google.com, pub-8985115814551729, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 Free Printable Lesson Plans: worksheets
Showing posts with label worksheets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label worksheets. Show all posts

Free printable Scrabble games and homemade Scrabble and Boggle word games


Looking for hands-on spelling lesson plans? Here's a fun, easy DIY language arts game to make using homemade Scrabble or Boggle dice. Use manipulatives with preschool through high school, in reading, writing and spelling activities. Here are free printable Scrabble games plus instructions for a homemade word game I call Babble (Scrabble plus Boggle). The site gives free printable Scrabble tiles if you want to play the traditional game too! 

I love the word games Boggle and Scrabble in which players make words from random letters. Both Scrabble and Boggle are superb word games for spelling and reading practice. So I invented a game called Babble, that combines the scoring of Scrabble with the letter mix-up of Boggle. Use with the free printable games I've linked to, in reading lesson plans, spelling games and writing activities. Here's how to make and play Babble.  

You will need

12 dice: Recycle die from old games like Kismet or Yahtzee.
Dice can be purchased at almost any store for under $2).

Permanent markers

Blank stickers (round or square white stickers are best)

Note pad

small pencils

watch or timer

small box


To make Babble: (Scrabble plus Boggle)

Affix a sticker to each of the six sides of the die.

Label each die side with a different letter. With 12 dice times six sides you will have room for 72 letters. Since some letters are more popular, label dice this way. It makes no difference where on the dice you put which letters, Just be sure to get this many letters in.

  -four times each, letters: A, E, I, O, U, R, S, T, L, N

  -three times each letters: B, C, D, F, G, H, M, P

  -one time each, letters: J, K, Q, V, W, X, Y, Z

  -dictionary to check spelling


To play Scraggle:


Distribute pencils and pads. Players take turns shaking box with letter dice, to rearrange.

Player open box and make sure all dice are flat and showing letters.

Time players for three to five minutes, to see how many words they can make with letters showing.


Scoring is as follows: 

  -3 letter words = 5 points

  -4 letter words = 10 points

  -5 letter words = 20 points

  -6 letter words = 50 points

  -7 letter words = 100 points

  -8 letter words = 200 points

Players should check each others words for accuracy.

Use the free printable spelling worksheets plus this game for learning on the go! Do spelling lesson plans in the car, at the store, on a place, while waiting in line; anywhere you go it goes. 



Giant Panda Bear printables, Kung Fu Panda lesson plans, activities coloring pages for Earth Day


Did you know that the Giant Panda is the Earth Day mascot? This will greatly please my grandson Lucian whose best friend is a panda bear named "B"! Here are free printable panda bear lesson plans, activities and coloring pages for us all to celebrate! 

First-School is an awesome website for educational printables and the subject of free printable panda bear activities is no exception. There are games, science lesson plans, literature based printables, worksheets, word search, coloring pages and more. Making Learning Fun has cute panda bear printables too. 

Living Montessori Now has links to Giant Panda printables with games, crafts and preschool activities. Lesson Planet has a plethora of free printable zoo lesson plans, including many Giant Panda activities. Enchanted Learning has dozens of free printable lesson plans on pandas. There are worksheets, crossword puzzles, maps, endangered species activities, science lesson plans and more. What could be more perfect for Earth Day?

How about doing a unit on Eric Carle's "Panda Bear, Panda Bear What do you See?" for Earth Day, April 22? Here are Eric Carle printables including some from that best-loved book. And what would a unit on pandas be without some activities involving Po, the Kung Fu Panda? Most of these have printables on other types of bears too. 

Math practice kit activities with printables

 Montessori and Math Their Way teach math in hands-on learning center tasks, as opposed to paper and-pencil lessons. Here's a homemade mini math learning center. Use this shoebox math facts practice kit for independent, on-the-go learning. Retention of math facts and operations is vital for higher math. Use this math homework practice kit to reinforce addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts.

 Children should practice 5-10 minutes 4-5 times a week. In a shoebox or plastic lidded box, place these items 

--color-coded list of digits. For example: 0-yellow, 1-blue, 2-red, 3-orange, 4-purple, 5-green, 6-brown, 7-pink, 8-black, 9-gray. Some 1,983 would be written blue-1, gray-9,black-8 and orange-3. Color coding helps many students visualize and organize numbers, learn place value and memorize math facts, 

--set of dice. Practice math facts by casting die and adding or multiplying two numbers shown. 

--set of dominoes (base 12 set is best) or homemade"domino"flash cards made from index cards. Write domino dot configuration in number color from chart. Student selects a domino and adds, subtracts or multiplies the two numbers. Write answers on back for self-checking. Here are free printable dominoes

--deck of playing cards--student chooses two cards and adds, subtracts, or multiplies them. Face cards are valued as such:(ace-1, jack-10, queen, 12 and king-0) Here's a free printable deck of playing cards

--math flashcards for each fact family. Purchase at Dollar Tree or discount store. Here are freeprintable math flashcards. Make flashcards by writing math fact (problem) in color code on one side and the answer on the back. 

--pencil, eraser and scrap paper squares--student writes out a fact family, or writes story problems, illustrating with items to represent (three apples times seven apples). Use for pop quizzes also.

 --tablet of small stickers or mini-stamper marker-- Child makes his own flashcards with stickers and scrap paper, for the math facts family on which he's working. 

--100 chart or cheat sheet. Student uses to skip count by different numbers (multiply), look for patterns, or practice facts. Here are free printable 100 charts. 

--yarn strung with 100 plastic beads. This homemade abacus is a great visual for math operations. Give student a problem, like 7x8, She counts out and add seven groups of eight. 

--food snacks with little pieces; fish crackers, breakfast cereal, raisins, candies, pretzels. Students demonstrate math facts with food while eating it. 

Keep math facts practice kit in the car. Use travel time for homework reinforcement.


Free printables ESL and Spanish lesson plans, language activities, worksheets

Spanish is quickly becoming America's second language after English. Many jobs now require that employees be bilingual in Spanish and English. I'm a former ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher. One of the best conversational language activities was to role-play dialog games.

Here are
free printable Spanish lesson plans, ESL activities and Spanish-English translation. Print ESL worksheets, games, flashcards, matching games, puzzles, crossword, word games, projects--in short interactive activities! Here's a neat concept website in English as a Second Language printables--a user-supported site where teachers have to upload and share their ESL worksheets in order to download and print others.

Spanish Sponge has dozens of free printable Spanish to English flashcards and flashcards for English to Spanish lessons. Print foreign language flashcards for vocabulary, verbs, conversation and other language and translation activities. Use the flashcards to play games involving the entire class. This helps to reinforce pronunciation, diction, dialog and fluency in a learning a foreign language.

ABC Teach is a pay site for educators, but has many free printable ESL worksheets and foreign language lessons to sample. They print in full page pdf printables and have many Spanish lessons geared toward younger students and those who are new the Spanish or English language. This links you directly to the languages pages so that you can choose whether to use the English as a Second Language materials or the Spanish activities for speakers of English. visit EL Civics for ESL worksheets, workbooks and learning games to print free.

Free printable handwriting worksheets, penmanship activities for cursive and print


One of the lesson plans that has virtually disappeared in this digital age is penmanship. Arguably, handwriting, especially cursive, is less important with the advent of computers. Older people (like me!) remember spending hours practicing manuscript and cursive. Now although kids type more, they do still write and should learn to do so neatly. 

There are different methods for teaching penmanship. Zaner-Bloser style is the older handwriting style in which printed letters are written vertically with no slant. D'
nealian manuscript (printed letters) are written at a slant with rounding of letters. D'nealian is more comfortable to write and works with the curves of the hand and body. D'Nealian print also transitions to cursive writing better. Here are free printable penmanship lessons for both styles of handwriting worksheets.

Writing Wizard has many free printable handwriting worksheets and writing practice pages for manuscript (print) and cursive writing practice pages. There are upper and lower case letters. You can print pages with single letters to practice. Kids Zone has really nice free printable handwriting worksheets and writing practice pages. The letters are grouped according the movements needed to write them. For example, there are the "rockin" round' letters and the "up the slide letters." This site is very kid-friendly. There are gobs more free printable writing and reading lessons on printing, tracing, alphabet, Dolce sight words, phonics, poetry and more.

Handwriting for Kids has a collection of free printable penmanship writing practice pages and handwriting worksheets. Look for cursive writing practice pages on this site.. Each of the cursive handwriting worksheets has a coloring picture on it. Children love to color the pictures when they have finished their handwriting practice. Make the coloring page a reward. When they have shown you their five best examples of the letter, they get to color the pictures.

Free Printable Algebra, Geometry, Calculus Math Lesson Plans, Online Scientific Calculators

Algebra, geometry, calculus and trigonometry are challenging subjects for parents and students. Here are free printable algebra worksheets, trigonometry homework help, calculus tutorials and online geometry lessons to help. Links are included for free online scientific calculators and graphing calculators. Use these higher math tutorials, reference (cheat) sheets, tools and homework help online or print for home and school use. 

Web Calc has free scientific calculators for homework help, including online scientific calculators. Meta-Calculator has free online graphing calculators, statistics calculators, scientific calculators and matrix calculators, unit converters and financial calculators for consumer math classes. These sites have free math tutorials as well. 

Free math help has free printable math worksheets and homework help in algebra, geometry, trigonometry, statistics and calculus. Check out free printable charts, printable online tutorials, sample problems, references, explanations and study guides. Students can play online math games too. Webmath has free math worksheets, printables and tutorials on higher math like algebra, trigonometry, calculus and geometry, too. Mathway offers free online scientific calculators, online math tutorials and problem solving functions. 

Purple Math provides free algebra homework help for logarithms, equalities, inequalities, formulas, equations, integers, exponents, properties, radical numbers, rational numbers, absolute value, quadratic equations, parabola, ellipse, hyperbola, circle, linear function, polynomials, factoring, square root and more. Geometry math lessons covers solids, spheres, cubes, triangles, angles, formula, Pythagorean Theorem, theorems, postulates and more. The trigonometry math lessons cover sines, cosines, tangents, Mollwied's Formula and all the various trigonometry functions and identities. Calculus math lessons cover integrals and substitutions.


Free printable Covid 19 Coronavirus lesson plans: health, safety, hygiene activities


The Covid 19 or coronavirus pandemic has made radical changes to our education delivery services. Classroom structure and activities have changed dramatically. How do you, as a teacher, help children understand these impacts? How do you even begin to explain a pandemic for that matter? Here are free printable lesson plans on Covid 19, to explore the science behind it. Lessons cover hygiene, health, disease epidemiology, vaccines, historical and social perspective. Printables are available for all ages preschool to high school and are suitable for homeschool students as well. 

National Geographic Cengage is a perfect place to begin planning your Covid 19 lesson plans. This site offers K-12 interdisciplinary lessons on spread of disease, science, vaccines etc. There are free reading, writing, math and science printables. Use these activities to further understanding on coronavirus prevention. 

Try Engineering offers free Covid 19 teacher resource kits. Pair this with free printable health lesson plans from Kids Health. Click the For Kids link to get free printable health activities, including worksheets, games, puzzles, coloring pages and more. Subjects include: How the Body Works, Puberty & Growing Up, Staying Healthy, Staying Safe, Recipes & Cooking, Health Problems, Feelings, Health Helpers, Healthy Habits and more. Within those categories are science lesson plans on drugs, emotional health, illness, virus, gun safety, feelings and emotions, sexual health, hygiene, nutrition and more. There is also a section for teachers with many free health and safety printables


Free printable American history lesson plans on Benjamin Franklin, colonial America

Early summer is a time when the United States turns its attention to American History. Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July all focus on famous people and events in American history. One of the most famous was Benjamin Franklin. Students study his life and works extensively in school. Who was Benjamin Franklin? He was many things--statesman, diplomat, inventor and leader. Here are free printable lesson plans on Benjamin Franklin to explore this enigmatic character. Born January 17, 1706,Benjamin Franklin was the 15th of Josiah Franklin's 17 children. His parents were poor working class people. Franklin's grandparents had been blacksmith, farmer and indentured servant. Despite these humble beginnings, Benjamin Franklin has been called a polymath or Renaissance Man. A Renaissance Man is a "jack of all trades," a universal man. Most were ancients like Leonardo da Vinci and Cicero and Imhotep who fell into it by birth.Benjamin Franklin is one of a very few people to earn this title of Renaissance Man in modern times. Visit these links for free printable lesson plans on the Renaissance Man.
Why is Benjamin Franklin a Renaissance Man? Franklin was in his lifetime, an author, printer, satirist (political humorist), political thinker, politician, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, soldier and citizen activist. Benjamin Franklin was one of the founding fathers of America. He was one of the "committee of five" to draft the Declaration of Independence. Franklin traveled to England as an ambassador (person who seeks good will between nations). Franklin met many times with King George III. As one of the Sons of Liberty, Franklin published pamphlets educating people about problems with England. He worked against the Intolerable Acts and heavy tariffs. Here are free printable American history lesson plans about Benjamin Franklin and the many hats he wore.

Benjamin Franklin lived what he wrote about: common sense, hard work, community, education and thrift. Benjamin Franklin's book "Poor Richard's Almanack" was a mini encyclopedia for practical information. Franklin The Pennsylvania Gazette, an early newspapers in the colonies. He was the first postmaster general. Benjamin Franklin experimented with electricity and invented the lightening rod. He invented bifocal (double vision) glasses and the Franklin pot belly stove. Franklin began the first public lending library and fire department. He established the American Philosophical Society, was the first governor of Pennsylvania and help found the University of Pennsylvania. Benjamin Franklin worked hard right up to the end of his life. He fought against slavery, tyranny and injustice. Benjamin Franklin died on April 17, 1790. Nearly 20,000 people from many lands attended Franklin's funeral. For more on Benjamin Franklin, please click on any of the links listed here. For more free printable American history lessons, visit Free Printable Lesson Plans and Free Lesson Plans 4U. You can find help with your American history homework here, too.

Free printable Math Curse lesson plans, Science Verse learning activities

Here are some free lesson plans based on Science Verse and Math Curse by Jon Scieszka.

Read Write Think has free printable Math Curse lesson plans. Then for Earth Day, that same site has free printable Science Verse learning activities on earth science. Here are more free printable Math Curse lesson plans from The Teacher's Corner. Ethemes has other free printable lesson plansfrom Math Curse. Global Classroom has free Math Curse learning activities too. Check out this site for free printable Science Verse lesson plans. Here's a packet of free printable Science Verse learning activities. Probably the best lesson plans on both books are to have children write their own math and science verses or learning activities. Use Science Verse as poem templates or poetry frames. Use the learning activities in Math Curse to create your own math story problems.

Free printable Pi Day activities, Sir Cumference geometry, math lesson plans


Children's literature author Cindy Neuschwander, with illustrator Wayne Geehan has written a math adventure series that is perfect for Pi Day on March 14. In the books, Sir Cumference, Lady Di of Ameter and their son Radius solve math problems, geometry puzzles and medieval mysteries. The name puns are only the beginning of the fun. Children learn about geometry, measurement, counting, algebra, formulas and math lesson plans in charming medieval fairy tales. The Sir Cumference books include:
--Sir Cumference and the First Round Table (A Math Adventure) (1997) Lady Di of Ameter and her son Radius help Sir Cumference figure out the most user-friendly shape for the table to seat his knights for their meetings. Great exploratory book for understanding shapes, angles and geometry.
--Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi (A Math Adventure) (1999) It's Radius and Lady Di of Ameter off to the rescue again to save Sir Cumference who has been eaten by the Dragon of Pi. By visiting the cooks in the kitchen Radius learns how the Greek term Pi works in geometry and uses it to solve this math riddle. Use this one for Pi Day!
--Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland (A Math Adventure) (2001) Radius goes off on a quest with Sir D'Grees to battle a Pair of Lells (dragons). In clever geometrical exploits, they teach math lesson plans on angles and measurement.
--Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone (A Math Adventure) (2003) Again brave Radius, assisted by his friend Vertex learn about geometric solids and how to pull out the famous sword Edgecaliber from the cone. There are solid math lesson plans in this fun adventure.
--Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter (A Math Adventure) (2006) Radius must help his cousin Per face down dragons and learn about geometry in a game called Inners and Edges, so that Per can rescue her kingdom and become Per of Immeter. Lady Di of Ameter and Sir Cumference lend a hand.
--Sir Cumference and All the Kings Tens (A Math Adventure) (2009) Sir Cumference and his Lady Di of Ameter discover that when planning a birthday party for the King that using a base 10 counting system (or metric system) is the only way to count this growing crowd of guests.

Here are some free printable math lesson plans based on Cindy Neuschwander books. Teacher Vision has free printable Sir Cumference math lesson plans for Pi Day. Check Education World for a complete unit of free printable Pi Day activities, geometry worksheets and math lesson plans from Sir Cumference geometry books. Then, head over to lesson plans for a bunch of free printable Sir Cumference geometry worksheets. Lesson Planet has many free printable geometry worksheetsthat are specific to Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi for Pi Day.

Free printable Holi Festival of Colors activities, Hindu Indian crafts, lesson plans


Holi is the Hindu Festival of Colors and is celebrated on March 24 in 2016. People in Indian celebrate by tossing colored powder or spraying each other with colored liquid. Holi iscelebrated on the full moon, called Phalgun Purnima or Pooranmash. Holi begins with the Holika Dahan--ceremonial bonfires which purge evil spirits, which are lit one day before Holi. Holi comes in the Hindu calendar month of Phalgun. Holi falls in late March to early April in the western calendar. Here are free printable Holi Indian crafts, greeting cards and lessons to help kids understand the Indian Holi Festival of Colors. Teachers, use these free printable Holi activities for social studies lessons. Homeschool parents, why not explore Holi Festival of Colors with kids?
Got Free Cards has free printable Holi greeting cards and Indian crafts. Holi is a happy holiday, so sending cards would be appropriate. It celebrates the triumph of Prahlada (with the help of Lord Vishnu) over Prahlada's jealous father Hiranyakashipu, king of the demons. The Rig Veda--the oldest of the four Hindu Vedic texts--tells how Prahlada loved Lord Vishnu and was made to sit with his demon sister Holika. Holika was consumed and Prahlada was saved. So bonfires are built at Holi to ward of Holika's wrath.
Craftionary has free printable Holi greeting cards in bright colors. They show images of fireworks, colored chalks and powders and other Holi images. These cheerful messages help spread the Holi Festival of Colors joy. Click "black and white" or "black ink cartridge" or "print in grayscale" on your printer preferences menu. Then children can use cards as coloring pages, too. The Color has free printable Hindu Holi coloring pages, featuring bonfires, people spraying each other, as well as Indian Holi foods like balushahi, Printable Colouring Pages has challenging free printable Holi festival of colors Indian crafts andcoloring pages. Several could be used as Holi greeting cards, place mats or party decorations.
The University of Texas has a free printable Holi lessons and Inidan crafts unit with vocabulary, history, Indian crafts, geography, literature and social studies extensions. Mr. Donn has free printable Holi lessons, worksheets, book connections, Indian crafts and kids activities to help children celebrate the Holi Festival of Colors. This website is always a good place to get well-researched, child-friendly age-appropriate content, especially for world holidays. BBC has free printable Holi activities, materials, lessons, worksheets and discussions on Holi. Perfect for history and world religions teachers. Use for units on Hinduism. There are Hindu Diwali materials to explore another popular Indian holiday.

To make your own Holi spray, mix food coloring and water or dissolved gelatin and water. This way it won't stain. To wish someone a good Holi, say "Holi Hai!" But watch out for the colored spritzer!

Free printable coloring pages on The Little Prince, Le Petit Prince lesson plans


Mark Osborne's cartoon feature "The Little Prince" is turning heads in much the same way Le Petit Prince book, by Antione de Saint-Exupery did in 1943. The Little Prince cartoon leads the list at the New York International Children's Film Festival. The modern world may not be as jaded as WWII France. But perhaps the same need exists for the simple truth and beauty in this story.
It's a book about children, but it's for adults who would be as wise as children. There are many lesson plans for grownups in the story. It's good to see this charming tale translated from French and brought to the screen. Time was when every literate kid had a copy of Le Petit Prince or The Little Prince on her bookshelf (both if she was lucky). But the story was all but forgotten in children's literature lesson plans.
Here are free printable cartoon coloring pages from The Little Prince book and movie. Characters are not named but are referred to as a child would, by their characteristics--The Mother, Mr. Prince, the Aviator, the Snake, the Conceited Man, the Drunkard, the King, the Rose and of course, The Little Prince and his friend the Fox. Each of the grownups peoples his own asteroid. Some represent different adult foibles or character flaws. Others Le Petit Prince respects, like the Lamplighter who is simple. It's an allegorical parable and should be required reading in high school literature lesson plans

Hello Kids has some more free printable coloring pages from Le Petie Prince illustrations. This website has a few more free printable coloring pages from The Little Prince. Coloriages, a French site has free printable Le Petit Prince coloring pages from the book. The movie is a 3D stop-motion animated film does some nice things with animation. To show the passage of time, it uses modern cartoon styles for the present and de Saint-Exupery illustrations from Le Petit Prince in flashbacks. This technique could be emphasized in films in literature lesson plans. Here are lesson plans from Spark Notes on The Little Prince.

Free printable preschool Valentine worksheets, games, crafts, activities


With Valentine's Day right around the corner, Pinterest, email, and blogs overflow with valentine crafts. Alas, many are also costly. So, don't pay. Here are free printable preschool valentine worksheets, games, crafts, learning activities and lesson plans. Fru-gals and fru-guys, use these for Valentine's Day fun.
Over the Big Moon is a mom-blog with 31 pages of free printable preschool Valentine's Day worksheets. They've added an extension pack with even more free printable preschool Valentine lesson plans for children. These kits is perfect for little ones ages 30 months to six. The activities are mostly for pre-readers and emergent readers. All the activities have a valentine theme.
To practice literacy and writing skills, there are letter tracing sheets focusing on the letter "V", vocabulary cards, phonics activities, word and sound matching and shadow letter tracing activities.
For early math skills reinforcement, there are valentine-themed counting worksheets, sorting activities, pattern extensions and sequencing games. There are several activities to develop visual acuity and eye hand coordination, including spot-the-difference games, coloring pages and four-piece puzzles. There are also several pages of cutting lines in different patterns to help children practice scissor skills.
The packets are free to print from the Over the Big Moon website. Or here's an alternate website with the same valentine printables. Directions are available. Valentine graphics could be reused as DIY valentines. Have children cut out pictures and glue on construction paper hearts.

For preschool classroom use, print activities in the craft center. Or put printed activities in a folder. Use as homework or vacation activities. Give as Valentine's Day gifts. Roll in recycled paper towel tube. Add a cute valentine pencil, a few crayons, scissors and glue stick. Wrap in recycled paper that children have decorated and tie the ends. Use for Valentine party favors. Senior citizens may enjoy these activities too,

Free printable Groundhog Day lesson plans, groundhogs worksheets, coloring pages


Okay, who's sick of winter? Hopefully Punxatawney Phil or one of his groundhog cousins is as well. Don't know who those guys are? They're the official Groundhog Day rodents whose shadows determine how much winter is left. Groundhog Day is Feb. 2 and you know people must be desperate for a holiday if they'll celebrate an animal getting out of his den for a stroll. Here are free printable Groundhog Day lesson plans, crafts, games, activities and worksheets with groundhogs.
A-Z Teacher Stuff has a collection of free printable Groundhog Day worksheets and activities. Use groundhog themed lesson plans to teach calendar skills, math, sorting, graphing, writing and counting. Preschool kids love it when teachers incorporate holiday themes into lesson plans. Use free printable groundhogs worksheets for a booklet of activities. Perhaps it could be used as homework?

Groundhog Day is the homepage of the Punxatawney Phil groundhogs club. There are many cute free printable Groundhog Day worksheets and interactive activities for teachers for Feb. 2. Print cut-outs of groundhogs. Learn the science of shadows with lesson plans. Make thumbprint groundhogs. Let kids enjoy coloring pages of groundhogs. For fun hands-on lesson plans, do tracings of groundhogs, which are kind of like shadows. You could throw a Groundhog Day party for preschool, special needs and younger elementary age kids. Serve "groundhog food"(aka trail mix). Give kids bags with dried cereal, raisins, M&Ms and pretzels. Or set out a veggie tray hungry little groundhogs. Use free printable Groundhog Day stories and songs for a snack time sing-a-long. Follow up with some fun practice worksheets to reinforce learning.

Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day lesson plans, Holocaust Remembrance Day activities


Remember, remember the 17th day of Shevat. This day, which is January 27 on western calendar is one of days of yom hashoah "days of remembrance." It isn't a holiday, but it is a holy day and commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day, said International Business Times on Jan. 27. Jews observe Yom Hashoah, Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day, on the 27th of Nissan (April to May in the Western calendar). January 27 is the day the world remembers (or should) when it stood by while millions died--Pole, Slav, Catholic, Russian, red, disabled, dissident, gypsy, gay, and many, many Jewish--in the World War II Nazi genocide. The theme for International Holocaust Memorial Day 2016 is "Don't Stand By" and it comes from a confession of Pastor Martin Niemoller.
"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me."
"Don't Stand By" if you see injustice, persecution, bullying or marginalization. Speak out, whether you identify with those you are speaking out for or not. Don't stand by because an injury to one is an injury to all, says the union slogan. On Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day and all year long, fight against acts of anti-semitism, anti-life, anti-humanity. Don't stand by and let a great injury be repeated. Talk about it and educate yourself. Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has a free activity pack for educators and individuals, to remember.
Don't stand by--share the love. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum offers ways to share stories online and in person. Oral tradition is a time-honored way of preserving memories. Don't stand by and let the flame die. On Yom Hashoah, let the the voices of the dead speak. Most everything that remained of those horrible days are gone. Many holocaust survivors have passed on. But memory is enduring voice, if it's not shushed. Let Holocaust Remembrance Day be a song that keeps on playing your head, long after the music has died. Look at the Holocaust Remembrance Day poster from 2012. It shows, in shadow, the loved ones lost. It's evocative and eerie. It makes you wonder who these shadows were. Don't stand by and let them be forgotten.

Don't stand by--watch movies and read books for Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day. "Sarah's Key" is a translation of "Elle S'appellait Sarah" by Tatiana de Rosenay. It tells of a little girl taken in the Jewish Vel' D'hiv roundup in France and the journalist who uncovers her story. Read or watch "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"--that will put a face on Holocaust for you. Or how about "The Book Thief?" Children can watch this one and empathize. Don't stand by--teach your children that untold numbers of other children perished in the Nazi holocaust and stories like this are their voice. For a non-fiction Yom Hashoah read, try "Night" by Elie Weisel. But be prepared to be haunted for the rest of your life. Read Viktor Frankel's "Man's Search for Meaning"for a Holocaust Remembrance Day you'll never forget.

Free printable Catholic Christian activities, Lenten lesson plans, Bible crafts


The Catholic liturgical year heads into Lent on Feb. 10, 2016. In this most solemn and meaningful season, Catholic school teachers, religious education instructors, homeschool parents will enjoy these free printable Catholic crafts, Christian games, religious puzzles and activities. Use these for lesson plans, party games, holy day activities and family fun.
St. Anne's Helper has links for hundreds of free printable Catholic saints coloring pages. Some are vintage prints and others are styled like stained glass windows. Subjects include: advent, Bible, Christmas, devotions, Easter, holidays, first communion, sacraments, confirmation, saints, rosary, lent, Palm Sunday, prayers, novenas, Our Lady the Blessed Virgin Mary and many more. The Bingo Maker has free printable Bible bingo games and cards for Catholic crafts, Christian games, religious puzzles and saints coloring pages on women of faith, Christian symbols, holy places in the world, Noah's ark and more. DL-TK has a customizable bingo card creator. You can add more or fewer options to Bible bingo games cards and choose from images or text. Some appropriate themes for Catholic include free printable Veggie Tales, Christmas and Bible bingo games.
For more free printable Catholic crafts and Chrisitan games, visit Bingo Card Creator to get free samples of premade and customizable Bible bingo cards. Create your own list or use those in the data bank. Bingo Card Creator has free printable Catholic crafts, Christian games, saints games, prayers, devotions. seasons, holy days and other liturgical bingo cards. Catholic Mom has a free printable Catholic activities index related to Sunday mass and gospel readings. There are Catholic saints coloring pages, Christian games, religious puzzles, mazes, word searches, jigsaw puzzles and Bible bingo. Themes include holidays, saints, Bible and prayers.
Waltzing Matilda has hand-drawn free printable Catholic saints coloring pages arranged according to the church liturgical calendar. There are saints for each month of the year. These are free to print but must not be sold. You could make them into religious puzzles or games for your family, homeschool or CCD. Just don't use them for profit. Become What You Are contains links to dozens offree printable Catholic crafts, Christian games and saints coloring pages. There are holiday and holy day images, plus mysteries of the rosary, Eucharist and general Bible themes. These images are quite intricate and would make good coloring activities for older children who like more challenging crafts. JC Kids has more Catholic printables that could be used for crafts or games.

Print these images to help children respond to religious teachings. When little ones can are actively engaged, in such as by coloring, they find it easier to focus. If you give children's artwork to a senior friend to enjoy, then the child can feel like his coloring is helping someone else, too.

Free printable Chinese New Year, Spring Festival, Lantern Festival lesson plans


Chinese New Year begins late January to late February in the western calendar. It's also called Spring Festival. CNY ends with a lantern festival. Each year, a different animal of the 12-year Chinese zodiac is featured. In 2015, it's Year of the Sheep (also referred to as Year of the Goat). CNY 2015 began Feb. 19. Lantern Festival is March 5. Here are free printable lantern festival craft activities to celebrate.
Visit First-Palette for an easy lantern craft download. The site gives instructions on how to make it. Next, hop on the Craft Train blog for free printable lantern templates. These are super easy to make with preschoolers. Even toddlers can get some early scissors cutting practice in.
Dream Home Decorating has elegant lantern craft printables. DL-TK has loads of free printable lantern patterns and crafts. But don't stop at that page. Visit DL-TK's China page for printable lesson plans, worksheetsts, maps, games, recipes, crafts, coloring pages and party activities on China and Chinese New Year. There are Chinese zodiacs, animals of the zodiac crafts and themed CNY printables.
Print CNY jigsaw puzzles with whimsical animals of the zodiac. There's a whole page on dragons as that magical beast is one of the Chinese zodiac creatures. There are fireworks and lantern activities (light is a theme of Chinese New Year). For more Lantern Festival printables and crafts, hustle on over to this website devoted to Chinese New Year. Here are printable Chinese New Year greeting cards.

You could teach an entire unit on China in elementary school or preschool using these printables. The Lantern Festival is called Yuan-Xiao Festival in China and is celebrated the 15th day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar. To wish someone Happy New Year, say Kung Hei Fat Choy! or Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Free printable tree identification charts, leaf patterns fall science diagrams


 A popular autumn lesson plan is to assign students to make a leaf identification booklet. Here are free printable tree identification charts and leaf patterns and fall craft stencils. Parents, homeschoolers and teachers, make flashcards with these tree and leaf patterns. Use in hands-on Montessori style games for nature science study. Make tree and leaf books. Assign students to collect leaves, press them or make leaf rubbings. Students should label leaves and trees using identification diagrams.
About Forestry has free printable leaf patterns for tree and leaf identification from common trees around the country. The site also has textbook-quality, beautifully detailed free printable leaf coloring pages taken from naturalist Charles Sprague Sargent's leaf plate illustrations. Each page features a different leaf with its corresponding tree, berry, nut and foliage. These printable illustrations include cut-away drawings and other helpful identification data, plus the Latin classification for genus and species of the tree. The website gives the leaf and tree names in their American variation. Use these printables for taxonomy lessons on KPCOFGS (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family Genus and Species) as developed by zoologist Carolus Linnaeus.
Arbor Day offers several printable nature science resources and online tree and leaf identification activities. Here's a link for About Forestry's leaf and tree identification homepage. From here, follow the links for different information about conifers, deciduous trees, hardwoods, and other assorted trees from different biomes and habitats. Don't miss these free printable forest map activities showing location and region of different types of trees. Scroll down to find the region and tree type you are looking for. Here's a free printable tree and leaf matching game. Print as coloring pages of leaves. Here are websites with free printable fall leaf patterns for autumn crafts. Here are free printable leaf stencils for decorations and children's activities.

Free printable Columbus Day lesson plans, navigation activities, historical maps, coloring pages, exploration worksheets, medieval crafts


Columbus Day is observed on the second Monday in October in the U.S. Columbus Day is October 12 in 2015. Schools typically mark the holiday with Columbus Day activities Here are free printable
Columbus Day lesson plans and worksheets to create history and social studies units. Print free Christopher Columbus themed games, coloring pages, lessons, puzzles, crafts and cut and paste activities.
Columbus Day honors the 1492 landing of Columbus's ships on the Caribbean Islands, which he named the New World. Columbus isn't the first European to see the Americas, but he did provide the
earliest records and maps. Use these free printable lesson plans to explore medieval history, science,
math, navigation, travel, exploration and culture surrounding Columbus's voyage. Lessons suit special and general education and homeschool students in all grades.

The Holiday Zone has pages of free Columbus Day printables for preschoolers and lower
elementary students. There are coloring pages, crossword puzzles, mazes, word searches, printable
readers and more. Teachers will love the free printable Columbus Day vocabulary cards with
illustrations. Print vocab words on card stock, laminate and use each year for pocket charts and word
walls.
The Mariner's Museum offers free printable exploration history lesson plans for older students. High
school students usually get left out when it comes to hands-on activities. But not here: they can study
exploration, navigation, cartography and medieval scientific equipment. Make an astrolabe, sextant,
quadrant and compass using free printable templates. Print, color and label diagrams of ships and
navigational tools. The teacher link has lesson details and answer key. Student links contain printable
activity pdfs.
Coloring.ws has free printable Columbus Day coloring pages. There are realistic images of
Columbus, ships and map activities to color and There are two world maps plus one map each of Italy
(Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy), Spain (Columbus sailed under the auspices and flag of Queen
Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain) and San Salvador (first place Columbus's ships landed). DL-TK has more Columbus Day printables. Here are more coloring pages of ships and boats.

Apples 4 the Teachers has more free printable Columbus Day worksheets. Enchanted Learning has more interactive Columbus Day lessons on maps, navigation, history and more.
Assemble these printables into a booklet to use as homework or for projects. Special needs students
who sometimes need more structure and direction might use these activities to demonstrate

Free printable Memorial Day lesson plans and patriotic Remembrance Day printables


Memorial Day, celebrated the last Monday in May, doesn't just kick off summer holidays. Also called Remembrance Day, the holiday honors veterans and those lost in U.S. wars. It's also referred to as Decoration Day, when family commemorates loved ones lost by putting flowers on graves. Teachers and homeschool parents, here are free printable lesson plans, worksheets, crafts and games to teach kids about this national holiday.
* Memorial Day Printables: About.com lists pages of free printable patriotic holiday games, word searches, crossword puzzles, writing activities and coloring pages. Why not print the packet and use for homework. Or let kids complete it while listening to stories on American war history. They could also watch one of these Memorial Day movies. Check my blogs Film Femme Fatale for educational movies for Memorial Day.
* Free Memorial Day Resource Unit: Homeschool Deals links to several free resources for Memorial Day printables and activities. There are Medal of Honor and soldier coloring pages, history worksheets, holiday games, reading and writing lessons and patriotic printable crafts. There are poems and literature-based activities. When I was young, teachers would have us write out seasonal poems in our best penmanship and create our own illustrations. Then she'd mount poem and picture on construction paper. This made a nice take-home project.
* Remembrance Day Printables: Free printable Memorial Day activities are suitable for 4th of July and Veterans Day, DL-TK offers pages of holiday printables. There are greeting cards, coloring pages and crafts. My favorite is a printable mini-book on Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae's stirring World War 1 poem "In Flanders Field." The poem is the basis for the poppies worn on Memorial Day. Print the booklet in black and white so students can color images.
* Patriotic Coloring Pages at Raising our Kids has dozens of free printable American history coloring pages featuring, military, national memorials and landmarks, soldiers, historic images, national liberty symbols and more. Have students use these as greeting cards. Assign them to color images and write a message on the back. Mail or better still hand-deliver to seniors in nursing homes. Memorial Day is particularly poignant for elderly who remember wars and lost so many loved ones.