBA for the Honor

I want to share that I have been extended the honor of becoming a contributing author at TeachingBlogAddict.com  This was an unexpected and truly appreciated honor.

Look for my postings at TeachingBlogAddicts as well as continued postings here at Vintage Teacher.

I will make every effort possible to keep you up-to-date with some of the exciting things that happen at Teaching Blog Addict, but be sure to check for yourself.  Click the picture below to go check it out!

Chance to win and participate

Teaching Blog Addict has an activity on Mondays to let you have an opportunity to win a prize and to learn from two new blogs.  Click the tag button above to participate in the game of "tag".

The rules and expectations are explained at TBA.

Good Luck!

Vintage Teacher has been honored

Shhh...  Can you keep a secret?  Well, the Vintage Teacher has been extended an invitation to ......  Can't tell you what yet, but there are clues on the blog. ;0)


Come back later in the week to find out if your prediction of the honor is correct.  :0)

Thanks,
Vintage Teacher

Chance to get FREE books for your school

:Found this on Teaching Blog Addict site

Chrysler is promoting literacy by donating 150,000 Scholastic books to schools across the country.

Test drive an all-new 2011 Town & Country now through June 1st, and Chrysler will donate five books to the school of your choice, plus an additional five books to a school in need. 

How great is that!  You can drive a new vehicle and help out two schools!

P.S.-Be sure to check out the Teaching Blog Addict blog.


TEACHING BLOG ADDICT BLOG

Multiplication: Facts 1-12 (PowerPoints For Practice)

Multiplication: Facts 1-12

This zip file consists of 12 power points dealing with the multiplication facts 1 to 12. Facts are practiced 0 thru 12. I named them Monster Multiplication because multiplication is often the "monster" that causes students to struggle with fractions and lose their love of Mathematics.

The slides are timed so students will love to attempt the challenge. My students would hurry to put their things away every morning so we could practice our facts prior to morning announcements and they would often ask to do these while waiting for their dismissal to be called. Everyone participated because they would be having fun racing each other to be the first to say the answer.

When we got to where I rarely heard a wrong answer being "yelled out",  I switched to having them write the answers.   Then we would check them going slide by slide. They loved doing this.

If you choose to purchase these I hope your students enjoy them as much as mine do! Remember there are 12 power points included!

Multiplication: Facts 1-12 (PowerPoints For Practice)

Sharing Your Thoughts About Education Reform with U.S. Senator McCaskill

I received an email from U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill from the great state of Missouri regarding Education Reform.  Since testing has been a topic that many have been discussing, I thought I would share the article.

If you would like to read her comments or comment to her about your view of education, testing, and the need for reform, the link to the article is below.  There is also a spot to leave her a comment after reading the article.

Office of U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill

Mardel's Sale--- Satuday, May 14

Saturday, May 14th, Mardels is having a Home School Sale.  Don't think this sale is for home schoolers only.  

The entire education section is on sale.  This sale is 20% off regular prices.  They normally only put everything in the education department on sale twice a year.  {I know it is not as good as TPT, but runs a close second when they have a sale. :0)}

Mardels is Christian Book store and has a huge teacher's store within it.  If you see it in a sales catalog, you can usually find it at Mardels and if not, they will order it for you. 

They also have great prices on laminating if your school doesn't provide it.  {They have the best price on laminating I have found in all the years I have taught, if you don't count free!} 

State Mandated End of Course Tests: What Is This Doing to Classroom Teaching?

Amy Brown is the author of the blog called “Science Stuff”.  Amy has 27 years of teaching experience in high school biology, chemistry, and AP biology.  Her blog is about ways to make your class more engaging and exciting for the students.  You can find her blog at:  http://sciencestuffbyamy.blogspot.com/



This fish is disgusted by its environment.

This biology teacher is disgusted by the EOC.

Today in school, my Biology I students had to take the EOC.  What is an EOC?  It is the bane of my existence!!  For those of you who don't know, EOC stands for "End of Course" exam. In my state, every student must take EOC's in certain courses.  We still have three weeks of school left, but the EOC was given today.  Why, you ask??  Because the exams have to be sent to our state department of education and graded.  We MUST get the scores back before the end of the year.  Why, you ask??  So that the EOC can count 20% of their semester average.  Call me crazy, but this seems a bit much to me.

Here are my complaints with a state mandated "End of Course" exam:

1.   Who writes the questions on the EOC?  Certainly not me.  Is this fair to my students?  I don't think so.  I valued the information years ago, when we gave "achievement tests".  I could look at these test scores and see how my students were performing against various benchmarks.  This information let me know what I needed to do differently.

2.  I have a problem with the EOC counting 20% of the semester grade.  My final exam will count only 10%.  And 70% of the semester grade will come from the work done in my class during the course of the semester.  The questions on the EOC are written by some anonymous face that I will never see, and some of the questions are really bad.  I often think that whoever writes these questions must not know anything about biology!

3.   Teachers are forced to be automatons of information.  Many of the really fun and exciting things that I used to do in the lab have fallen by the wayside.  We are in a race against time to teach volumes of information.  Does this get kids excited about science?  NO!  Give me back some time for creativity.  Give me back some time to take the kids to the lab so that I can teach them what science is really about.

I understand all about accountability.  I understand that the "powers that be" want to make sure that every teacher in the state is teaching a core set of objectives.  I think this is a mistake.  Just as asexual reproduction produces offspring with no variation, mandated state testing is producing students who are clones.  Every biology teacher worth their salt knows that variation is key to adaptation.

It is my belief that we will eventually realize that the massive testing of students at the end of each school year is a mistake.  Students are not going to remember the volumes of information that we cram down their throats prior to the EOC.  Along the way, the teaching of critical thinking and problem solving skills are being lost in favor of fact after fact after fact.  An education does not consist of a set of facts.  A good education consists of the ability to be able to think and respond, not recite back facts.

I hope that you will visit my blog and become a follower.  My blog is called "Science Stuff" and can be reached here:  http://sciencestuffbyamy.blogspot.com/.  

You can also visit my TeachersPayTeachers.com store here:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Science-Stuff

My blog has links to quite a few FREE products that can be fun activities for both middle and high school science students.  I hope to see you there!

Vintage Teachers First Guest Blogger!!!!!!!!!!!

Vintage Teacher is please to announce that on Saturday, May 7, Amy from Science Stuff will be our first guest blogger.

 

Be sure to return to read and learn how many teachers feel about the mandated testing issue included in NCLB.

 

I would like to thank Amy in advance for graciously sharing her article for posting.

 

 

 

 

Vintage Teacher:  {NCLB meaning is No Child Left Behind, but anymore it means No Circle Left Blank! with mandated testing.}

 

 

No Thursday to Saturday Sale this Week

Since the entire web site at Teachers Pay Teachers has been on sale for two days and the Vintage Teacher Store has also been on sale there will not be a Thursday to Saturday sale item of the week.  Look for the sale item of the week next Thursday!

Sale on Teachers Pay Teachers

Looks like the Teachers Pay Teachers site did experience some difficulties yesterday.   I have changed the Vintage Teacher store to continue my sale until midnight tonight, Wednesday night, May 4.  For those of you that purchased items before the site went down, thank you.  

Don't miss out on this opportunity as this is the first time the entire Vintage Teacher store has been on sale!

TPT is still honoring their sale today, also.  Use TAD11 in the coupon section at checkout to receive your extra 20%. 

Getting two discounts definitely makes it a special sale!!!!!!!!

Clip Art Sale at Scrapping Goodies

Scrapping Goodies is having a clipart sale through May 8.  Use coupon code: April-20 to receive 20% off all orders of $6.00 or more.

Scrapping Goodies Website

Teacher Pay Teachers Sale List for Teacher Appreciation Day

Erica at Teaching Blog Addict is compiling a list of stores in TPT that are discounted 20% today, May 3, in honor of Teachers Appreciation Day.  When you put it with the discount being offered by Teachers Pay Teachers, that is 40% off!  What a great sale!!!!!   The code to get the extra 20% is TAD11.  

May today be a day that all educators feel appreciated and supported.   


Sale list for Today, May 3

New Item--Tic-Tac-Math PowerPoint Game #1 Skill: GCF and LCM

This PowerPoint game has students determining either  the least common multiple (LCM) or the greatest common factor (GCF). 

Students often confuse the two, so on many of the slides both the GCF and the LCM are given as possible answers.

The players will work with the relationship between two numbers and sometimes three numbers while playing.

To add a sense of fun to this review, the skill of logic is added to the game with the addition of a tic-tac-toe game.

The use of this interactive game adds a sense of fun to the practicing of these necessary skills for fractions.  This game is great for a quick review for the whole class or on a computer for two students to play against each other.

This is a read-only game.

Thanks  for looking and have a great day!

Vintage Teacher

Tic-Tac-Math PowerPoint Game Skill: GCF and LCM

Don't Miss A Great Sale on Tuesday, May 3

Tuesday is Teacher's Appreciation Day! 

In honor of this day, Vintage Teacher is having its first ever total site sale at Teachers Pay Teachers.  Everything in the Vintage Teacher Store will be 20% off for one day only!

This is in addition to the 20% off that Teachers Pay Teachers is giving.  The code you enter at checkout for that extra 20% is "TAD11"  That is 40% off everything you purchase from Vintage Teacher! 

Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity!!!  Remember it is for one day only--Tuesday, May 3.


Please know that Vintage Teacher appreciates those in the teaching profession everyday!

Teacher's Appreciation Day and a Sale at Teachers Pay Teachers

 TeachersPayTeachers.com just announced a big one day sale! On Tuesday, May 3, everything is 20% off when you use discount code "TAD11". Many sellers will add their own discounts on top of the site wide discount. My entire store will be on sale for that one day only!  You will get BOTH discounts.  Sale starts at midnight! 

To go to the Vintage Teacher store click picture below.

If you are not a member of Teachers Pay Teachers, why not join.  Membership is free!  That is in every one's budget!!  Here is link to get your membership!

Referral Link

Get Prepared for Testing with a new Three-In-A-Row Game

This game reviews many of the skills that a sixth grader should know for testing. 

There is a variety of skills reviewed in this game.  Just a few of the skills are place value, order of operations, sequence, word problems, multiplication, fractions, and area.

With the students competing to get three of their discs in a row, fun is added to skill review.  Every time you play you get a new game, as students will choose different spots to begin to be the first to get Three-In-A-Row.

This is a read-only file.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

Vintage Teacher

Math Test Prep Three-In-A-Row Game