Last week, we covered the first two steps of the three-step process for incorporating student interests into their daily activities: identifying what excites your students and deciding when to embed those interests. Today, we’re diving into step three: creating engaging, interest-based activities. And the best part? We’ll explore two tools that makes this process incredibly easy—AI and Canva!

If you missed last week's newsletter, you can check it out here:

Creating a variety of engaging activities can feel overwhelming, but with the help of AI and Canva for Educators, it becomes both simple and fun! In this session, we'll explore how to use Canva to design customized worksheets and passages, and leverage AI to generate the content effortlessly!

Did you know educators can sign up for a free Canva for Education account? This gives you full access to all the premium features of Canva Pro—at no cost! For the worksheet shown on the left, I simply searched "addition worksheet" in Canva’s template library. From there, I customized the template to target specific skills and added engaging, student-friendly images to make it more appealing.

Adapting Canva’s templates to fit your classroom needs is quick and easy! Ready to dive in? Download the PDF guide available in the Resources section.

Creating word problems, reading passages, and writing prompts based on your students' favorite topics can be time-consuming. But with the help of AI, it’s now faster and easier than ever! If you haven’t tried Magic School AI yet, I highly recommend giving it a go!

When I first started using the platform, I felt overwhelmed by all the options available. Then I discovered Raina, the chatbot—and it was a total game changer! Instead of navigating through all the tools, you can simply type a prompt, and it will generate exactly what you need. Just remember to carefully review the AI-generated content, as it may not be perfect. If the result doesn’t quite fit, refine your prompt or type, “I’d like something different” (providing more specific details works even better). Another option is to edit it yourself in the document you're creating. Want to enhance your content with WH- questions? Just ask!

Check out the video tutorial below to learn how to create a reading passage tailored to a student’s interests while targeting a specific literacy skill. This step-by-step guide shows how to go from generating content with AI to producing a ready-to-print resource you can use right away!

Reading Passage created using Magic School AI and Canva

With Magic School AI, you can effortlessly design entire units, lessons, math word problems, writing prompts, and decodable passages rooted in the Science of Reading. The possibilities are endless!

Instead of generating a passage and adding pictures later, we can create a specific passage based on a student's favorite picture using the AI platform ChatGPT. Check out the step-by-step instructions below!

Stickers are a simple yet powerful tool to enhance worksheets, visuals, and schedules. The key is to use stickers that match your student’s favorite character, activity, or topic. You might be surprised by the variety of stickers available! If the interest is very niche, try searching for images on Google, copy/pasting them into a document, resizing them to sticker size, and printing them. Cut them out and tape them wherever your student will appreciate them.

Continuing with our focus on prevention in the Prevent-Teach-Respond framework, next week, we'll explore offering choices as a tool to empower our students.

Check out the Winter Sports unit in Themes First!, which includes original songs, books, and activities that support students’ skill development and generalization with content that’s fun, accessible, and theme-based. These monthly units now include an expanded Social Studies suite, containing fun, theme-related activities that reinforce cultural engagement. Included in all Themes First! units are lessons, activities, and worksheets for group and independent work at a wide range of levels.

The next Themes First! release, An Ocean of Life, is ready to prep!

💡Print all the activities you plan to use for the upcoming month as soon as they become available. Put printed activities in a "prep" area equipped with a laminator, file folders, Velcro, labels, and baggies. If you have a large laminator, laminate all the activities at once! When you and your team have a few minutes to spare, laminate, cut, and Velcro. It helps to organize activities in trays by "Needs to be Prepped" and "Finished." Don't forget to teach your team how to prep the activities and to model this new expectation. Check out the How to Prep a Month-Long Themes First! Unit below.

Count Down to Winter Break

Schedule Changes

Class Parties

Structuring Crafts

Classroom Routines

Introduction

Teaching Routines

Classroom Slide Deck

Arrival Routine

Check Schedule Routine

Expectations

Resources for the New Year Series

STAR Media Center Updates

Caregiver Survey

Home-School Communication

Reset Checklist Visuals

2023-2024 Tuesday Tips & Tricks Newsletters

Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns via email or phone. I'm also available to chat via Zoom Mondays from 7:30-8:00 AM and 3:00-3:30 PM. If these times do not work for your schedule, please email me and we will find a time that will work for both of us.

Use the link below to ask questions about this week's Tuesday Tips 'N' Tricks and/or give suggestions on future topics.

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