Teaching About Remembrance Day and National Indigenous Veterans Day in the Classroom

Remembrance Day and National Indigenous Veterans Day offer teachers meaningful opportunities to guide students in understanding and honouring the bravery, service, and sacrifices made by Canadian soldiers and Indigenous veterans. 

Both days are essential in Canadian history, fostering reflection, respect, and awareness of the diverse contributions to peace and freedom. Whether you’re looking for ways to teach Remembrance Day, National Indigenous Veterans Day, or both, here are some ideas to create an impactful and respectful classroom experience.

Begin with the Meaning of Remembrance 

Start your lesson by exploring what remembrance means. Encourage students to share their thoughts on what it means to remember someone or something significant. This can be an excellent opportunity to introduce concepts of service, sacrifice, and gratitude. 

Show images of the National War Memorial, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and fields of poppies. This visual focus can help students grasp the powerful emotions connected to Remembrance Day.

Resource Spotlight: My Canada Remembrance Day Slides and Reading Passages is perfect for starting this discussion. The slides introduce the significance of November 11 and offer reading passages that bring historical events and personal stories to life for young learners.

Highlight the Symbol of the Poppy 

The red poppy is an iconic symbol of Remembrance Day in Canada. Teaching students why we wear poppies each November is a beautiful way to connect them with history and community. Discuss the poem In Flanders Fields by John McCrae, which inspired the use of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance. 

Activity Idea: After reading In Flanders Fields, let students create their own paper poppies or write a poem expressing what remembrance means to them.

Discuss National Indigenous Veterans Day (November 8) 

National Indigenous Veterans Day, observed on November 8, honours the sacrifices and contributions of Indigenous soldiers, who played a crucial role in Canadian military history. Many students may not be aware of this important day, so dedicating time to it helps bring a fuller picture of our history. 

Share the story of Tommy Prince, one of Canada’s most decorated Indigenous soldiers. His incredible story of bravery and resilience is both inspiring and educational.

Resource Spotlight: Tommy Prince Truth and Reconciliation Reading Passages offers a moving look at Tommy Prince’s life, allowing students to learn about Indigenous contributions to Canada’s military efforts. This resource is excellent for bridging discussions about Indigenous heritage and the impact of war on Indigenous communities.

Hold a Moment of Silence and Reflection Activity 

After learning about Remembrance Day and National Indigenous Veterans Day, invite students to participate in a moment of silence. Explain that this is a time to reflect on those who have served and sacrificed for Canada’s freedom. 

Reflection Activity: Following the moment of silence, provide students with prompts such as, “What does peace mean to you?” or “Why is it important to remember?” Have them journal their thoughts or share with a partner.

Reading Passages and Comprehension Activities 

Engage students with reading passages that bring historical events to a relatable level. Reading passages about Canadian soldiers, significant battles, and Indigenous veterans make history accessible and personal for students. 

Comprehension Activities: After reading, try activities like sequencing events or answering comprehension questions to reinforce understanding. This also encourages students to think critically about historical events and their significance.

Create a Classroom Display of Remembrance 

Let students create artwork, write thank-you letters to veterans, or display their poppy crafts. This classroom display can stay up through the month of November as a tribute to those who have served. 

Activity Idea: Encourage students to research a Canadian veteran or Indigenous soldier and create a small poster or booklet that tells their story. This brings a personal, research-based element to the learning experience.

Why These Teaching Resources Make a Difference 

Remembrance Day and National Indigenous Veterans Day are powerful moments for students to connect with Canadian history in a meaningful way. Resources like the Remembrance Day Slides and Reading Passages and Tommy Prince Reading Passages are designed to make these lessons engaging and accessible. Through thoughtfully crafted passages, comprehension questions, and slides, students will come away with a deeper understanding and respect for Canada’s veterans and peacekeepers. 

Canada Remembrance Day Slides, Reading Passages, Questions, Activities Canadian

$5.00

Tommy Prince Truth & Reconciliation Remembrance Day Reading Passages & Questions

$4.00

By incorporating these activities and resources, you are giving students the opportunity to honour and remember, ensuring that the legacy of Canada’s veterans and Indigenous soldiers lives on.

Spook-tacular Halloween Classroom Ideas

Halloween is such an exciting time in the classroom! From costumes and candy to pumpkins and spooky decorations, it's a season that really captures students' imaginations. But beyond the fun, Halloween is also a great opportunity to sneak in some creative, engaging learning activities that keep students focused and on task while celebrating the holiday. 

Here are a few ideas to bring a little Halloween magic into your classroom, all while reinforcing important skills.

Incorporate Halloween Themes Into Your Lessons

Halloween provides a fantastic theme to weave into subjects like reading, writing, and math. For reading activities, consider introducing themed passages where students can practice comprehension while learning about bats, witches, or even the history of Halloween itself. You can also tie writing lessons into the season with spooky story prompts or by having students write about what they would do if they lived in a haunted house! 

For math, Halloween-themed word problems are a fun way to practice math concepts like addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Even simple activities like counting candy corn or using Halloween-themed manipulatives can turn a typical math lesson into something students look forward to.

Get Creative With Halloween Science

Halloween naturally lends itself to hands-on science activities that your students will love. Explore the science behind pumpkins by having students investigate their size, weight, and the number of seeds inside. You can also explore the properties of matter by creating Halloween-themed slime or conducting candy experiments to learn about dissolving, melting, and chemical reactions. STEM stations are another way to incorporate engineering and problem-solving. You can have students work in teams to design a pumpkin catapult, build structures with candy corn and toothpicks, or even create their own spooky mazes.

Make Room For Halloween Fun

While it's important to keep the focus on learning, a little Halloween fun goes a long way in keeping students engaged. Organize classroom games like Halloween bingo, scavenger hunts, or a costume-themed guessing game. These activities can be used as brain breaks or rewards, helping students stay motivated throughout the day. If you're feeling adventurous, an escape room activity is a great way to combine fun with problem-solving. You can transform your classroom into a spooky escape room where students work together to solve puzzles and find clues, all while reinforcing math and critical thinking skills.

Celebrate with Halloween Stations

Setting up Halloween-themed stations allows students to rotate through different activities, making learning feel like a party! You can have a math station where students solve Halloween-themed puzzles, a writing station with spooky story prompts, and a reading station where students read and discuss Halloween-themed passages. Adding a crafting or decorating station will also give your students an opportunity to use their creativity. Pumpkin decorating or Halloween-themed art projects are always a hit and can be tied back to lessons in science (life cycles of pumpkins) or math (symmetry, shapes, and patterns).

A Treat For You! No Tricks!

If you're looking for some ready-to-use, no-prep Halloween activities to make planning easier, I’ve created a few that cover math, reading, writing, and STEM. The resources are perfect for keeping your students engaged while celebrating the spooky season. 

Halloween Escape Room Math Mystery Fun Review Activities, Games, and Worksheets

$3.00

Halloween Activities, Reading Passages, Language, Math, Writing & Fun Worksheets

$3.00

Fall Pumpkin STEM Stations and Pumpkins Activities Halloween

$3.00

Happy Halloween, and may your classroom be filled with both learning and spooky fun!

Engaging Ways to Teach Plants in the Classroom

Teaching about plants can be a truly exciting adventure for young learners. From watching seeds sprout to discovering the fascinating ways plants grow and survive, there is no shortage of wonder when it comes to exploring the plant world. Here are some fun, hands-on ideas to help students get immersed in learning about plants while keeping things interactive and engaging.

Start with Seed Exploration 

One of the best ways to begin a plant unit is by getting students up close and personal with different types of seeds. Provide a variety of seeds, like pumpkin, sunflower, or bean seeds, and let the students observe their differences. You can even have them plant the seeds and track their growth, introducing the concepts of germination and the conditions plants need to thrive.

 

Incorporate Nature Walks 

Take the learning outdoors with a nature walk! Students can observe various plants, flowers, shrubs, and trees in their natural environment. Give them a checklist to identify different plant parts like roots, stems, leaves, and flowers. This is a great way to introduce terms like “photosynthesis” and talk about how plants use sunlight to make food.

 

 

Create a Plant Life Cycle Wall 

Set up a large visual on your classroom wall that shows the life cycle of a plant. You can include seeds, seedlings, mature plants, flowers, and fruit. Add labels and diagrams to help students understand the different stages, and encourage them to contribute by drawing or adding their own observations. It is a wonderful way to reinforce vocabulary like “germination,” “pollination,” and “seed dispersal.”

Hands-on Learning with Plant Protection

Plants protect themselves in amazing ways. You can introduce this concept by discussing thorns, prickles, spines, and even toxins. Why not try a simple experiment where students pretend to be different types of plants and create defences to avoid being "eaten" by herbivores? It is a fun way to understand how plants have adapted over time.

The Importance of Plants in Our World 

Discuss how plants are essential not just for food, but for materials, oxygen, and even medicines. Students can brainstorm ways that they rely on plants in every day life. You can even bring in an eco-friendly discussion, where students think about how plants are important for the environment and what they can do to protect them.

End with a Plant Safari 

Tie in all the concepts with an exciting “plant safari,” where students explore different types of plants from around the world, such as the rainforest. They can complete challenges like identifying the parts of a plant or solving puzzles about how plants survive in different environments. It is a great way to summarize learning while making it adventurous.

Let Me Help You!

If you are looking for ready-made resources to support your plant unit, I have recently developed a comprehensive teaching slide set that covers all these topics and more, from seed dispersal to photosynthesis, in an engaging and student-friendly way. Stay tuned, as I’ll soon be releasing a printable activity booklet to accompany it!

Structures, Functions, and Materials

Teaching about structures is a great way to encourage hands-on learning, critical thinking, and real-world connections. From bridges and buildings to everyday objects, students love exploring how structures are designed, built, and how they hold up against different forces. In this post, I will share some fun and interactive teaching ideas that will bring this concept to life in your classroom.

Start with an Exploration of Real-World Structures 

Begin by showing students photos or videos of famous structures like bridges, towers, and even everyday objects like chairs or playground equipment. Ask them to think about why different materials are used in different types of structures. Why might a bridge be made of steel while a tipi is made from hides?

 

Hands-On Activity: Building with Toothpicks and Clay 

One of the best ways to teach students about structures is through building. Have your students construct their own frame, solid, and shell structures using toothpicks and clay. Let them experiment with different designs and then test their strength by adding weights or applying pressure. This activity not only encourages creativity, but also helps students understand how different types of structures can be designed for strength and stability.

Understanding Forces Acting on Structures 

Teaching students about the forces that act on structures, such as gravity, tension, compression, and shear, will deepen their understanding of why structures are built the way they are. A great classroom experiment is stacking books on different bridge designs to explore how weight distribution affects a structure's strength.

Integrating Reading and Writing 

Encourage your students to write about the structures they have built or studied. This can take the form of reading passages about famous engineers or construction projects, followed by a reflective writing piece. You could even have them create their own designs and explain the reasoning behind their choice of materials and structure types.

 

The Power of Observation: Examining Structures Around Us

Take your class outside (or do a virtual walk-through) and observe structures in your school or neighborhood. Ask students to sketch what they see and note which materials are used. This real-world connection will help solidify their understanding of why certain materials are chosen based on strength, flexibility, and durability. 

These ideas are just the beginning of how you can teach structures in a fun and interactive way! With a mix of hands-on activities, experiments, and reading passages, your students will not only understand the fundamentals of structures but also see how they apply to the world around them. 

Let Me Do The Planning!

If you are looking for a complete, ready-to-use resource that includes worksheets, experiments, reading passages, and more, check out my comprehensive Structures and Functions resources. The students will explore various kinds of structures, the materials used to build them, and the forces that impact their design. Students will discover key concepts like force, load, stability, strength, and balance as they investigate the real-world applications of engineering.

Dive into the science of engineering, guiding students through NINE sets of interactive teaching slides and activities. Each of the nine topics includes a set of interactive teaching slides paired with a print booklet containing hands-on activities, experiments, and reading passages to reinforce learning. 

Don't need slides? The second resource contains just the print activities. It has all the activities, experiments, and reading passages.

Both resources are designed to make your teaching life easier and your students more engaged in learning.

Structures & Functions, Materials Activities Worksheets Reading Passages Slides

$12.00

Structures & Functions Materials Forces Activities Experiments Reading Passages

$7.00

Let's Dig Into Soil

🪴 Discover the Wonders of Soil: An Engaging Resource for Your Classroom! 

Soil might seem like just “dirt” to some, but in reality, it’s a fascinating and vital component of our ecosystem. 

🪨 Let's Dig Into Some Activities!

Learning is best when it is hands-on! Students will love exploring soil through a variety of experiments. Here are a sample of my favorite activities to complete with students:

🪨 Scavenger Hunt and Observation Logs 

Students will participate in a soil scavenger hunt, where they look for different types of soil around the schoolyard or local area. Observation logs are provided to record their findings, encouraging them to think critically about how soil varies in different environments and what factors contribute to these differences. 

🪨 Examine Soil 

One of the favorite activities is having the students examine a cup of soil using magnifying lenses and tweezers to identify its various components, such as pebbles, twigs, and tiny insects. 

🪨 Shaking It Up

Another experiment has students shaking small pebbles in a jar to simulate how rocks gradually break down into smaller particles, becoming part of the soil over time. 

🪨 Create a Soil Profile

Using a layered jar model, students will create their own soil profile by adding different materials such as sand, clay, and organic matter to observe how soil layers settle over time. This activity provides a visual and hands-on approach to understanding soil horizons. 

🪨 Sorting and Classifying Activities

Students sort soil samples based on their composition - identifying elements like sand, silt, clay, and organic matter. These activities help students better understand the diversity of soil types and how each type supports different kinds of plant life. 

🪴Soil Resource For Teachers

Understanding soil is essential for young learners, and that’s why I have created a comprehensive resource that makes exploring soil both educational and fun! This resource dives deep into the composition of soil, what it’s made of, and how each part contributes to its formation and health. 

Soil Layers, Types of Soil, Formation, Properties, Erosion Activities & Slides

$11.00

The soil resource is packed with engaging materials that help students get hands-on with their learning. Here's what you can expect: 

• Interactive Slides: These visually appealing and interactive slides guide students through the basics of soil composition, helping them understand the differences between organic and inorganic materials. The slides include questions and prompts that encourage class discussions, making the learning experience collaborative and engaging.
• Hands-On Experiments: Learning should be an active experience! The engaging experiments encourage curiosity and make science tangible. 
• Engaging Student Activities: From sorting soil samples to creating a soil profile, these activities are crafted to help students connect with the material on a deeper level. They are designed to foster critical thinking and a love for science.

🪴Why Choose This Resource? 

• Aligned with Curriculum Standards: This resource is specifically tailored for grade three science standards, ensuring that it meets educational requirements while being engaging and fun. 
• Visually Appealing and Easy to Use: With engaging graphics and a user-friendly layout, this resource is simple to navigate for both teachers and students. The clear instructions and organized content help save time and make teaching soil science a breeze. 
• Complete and Ready to Use: Everything you need to teach about soil is right here—no need to spend extra time preparing materials. Just download, print, or project, and you're all set!

By using this soil resource, your students will not only learn about the physical properties of soil but also develop an appreciation for its importance in our ecosystem. They’ll understand how soil supports plant growth, contributes to the water cycle, and serves as a habitat for countless organisms. The interactive elements of the resource will encourage them to ask questions, think critically, and explore the natural world around them.

Feel The Force! Magnets and Static Electricity

Engaging Students in the World of Magnets and Static Electricity!

Teaching science concepts like magnets and static electricity can sometimes feel daunting, especially when trying to make the lessons engaging and interactive. But with the right resources, you can transform these complex topics into hands-on learning experiences that your students will love. Let’s dive into some strategies and tools you can use to teach these concepts actively and effectively. 

1.  Start with Real-Life Connections
   Magnets and static electricity are all around us - from the magnets on your fridge to the static cling on your clothes. Begin your lessons by helping students see these phenomena in their daily lives. This connection sparks curiosity and makes the science behind them more relatable. For example, you could have students bring in items from home that use magnets, or observe the effects of static electricity on a balloon and different materials. 
   
   
2.  Use Interactive Slides for Instruction
   Visuals are key when explaining the invisible forces of magnets and static electricity. The interactive teaching slides included in my Magnets & Static Electricity resource are designed to make these concepts clear and engaging. Each slide is packed with information, diagrams, and questions to prompt student thinking and discussion. These slides also serve as complete lesson plans, so you can focus more on teaching and less on prep work. 
   
   
3.  Incorporate Hands-On Experiments
   Students learn best by doing, and the 15 included experiment cards are a fantastic way to bring the science of magnets and static electricity to life. The experiments are easy to prep, using common materials you likely already have in your classroom. Each card provides step-by-step instructions written in student-friendly language, so your students can follow along independently or in small groups. These experiments help solidify students' understanding of the characteristics and properties of magnets and static electricity by allowing them to see the concepts in action.
   
   
4.  Reinforce Learning with Fun Activities
   After the experiments, it's important to reinforce what students have learned. The 22 print activities in this resource are perfect for this. They come in both color and black-and-white versions, with recording sheets that align with the experiments and teaching slides. These activities not only review the concepts, but also give students a chance to document their findings and demonstrate their understanding. Plus, an answer key is included to make grading a breeze! 
   
   
5.  Create a Classroom Challenge
   To wrap up your unit on magnets and static electricity, consider setting up a classroom challenge. You could have students create their own experiments, design a game using magnets, or even have a static electricity competition to see who can create the most static charge. This not only makes learning fun, but also encourages creativity and critical thinking.

Teaching about magnets and static electricity doesn't have to be a static experience. With the right resources and strategies, you can turn these topics into dynamic lessons that will capture your students' interest and deepen their understanding. Whether you’re just starting your unit or looking to enhance your current lessons, my Magnets & Static Electricity resource is designed to make your job easier and your students' learning experience more enriching. Give it a try, and watch your students become budding scientists right before your eyes!

Rights Of A Child

As the summer sun brings a well-deserved break, it is the perfect time to rejuvenate both body and mind. It is also the perfect time to rejuvenate some of my products with value-added extras! I decided to makeover one of my topsellers - The Rights of A Child.

Are you ready to inspire your students to be good citizens right from the start? Integrating the Rights of a Child into your lessons is a fantastic way to set the tone for a year of learning about rights and responsibilities. The United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child offers a comprehensive framework that covers everything from the right to play and learn to the right to a name. This global agreement ensures that children everywhere can grow up healthy and happy, understanding their importance both as individuals and as part of a community. 

Updated and Expanded: The Rights of the Child Resource 

My highly popular resource, The Rights of the Child,  has just received a fantastic update! The TEN sets of lesson slides now feature refreshed graphics and a sleek new layout, boasting over 250 slides in total. This extensive resource doesn't stop there—I've also added eighteen worksheets, available in both vibrant color and classic black-and-white, to cater to all your teaching needs. 

Rights of Children Human Rights & Responsibilities

Captivating Picture Books and Engaging Materials 

To make your lessons even more engaging, I've included captivating picture books that beautifully illustrate the Rights of a Child.  The twelve picture books help make complex concepts understandable and meaningful for young learners. There are many great picture books to enhance the resource, but these are my favorite!

Grab the list of these picture books. Please note that although I am an affiliate for these resources, each of these resources have been tested and approved by my students! If I have missed a must read, please post the title in the comments!

Dive into the new school year painlessly! These resources are designed to make your planning effortless and your teaching impactful.  Together, let's help every child understand their rights and the value of being a responsible citizen!