2016 has been a big year around here! We ramped up our social media presence and got the chance to connect with so many great educators. We also got the chance to meet with with educators at conferences across the country.
As educators ourselves, our passion is bringing science instruction to the classroom and doing it in an innovative way. A way that allows each LearnEd teacher to use our program in a way that fits his or her style perfectly. We all use it a little bit differently to bring a perfect blend of our students’ unique needs, our own teaching style, and the expectations of our schools’ administration.
Our goal is to always grow, change, upgrade, and improve. We met about starting a LearnEd blog in the spring and decided that since Earth Day was right around the corner, that was the perfect kickoff. We started with that first freebie and haven’t looked back since! (We’ve seen an improvement on our blog’s platform; becoming The LearnEd Teacher has allowed us to do so much more as a result of that switch! To those of you who stuck with us… we owe you!)
Here’s a recap of our top resources in 2016!
LITERACY
- CLOSE READING IN THE SCIENCE CLASSROOM: With this simple strategy, you can incorporate the most up-to-date science articles with your students and ensure they’re reading the content closely.
- SCIENCE CREATIVE WRITING: 10 images with questions that promote creativity as your students grapple with the how? and why? and bring a new imagination to science.
- CAUSE, EFFECT, AND EXPLANATION: Bring an added element of writing with this graphic organizer and its space to analyze the traditional cause and effect.
EXPERIMENTS
- 60-SECOND SCIENCE: BUBBLE TROUBLE: See the reaction when you mix hydrogen peroxide, water, dish soap, and food coloring!
- FOR THE LOVE OF SCIENCE This biology teacher’s reflection is for anyone (all of us!) who’ve ever felt like we just didn’t have the time to cover the material and get to the lab work.
- SIMPLE MACHINES OBSTACLE COURSE: Using a golf ball, students will create their own hurdles using a system of pulleys, levers, inclined planes, etc.
REVIEW STRATEGIES
- 6 REVIEW STRATEGIES FOR THE LAST 10 MINUTES OF CLASS Don’t get caught trying to come up with a way to fill your last few minutes. Print this one out and keep your students learning until the very last second!
- 10 COOL REVIEW STRATEGIES When you feel like you’re stuck in a rut, this list has everything from 3-2-1 to 140 characters in a tweet.
- 8 EASY, FUN, AND INTERACTIVE VOCABULARY STRATEGIES: Break out of your mold and have students review vocabulary by creating collages out of magazines or find their words in current science articles.
GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS
- EXPLORE A SCIENTIST: Let your students examine the work of scientists within each unit. This one works great on an individual level if you don’t get to it as a whole class.
- VALUABLE VOCABULARY: Studying vocab terms requires repetition and this is a good way to mix it up. For a fresh take, divide students into small groups, give each group a word, and then start a timer to see which group can finish first!
- STEM REFLECTIONS: Use this every single time your students complete a STEM activity. You’ll love how familiar they become with it which keeps you from having to give instructions every time.
EVERYTHING ELSE
- 7 APPS FOR SCIENCE TEACHERS: This list aims to make life a little bit easier by covering everything from the standards to color-coded periodic table elements to science trivia questions. A fun way to incorporate technology into your classroom!
- HOW TO AMPLIFY YOUR LEARNED NOTEBOOK: If you haven’t already fused interactive notebooking with the LearnEd curriculum, here’s an easy how-to.
- MIXING EMPATHY WITH EXPECTATIONS: Perhaps the most difficult job of any teacher is making decisions that are best for each individual student but also holding the class to high standards. These 4 reminders are helpful.Here’s to making 2017 our best year yet! If you know someone who would enjoy our free resources, tag them in a post on Instagram, invite them to join our Facebook page, or retweet something we’ve shared on Twitter. We’re always eager to get in as many classrooms and help as many teachers as possible, so we need your help spreading the word!
If you ever have any questions or need some direction, please get in touch with us! We’re always here to help.
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LearnEd Notebooks provides teachers and students with an innovative notebooking solution. We specialize in providing educators with a unique curriculum that allows you to break free from conventional methods of instruction and spend more time on labs and inquiry-based science. We provide the framework of an interactive notebook with the flexibility of teaching strategies that seamlessly integrate with each teacher’s own methods of instruction. Our complete programs include printed student notebooks, digital presentations, and access to teacher resources — each focusing on diverse learning styles and engaging instructional strategies.
Click here to get LearnEd Notebooks in your classroom!
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