With Thanksgiving just around the corner, pairing holiday-themed activities with lesson planning is an easy way to keep students engaged and feeling festive. The following samples are multi-subject classroom activities, along with supporting abcteach materials, to help you get this accomplished in no time.   Math • Holiday cooking – During your Thanksgiving parties, use recipes [...]

Our concluding post in the “Let’s Talk Bullying” series peers into the overall strategy at an alternative high school. The approach in this setting includes consistent discussion, personal responsibility, and immediate action. Alternative High School MSW case manager, Gina Sineni, counsels teens at an alternative high school in suburban Chicago. What is unique and challenging [...]

The final posts in our anti-bullying series take us into two unique learning settings: a middle school special needs class and an alternative high school. Our special needs story will be presented first, with the alternative classroom in a separate post. We’ve selected these environments to shine light on classrooms that experience bullying on a [...]

Bullying: today’s figures range from 20-30% of 6th -12th grade students experiencing it daily at school. Bullying incidents harm the victim, the person bullying, and bystanders; can indicate abuse in the home; and result in detrimental long-term effects, including mental health issues, decreased academic performance, highly risky behaviors, crime, and violence. Since 2006, October has [...]

Fall, fall, glorious fall. If it’s not obvious, I can’t deny that our present season is a personal favorite. The smell in the air, leaves changing, cool autumn nights… just writing it makes me smile. And let us not forget the cider mill donuts (and football!) on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Autumn also offers plenty [...]

National Homeschool Month is a great time for families to celebrate the unique and wonderful adventure that is homeschool. My husband and I have educated our two sons for the past ten years. It has been challenging at times, but the rewards have been much greater than we expected. This new school year will be [...]

Establishing a Routine A new school year is just around the corner, which means it’s a great time to begin and maintain new daily living skills. This applies to children and young adults of all ages. Establishing schedules or routines for everyday skills is a great way to be sure they are learned and consistently [...]

The following post is a new addition to our Montessori teaching series. Our guest author, Andrea Coventry, grew up in Montessori schools and is a current educator and internet writer on teaching Montessori. (The following activities are found on the abcteach member site. Learn more about becoming a member!) The Year of the Animals Every [...]

If you missed these tips last March, here are some great activities to use during Reading Month (or at anytime of the year). They’re a compilation of staff and educator insights, along with input from your abcteach community. • Reading Race – challenge students to read a certain amount of books from various genres. Award [...]

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. By now, your classroom is undoubtedly adorned in pinks and reds, with hearts on your worksheets and hand-made crafts on the wall. There’s a party planned for next Tuesday, and the whole class is invited. The question is, will every child (or his or her parent) be prepared [...]