Quotation Marks

Punctuation Marks - Quotation Marks

When I was a kid (oh good grief - did I just say that?), punctuation was a regular feature of my day.

Relief Teaching and Word Games

Relief Teaching pay is good. But you can't go and purchase hundreds of resources for your job.

I am very selective about where I spend my money. Some would call my a tight-wad (or worse).

Fishing gear - YES.
Relief teaching resources - NO.

It's not really a game.

A thousand years ago (well it feels like that)  learning centres were all the rage in schools and then like all things education, the pendulum swung away from this classroom approach. We used various activities and kids rotated through them. They WEREN'T GAMES.

So I revisited this teaching approach the other day while relief teaching in a senior primary class and used just ONE activity to see how it would pan out.

WOW!

It was brilliant. Kids were focussed, engaged with each other AND the strategy of the activity. (I avoided calling it a game - because we don't play games in school) It actually blew me away how successful this activity was.

Like all things relief teaching - if you love it - they will

I was doing a relief teaching stint working with a year 7 class yesterday and my timing must have been a bit out because I had about 15 minutes left before the morning tea break.

DRATS!

Power Writing for Relief Teachers

Heads Down and Power Writing

Power Writing is a comprehensive teaching opportunity and a great strategy to keep in your relief teaching arsenal.

I like it because it takes the pressure off you and places it onto the kids. You are just the flag waver. I start my relief teaching day like a bull at a gate so I keep this for after lunch time when my energies are lower. (Hey, I miss my Poppy nap when I work!)

Relief Teaching and Reading

As a student, I loved reading. Nerdy for a boy, I know. But it didn't feel nerdy at the time.

Dick and Dora were the coolest guys in town and those Happy Venture Readers were just fabulous.

That was then...

How to Teach - Split Quotation Marks

This is a short punctuation exercise on the teaching of split quotation mark. This is a skill that needs to be taught directly so this little PowerPoint might give you  a start. CLICK HERE to download the file.

A Resource worth Checking.

I generally only do relief in the older classes but I am doing two x 3-day gigs in a small multi-age country school in a few weeks time. So I was looking for reading resource to use while there.

That's when I found this series called Tim the Tree Limb.

Teaching Tips - 10 Ways to use a Newspaper in the Classroom

Can you get any cheaper teaching resources than newspapers? OK - shopping catalogues might be cheaper.

Most schools have newspapers piled up somewhere, and they are great classroom resources.

Try these free teaching activities but remember that most of these activities will be extremely messy and generate a lot of waste.

Top Math/Language worksheet

This is a great worksheet (even if I do say so myself). It is based on a word search grid. The only difference is, to find which words are in the grid, students must do a math operation.

Another 10 Ways to Use a Shopping Catalogue

Following on from this site's MOST POPULAR POST.

Shopping catalogues are fabulous resources for relief teachers because they are free, easily available and provide inspiration for a range of lessons.

Active Reading

This is activity can be as easy or as complex as you like. But you need a couple of short stories that you can cut up. Check East of the Web for some great one page stories so print out about 10 -15.

Relief Daze 1

A complete 
ONE DAY program 

for a Relief Teacher. 

Top 5 Powerpoint Lessons

1. Number Races. 
2. Using Quotation Marks
3. Drawing Australian Borders
4. Chunking
5. Place Value

Kruger Park

Battle at Kruger Park is a YouTube Video. The video plays for about 9 minutes. Click the image to be taken to the video. It is used for the motivation for this activity.

Free Lesson - Walking with Dinosaurs

This is an excellent series. This free worksheet is based on the very first episode. It is well worth getting a copy of this series.

Parts of ME

       I have used this style of sheet in several year levels with great results. The kids are challenged and are often forced to work in pairs to get the answers.

Power FULL

I have used this style of sheet in several year levels with great results. The kids are challenged and are often forced to work in pairs to get the answers.

Banjo Paterson

     Banjo Paterson is arguably one of the best Australian poets and authors. His life story is an inspiration to others and students will appreciate his work more through understanding his life.
    CLICK HERE for a PowerPoint about his life story. Suitable for Year 6 and 7.

5 Ways To Eat Poetry

... Well, not really.


     But I have found that kids love good poetry and Australian poetry (as a totally unbiased view) is the best.