Pawsitively Teaching: October

Christopher Columbus has become somewhat of a controversial topic for elementary teachers. However, the exploration of Columbus was somewhat of a turning point in American and World History and worth discussing, in my opinion. For the first time, people living in very different regions of the world were interacting with each other.

Unfortunately, books about Christopher Columbus for elementary students are somewhat limited.

Here is a look at the books I share with my class during our study of Christopher Columbus.

Integration is a life saver in my classroom because it is the only way I have found to expose my kids to all the topics that I need to cover.

I have confessed before that I am not a big fan of the one-size-fits-all basal story of the week. I want the reading we focus on during the week to be meaningful for the students and guide them to becoming thinkers as they read. During our study of Columbus, we use a nonfiction passage to answer comprehension questions with text evidence. We also work on summarizing the main idea of paragraphs using the same passage. The student also have a chance to document their learning in a variety of different forms.

This animated clip is just under five minutes and is fairly historically accurate for an animated version.

This short video discusses how Columbus used courage to pursue his dream....a very valuable lesson for today's kids.

A short video produced by the History Channel.

Looking for a fun FREEBIE to add to your Columbus Day lessons?

Check out this FREEBIE Word Search!

I would love to hear from you.....how do you integrate teach about Columbus in your classroom?

Fire Prevention Week is observed the first full week of October. According to the United States Fire Administration, children set more than 100,000 fires each year. It is even more disturbing that about 40 percent of fires that kill children under the age of 5 are set by children playing around with fire.

Fire Prevention Week is the perfect time to review basic fire safety tips with your students. I have put together a collection of activities that I use in my classroom that will hopefully help you as you plan to engage students in fire safety activities that may one day save their lives.

I always begin planning a unit with quality literature.

I just love the level of engagement that can come from reading a picture book aloud.

Here is a look at the books I will make available to my students as we are talking about Fire Safety.

Integration is a life saver in my classroom because it is the only way I have found to expose my kids to all the topics that I need to cover.

I have to admit that I am not a big fan of the basal reader in my class. I want the reading we focus on during the week to be meaningful for the students and guide them to becoming thinkers as they read. During fire safety week, we use a nonfiction passage to answer comprehension questions with text evidence. We also work on summarizing the main idea of paragraphs using the same passage. The student also have a chance to document their learning in a variety of different forms.

These fun videos are a great way to help children learn how to stay safe around fire.

In this video, Sparky the Fire Dog shares with kids how to use their senses to stay fire safe!

This video takes kids inside a fire station to learn important fire safety tips. There is also a very catchy fire safety song that the kids will be singing all day!