VariQuest Blog

The VariQuest Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Suite Blog contains resources on classroom ideas, lesson plans, industry news, events, and offers throughout education.

Blog Feature

Lessons/Activities/Templates | Special Education | Student Engagement | Parental Involvement | Grade Level: Primary (PK-2) | Grade Level: Intermediate (3-6) | Academic Subject: Special Education | Featured Topics: Lessons and Activities | social-emotional learning | classroom management

[Lesson Plan] Visual Schedule Cards for Special Education

By: VariQuest Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Suite
August 26th, 2022

Planning, organizing, and having things to look forward to are concepts we all can appreciate. While surprises are sometimes lovely, clear expectations for what's ahead can bring a sense of calm - especially for students in the classroom. "Pop quiz" is a phrase almost no one wants to hear! For special education and primary students, this is especially true - and as we educators know, visuals can help bring a schedule to life. So in partnership with Cathy Henry, an educator and founder of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work, we've created this Visual Schedule Cards Lesson Plan activity to manage classroom anxiety, help with transitions, and encourage social-emotional wellbeing in the classroom. For both verbal and non-verbal students, this exercise will promote that sense of calm with clear expectations an organized schedule can bring for both teacher and student.

Read More

Share

Blog Feature

Lessons/Activities/Templates | Student Engagement | Parental Involvement | Grade Level: Primary (PK-2) | Grade Level: Intermediate (3-6) | Featured Topics: Lessons and Activities | social-emotional learning | classroom management

[Lesson Plan] Morning Welcome Activity for Elementary Teachers

By: VariQuest Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Suite
July 20th, 2022

Belonging. Community. Inclusive. Comfortable. These words describe the environment that educators work so hard to achieve in their classrooms and school buildings. Our students need our help and support now more than ever, as we all work through challenging and divisive times. When a student enters your classroom for the first time or the 100th time, you want them to feel like they belong, and that for the short time they're with you, they are in supportive surroundings where they can fully focus on learning and growing. Enter the morning welcome - a way to set the tone for every day. In partnership with Cathy Henry, an educator and founder of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work, we've created this Morning Welcome Activity lesson plan and download pack for Elementary teachers to help introduce students to their day in the classroom - the moment they step foot through the door. And it not only helps students settle in for their day, but it teaches them valuable social-emotional learning skills in the process.

Read More

Share

How to Write a Grant eBook

How to Write a Grant eBook

This helpful guide includes an explanation of the grant process, including a checklist (with samples!), and useful links and resources to find funding!

Blog Feature

Lessons/Activities/Templates | Student Engagement | Parental Involvement | Grade Level: Primary (PK-2) | Grade Level: Intermediate (3-6) | Featured Topics: Lessons and Activities | social-emotional learning | classroom management

[Lesson Plan] Create a Motivation Station for Your Classroom

By: VariQuest Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Suite
May 19th, 2022

After the last two years being anything but normal, you might be on a constant quest for ideas and ways to support the social-emotional wellbeing of your students and boost their self-esteem. Social-emotional learning (SEL) has become a critical focus in helping our students grow not only personally, but academically as well. In partnership with Cathy Henry, an educator and founder of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work, we've created this Motivation Station Social-Emotional Lesson Plan activity to help spread a little positivity! And it's not only approaching the topic from a self-love standpoint, but encourages peer-to-peer support as well!

Read More

Share

Blog Feature

Special Education | Parental Involvement | Grade Level: Primary (PK-2) | Grade Level: Intermediate (3-6) | VariQuest Tools: Cold Laminator 2510 | VariQuest Tools: Perfecta 2400STP | VariQuest Tools: Perfecta 3600STP | social-emotional learning | classroom management | VariQuest Tools: Perfecta 2400PRO

How Do You Recognize Students? Create a Selfie Station!

By: VariQuest Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Suite
March 10th, 2022

There are plenty of reasons and ways to recognize students. Doing so promotes self-confidence, determination, a positive attitude, and overall social-emotional wellbeing! In the age of cell phones, social media influencers, and YouTube stars, the word "selfie" has become commonly used in our vocabularies, and the concept is foreign to no one. Alongside displaying student artwork in your school hallways and classrooms, allow students to showcase work they're especially proud of, and infuse parental involvement in a modern way with this fun and easy selfie station in your classroom!

Read More

Share

Blog Feature

Lessons/Activities/Templates | Special Education | Grade Level: Primary (PK-2) | VariQuest Tools: Design Center Software | Academic Subject: Special Education | VariQuest Tools: Motiva 400 | VariQuest Tools: Perfecta 2400STP | VariQuest Tools: Perfecta 3600STP | social-emotional learning | VariQuest Resource Center

Using an Emotion Meter in Social-Emotional Learning for Students

By: VariQuest Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Suite
June 10th, 2021

An emotion meter is a great way to gauge what mood your students are feeling in the moment! Whether it's for posting in the classroom, calming corners, or student journals, this tool can be created large or small for group or individual discussions. With social-emotional learning for students a topic of the utmost importance as children grow and mature, use these simple exercises to give students meaningful tools for managing and working through their feelings!

Read More

Share

Blog Feature

Lessons/Activities/Templates | Special Education | Student Engagement | Grade Level: Primary (PK-2) | VariQuest Tools: Cutout Maker 1800 | Featured Topics: Student Engagement | Academic Subject: Special Education | Featured Topics: Lessons and Activities | VariQuest Tools: Motiva 400 | VariQuest Tools: Perfecta 2400STP | VariQuest Tools: Perfecta 3600STP

[Download] ELA Sensory Path for Schools: Ocean Adventure

By: VariQuest Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Suite
June 2nd, 2021

As students today are spending more time sitting with technology than ever before, educators continue to innovate with creative ways to get them up and moving, while learning as they go. And after a year centered around terms like isolation, quarantine, and shelter-at-home, finding new ways to engage students and welcome them back to school buildings for learning can be a challenge. But we've got a fun way to get the wiggles out. And as you may have guessed, it's another free sensory path for schools! (Download our forest adventure sensory path here!)

Read More

Share

Blog Feature

Lessons/Activities/Templates | Special Education | Student Engagement | Grade Level: Primary (PK-2) | VariQuest Tools: Cutout Maker 1800 | Featured Topics: Student Engagement | Academic Subject: Special Education | Featured Topics: Lessons and Activities | VariQuest Tools: Motiva 400 | VariQuest Tools: Perfecta 2400STP | VariQuest Tools: Perfecta 3600STP

[Download] ELA Sensory Path for Schools: Forest Adventure

By: VariQuest Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Suite
May 5th, 2021

With traditional education instruction rooted in desk-sitting and blackboard-writing, teachers today are constantly innovating to reach students where they are, and how they learn best. In a classroom full of visual learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic learners, educators have found creative ways to help students learn through viewing, hearing, and doing. Enter - the sensory path for schools.

Read More

Share

Blog Feature

Lessons/Activities/Templates | Grade Level: Primary (PK-2) | VariQuest Tools: Cutout Maker 1800 | VariQuest Tools: Cold Laminator 2510 | VariQuest Tools: Motiva 400 | social-emotional learning | virtual learning

Distance Learning Social-Emotional Support: Flat Teacher

By: VariQuest Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Suite
December 9th, 2020

We're moving towards holiday break, and we don't need to tell you that it has been one crazy year. Whether your students are heading home for their break early in distance learning, or they're only apart from the classroom for the holiday, send them off with a "Flat Stanley"-like cutout of their favorite teacher (that's you!) and a fun assignment to document your (their) experiences while you're in two different places! With social-emotional support at the top of every educator's mind during a trying year, what better way to remind your students you're always with them, than a small cutout take-along of yourself!

Read More

Share

Blog Feature

Lessons/Activities/Templates | STEM | Grade Level: Primary (PK-2) | Academic Subject: STEM | Featured Topics: Student Engagement | Academic Subject: Science | Featured Topics: Lessons and Activities | Project-based Learning | free posters

[Lesson Plan Unit] Ecosystems

By: VariQuest Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Suite
July 22nd, 2020

With all of our advances in the science field and access to more research tools than ever before, we have come to learn more about our human activities' negative impact on the earth. So how can we teach our students to preserve and protect it for future generations? Ecosystems is a science unit that will spark a child’s interest in our earth and the ever-present need to make it better for all living creatures. Complete with a "write-the-room"-style assessment and “All About” posters to create and share with others, students will participate in discussions on ways the class can work together to have a positive impact on the earth. As we at VariQuest put a spotlight on kinesthetic and project-based learning, this unit provides hands-on activities and games that will make the discovery of ecosystems more meaningful.

Read More

Share

Blog Feature

Lessons/Activities/Templates | Career & Technology Education (CTE) | Grade Level: Primary (PK-2) | Featured Topics: Lessons and Activities | Academic Subject: Mathematics

[Lesson Plan] Counting Strategies Activity: Build a Fruit Basket

By: Carman Le
April 12th, 2018

As more and more schools expand their curriculum offerings to include Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs spanning the 16 Career Clusters, the need for resources to help these students has grown along with it. One of these clusters, obviously close to our hearts at VariQuest, is the Education & Training pathway - so along with supporting educators who facilitate this goal with students, we also want to support those students considering a career in the industry! So - do you have an Early Education Program with your secondary students? Or maybe you're a Pre-K or Kindergarten teacher looking for activities to help students learn about numbers and counting? We've got a free lesson plan for you, aligned with Common Core Math Standard K.CC.A.1-5: "Counting Strategies: Build a Fruit Basket!"

Read More

Share