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Matthew Lynch published in Teachers

22 Guiding Activities For Learners Of All Ages

We all make mistakes at some point in our lives. But it’s how we learn from them that makes us grow and become better individuals. It’s important to teach learners of all ages that making mistakes is okay and that they should embrace them as part of the learning process.

Here are 22 guiding activities for learners of all ages to help inspire a growth mindset and teach them how to learn from their mistakes:

1. Journaling: Encourage learners to keep a journal where they can reflect on their mistakes, what they learned from them, and how they can apply this knowledge in the future.

2. Role-Playing: Create scenarios where learners can practice making mistakes in a safe and controlled environment. This can help them build their confidence and learn how to adjust their behavior.

3. Critical Thinking Exercises: Give learners problems to solve that require them to think creatively, evaluate different options, and consider the consequences of their choices.

4. Case Studies: Analyze case studies to identify mistakes and discuss how they can be avoided in the future.

5. Group Discussions: Collaborate in groups and share personal experiences of mistakes made and lessons learned. This helps learners understand that everyone makes mistakes and that it’s a natural part of the learning process.

6. Assessment Reviews: Look at the feedback from tests, essays and exams. Discuss with learners the mistakes they made, which helped them remember.

7. Debates: Engage in debates to challenge learners’ assumptions and open their minds to new perspectives.

8. Mind Mapping: Create mind maps to help learners connect different ideas and concepts and analyze how they are related.

9. Storytelling: Share stories of successful people who have experienced setbacks and how they overcame them.

10. Problem-Solving Games: Use games that require learners to use creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

11. Feedback: Learners should be comfortable with receiving feedback. Feedback highlights mistakes and shows room for improvement.

12. Mistake Celebration: Make a big deal of celebrating mistakes, and provide recognition and rewards for learners who are willing to step out of their comfort zone and take calculated risks.

13. Personal Goals: Encourage learners to set personal goals and talk about improvements they have made over time.

14. Role Models: Establish role models to inspire learners to work their hardest ad persevere even through failures.

15. Self-Reflection: Establish a time-limited self-reflection curriculum, asking learners to discuss forward-moving actions for effective self-awareness.

16. Mindfulness: Practice of repeating a mantra or stillness for a few minutes to reflect on your emotions and internalize any mistakes made.

17. Mindset Frame of Reference: Encourage learners to translate their feedback into meaningful data or developmental outcomes.

18. Grit: Provide stories about perseverance and resilience to inspire an unflappable attitude towards even the most challenging obstacles.

19. Responsibility: Instill a sense of ownership by defining a “mistake” and attributing responsibility proportionate to the event. Encourage learners to take responsibility at all times.

20. Future Planning: Create future plans for learning to encourage continuous learning and growth.

21. Mistake Analysis: Provide analysis and evaluations carefully, noting the positive benefits of self-directed errors and correcting future learning for the teacher and institution.

22. Mentorship: Provide an excellent mentorship program where learners can access learning opportunities and role modeling with experienced practitioners.

The above list provides highly recommended examples that can support learners of all ages and in many different spheres of education. By embracing mistakes and seeking to learn from them, both students and educators can create an innovative, forward-thinking environment that helps students grow in all facets of education. 

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Matthew Lynch published in Teachers

20 Counting Coins Activities That Will Make Money Fun For Your Students

Counting coins is not always the most exciting topic for students, but with a little creativity, you can make it fun and engaging. Here are 20 counting coins activities that will help your students enjoy learning about money.

1. Coin Memory Game – Create a memory game using different coins. Have students match the name of the coin with the correct picture.

2. Coin Races – Divide students into teams and have them race to correctly count a pile of coins.

3. Price is Right – Show a picture of an item and have students guess the price in coins.

4. Roll it Up – Give students a roll of coins and have them count how much money is in it.

5. Coin Flip – Have students flip a coin and count heads or tails. Then, have them add up how many heads and tails they have.

6. Coin Bingo – Create a bingo card with different coins and amounts. Call out the amount, and students will cover the appropriate coin.

7. Coin Search – Hide coins around the classroom, and have students find them and count the value.

8. Coin Toss – Have students toss a coin into a cup and add up their scores.

9. Coin Art – Give students a pile of coins and let them create a picture out of them.

10. Coin Graphing – Have students graph the number of different coins they have.

11. Coin Tower – Have students stack coins to create the tallest tower.

12. Coin Estimation – Give students a jar of coins and have them estimate how much money is in it.

13. Coin Sorting – Have students sort a pile of coins by type.

14. Coin Comparison – Have students compare two different coins and decide which one is worth more.

15. Coin Word Problems – Create word problems that involve counting coins.

16. Coin Scavenger Hunt – Have students search the school for different coins and add up their totals.

17. Coin Roll Challenge – Have students race to roll a certain amount of coins.

18. Coin Quiz – Create a quiz with questions about different coins.

19. Coin Calculation Race – Have students race to calculate the total of a pile of coins.

20. Coin Trading Game – Have students trade coins with each other and try to get the highest total value.

With these 20 counting coins activities, your students will be excited about learning about money. By making it fun and engaging, they will develop a deeper understanding of money management and financial literacy.   

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Matthew Lynch published in Teachers

20 Fantastic Morse Code Activities

Morse code is a communication method that uses a combination of dots and dashes to convey messages. It was invented in the early 19th century and is still used today in various forms, including by amateur radio operators and the military. Morse code is a fascinating and fun way to learn and practice communication skills, and there are many great activities you can do with it. Here are 20 fantastic Morse code activities to try out:

1. Learn the Morse code alphabet: Before you can use Morse code, you need to know the alphabet. There are many resources available online to help you learn it.

2. Write a secret message: Once you know the alphabet, write a secret message to a friend or family member using Morse code. Give them a decoder so they can decipher the message.

3. Morse code flashcards: Create flashcards with Morse code letters on one side and the corresponding letter on the other side. Practice recognizing the letters and their sounds.

4. Morse code bracelets: Use beads or string to create a bracelet that spell out a message in Morse code. Wear it as a fun accessory or give it as a gift to a friend.

5. Morse code scavenger hunt: Hide objects around your house or yard that spell out a message in Morse code. Give clues to help people find the objects and decode the message.

6. Morse code bingo: Create bingo cards with the dots and dashes representing different letters. Call out the letters in Morse code and have players mark them off on their cards.

7. Morse code karaoke: Sing a song in Morse code instead of the lyrics. Have others try to guess the song.

8. Morse code relay race: Divide into teams and set up a relay race where each person has to run a certain distance and then signal a Morse code letter to the next team member.

9. Morse code art: Use markers or paints to create art with dots and dashes representing different letters. Hang the art up as a reminder of the Morse code alphabet.

10. Morse code trivia: Create a trivia game where each question or answer is represented by a Morse code letter. Participants must decode the message to answer the question.

11. Morse code message in a bottle: Write a message in Morse code and put it in a bottle. Toss the bottle into a body of water and see if anyone finds it and can decode the message.

12. Morse code obstacle course: Set up an obstacle course where participants have to signal a Morse code letter at certain points in the course. See who can complete the course fastest.

13. Morse code codebreaking game: Create a game where players have to decode a message in Morse code to move on to the next level.

14. Morse code color-by-letter: Create a coloring page where each letter is represented by a specific color. Have children color in the picture using Morse code.

15. Morse code tongue twisters: Create tongue twisters that use Morse code letters. Have participants try to say them quickly without stumbling.

16. Morse code spelling bee: Host a spelling bee where participants have to spell out the word in Morse code instead of saying it aloud.

17. Morse code memory game: Create a memory game where players have to match up Morse code letters with their corresponding letters.

18. Morse code charades: Act out a message in Morse code and have others try to identify the message.

19. Morse code puzzles: Create puzzles where participants have to decode a message in Morse code to solve the puzzle.

20. Morse code computer programming: Learn Morse code and use it to create programs or games on the computer.

These are just a few of the many fantastic Morse code activities you can try. Morse code is a fun and engaging way to develop communication skills while having fun. So give it a try and see what creative ways you can use Morse code in your everyday life.  

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Matthew Lynch published in Teachers

19 Helping Verbs Activities for Students

Learning English requires an understanding of the different parts of speech, including verbs. Verbs are crucial in building complete sentences and understanding the different tenses. Helping verbs or auxiliary verbs are a group of verbs that work together with main verbs to create different tenses and show mood or attitude. Here are 19 helping verbs activities for students that can help them master these essential verbs.

1. Infographic posters

Create visual aids that show examples of helping verbs used in sentences. Students can use these posters as a reference when identifying helping verbs and their functions in sentences.

2. Crossword puzzles

Create crossword puzzles that use helping verbs as clues. This helps students recognize which words are helping verbs and sharpen their problem-solving skills.

3. Word search

Design a group of words, including helping verbs, hidden within a grid of letters. Students will have to find the hidden words, including the helping verbs, to complete the puzzle.

4. Matching games

Create helpful verb flashcards to match their corresponding phrases or sentences. Matching games can help students with retention and repetition.

5. Worksheet exercises

Worksheet exercises that help students identify helping verbs in sentences and differentiate them from the main verbs.

6. Videos

Show students short videos on YouTube that explain helping verbs and their function in sentences.

7. Classroom discussions

Create classroom discussions around helping verbs in context. Students can express their thoughts through written or oral discussions.

8. Board games

Create board games that feature helping verbs. Students can play these games for reinforcement and review.

9. Pair exercises

Pair students together and have them practice using helping verbs in context by writing sentences and conversing with each other.

10. Dictation exercises

Provide a dictation exercise where the student needs to add the correct helping verb to incomplete sentences. This helps students recognize the relationship between the main verb and the helping verb.

11. Role-playing exercises

Create scenarios that require the use of helping verbs. Students can role-play these scenarios to practice the use of helping verbs in context.

12. Fill-in-the-blank exercises

Create fill-in-the-blank exercises that require the use of helping verbs in context. This exercise helps students master the use of helping verbs in everyday situations.

13. Song lyrics

Provide song lyrics that feature helping verbs. Students can sing along with the song, highlighting the helping verbs as they go.

14. Picture books

Picture books that feature helping verbs can be a fun way for younger students to practice more basic verbs.

15. Mad libs

Mad libs are fill-in-the-blank stories that require students to supply parts of speech, including helping verbs. Mad libs can be a fun and creative way for students to use helping verbs.

16. Writing exercises

Provide writing exercises that require the use of helping verbs in context. Writing exercises help solidify language skills through continuous use and practice.

17. Acting out scenes

Have students act out scenes that require the use of helping verbs. They can make up their dialogues or use pre-written scripts.

18. Sentence building exercises

Create sentence-building exercises that require students to use helping verbs correctly to create complete sentences.

19. Scavenger hunt

Create a scavenger hunt within the classroom or campus that requires finding sentences. Students can use clues to locate the sentences and identify the helping verbs used.

In conclusion, using these 19 helping verbs activities for students can help them learn the essential role that helping verbs play in the English language. These fun and engaging exercises reinforce the use of helping verbs and sharpen grammar, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.    

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Matthew Lynch published in Teachers

21 Interesting Activities To Assist Learners With Making Inferences

Making inferences is a critical skill for students to develop in order to become more effective readers and problem solvers. It is the ability to draw conclusions based on evidence from a text or situation. Here are 21 interesting activities to help learners develop their inference skills.

1. Read a story and ask students to infer what the characters are feeling or thinking based on their actions.

2. Provide students with a short passage and ask them to infer the setting or context.

3. Show students a picture and ask them to infer the story behind the image.

4. Provide students with a series of clues and ask them to infer the answer.

5. Have students read a passage and ask them to infer what will happen next.

6. Provide students with a short clip of a video or movie and ask them to infer the plot.

7. Play a game of charades where students have to infer the word or phrase being acted out.

8. Have students create their own scenarios and ask their peers to infer what is happening.

9. Use graphic organizers to help students identify evidence and infer meaning.

10. Read a poem and ask students to infer the theme or message.

11. Provide students with a list of characters and ask them to infer the relationships between them.

12. Use a think-aloud strategy where the teacher models how to make inferences while reading aloud.

13. Provide students with a blank chart to fill in with evidence and inferences.

14. Have students create their own pictures or drawings and ask their peers to infer what is happening.

15. Play a board game where students have to make inferences to move forward or answer questions.

16. Have students watch a short film and ask them to infer the message or theme.

17. Provide students with a series of riddles and ask them to infer the answer.

18. Have students read a news article and ask them to infer the author’s opinion.

19. Provide students with a list of metaphors or similes and ask them to infer the meaning.

20. Play a game of “I Spy” where students have to infer the object being described.

21. Use real-life scenarios to help students practice making inferences, such as predicting the weather based on the sky or traffic patterns based on the time of day.

Overall, these activities provide a fun and engaging way to help students develop their inference skills. By providing opportunities for practice and building students’ confidence in making inferences, educators can help their students become more effective readers and problem solvers.   

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Matthew Lynch published in Teachers

5 Rewards of Being a Teacher

Being a teacher is a rewarding and fulfilling profession. There are five rewards of being a teacher, as listed below. Some of these rewards may be experienced by those who are dedicated to the profession, while others may be unique to those who become teachers.

1. Increased Respect and Confidence from Students and parents.

When a teacher shows their students and parents that they are dedicated to providing a good education, they often receive a higher level of respect and confidence. This can lead to a better understanding between the teacher and their students, and a more positive relationship overall.

2. Increased Opportunity for Learning.

Teachers often have a lot of opportunity to learn and grow as a profession. This can be seen in the different ways where they are able to provide classroom instruction. Teachers can learn new techniques, strategies, and methods to help them provide a better learning experience for their students.

3. Increased Opportunity for Patronization.

Teachers often have a lot of opportunity to earn extra income. This can be seen in the many opportunities that they have to provide extra service to their students and patrons. These opportunities can lead to a better relationship between the teacher and patron, and a more positive relationship overall.

4. Increased Opportunity for Service.

This can be seen in the many ways in which they are able to help their local communities. They can work to improve the quality of life for their constituents or they can provide extra services such as tutoring or parenting.

5. Increased Opportunity for Personal growth.

Teachers can learn new techniques, strategies, and methods to help them provide a better education for their students.

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Matthew Lynch published in Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers

Scaffolding: Everything You Need to Know

This occurs when an older individual assists a student in his/her learning process and uses their superior knowledge and experience to speed up the student’s academic progress. In this powerful educational practice, an educator may demonstrate how to solve a problem or share new information. The teacher then steps back and allows the students to practice on their own. Structured support or scaffolding is put in place before the students become fully independent. At the starting of the scaffolding process, teachers provide lots of support. They then remove the support in stages. The gradual decrease in the support level is what forms the scaffolding process. Step by step, the process imparts confidence with new skills and concepts, helping students master them. Implementing scaffolding techniques in the classroom becomes second nature to the majority of teachers.

Some fun and engaging scaffolding strategies in the classroom include:

Using prior knowledge: Students come to class with experience and knowledge of many different things. Educators who connect new learning to earlier life experiences help pupils absorb information more quickly. Pupils retain and understand fresh information more readily when they can connect it to the topics they already know.

Model: Teaching pupils how to do something by demonstrating how to do it could be an effective method to scaffolding learning. Teachers can problem-solve by talking students through the process or walking them through the steps. Teachers can also have pupils model for their classmates.

Sharing important vocabulary: Scaffolding is effective across all educational subject fields. One area where pupils may require additional scaffolding is reading. Teachers can share particular vocabulary items that may create challenges before approaching a particularly complicated text. This scaffolding method should focus on words that are important for full comprehension of the text.

Talking about it: Since individuals require time to reflect on their learning, it can be helpful to give pupils time to absorb what they’ve just seen before they apply that knowledge to their individual work. Teachers sometimes facilitate this type of reflection by putting students in small groups or pairs to talk to each other.

Showing what teachers mean: Graphic organizers can be very useful in aiding students to organize their thinking about interrelated or complex pieces of information. These visual aids help pupils how they think about one concept in connection with others. Graphic organizers can guide students through a new task or process and remind them about it.

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Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Teachers

18 Strategies to Encourage Students to Be Prepared for Learning Experiences

Are you looking for strategies to encourage students to be prepared for learning experiences? If so, keep reading.

1. Ascertain why the learner is not ready for learning activities at a specific time.

2. Ask the learner why they are not ready for learning activities at a specific time. The learner may have the most accurate perception as to why they are not ready for learning activities at a specific time.

3. Assist the learner in understanding that it is permissible to leave work unfinished and return to it at a later time.

4. Get the learner to document their attendance at the end of each learning experience.

5. Ascertain if there are aspects of learning activities that the learner dislikes. Remove, lessen, or modify the unpleasant aspects of learning activities to urge the learner to be ready for and take part in learning activities.

6. Make the learner responsible for time missed (e.g., if the learner misses five minutes of a learning experience, they must make up the time during recess, lunch, or other desired learning activities ).

7. Give the learner a schedule of daily activities so that they will know what learning activities to attend and their times.

8. Make sure that the learner is successful in school-related and social learning activities. The learner will be more likely to be ready for learning activities in which they experience success.

9. Provide the learner a schedule of classes that must be signed by every instructor to document their promptness.

10. Make sure that other students do not make it unpleasant for the learner to attend learning activities.

11. Make sure the learner has all the appropriate learning materials for learning activities.

12. Record promptness with the learner.

13. Begin learning activities with a task that is highly reinforcing to the learner.

14. Assess appropriateness of the level of difficulty of tasks in comparison with the learner’s capacity and ability.

15. Give the learner many chances for high interest learning activities as possible.

16. Give the learner academic learning activities in the most attractive manner possible.

17. Make the learner a leader of the learning experience or group.

18. Consider using an education app to help the student sharpen their organizational skills. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.

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Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Teachers

How to Implement the Lifted Line Poem Teaching Strategy in Your Classroom

Description

This activity provides a creative way for learners to engage with the content after they have worked with it as a class. In a lifted line poem, learners collaborate to explore more deeply the words and experiences of first-hand accounts or fictional characters. After reading a short piece of content, learners select a line that they find meaningful and, as a class, transform these lines into a poem. The class may then collaborate to rearrange their lines in a different order that reflects a shift of mood or tone or a hierarchy of emotions, for instance. This activity provides learners with the time and space for individual reflection about what the content means to them as they select their lines, as well as the opportunity to engage in a class discussion while debriefing the activity that focuses on the language of the content.

Implementation

  1. Select a Text: Select a piece of short fiction or nonfiction content for this activity. Content with a powerful sense of voice, perhaps expressing the first-person point of view, or strong imagery tend to work well as source material.
  2. Prepare Learners for the Activity: After reading and discussing the selected content, tell learners that they will be working together to create a lifted line poem in which they will each select a meaningful line from the reading and then work together to create a poem from those lines.
  3. Create the Lifted Line Poem:
    • Instruct learners to review their whole reading, select one line that is most meaningful, important, or revealing to them and mark it with a star or underline it.
    • If you have time, you may ask learners to write an explanation in their journals for why they lifted the line they chose.
    • When everyone has selected a line, ask the learners to stand and form a circle. Next, pick one learner to begin and a direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise). Each learner must read their line in succession in the direction you’ve chosen. Tell learners that it doesn’t matter if more than one person shares the same path.
  4. Discuss as a Class:
    • Discuss with learners any patterns they noticed in the lines they chose. Did multiple learners repeat any lines? Why did those repeated lines resonate with various learners?
    • What ideas seemed most meaningful and essential to the class? What thoughts were not embodied in the lifted line poem?
    • How does the class’s lifted line poem extend or challenging their thinking about the content?

Modifications

  1. Lifted Line Revision: Time permitting, engage the class in the process of thoughtfully rearranging learners into a new order to deliver their lines that achieves maximum impact through repetition, dissonance, or theme.
  2. Multiple Texts, Multiple Voices: Consider utilizing more than one piece of content for this activity. For instance, you may select two to three passages that reflect different characters’ interpretations of a scene or two to three different first-hand accounts of a historical event. Divide the content so that equal numbers of learners are responding to them and follow the instructions above to create the poem. Your class discussion may focus on what the poem reveals about the differing viewpoints, and you may utilize variation #1 to reorder the poem to emphasize the similarities and differences the multiple texts express.
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Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Teachers

21 Ways to Encourage Students Not to Talk During Quiet Time

Are you looking for ways to encourage students not to talk during quiet time? If so, keep reading.

1. Make the appropriate adjustments in their surroundings to prevent the learner from experiencing stress, frustration, and anger.

2. Talk regularly with the learner to lessen the need for them to talk to other students.

3. Provide visibility to and from the learner to keep their attention when oral questions/instructions are being delivered. The teacher and the learner should be able to see each other at all times. Make eye contact possible at all times.

4. Assess the appropriateness of the social situation concerning the learner’s capacity and ability to function successfully.

5. Attempt several groupings to ascertain the situation in which the learner is most comfortable.

6. Praise the learner for raising their hand to be recognized.

7. Ask the learner a question when they are most likely to be able to respond correctly (e.g., when discussing something in which the learner is interested, when the teacher is sure they know the answer, etc.).

8. Teach the learner to recognize when to speak, to know how much to say, and to make appropriate remarks (e.g., brief remarks, remarks within the context of the situation, remarks that are a follow-up to what has just been said, etc.).

9. Get the learner to work in small groups in which they would have frequent chances to speak. As the learner learns to wait longer for their turn to speak, slowly increase the size of the group.

10. Make sure that the learner’s feelings are considered when it is appropriate to deal with their talking to other students (i.e., handle remarks in such a way as to not diminish the learner’s enthusiasm for participation).

11. Urge the learner to model the behavior of peers who are successful at not talking to others during quiet activity periods.

12. Assist the learner in improving concentration skills (e.g., listening to the speaker, taking notes, preparing remarks in advance, making remarks in an appropriate context, etc.).

13. Get the learner to question any directions, explanations, or instructions they do not understand prior to asking other students for information.

14. Provide directions, explanations, and instructions in a clear, concise manner to lessen the learner’s need to ask other students for information.

15. Provide a predetermined signal (e.g., hand signal, oral signal, etc.) if the learner talks to others during quiet activity periods.

16. After telling the learner why they should not be talking, explain the reason.

17. Do not provide too much free time for the learner.

18. Consider using a classroom management app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.

19. Consider using an adaptive behavior management app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.

20. Consider using Alexa to help the student learn to behave appropriately. Click here to read an article that we wrote on the subject.

21. Click here to learn about six bonus strategies for challenging problem behaviors and mastering classroom management.

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