The Tutor House

DIY Jenga and System of Equations

Have you read DIY Jenga yet? It's an e-tutorial about how to change Jenga into an educational game where you can write on the surface of the blocks and erase it later. My students frequently request this game and I love that we can pull it out at a moments notice and start playing.

For some reason this year, I have a lot of Algebra I students. When system of equations started flowing into their lives, they were stressed. It was just a different way of thinking than they were used to this entire semester.

I decided to blend together systems of equations and DIY Jenga to make it a more playful experience. Basically all you need to do is write one equation per block. If you are looking for equations in a flash, visit Spark Notes.

To play the game, write the equations on the blocks. The players will each draw out two blocks and solve for the solution using elimination or substitution methods. Graphing may just take a lot longer, but in a tutoring situation...that is okay too.

Game is over when the tower tumbles over. Rebuild and play again. Just a side note about the solutions, they may not work out nicely as in whole numbers, but allow the student to use a calculator to check their work.

I couldn't help but share this fun systems of equations video, it's quite catchy and I love that the teachers are so willing to make a video-all to help their students remember!

Lil' Baker Summer Day Camp

It's done! After many hours of testing each recipe and being on the brink of giving up, I finally hunkered down and finished my Lil' Baker Summer Day Camp. This camp is awesome. Each recipe is tried and true. I wanted recipes that anyone could do! I went through a lot of recipes and at one point, I thought this project was out to get me...but then I had a break through.

Who is Lil' Summer Day Camp Made For?

Just about anyone! I started doing my own summer day camps last summer and had a blast. The best part was being able to do them with my kids. There is something special about setting a time and place to make magic happen. Lil' Summer Day Camp could be just that for your family. I also kept those in mind that want to run their own day camps, but don't want to spend hours of planning to get an amazing and memorable camp experience. Read more about starting your own day camp here.

What's Inside?

I included 5 days of lesson plans for you to create and explore baking with a science perspective. Each camp day is allotted about 2 1/2 hours of time. The recipes all fit with in that time frame, given that the kids don't get too crazy on you!

Here's a sampling of what recipes and science you'll get:

Style your own apron and hat
No-Bake Cookies
The Science Behind Cookies
Cake From Scratch
Measurement Games
Freezer Jam
Homemade Butter
How Yeast Works
90 Minute Bread

If you want to use the day camp as part of a real day camp setting, I included a super helpful estimation sheet to help you decide the cost of each day camper attending. You can pick up a copy of Lil' Summer Day Camp for $10! That's cheaper than taking your kids to the movies and this camp will build lasting memories too. If you buy this for business, include the price of this into your day camp fee.

Rave Review from Lauren of Literacy Mom of 3, "Oh, my goodness, this packet is incredible! You have included so many content areas into this plan with such fun activities."

A Peek Inside

I will share with you one of the fun activities that you get to do in this summer day camp. Homemade Butter! I asked my kids where butter came from and surprisingly, they actually knew cows were involved. I was expecting them to just tell me, "the store".

The ingredients for butter are simple, heavy whipping cream and a little salt. We used Ziploc containers that hold about 4 oz of cream. Fill the container about 2/3 of the way full and drop in a clean marble. Why a marble? This helps as they are shaking the container to hear when to stop.

Snap the lid on and tell them to get shaking! My kids were such wimps, after 5 minutes they were worn out. It takes about 25 minutes to make butter. Check out the pics to see each little step of the process. You'll love my technical terms!

Please share on your favorite social media outlet with others that liked this post as much as you! I appreciate you coming by today.

3 of you have a chance to win a copy of this summer day camp right now! Starting today, leave me a comment (with your email address) on this blog post telling me your favorite kitchen memory as a kid. I will pick a winner at random on Monday, June 10 2013 at 11:00 PM MST. Winners will be notified by email and given 3 days to reply before another winner is chosen.

Teach Ratio with LEGO Bricks!

I adore LEGO's so much. They have been an amazing tool for teaching math and getting students actively engaged in learning. One of my most popular freebies is LEGO Ratios. Students will find the ratio of red, blue, and yellow bricks. Then they make their own LEGO creation to "send" to LEGO corporation for them to recreate in larger than life scale! They fill in their brick amounts in a ratio table to tell them how many of each piece they'll need.

My students have loved this activity so much. I've enjoyed watching them be engaged and grasping ratios in a new light. Download your copy here and if you liked this freebie, will you please pretty please share it with your friends on Pinterest or Facebook or even Google+ ? Thanks for coming by today.

17 Secondary Teachers to Follow on Pinterest

Why 17? Because it's a sweet number! This group of teachers are some of the sweetest and kindest people out there. Just like a sweet shop, we have lots of choice here for you! From English Language Arts and Foreign Language, all the way to Math and Art! We follow each other on Pinterest and thought you might like to too. Have you been over to visit me on Pinterest? Hop on over!

I see amazing ideas from this group. Let me introduce you to some of them!

Bio: Hi! I'm Kim from Teaching Math by Hart. I am forever planning and thinking of new and innovative ways to teach math to my students. Why, you ask? Believe it or not, I think learning Math should be FUN and it should be REAL! If you are looking for some ideas to engage your students in math class, come check out Teaching Math by Hart - in the middle years classroom!

Follow Kim of Teaching Math by Hart on Pinterest.

Bio: Welcome! I am Connie from Teach it Write. I am a retired English teacher and I’m thrilled to now write curriculum full time that I love to share on my site http://teachitwrite.blogspot.com. My book, The House of Comprehension, shows how the elements of literature form the structure of any fiction or non-fiction text. Check it out on my blog site or on www.teachitwrite.com.

Follow Connie of Teach it Write on Pinterest.

Bio: Hi Everyone! It's Kristy from 2 Peas and a Dog. I am a Canadian middle school teacher who loves to pin and blog about things related to Grades 6 and up.

Follow Kristy of 2 Peas and a Dog on Pinterest.

Bio: Hiya there! I'm Jamie but you may know me as MissMathDork! I am a lover of all things mathematical! Patterns, sequences, geometric shapes, if it's mathematical, I'll find a way to make it fun! Want to see some of my ideas? Check out my ideas and pictures at www.missmathdork.com! You won't be disappointed!

Follow Jaime of Miss Math Dork on Pinterest.

Bio: Hello, there. I’m Charlene Tess from Simple Steps to Sentence Sense. Grammar is my specialty. I have always loved taking sentences apart and putting them back together, and I successfully taught my students using the simple steps method for over three decades. Visit my blog to get helpful tips on grammar, usage, and writing.

Follow Charlene of Simple Steps to Sentence Sense on Pinterest.

Tammy Manor!

Bio: Hi my name is Tammy and I've been teaching high school English for 13 years now. I know that teaching can be very stressful. My school is constantly changing the book list and I've taught every grade 6-12 as well. As a result I have unit plans for a large variety of novels, plays and memoirs. Come check out my store on TpT for a variety of ELA materials. Follow my blog for teaching related posts.

Follow Tammy on Pinterest.

Bio: Meet Sabrina, author of A Space to Create. Find teaching resources for art teachers and classroom teachers alike. My art lessons teach students the creative process enabling them to build confidence and have amazing results. Come visit my blog A Space to Create! (K-12)

Follow Sabrina of A Space to Create on Pinterest.

Bio: Hi there! I'm Gina from All Things Algebra. I have taught Algebra and Pre-Algebra for seven years and have a passion for creating activites and games that engage my students. If you are interested in finding ways to have more fun in math class, head on over and check out my blog!

Follow Gina of All Things Algebra on Pinterest.

Bio: Hi there! My name is Amy Brown and I write a blog called "Science Stuff." I am a 29-year teaching veteran of biology, chemistry and AP biology. I love science and I love kids, so I have the best job in the world! Hopefully, I have passed my love of nature and the environment on to many students. My blog has tips and tricks for teaching science as well as a lot of free science teaching materials. I hope to see you there!

Follow Amy of Science Stuff on Pinterest.

Bio: Hi! I’m Krystina from Numbers Rule My World. I love incorporating hands-on activities and technology into the classroom for Math: grades 7-9. If you’re looking for great ideas about math then you should come on over and check it out at Numbers Rule My World!

Follow Krystina of Numbers Rule My World on Pinterest.

Bio: Hello, my name is Jennifer Smith-Sloane. I am a Middle School Math and Special Education teacher. I have a strong passion for differentiated instruction to meet the needs of each learner in and out of my classroom. I love seeing the light in a student's eyes when something finally clicks and I do everything that I can to make that happen as often as it can. Visit my blog 4mulaFun!

Follow Jennifer of 4mulaFun on Pinterest.

Bio: Hey! I am Ann Marie from Innovative Connections. I enjoy blogging about various topics: Projects and lessons going on in my classroom, ideas I've learned or ideas I've thought of at the most random of moments (At 2 a.m. when I can't sleep, I can come up with some stellar ideas), teaching resources I find beneficial to fellow teachers and/or bloggers. Due to the wide range of grades I've had the pleasure of teaching, Innovative Connections caters mostly to language arts but loves to share and collaborate with teachers/bloggers of various grade levels.

Follow Ann Marie of Innovative Connections on Pinterest.

Bio: This is Madame Aiello, author of Teaching FSL. Although I've taught other subjects as well, French as a Second Language has always been my passion. My focus is the higher grades, since I taught high school originally but teach grade 7 & 8 since six years ago. I share lots of resources, blog about second language teacher specific topics as well as those that apply to all teachers.

Follow Madame Aiello of Teaching FSL on Pinterest.

Bio: Bonjour! Hola! I'm Liz from Liz's Lessons. Languages are one of my passions, and I love teaching with technology. I create fun lessons for teaching secondary French, and Spanish. I also make formative assessments and technology activities in English, that can be used in any secondary classroom. If you are looking for some engaging activities for your classes, be sure to stop by Liz's Lessons!

Follow Liz of Liz's Lessons on Pinterest.

Bio: I'm Andrea Kerr from For the Love of Teaching Math. It is my mission to change traditional math classrooms one game and activity at a time. If you like to incorporate hands-on, group activities and games into your classroom, check out For the Love of Teaching Math!

Follow Andrea of For the Love of Teaching Math on Pinterest.

Bio: I'm a middle / high-school teacher and I love to create ELA, Social Studies and Geography related resources. I blog at Addie Education - Teacher Talk... come on by and see some of the fun things I do with my students.

Follow Addie Education on Pinterest.

Bio: I'm a high school English teacher in a 1:1 school who loves books and fostering creativity. My blogs are Mrs. Orman's Classroom and Hunger Games Lessons. I share my teaching resources on TeachersPayTeachers.

Follow Tracee Orman on Pinterest.

Volunteer Gift Ideas

All of these are simple to put together! All you need is some white cardstock and a printer that can print in color. Check out the pictures and then download all the tags you need. Please be sure to share this with your friends! You can use this for more than just volunteers at school.

Mentos
You "Ment-O" So Much to Us!

Reeses Pieces
My class loved you to Pieces! Thanks for helping.

Whoppers
You were a Whopper of help!

Diet Coke, Classic Coke, and Moutain Dew
Thanks for all your help
Thanks for Poppin' in!
What would I "dew" without you?

Click here to download it right now for FREE! If you enjoyed these tags for thank you gifts, please share my blog with your friends. Have a great one everyone. Note: these tags were made when I blogged over at Kids Cog Works, just so you know-it's still me!

I Appreciate Teachers and Tutors-That's You!

This is seriously one of my favorite weeks ever during the year. We get to celebrate the very people who shape and teach young minds! I appreciate teachers and tutors so much. My heart is warmed when I see teachers and tutors working together to help a child do their best. So let's celebrate each other!

Exclusively here on the blog, you can pick up one of my products for free. I decided to share with you this week my Army File Folder Game Board. All you need to do to pick it up is type in ARMY at the checkout to update your cart. This is such a fun game board, my boy students have thoroughly enjoyed playing with it. I use it with little army men that you pick up at the dollar store. Tanks are welcome too! Follow this link to add it to your shopping cart. This special freebie is only available until May 9th, 2013, 11:59 PM EST.

I also want to throw a sale in my blog shop and Teachers Pay Teachers store. Here on the blog, you will get 30% off all digital items (blog or logo design not included). Use promo code: TUTORTEACHER to get your entire shopping cart discounted. If you buy from me here on the blog, this promo code will work all week! The code can be used from NOW until May 12th, 11:59 PM EST.

If you would rather shop at my TpT store, just use this code: TAD13 at check out and get 28% off your total! This sale runs from Tuesday, May 7th and goes until Wednesday, May 8th. So hurry-don't miss out! When you shop on TpT, go add the items you want to your cart and wait until Tuesday...then check out. That way you can browse as long as wanted.

Super Brothers File Folder Game
~~$2.00~~ on sale: $1.60

3-5 Common Core Aligned Playing Card Math Mats
and
6-8 Common Core Aligned Playing Card Math Mats
~~$8.00~~ each on sale: $5.60

Student Gift Ideas

The end of the school year is a bittersweet one for me. I love seeing my students grow and succeed over the year, but I also am excited to see that many of them won't need me next year! They have gained confidence in their ability to learn and I can see a lot of future success for them.

One of my favorite novelty toys is Boinks! I was introduced to them when I was actually in middle school. They were trying to hype up an inventors contest and pulled out Boinks to show us. Colleen and Kevin Murphy invented Boinks (read more about the history here). Such creativity and so simple. When you look at them at first, most people think they are Chinese finger traps, but they actually have a spring like action to them. Check out this video to see how you can use them!

They are a very affordable student gift too! You can buy them directly from Boinks. Get several people together and do an order. I made these awesome gift tags that you can use with them too. All you need to do is print them on card stock and cut out. Fold the lower lightly over so you can cut the slits on the the dotted lines. Press a Boink flat and slide through the slit. When you get it all the way through, twist the Boink to make the openings more round. You should be able to put together a gift for less than $1.00 per student with this idea.

You can download it for free! Get it right now here on the blog. Add it to your cart below.