Monthly Archives: November 2013

Pet Pals Motivate Struggling Readers and Help Kids with Special Needs

Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers! Pet Pals, real ones or stuffed animals, offer young children a sense of security. Use Pet Pals to catch and keep kids’ attention and help struggling readers and children with

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Posted in Attentionology for K-5 Teachers

Blast Off for Learning – Word Play Takes Flight

Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers! Young children love imaginary travel. Kids are also fascinated with spaceships and airplanes. Use these interests and the exciting language of travel as hooks into lessons. Capture your class’ attention

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Posted in Attentionology for K-5 Teachers

Tricks to Enrich Read Aloud Time

Picture this…a fourth grade teacher sitting on a high chair in the middle of her classroom of  twenty-five students, eyes focused down on a book she was reading aloud to… …no one! I saw this as I entered the room to

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Posted in Mid-Week Focus

Track Cat is Trending!

Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers! Today’s world is full of trending icons, images and information teachers can adapt for educational purposes – tools and tricks for classroom management and use as hooks into lessons. Here’s a

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Posted in Attentionology for K-5 Teachers

Share a Harvest of Attention-Getting Thanks!

¡Gracias!  (Spanish)       Je vous remercie! (French) Danke!  (German)      Спасибо! (Russian) धन्यवाद!  (Hindi)       ありがとうございました!(Japanese)    Asante! (Swahili)       Mèsi! (Haitian Creole)   Obrigado! (Portuguese)       Matur nuwun! (Javanese)   Salamat sa

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Posted in Mid-Week Focus

Comfort Cookin’ and Color-Related Writing to Manage Moods

Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers! Stop, look and listen…listen with an extra-attentive ear to your students when school starts tomorrow. Do they seem moody? If the answer’s yes, maybe you need to help them cook up

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Posted in Attentionology for K-5 Teachers
Barbara Cleary has been serving as a resource to hundreds of educators for more than 25 years. An award-winning writer, producer, teacher, and trainer, Barbara’s focus is on offering easy, fun tools and tricks that support K-5 curricula and assist teachers with classroom management.
Quick tips for common classroom conundrums: K-5
Situation: Students continue to use lackluster verbs in their writing.

Solution: Show toy cars and pretend to make them zip across a page, telling the class that good writing includes action words (verbs) that have "zip." Ask the class for examples of "zippy" verbs like zoom, race, flash, rush, etc.

Related Posts: Start Students' Engines for Writing