Education Resources Blog

Distance learning has been hard on students (and teachers!) - not just from the lack of human interaction, but the stress of figuring out new technologies, the eye strain of staring at screens, and the absence of hands-on, collaborative learning activities they thrive on in a classroom setting. With distractions abound and parents often struggling to assist, take-home, printed activities may be a strategy worth employing to encourage a kinesthetic approach to a learning environment we've all had to adapt to.

It's well known among educators that in the learning pyramid, students learn a small percentage of what they see, hear, and do - but they learn the most from teaching others. In this activity to practice math skills, students in grades 1-8 will put together their own game - helping them learn during its creation, and when the game is carried out, they're teaching others how to follow by the rules they designed!

Introducing a new learning concept with students may feel like a daunting task - with the uncertainty of the coming weeks top-of-mind. In the year that keeps us on our toes, we can still rely on those teaching strategies that are tried-and-true for classroom instruction, but quickly adapt them for distance learning when we have the right tools. The Y-Chart is one of them. The concept of a Y-Chart is likely not new to you, but thinking of ideas on how to make this group discussion concept work in a hybrid or distance learning environment, might be. We've again partnered with Cathy Henry from Free Word Work and The Curriculum Corner to put together some tips and activities that you can use, especially for distance learning.

Putting together lesson plans is no easy task. Putting together lesson plans that students will need to complete at home due to virtual or hybrid learning is even harder. And putting together take-home lesson plans for distance learning to help students with a special need like English Language Learners (ELL) might be the hardest of all. As we navigate our 2020 holiday season where many educators are having to adapt and plan for the upcoming inevitable, you may be trying to gather all the tools you can, to create an arsenal of activities that accomplish your curriculum - but can be done from home. We've partnered with Cathy Henry from Free Word Work and The Curriculum Corner to put together some lesson plans and activities that you can use, especially for distance learning.

Have you been BOO-ed yet? Not sure what that even means?  Growing up, October was one of my favorite months. Seriously, who can say no to the candy, the parties, the s’mores and campfire nights, the visits to the pumpkin patch, and of course, the trick or treating? On top of all that fun, my neighborhood always had a cute tradition for the month of October. The more I thought about this tradition, I thought it would be fun to start a tradition like this in school. So, instead of keeping it a “teacher thing” - I introduced it to my class, with great enthusiasm! 

It's back-to-school time again?! Already!? YAY!!! I understand how busy and crazy the first few days of school can be, so I’ve put together some materials for you to use on the first few days of school. These activities easily align to your reading, math, writing, and social-emotional learning objectives with very minimal modifications needed. They are simple, engaging, and more importantly you can use your students’ creations as a nice hallway display. Go ahead and check that box and download the activities now for free!

In the spring of 2019, we made a big commitment to our customers. We promised LOTS of new and revised content and we're happy to report - we've delivered. Just in time for back-to-school! We are thrilled to announce that our VariQuest® Design Center Software v8.0 is now available for download - packed with over 900 NEW templates, cutouts, graphics, fonts, and collections - bringing our grand total to over 19,000 content options for our nation's best educators to create with. And it's FREE for our customers!

It's back-to-school time, you're crazy busy, and your brain is being stretched in a million different directions. We want to help! In partnership with The Curriculum Corner, VariQuest® presents a cross-curricular free lesson plan unit for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students titled, "Explore Your World."

    Q: What do you get when you cross a writing-intensive workshop with visual and kinesthetic learning? A: VariQuest's & The Curriculum Corner's Punctuation Writing Unit     In conjunction with The Curriculum Corner, VariQuest Visual & Kinesthetic Learning Tools has developed a punctuation unit of study focused on primary classrooms. Punctuation is a unit that should be taught within the context of real writing, and can be very effective when presented within the framework of a workshop model. However, more hands-on activities that accompany direct instruction can certainly help to increase student engagement and retention for young learners.

The following lesson plan is part of our partnership with two creative educators from The Curriculum Corner, bringing you free Common Core aligned lesson ideas, teacher resources, and templates you can easily print with your VariQuest® Perfecta® Poster Design System - just be sure you have the latest version of the VariQuest Software!