Education Resources Blog

Election day is around the corner - and as it is the civic duty of all citizens of the United States when they turn 18 to exercise their right to vote, we've put together a simple set of lesson plan activities to help students learn about the process! Combining social studies/civics and English language arts (with printables in Spanish too!), this interactive activity booklet gives you simple instructions, tips, prompts, and resources to guide your students in running their own classroom election. In this lesson plan, designed for students in grades 2-6 but fully customizable for the needs of your classroom, students will work through hands-on activities and exercises for discussions in learning about the process of nominating the candidates, choosing the issues, promoting the platforms, voting, and more. Created in partnership with Cathy Henry, educator and founder of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work, students will explore discussion questions, vocabulary words, and more to better-understand our democratic process.

Never Forget Your Classroom Schedule Again! With the busy day-to-day life of a teacher, it can be easy to lose track of what time it is or what class you have coming up next. Along with this, the never-ending changes within a school to meet state requirements and attempts to find the best school system for kiddos to reach full potential can end up feeling like there are always new schedules to follow and no straightforward way to keep it all together. After viewing a post on TikTok (@mrslarsenslittles) which showed the effectiveness of shrinking down your daily schedule and attaching it to a lanyard, we decided this would be a perfect way to use our VariQuest® Motiva® 400 Specialty Printing System and could allow for a simple teacher hack to be made!

In today's dynamic educational landscape, educators continually seek innovative tools to enhance student engagement and improve learning outcomes. Among these tools, poster makers have emerged as a versatile and powerful asset in the classroom. At VariQuest®, we understand the pivotal role visual and kinesthetic learning tools play in education, and our range of solutions is designed to support educators in this mission. In this blog, we explore the myriad of benefits of using a poster maker for educators.

In the ever-evolving education landscape, innovation is key to engaging students and facilitating effective learning experiences. That's why VariQuest presents the Cutout Maker 1800 Digital Die-Cut Machine, a cutting-edge (literally!) tool designed specifically for schools. With its intuitive design and versatile functionality, the Cutout Maker 1800 revolutionizes classroom creativity while delivering time and cost savings for educators.

The latest addition to the VariQuest suite of solutions provides endless options for creating on-the-spot school-wide communication, recognition, and student engagement materials. (Brooklyn Park, MN) May 20th, 2024 - Varitronics, creator of the VariQuest® suite of solutions and leading provider of visual and kinesthetic learning tools for the education market, is pleased to introduce a brand new poster design system to its robust line of educational offerings designed to enhance the learning environment, for every learner, in every kind of school setting – the Perfecta® Q36.

Teacher Appreciation Week 2024 is May 6th-10th and while we at VariQuest appreciate teachers every day, many stores and restaurants give special recognition and discounts to our nation's educators next week, and some all year-long! I've compiled a list of some of my favorites - just be sure to check to see if your location is participating, and always have your valid school I.D. handy:

Trees are good for the air we breathe, the water we drink, and among many other environmentally-beneficial qualities, they are important to many cultures in bringing people together. On the last Friday in April each year, the United States celebrates Arbor Day - with the planting, nurturing, and honoring of trees! First celebrated in Nebraska in 1872 where 1 million trees were planted, the holiday spread across the country to schools, across the globe to other countries, and became a Federally recognized holiday in 1970. In this lesson plan, designed for students in grades 4-6 but fully customizable for the needs of your classroom, students will work through creative activities and writing exercises learning about the history and cultural significance of Arbor Day and trees. Created in partnership with Cathy Henry, educator and founder of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work, students will explore reading passages, research trees, and create presentations around their understanding of the Arbor Day holiday.

At a time when our world and nation are struggling with division and conflicting ideology - empathy and compassion are important concepts to teach our future generations, so they can make the world a better place than how we leave it. Emotional intelligence, or understanding your own emotions and the emotions of those around you, is an important skill to develop and refine. The middle school years, where students are rapidly developing their sense of self, are obviously an important time to provide tools and exercises to work on this skill. In these social-emotional learning activities, designed for students in grades 5-7 and customizable for the needs of your classroom, students will view photo examples and answer discussion questions to recognize emotions in others. Created in partnership with Cathy Henry, educator and founder of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work, these activities will explore empathy, emotional regulation strategies, problem-assessment, and more.

Circumference, diameter, radius, apple, cherry, rhubarb?! "Pi Day" is celebrated annually on March 14th (Get it - 3.14?!) and we're here to help you celebrate! According to piday.org, the concept of celebrating Pi Day on March 14th was started by physicist Larry Shaw at San Francisco’s Exploratorium science museum in 1988, earning him the title "The Prince of Pi!" Every year there since, a circular parade features each person participating holding one digit in the number pi. In 2009, Congress passed Resolution 224, which designated March 14th as Pi Day hoping to cultivate a higher level of enthusiasm for math and science among American students. In this lesson plan, designed for students in upper-elementary and middle school grades and customizable for the needs of your classroom, students will work through activities coupled with printables to explore the concept of Pi. Created in partnership with Cathy Henry, educator and founder of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work, you'll explore common terms and discussion questions related to circles and spheres (and if-you-so-choose, tasty bakery treats!)

According to Neil Fleming's popular "VARK" model of learning types/styles, there are 4 main learning styles - including visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. Other models list additional types including social, logical, solitary, musical, and combinations of any of these. Visual learners comprehend concepts best when there are visual aids to complement learning. Examples of this could include graphs, symbols, depictions, or otherwise. It's why we decorate our classrooms with vibrant anchor charts, conceptual reminders, and graphic examples! And because neurodivergent students typically learn better with visuals rather than relying on verbal, special education classrooms can benefit greatly from supplemental learning materials that complement teaching a wide range of concepts.