Author: TCR Staff

Lesson Plans

Election Activities

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Here is a fun, engaging activity to teach your students about the upcoming elections.

Activity:  You are the Candidate

You are running for President of the United States in this upcoming presidential election year. You are going to represent the people you feel have been ignored or whose concerns you support. You intend to conduct a campaign based on issues which are important to you.

Make a list of every national issue you think is important. These issues might involve any of the topics
listed below plus other matters of concern to you. Next to the issue indicate your positions, opinions,
and solutions for dealing with the problem.

Sample issues:

  • war and peace in various parts of the world
  • terrorism at home and abroad
  • unemployment and job opportunities
  • equal pay for equal work and worker rights
  • treatment of women in the workplace
  • minority rights and racial preferences
  • taxes–who pays them and how much
  • opportunities for young people
  • medical care for the poor and the aging
  • the economy

Your Issues                                           Your Opinions and Solutions
_______________________          ___________________________________________
_______________________          ___________________________________________
_______________________          ___________________________________________
_______________________          ___________________________________________
_______________________          ___________________________________________
_______________________          ___________________________________________
_______________________          ___________________________________________
_______________________          ___________________________________________

Setting Priorities
1. Study the issues you listed above.
2. Choose five issues that are the most important concerns to you.
3. Write a reason to explain why each of the five topics you selected is more important than the
other issues.

Reasons
1. ___________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________________________________

©Teacher Created Resources, Inc.

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For more elections activities, check out these books:

Behavior Management

Tips for Managing Student Behavior

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Any experienced teacher will know good discipline does not just happen all at once. Managing student behavior is a learned skill, but classroom control will begin before the students even enter the classroom. Managing student behavior is no easy task. Each teacher will develop his or her own form of discipline. Remember that students need to feel valued and welcomed. They need to know that you have an honest interest in each one of them, not only as a class, but also as individuals. For good discipline, certain behaviors are necessary on the part of the teacher:

  • Be consistent; establish the rules and stick to them.
  • Consequences should be fair and consistently applied.
  • Be prepared for the students who will test the rules.
  • Do not threaten students with a consequence unless you are ready to carry it out. Students will view you as inconsistent if you fail to do what you say.
  • Do not be judgmental; look at each situation from all angles before you designate a consequence.
  • Never put off discipline. Handle any behavioral problem when it occurs.
  • Make sure students understand the rules and the consequences. Students need to know how to behave in any given situation. With some students, you may want to do role-playing at the beginning of the school year. In this way, students will see what is expected of them and see the consequences being applied.
  • Show a true interest in all of the students. Each one needs to be treated as an individual and with respect, not just another student. When giving praise to any student, use his or her name with the praise. Nothing pleases students more than to hear their names used in a good light.
  • Implement well-planned lessons. Know what you are going to teach and be well prepared.
  • Allow for flexibility. There will be many interruptions in a school year; you will not accomplish everything that is planned on a particular day.
Classroom Management, Teaching Tips

How to Use Bulletin Boards

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As a teacher, it is always a good idea to have interesting bulletin boards and displays around your room. These can satisfy a variety of needs, including the presentation of student work, the imparting of important information, and the reinforcement of key elements in the curriculum.

Classroom Information Bulletin Boards

Choose a bulletin board somewhere conspicuous in your classroom. Post important classroom management information. This information is helpful in establishing routines for children, parents, and other visitors. It is also vital information for substitute teachers.

Suggested information for the bulletin board includes the following:Headliners

  • emergency information including evacuation route
  • location of substitute folder
  • daily schedule
  • bell schedule
  • lunch and rainy day lunch schedule
  • class lists (without addresses and telephone numbers as these are sometimes confidential)
  • class rules or expectations
  • times that students leave the room for special services, such as assemblies

Use large headings or headliners to label bulletin boards so that they are noticeable and easy to read. You can also line up headliners along a wall or above a chalkboard or whiteboard to create borders and classroom calendars, or use them to label classroom centers, reading areas, and much more.

Inspiring Bulletin Boards
Bulletin boards can also be used as an opportunity to create a positive learning environment in the classroom. Use headliners with encouraging words to liven up classrooms and inspire students to do their best.

Featured Author/Artist Bulletin Board
Featuring an author or illustrator in an area of your classroom is very motivating for the students. It allows students to enjoy the talents of creative people. This type of bulletin board teaches students to appreciate the different styles of authors and artists.

Some suggestions for this bulletin board include the following:

  • name of author or artist
  • facts about the person
  • interest baskets with the featured author or artist’s works (Keep these interest baskets in the reading corner upon completion of featuring this author/artist. Children will enjoy going back to familiar works and will be on the lookout for more to add to the collection.)
  • book jackets or prints of works
  • cassette tapes to accompany author’s work
  • duplicated copies or pages from an author/artist’s work and tracing paper (The children will trace and very closely recreate a particular drawing using various art media found in the art area.)
  • a graph or tally sheet for students’ critiques of a book (Give two choices from which students will choose. Select, for example: Which book do you like better?; Which character would you like to be?; or Is this book reality or fantasy?)

Bulletin boards can be used for all sorts of purposes. Above all, the key to using bulletin boards is this:
EDUCATE, DO NOT JUST DECORATE. Never put up bulletin boards just because you have to they can be extremely effective teaching tools.

For more tips on how to use bulletin boards, check out the bulletin board section in the Jumbo Book of Teacher Tips and Timesavers.

Classroom Management, Teacher Resources

Tips for Classroom Organization

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As a teacher, the way you organize your classroom is extremely important. Whenever you decorate or organize your classroom, keep in mind how you can develop your classroom environment to provide quality learning.

Student Benefits
The prime benefits of a well-organized classroom will accrue to your students. Your organization and procedures (or lack thereof) are, after all, ever-present reminders to the children of how to behave, how to conduct their business, and how best to be effective without discord in a group. Respect for others, consideration, efficiency, pride of accomplishment, security in knowing what, how, when, and where to do something all these positive elements are the hallmarks and characteristics of students who learn in well-organized classrooms. Children like a predictable, safe, and orderly environment and they like going to a school that provides that environment. For these reasons alone, it behooves any teacher to pay close attention to good organization.

Teacher Benefits
Aside from the benefits to students, good organization brings powerful help to the teacher.

The immediate benefits of a well-organized classroom to the teacher are less wasted time and therefore more efficiency. Not so immediately apparent, perhaps, are the following very significant elements:

  • reduced teacher fatigue
  • improved student-teacher relations
  • improved parent-teacher relations
  • increased job satisfaction
  • increased enthusiasm for professional growth
  • increased student academic progress

Here are three important points to remember when organizing your classroom:


1. Create a positive and safe environment for your students.
2. Create an environment that will maximize learning.
3. Create an environment that will minimize the frequency of behavior problems.

Desk Arrangement

  • Check these suggestions to include in your decision-making when arranging the desks in your classroom. Remember that the classroom is there for your teaching and the students learning.
  • Observe how other teachers have arranged their classrooms and choose the arrangement that best suits your needs and goals.
  • Desks or tables might be arranged in one of the following ways: (1) half-circles with a front row and a back row (2) in groups of four or five (3) the traditional way, with chairs lined up, one behind the other.
  • Arrange your room so you can have eye contact with all your students.
  • Arrange your desks so that the students’ attention is on the teacher.
  • Make sure that each student is able to see chalkboards, whiteboards, and other modes of visuals.
  • Desks should not be placed in front of windows. The glare can be distracting and difficult on the eyes.
  • Note where the “high traffic” areas will be. Try to keep this area free of congestion.
  • Students need to have easy access to those materials that will be used frequently.
  • Students should be able to find their work easily and quickly to promote learning.