The sale goes from May 5th-6th, so you have a couple days to check out and wishlist the items you want to buy when the sale begins. Click the picture below to go straight to my store. Happy Shopping!
Friday, May 1, 2015
Teacher Appreciation Sale!
This was a "no brainer" for me to throw a sale alongside Teachers Pay Teachers. Feel free to browse through ALL of my products, as they are an ADDITIONAL 20% off. Check out my Products Page for many of my bundles. Great savings through TPT and my own personal sale.
The sale goes from May 5th-6th, so you have a couple days to check out and wishlist the items you want to buy when the sale begins. Click the picture below to go straight to my store. Happy Shopping!
The sale goes from May 5th-6th, so you have a couple days to check out and wishlist the items you want to buy when the sale begins. Click the picture below to go straight to my store. Happy Shopping!
Monday, April 27, 2015
Keeping Track of Data in the Classroom
As I have been out of the classroom now for over a year, I have had a lot of time to reflect on my strengths and weaknesses in the classroom. This post will be all about assessments and data in the classroom. First of all, I always blamed my lack of assessments and data tracking to time and lack of resources. I know now that as long as I am prepared ahead of time (aka, summer break), I can complete the assessments and track them appropriately throughout the school year.
I am still working on which assessments I want to use in my classroom this upcoming fall, and much of that will depend on what grade I teach. I just know, I am going make myself the goal of testing to make sure my students have a balanced literacy experience (comprehension, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and phonological awareness). I plan on testing in these areas no matter what grade I teach, but they will be modified accordingly (i.e. I will not be testing 6th graders letter identification). You may be wondering why I would test phonics or phonological awareness even with 4th graders. I was working with a student over the last semester, and had an eye opening experience when the 4th grader I was working with was having issues with dipthongs, a few blends, and even some diagraphs. I was amazed that he did not know these skills, so I knew with a basic phonics assessments throughout the school year I can make sure my students know these basic foundational skills. My goal is to test in the beginning of the year, and depending on scores test some more frequently and others may not be tested again or just 3x a year. Hopefully I'll be able to update you all on what assessments I decide and how they work in my classroom!
A few things I do know is that I plan on testing fluency weekly and running records once a month. These are skills my former 2nd and 3rd graders struggled with and I did not test often enough. I used to test running records 3x a year, and moved students up to new levels without the data to back it up! YIKES! Now, I plan on testing 1-2 students a day and by the end of the month each student will have an updated score. This will help when they are self selecting books, deciding interventions, and guiding my differentiated instruction.
As I sat here, hoping to publish this post soon...I thought to myself "What would make this easier for me [and my readers] and what will help me actually accomplish this goal?" The answer was a recording sheet. Something I can keep at the front of my data binder or my lesson plan binder. So I stopped writing the post at the time, and went to create a recording sheet bundle for all of your ELA assessments. Now, because I know the struggle of keeping so on top of so many things...I am setting the price of this product as F-R-E-E! That way, you won't have any issues keeping track of who is left to give the fluency assessment or who is on my agenda for running records today?
Now, my next professional goal is individual interventions. I feel like this is still something I am not very good at deciding which intervention is best. So now that I have the data thing organized, my hopes is to do the RIGHT THING with this data. What is the point of having the data if you don't do anything with it, right? My first step is to look more into websites like:
Feel free to comment with other intervention websites that are free for myself and other readers to try. My hopes are that using some of these great online resources, I can get a good start on finding the right interventions for struggling students. Maybe one day, I'll be posting my own interventions on my TPT Store. Until then...
I love getting students involved in assessments and making goals. It makes it less scary and more motivating for all!
Another motivator and piece of ownership is data binders for math facts. Students had to get a 95% or higher at the time (this was my first time trying data folders). This upcoming year, I will ask students to get a 100% to move on. I'm so mean, right? haha!
I am still working on which assessments I want to use in my classroom this upcoming fall, and much of that will depend on what grade I teach. I just know, I am going make myself the goal of testing to make sure my students have a balanced literacy experience (comprehension, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and phonological awareness). I plan on testing in these areas no matter what grade I teach, but they will be modified accordingly (i.e. I will not be testing 6th graders letter identification). You may be wondering why I would test phonics or phonological awareness even with 4th graders. I was working with a student over the last semester, and had an eye opening experience when the 4th grader I was working with was having issues with dipthongs, a few blends, and even some diagraphs. I was amazed that he did not know these skills, so I knew with a basic phonics assessments throughout the school year I can make sure my students know these basic foundational skills. My goal is to test in the beginning of the year, and depending on scores test some more frequently and others may not be tested again or just 3x a year. Hopefully I'll be able to update you all on what assessments I decide and how they work in my classroom!
A few things I do know is that I plan on testing fluency weekly and running records once a month. These are skills my former 2nd and 3rd graders struggled with and I did not test often enough. I used to test running records 3x a year, and moved students up to new levels without the data to back it up! YIKES! Now, I plan on testing 1-2 students a day and by the end of the month each student will have an updated score. This will help when they are self selecting books, deciding interventions, and guiding my differentiated instruction.
As I sat here, hoping to publish this post soon...I thought to myself "What would make this easier for me [and my readers] and what will help me actually accomplish this goal?" The answer was a recording sheet. Something I can keep at the front of my data binder or my lesson plan binder. So I stopped writing the post at the time, and went to create a recording sheet bundle for all of your ELA assessments. Now, because I know the struggle of keeping so on top of so many things...I am setting the price of this product as F-R-E-E! That way, you won't have any issues keeping track of who is left to give the fluency assessment or who is on my agenda for running records today?
Data Recording Sheets {FREEBIE}
Now, my next professional goal is individual interventions. I feel like this is still something I am not very good at deciding which intervention is best. So now that I have the data thing organized, my hopes is to do the RIGHT THING with this data. What is the point of having the data if you don't do anything with it, right? My first step is to look more into websites like:
Feel free to comment with other intervention websites that are free for myself and other readers to try. My hopes are that using some of these great online resources, I can get a good start on finding the right interventions for struggling students. Maybe one day, I'll be posting my own interventions on my TPT Store. Until then...
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
101 Reasons to Discuss Careers in the Classroom
Recently I have been thinking about my students and their futures. A few years ago, I taught summer school and each classroom focused on a college around the country to be the theme for the 6 week session. Many of us contacted the universities and they sent us promotional products to hang up in the classroom and pass out among the students. Big props to Ball State University for sending me TONS of pencils, posters, cups, calendars, etc. for my students. These little kindergarteners were THRILLED with all the goodies. Plus, it got them thinking at such an early age about college and their future. Now, I highly recommend something similar in your classroom. Whether you focus every week on a new college or something like that, it just gets your students [of all backgrounds] thinking about their future. Now, since I taught summer school I have not done this in my classroom, but it is always in the back of my mind.
I took it a step past colleges and focused on careers. I created a product with 101 careers. The product allows me to use cooperative learning strategies at tables, or focus on 1-2 careers a week. I made sure to have a variety of careers, so it would open students eyes past "doctor" and take it a step further "Pediatrician" or "teacher to college professor". When I used cooperative learning strategies in the classroom, I would give each table 2 careers to research. Now, I was at an advantage here, as my students have individual tablets. You could easily assign the tables or groups careers and then head to the computer lab for them to do the exact same thing. From that, there are pages in their product for student responses. They write notes on the job requirements and job responsibilities. Students, then join their group to share and discuss results found. Then, tables share out about their job, and we come up with 10-12 careers to share with the entire class.
After completing 25 careers, students can fill out a "Checkpoint" sheet. This allows students to answer some questions about the careers they have learned about. My premade order gives a variety of careers, so hopefully, every student can find some sort of interest. But you're more than welcome to do them in any order as there are two sets: one with numbers and one without. In the checkpoints, it allows students to research a college they could attend to do this career. My hopes is to get them thinking about colleges, and having them understand to do that job they have to work hard to make it through elementary, middle, high school, and college to do the career of their dreams! Maybe word that differently to them, as it sounds pretty daunting. ha!
If cooperative learning is not your thing, you can easily cover a few of these a week through teacher modeling and instruction. Together, you could make a K-W-L chart on a career, and do the research together as a class to fill in the rest of the graphic organizer. This, personally, does not work with my teaching style as my students are very hands on in the classroom. I try to "stay out of the way" after modeling and guided practice.
Another option I might try in my classroom to save some time is to add it to my morning work routine. Students will be given a notebook (to save printer paper!) to research the Career of the Day on the blackboard. They write information found via tablets (or preprinted resources) about the career. This would be something I would include as a secondary element to my morning work routine, as I want them to have some grammar and math practice as well. But this is a GREAT authentic way for students to be reading, writing, and researching first thing in the morning. Students would take notes, and at the beginning of writing time we would discuss the career for 7-10 minutes and fill out the main sheet together. I plan on keeping these in a binder for student reference throughout the year. I am really excited to try this with my students this upcoming year.
A fun way to have some closure to the assignment (if you just do 75 or all 101) is to have a Career Day. In the past (before creating this document), we had a career day for our second graders. They researched a career of choice, and then wrote a paper describing why they wanted to be that job (3 paragraphs). Students could pick their career of choice, and write a great research paper about the career. Paragraphs could include:
Overall, this product gives you a variety of options...but most importantly it helps your students think of the future. If they have a BIG goal in mind, you'll be able to get them to work hard in your classroom to achieve that goal. To add one more spin on the product, have community members come in to speak about their careers periodically. Maybe after you reach 25 careers, have 5 professionals from that chunk of careers come into speak. It will impress the visitors that your students know (or hopefully know) what the the career does and ask thoughtful questions to the professionals.
Good luck! Feel free to tell me how you used this product in your own classroom! I love hearing how my products are used in other classrooms.
I took it a step past colleges and focused on careers. I created a product with 101 careers. The product allows me to use cooperative learning strategies at tables, or focus on 1-2 careers a week. I made sure to have a variety of careers, so it would open students eyes past "doctor" and take it a step further "Pediatrician" or "teacher to college professor". When I used cooperative learning strategies in the classroom, I would give each table 2 careers to research. Now, I was at an advantage here, as my students have individual tablets. You could easily assign the tables or groups careers and then head to the computer lab for them to do the exact same thing. From that, there are pages in their product for student responses. They write notes on the job requirements and job responsibilities. Students, then join their group to share and discuss results found. Then, tables share out about their job, and we come up with 10-12 careers to share with the entire class.
After completing 25 careers, students can fill out a "Checkpoint" sheet. This allows students to answer some questions about the careers they have learned about. My premade order gives a variety of careers, so hopefully, every student can find some sort of interest. But you're more than welcome to do them in any order as there are two sets: one with numbers and one without. In the checkpoints, it allows students to research a college they could attend to do this career. My hopes is to get them thinking about colleges, and having them understand to do that job they have to work hard to make it through elementary, middle, high school, and college to do the career of their dreams! Maybe word that differently to them, as it sounds pretty daunting. ha!
If cooperative learning is not your thing, you can easily cover a few of these a week through teacher modeling and instruction. Together, you could make a K-W-L chart on a career, and do the research together as a class to fill in the rest of the graphic organizer. This, personally, does not work with my teaching style as my students are very hands on in the classroom. I try to "stay out of the way" after modeling and guided practice.
Another option I might try in my classroom to save some time is to add it to my morning work routine. Students will be given a notebook (to save printer paper!) to research the Career of the Day on the blackboard. They write information found via tablets (or preprinted resources) about the career. This would be something I would include as a secondary element to my morning work routine, as I want them to have some grammar and math practice as well. But this is a GREAT authentic way for students to be reading, writing, and researching first thing in the morning. Students would take notes, and at the beginning of writing time we would discuss the career for 7-10 minutes and fill out the main sheet together. I plan on keeping these in a binder for student reference throughout the year. I am really excited to try this with my students this upcoming year.
Get the product HERE!
A fun way to have some closure to the assignment (if you just do 75 or all 101) is to have a Career Day. In the past (before creating this document), we had a career day for our second graders. They researched a career of choice, and then wrote a paper describing why they wanted to be that job (3 paragraphs). Students could pick their career of choice, and write a great research paper about the career. Paragraphs could include:
- Opening Paragraph
- Job Requirements
- Job Responsibilities
- College Requirements (what college, classes, etc.)
- Why is it the best fit for the student?
- Closing Paragraph
Overall, this product gives you a variety of options...but most importantly it helps your students think of the future. If they have a BIG goal in mind, you'll be able to get them to work hard in your classroom to achieve that goal. To add one more spin on the product, have community members come in to speak about their careers periodically. Maybe after you reach 25 careers, have 5 professionals from that chunk of careers come into speak. It will impress the visitors that your students know (or hopefully know) what the the career does and ask thoughtful questions to the professionals.
Good luck! Feel free to tell me how you used this product in your own classroom! I love hearing how my products are used in other classrooms.
Friday, March 27, 2015
Help Me Celebrate my Store's Milestone!
This past week has been great for 3L + 1T...I reached a personal milestone that I have been working on for quite some time. To thank all of my loyal customers, I am throwing a 10% Off Sale for all of my products. The sale goes from March 28th-30th. Please help me celebrate by picking up some of your wishlist
As for more products, I am so sorry I haven't been able to update the blog in almost 2 months! Yikes. I have many great new products that will get to prepared for the end of the school year...and I hate to say it---next school year as well! Hard to believe we're almost ready for another school year. But for now, enjoy all 110 of my products at a discount.
Again, THANK YOU for all of your purchases, support, and ideas! 3L + 1T would not be here without you! This milestone is the first of many because when I get 100 more sales I will be throwing ANOTHER sale! Help me reach this second milestone by shopping now with this great discount.
As for more products, I am so sorry I haven't been able to update the blog in almost 2 months! Yikes. I have many great new products that will get to prepared for the end of the school year...and I hate to say it---next school year as well! Hard to believe we're almost ready for another school year. But for now, enjoy all 110 of my products at a discount.
Again, THANK YOU for all of your purchases, support, and ideas! 3L + 1T would not be here without you! This milestone is the first of many because when I get 100 more sales I will be throwing ANOTHER sale! Help me reach this second milestone by shopping now with this great discount.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Celebrating Valetine's Day Early at 3L + 1T
It is February 1st so...Valentine's Day is RIGHT around the corner. Have you started to think about what you want to do in your own classroom? I'm sure there will be yummy treats, cute little crafts, and maybe some cards exchanged. Have you thought of some fun ways to include learning into the mix of it all?
Have no fear, Mrs. Valentine's Day to the rescue! Catchy, right? I have created a few products that will allow your students to still have fun, think about the holiday, and learn as well!
The Perfect Match: Synonyms & Antonyms
I cannot wait to use this in my classroom! I think this activity will be great when working in small groups during stations/centers. The product includes:
The assessments would also be great to use after a mini-lesson or when you feel your students are close to mastery. The assessments include matching, defining, using in a sentence, and identifying. The final assessment asks students to write a story of their choice. They must use a certain amount of synonyms and anytonmys. When finished, they must go back to underline and circle those words they used. I love assessments that allow students to be creative, but also apply the skills they learned.
Have no fear...this product isn't JUST for Valentine's Day. Use this all year around, as the only thing Valentine's Day about this is the hearts and the title.
Valentine's Day Letter Writing
I just reduced this price on this product! I created 2 templates---one a post-card and the other a letter for students to write friendly letters to teachers, friends, and/or family members. This would be a great way to start your day off. Have students finish up before starting your day of lessons and during the celebration in the afternoon...take a 10-20 minute break to go and hand deliver the letters/post-cards. It will make someone's day! I love teaching students about the gift of giving. Check out my Christmas post here to see how I try to do this all year long!
I would absolutely love to see these products in action, especially the post-cards and letter templates. Feel free to comment below to share some of your student's work!
Valentine's Day Synonym Cloze Writing
The last item for you to pick (also reduced in price) from is a Valentine's Day synonym cloze activity. This one is great for a writing center, morning work, or an "early finisher" type activity. Students are asked to read the letter and fill in words that would make sense or use the word bank in the bottom part of the paper to help students. The choice is up to you! Although there is a answer key included...but you can always ignore that! Make it even more challenging for your students and have them create their own letter using 10 "fancy" adjectives. Have them impress their loved ones.
Have no fear, Mrs. Valentine's Day to the rescue! Catchy, right? I have created a few products that will allow your students to still have fun, think about the holiday, and learn as well!
The Perfect Match: Synonyms & Antonyms
I cannot wait to use this in my classroom! I think this activity will be great when working in small groups during stations/centers. The product includes:
- 21 pairs of matching synonym cards
- 21 pairs of matching antonym cards
- 1 quick check assessment for synonyms
- 1 quick check assessment for antonyms
- 1 combined assessment to use a synonyms and antonyms in writing a story and identify the words they used
The assessments would also be great to use after a mini-lesson or when you feel your students are close to mastery. The assessments include matching, defining, using in a sentence, and identifying. The final assessment asks students to write a story of their choice. They must use a certain amount of synonyms and anytonmys. When finished, they must go back to underline and circle those words they used. I love assessments that allow students to be creative, but also apply the skills they learned.
Have no fear...this product isn't JUST for Valentine's Day. Use this all year around, as the only thing Valentine's Day about this is the hearts and the title.
Check it out...here!
Valentine's Day Letter Writing
I just reduced this price on this product! I created 2 templates---one a post-card and the other a letter for students to write friendly letters to teachers, friends, and/or family members. This would be a great way to start your day off. Have students finish up before starting your day of lessons and during the celebration in the afternoon...take a 10-20 minute break to go and hand deliver the letters/post-cards. It will make someone's day! I love teaching students about the gift of giving. Check out my Christmas post here to see how I try to do this all year long!
I would absolutely love to see these products in action, especially the post-cards and letter templates. Feel free to comment below to share some of your student's work!
Grab the product...here!
Valentine's Day Synonym Cloze Writing
The last item for you to pick (also reduced in price) from is a Valentine's Day synonym cloze activity. This one is great for a writing center, morning work, or an "early finisher" type activity. Students are asked to read the letter and fill in words that would make sense or use the word bank in the bottom part of the paper to help students. The choice is up to you! Although there is a answer key included...but you can always ignore that! Make it even more challenging for your students and have them create their own letter using 10 "fancy" adjectives. Have them impress their loved ones.
Get the product here
Start a Valentine's Day theme next week with your students right before the holiday. I am really excited to complete this project with my class. The project goes through each of the stages of the writing process. Students can start with a heart shaped graphic organizer so they can organize their thoughts. I focused a lot on the next stage which is explaining each one of those hearts in greater detail. This is where I see my students struggle as they do not know what to say about these subtopics. From there, there a page dedicated to each heart where students can organize their thoughts deeper so they can elaborate on the individual hearts.
The next steps are to write the first draft, edit, and revise. Students are given the appropriate paper, and a small quick-check rubric so they can remember to check their own work. I normally incorporate another rubric into the mix---one that I make with students before starting the writing so they understand their expectations and objectives from the start.
Students can finish the project by rewriting their paper on the final draft format and complete a picture in the decorative hearts as a final step in their publishing. I also like this project because you can make it into packet format to complete together, in small group, or individually if you think your students are up for the challenge.
Hope you enjoy this and more importantly...your students have fun with this!
Happy {Early} Valentine's Day! Don't forget to share the love by pinning, liking, and sharing my products on your social media sites!
Friday, January 30, 2015
Planning A Maternity Leave
Before my teaching friends, and other friends start accusing me of being pregnant...let me stop you right there. One of my best friends just had a baby is on maternity leave, so I was inspired to create a product to not only help her, but other teacher-mommies-to-be.
So, no, let me repeat...I am not pregnant.
After talking with her about what she was including in her binder, I decided to create a plug and go product for those mommies to be. You don't need another stress on your plate, so getting your classroom ready for your leave should be a breeze. It was funny as I was creating this product, I kept adding and adding...and adding to the Table of Contents. I wanted to give examples of my own classroom experiences, but also give room to edit to make it friendly to all schools around the world. Need to change a phrase or omit something---no big deal, that's why there is a delete button!
Check out the Table of Contents below:
A few mommies-to-be have tried it out, and it has seem to make life easier for them. I know there will be things specific to your classroom and school, so it is in Powerpoint form so that you can change/add whatever you need. My hopes is that product makes preparing for your leave easy. You will obviously have a lot to worry about when your little one arrives...the last thing you need is to continue to worry about your 25+ little ones at school. Make it super easy on your substitute where there will be no questions for him/her to ask! You will leave on your last day feeling prepared to make on motherhood!
A BIG congratulations to those purchasing this product. I know that teachers make the best mommies! Enjoy every moment of it.
So, no, let me repeat...I am not pregnant.
After talking with her about what she was including in her binder, I decided to create a plug and go product for those mommies to be. You don't need another stress on your plate, so getting your classroom ready for your leave should be a breeze. It was funny as I was creating this product, I kept adding and adding...and adding to the Table of Contents. I wanted to give examples of my own classroom experiences, but also give room to edit to make it friendly to all schools around the world. Need to change a phrase or omit something---no big deal, that's why there is a delete button!
Check out the Table of Contents below:
A few mommies-to-be have tried it out, and it has seem to make life easier for them. I know there will be things specific to your classroom and school, so it is in Powerpoint form so that you can change/add whatever you need. My hopes is that product makes preparing for your leave easy. You will obviously have a lot to worry about when your little one arrives...the last thing you need is to continue to worry about your 25+ little ones at school. Make it super easy on your substitute where there will be no questions for him/her to ask! You will leave on your last day feeling prepared to make on motherhood!
A BIG congratulations to those purchasing this product. I know that teachers make the best mommies! Enjoy every moment of it.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Great Americans Day/President's Day
Another holiday is right around the corner. Some of you around the states will be going to school on this day and I'm guessing others may have it off as a "Snow Make Up Day". Whatever your story is...this holiday is not one to be forgotten.
I'll be honest, in the past I always do some sort of activity...but I never am completely satisfied with the level of authenticity at the end of the day. I have been guilty of just finding a few president based worksheets or discussing it for a little with my students. We never dig deep into the true meaning of the American holiday.
So...I have created two products (hopefully more to come) that I would be proud for my students to complete. I would feel like they could apply reading, writing, thinking, collaborating, and listening all into one activity. After taking a few courses recently in hopes to get my Certificate for Literacy Instruction I have learned the importance of authentic work and having students understand the connection between reading and writing.
Research a President
This first product is a breakdown of all of the presidents we have had in the United States. There is a page per president to fill out information such as:
I am really excited to use this in my classroom, as I can see it will be an easy project to prepare for and students will gain the necessary skills when it comes to researching and putting that into an essay form. I'm not asking students to write a 3 page report on their president, as there would not be enough information to get that complete. But I feel the lesson is authentic and can teach students a lot about our past presidents. Plus it will make a great bulletin board!
Interviews with Great Americans
Another idea that I am wanting to try in my classroom is a product where they research a Great American (or President) and pretend to interview them. They will answer the 9 questions as if the Great American (or President) is answering. If you feel this could get too confusing for students, have students pair up. For example, I would research Abe Lincoln and my partner would research George Washington. We would interview each other answering the questions about our person we researched.
After the (9) questions have been answered, you can choose how the students present the information. Do you want them to dress up and present it to the class? Do you want them to write an essay? Compare and Contrast two of the people selected? Or my personal favorite...make a newspaper article about the information they found. This would be a fun way to write informational articles! I have created a few newspaper templates, and left space for students to draw a picture next to their writing. Once again, I see great potential with this for a bulletin board idea. How fun is it to let students draw at any age? They really can surprise you! I know what you're thinking...where do you get the time to let them sit and draw? These spaces are fairly small, so it won't take a lot of class time out of the other subject areas.
I'll be honest, in the past I always do some sort of activity...but I never am completely satisfied with the level of authenticity at the end of the day. I have been guilty of just finding a few president based worksheets or discussing it for a little with my students. We never dig deep into the true meaning of the American holiday.
So...I have created two products (hopefully more to come) that I would be proud for my students to complete. I would feel like they could apply reading, writing, thinking, collaborating, and listening all into one activity. After taking a few courses recently in hopes to get my Certificate for Literacy Instruction I have learned the importance of authentic work and having students understand the connection between reading and writing.
Research a President
This first product is a breakdown of all of the presidents we have had in the United States. There is a page per president to fill out information such as:
- Presidency dates
- Previous office/job
- Vice president during term
- Political party
- Research collected about president (early life, family life, important events during his time in presidency)
I am really excited to use this in my classroom, as I can see it will be an easy project to prepare for and students will gain the necessary skills when it comes to researching and putting that into an essay form. I'm not asking students to write a 3 page report on their president, as there would not be enough information to get that complete. But I feel the lesson is authentic and can teach students a lot about our past presidents. Plus it will make a great bulletin board!
Get the product here
Interviews with Great Americans
Another idea that I am wanting to try in my classroom is a product where they research a Great American (or President) and pretend to interview them. They will answer the 9 questions as if the Great American (or President) is answering. If you feel this could get too confusing for students, have students pair up. For example, I would research Abe Lincoln and my partner would research George Washington. We would interview each other answering the questions about our person we researched.
After the (9) questions have been answered, you can choose how the students present the information. Do you want them to dress up and present it to the class? Do you want them to write an essay? Compare and Contrast two of the people selected? Or my personal favorite...make a newspaper article about the information they found. This would be a fun way to write informational articles! I have created a few newspaper templates, and left space for students to draw a picture next to their writing. Once again, I see great potential with this for a bulletin board idea. How fun is it to let students draw at any age? They really can surprise you! I know what you're thinking...where do you get the time to let them sit and draw? These spaces are fairly small, so it won't take a lot of class time out of the other subject areas.
Find the product here
Good luck teaching about Great Americans/Presidents. I hope you can create an authentic activity for students to complete and not stick worksheets in front of them and cross your fingers they leave with new knowledge about the holiday.
Links for the Research:
Other In-Class and Online Activities
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