blank'/> Promoting Success: December 2012
         

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Christian Song Always by Kristian Stanffill

Inspirational Christian Song

"Always" by Kristian Stanfill

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My foes are many, they rise against me
But I will hold my ground
I will not fear the war, I will not fear the storm
My help is on the way, my help is on the way

Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear, His promise is true
My God will come through always, always

Troubles surround me, chaos abounding
My soul will rest in You
I will not fear the war, I will not fear the storm
My help is on the way, my help is on the way

Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear, His promise is true
My God will come through always, always

I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
From You Lord, from You Lord

Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear, His promise is true
My God will come through always, always

Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always, always

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Shelly Anton is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. ** This means there are Amazon affiliate links in these blog posts. This does not mean you pay a dime more when you purchase a product through the link. It just means I am trying to save you valuable teacher time by making it easier for you to find valuable resources for your students, and I earn a few cents for my research and time. Thank you for all you do for kids!

Friday, December 28, 2012

Polar Bear Teaching Ideas and Activities for Kids

Penguins Polar Bears Winter Teachers Pay Teachers Promoting-Success


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Cute commercials from Coca Cola to begin your penguin and polar bear unit:



Your students will love watching these polar bears play in the snow!


Polar Bear Facts


See this blog post for a free polar bear blubber experiment:


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You may also like these resources from our Amazon Associate store:


 polar bear polar bear sound book for kids

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? Puppet & Props

 polar bear polar bear book props and puppets for kids


 arctic animals figurines figures for kids teacher classroom centers



 teacher classroom polar bear hand puppet


 plush polar bear

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Shelly Anton is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. ** This means there are Amazon affiliate links in these blog posts. This does not mean you pay a dime more when you purchase a product through the link. It just means I am trying to save you valuable teacher time by making it easier for you to find valuable resources for your students, and I earn a few cents for my research and time. Thank you for all you do for kids!


Thursday, December 27, 2012

Polar Bear Teaching Ideas and Activities for Kids

Students love learning about polar bears. Here are several teaching ideas and activities for your classroom.




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I have a collection of many resources; unfortunately, I'm not sure of all of their original sources. Please let me know you recognize any and I need to give credit where credit is due.

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Let's begin with a cute song, sung to the tune of "My Bonnie."

The polar bear lives in the Arctic,
He never gets cold in a storm,
He swims in the icy cold water,
His heavy coat keeps him warm.

Warm, warm, warm, warm,
His heavy coat keeps him warm.
Warm, warm, warm, warm,
His heavy coat keeps him warm!

Polar Bear Hand Puppet
 teacher classroom polar bear hand puppet

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A lesson on camouflage: (I think this came from a Teacher's Mailbox)

Step 1: Prepare precut shapes of a polar bear ready - cut out of white paper.

Step 2: Each student receives two polar bears.

Step 3: The first one is glued to a totally white piece of paper - I used about a 5 inch square.

Step 4: The other one also gets glued to another square of the same size but first the students draw a habitat that would be different than the Arctic. For instance, they could draw a jungle, forest, city or farm scene.

Step 5: When the students glue the second polar bear down he stands out like a sore thumb. On the first, all-white square, representing the Arctic environment, he blends right in. This gives them a very good understanding of how natural camouflage works.

Camouflage North Pole Game


 camouflage game for kids polar bears activities

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Another fun action rhyme:

Polar bear, Polar bear,
Turn around,
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Make no sound.
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Dance on your toes,
Polar bear, Polar bear.
Touch your nose.
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Show your paws.
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Hide your claws.
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Reach up high
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Wink one eye.
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Say good-night,
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Shut your eyes tight.
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Wake up now,
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Take a bow.

The students could make their own puppets  to help act out the story:

Polar Bears Winter Teachers Pay Teachers Promoting-Success

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Now for science...

Polar Bears Winter Teachers Pay Teachers Promoting-Success

Blubber Mitten Experiment

 You'll need:
Crisco (or other fat)
2 zipable sandwich bags
A bowl of ice water with ice cubes



Procedure:

Fill one of the zipper bags about 1/3 full of shortening, then turn the remaining zipper bag inside out. Place it carefully inside the bag with the shortening so that you are able to zip the one bag to the other. This creates a "blubber mitten" for the students to put their hand in.

Have the students take turns putter their bare hands in the bowl of cold water and see just how cold it is!

Next, students place their hands in the "blubber mitten" and then place the mittened hand in the ice water.

How cold does the water seem with the "blubber mitten" on?

Do you think a nice layer of blubber would be great protection against cold?

Have the students research other animals that have a layer of blubber to keep them warm.

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....and don't forget math!

Step 1:  Brainstorm a list of arctic animals.

Step 2:  Survey the class to determine favorite arctic animals.

Step 3: Students use graph paper to create a graph of the data.  Other ideas include moving the desks around to create a "live" graph and/or create a whole group graph for a bulletin board.

Step 4:  In groups, students create a list of five true facts and five false facts from the graph.  For example, "More students like penguins than polar bears."

Step 5:  Students participate in teams in a trivia type game to answer "true or false" to the facts created.

44 Piece Polar Play Set - Great for Math Manipulatives
 winter math maniipulatiaves arctic animals

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You may also like these resources from our store:

 polar bears reading comprehension facts for kids worksheets printable


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 penguin life cycle activities for kids


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 no prep winter animals activities worksheets for kids classroom


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 free winter printables activities worksheets for kids

Click HERE for FREE printable winter activities.

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You may also like this blog post:

 polar bear activities for kids math science literacy

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Shelly Anton is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. ** This means there are Amazon affiliate links in these blog posts. This does not mean you pay a dime more when you purchase a product through the link. It just means I am trying to save you valuable teacher time by making it easier for you to find valuable resources for your students, and I earn a few cents for my research and time. Thank you for all you do for kids!


Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Learning By Doing Christmas Story Video for Kids and Adults

Merry Christmas to All!!

My mom shared this precious video with me, and I knew all the parents and teachers out there would find it adorable!

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As I viewed this video, I had thoughts of how we all learn. I remembered the old saying:
Tell me, I will forget. Show me, I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand. ~Chinese Proverb

Or a different version:
I read – I forget
I see – I remember
I do – I understand

The only way to learn to do anything:
Just Do It

This is so true in everything we do - from the classroom to our spiritual life.  For example, when we played a new game last night called Farkle. As we read the directions aloud, we were all a bit confused.  We even passed the directions so each could get a "closer" look. But guess what - the only way we figured it out was by DOING.  We started to play and frequently referenced the written directions.  Soon the game became quite clear, and we had a wonderful time.



 farkle game for kids

I know the children in this video have a better understanding of our beloved Christmas story.  They learned by doing!  This is so applicable to our adult lives when referencing our faith journey.  Many times the picture isn't clear.  We read the bible, and it can be confusing.  We want to grow deeper in our faith but may not be sure how.  We go to church...We read the bible...We seek answers...

 Just do it.

We must live out our faith - each and every day.  We must act on His words for deeper understanding.  We must reference His written directions to keep our paths straight and clear.

As we "live it out/live by doing" for Jesus, we grow in our understanding and in our relationship with the one and only son sent to be our Savior - Jesus Christ!

Please enjoy this beautiful story.



Merry Christmas and JUST DO IT.

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You may also like these bible verse signs in our Etsy store.



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You may also like these religious gifts from our Amazon Associate store:

Fisher-Price Little People A Christmas Story
 The Christmas Story religious gifts for kids toys




 Melissa & Doug Nativity Set for kids children Christmas gift ideas




 Christmas book and stickers for kids gift ideas children

 birth of Jesus Christmas story flannel board for school or church

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Shelly Anton is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. ** This means there are Amazon affiliate links in these blog posts. This does not mean you pay a dime more when you purchase a product through the link. It just means I am trying to save you valuable teacher time by making it easier for you to find valuable resources for your students, and I earn a few cents for my research and time. Thank you for all you do for kids!

Monday, December 24, 2012

Great Board Games for Teens

Just a quick post today before we head to Christmas Eve service and have a fun family evening of dinner, games, cards, and whatever else we find! Please remember to include games in your classrooms as well.  They teach many concepts and skills including reading directions, math skills, communication, social skills, and more! Perhaps after the first of the year, you will create a games learning center to go along with your math and language centers? 

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We have been enjoying playing games with family.  A couple are homemade and a couple are vintage.  The first game is Tripoly.  The object of this best selling game is to collect chips (we used pennies!) through a series of Michigan Rummy, Hearts and Poker.  When I was growing up, all the neighbor kids would play this game all winter long.  Of course, it seems we had a lot more snow back then and even more snow days - hmm, perhaps we walked a mile to school (one way) without coats and gloves, too! (wink, wink) We all had containers of pennies and would promptly count them at the end of each night to see who was the big "winner."  It was so much fun!


 tripoley game cards betting

Now, the kids play electronic games, such as Wii Worldwide, to compete against each other. While we enjoy the old boards games and even a single deck of cards, we also embrace the new.  I have to admit, I have really enjoyed playing against my niece as she plays from her home and us from ours.
(Update: Wii Worldwide is no longer available = sad.) Although, the game is still available!

Mario Kart Wii

 Mario Kart Wii game for kids and adults

Here are the homemade games (thanks to my parents!):

autism social skills special education Teachers Pay Teachers Promoting-Success


autism social skills special education Teachers Pay Teachers Promoting-Success

autism social skills special education Teachers Pay Teachers Promoting-Success

Okay, so Yahtzee snuck in there, and it isn't homemade! But it is still great fun and excellent for math skills!


 classic yahtzee game for kids and adults family


Another fun game is called Khet.  This would be a great one for your classroom as well since it involves lasers and higher order thinking.

Here is the description:
Unleash the Pharaoh's wrath. The completely redesigned Khet 2.0 Laser Game uses Egyptian mirrors and modern, eye-safe lasers to illuminate opponents and win the game. Combines simplicity of checkers and the strategy of chess. Mensa National Competition Winner. Batteries included. A fantastic game for every generation. 2 players adult For ages 9-adult.

autism social skills special education Teachers Pay Teachers Promoting-Success




And who remembers the game called, "Rebound?"  I plan to dig this one out tonight. It is a great game for your classroom math center!  I couldn't the exact one online, but this one looks the same:


 rebound vintage game bumpershot

 Merry Christmas!
 
....Now, go dig out some games to play!
 
What are your favorites?

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You may prefer some printable Christmas activities from our TpT store:


 Christmas gift ideas winter project gifts in a jar cookies


 no prep Christmas worksheets


 Christmas crossword puzzle for kids


 Christmas craftivity crafts for kids

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Shelly Anton is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. ** This means there are Amazon affiliate links in these blog posts. This does not mean you pay a dime more when you purchase a product through the link. It just means I am trying to save you valuable teacher time by making it easier for you to find valuable resources for your students, and I earn a few cents for my research and time. Thank you for all you do for kids!