Best of 2016

Whew! 2016 has really been a fabulous year! It is hard to believe in a few short days we will ring in a New Year. In celebration of the wonderful year it has been, I am teaming up with many, many TpT friends to highlight our bestsellers of 2016. For you it means those bestsellers will be discounted 20% from December 28th to December 30th. 

To make things a little easier for you, this will be a hashtag sale. In the search bar on TpT, enter #bestof2016sale. You will see all of the bestsellers of the TpT sellers that are participating in this sale. 

Below, you will find my Top 10 Bestsellers of 2016. You will not find all of these by searching the hashtag sale, but all of these resources will be on sale. 

 

#1: Geography and Map Skills Interactive Notebook- This interactive notebook comes with 13 templates, plus a cover template and table of contents. This is a great way to teach geography and map skills. Students remain engaged through the hands-on portion of the interactive notebook. In addition to the hands-on activities, students produce a product that is useful to develop good study habits. For some of the templates there are a couple of versions to choose between for differentiation purposes. This has been my #1 bestseller this year.

#2: American Revolution Interactive Notebook Templates- If you are teaching the American Revolution, this is the perfect product for you! This resource comes with nine templates, individual template directions, pictures of templates in an interactive notebook, a unit cover page, a table of contents page, and possible answers and information for each template. Students love using interactive notebooks!

#3: Grammar: Parts of Speech Interactive Notebook- Grammar Interactive Notebook covers all parts the of speech you teach your students in your language arts classroom. Perfecting the parts of speech can be fun and engaging! In this bundled unit, you get eight separate interactive notebook units to use in your classroom. teaching nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, interjections, and conjunctions just got easier.

#4: Civil War Interactive Notebook Templates- If you are teaching the Civil War, this is the perfect product for you! This resource comes with eight templates, individual template directions, pictures of templates in an interactive notebook, and possible answers and information for each template. The templates included are: Terms to Know, Economies of the North and South, King Cotton, A Nation Divided, Causes of the Civil War, Civil War Leaders, Turning Points in the War, and Women of the Civil War.

#5: Reward Coupons and Incentives for Middle and High School Students- Reward coupons and incentives for Middle School and High School Students is a great behavioral management system. Students are able to earn reward incentives through their kind deeds, actions, and performance in class. This is great for those students who need a little incentive to get busy on an assignment or who need a little praise for effort. These are great for students in grades 5-12! My students love them!

I keep these reward incentives in an index card holder for easy access, and it takes up less space around my desk. The students are able to ‘cash-in’ their incentives at certain times that I set up in the classroom. I have found these reward incentives save me a lot of time correcting negative behavior, and we are able to focus more on positive behaviors and learning. The fabulous thing about these incentives is you can use them year after year!

#6: American Government Interactive Notebook Templates- If you are teaching a unit on American Government, this is the perfect product for you! This resource comes with 14 templates, individual template directions, pictures of templates in an interactive notebook, and possible answers and information for each template. Students love using interactive notebooks!

The templates include: Terms to Know, Articles of Confederation, History of Democracy, U.S. Constitution, Articles of Confederation vs Constitution, The Amendment Process, Bill of Rights, Rights vs Responsibilities, Levels of Government, Branches of Government, Individual Branches of Government, and Voting: Every Vote Counts!

#7: Stargirl Novel Study- If you teach the book Stargirl, this resource will help you greatly! It is 82 pages of material to use before, during, and after reading the novel. Included in this novel study are pre-reading lessons and activities, vocabulary, chapter questions and discussion, journal writing prompts, character analysis, literary analysis, and reading skills. Check out the preview to get a glimpse of how it is organized.

#8: Bill of Rights Match-Up- The Bill of Rights Match-Up is a great resource to use when teaching a unit on government. This resource contains ten badges with the amendment numbers, ten badges with what each amendment states, a recording sheet, and a handout for the students to illustrate the meaning of one amendment. 

Students will match the amendment number card with the card containing what the amendment states. Once the students have sorted and matched the cards, they record their answers on the recording sheet. In addition to the recording sheet and center cards, there is a printable for the students to choose one amendment and illustrate it so that others will be able to understand its meaning. 

#9: Civil War: Major Battles PowerPoint and Organizers- Civil War {Major Battle PowerPoint Presentation and Organizers} contains 50 pages total. There is a 25 page ppt covering major Civil War battles. There is a 25 page document with organizers to help your students organize the information for the major battles. 

The battles included are: Fort Sumter, First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), Shiloh, Fredericksburg, 
Antietam, Siege of Vicksburg, Gettysburg, Chattanooga, Spotsylvania, and Appomattox Court House.

#10: Prepositional Phrase Task Cards- Prepositional Phrase Task Cards are great to use in your classroom as a center activity, as skill reinforcement, and as practice for upcoming assessments. Your students will read each task card, identify the prepositional phrase in each sentence, and record the answer on the Prepositional Phrase Recording Sheet. There are 30 Prepositional Phrase Task Cards. The answer key is included.

Remember these bestsellers will only be on sale from December 28th-December 30th. So hurry on over to Right Down the Middle with Andrea to check out the resources. Remember to use the search bar and hashtag #bestof2016sale to find all of the resources on sale. 

I have a couple of fun giveaways coming up very soon! Make sure you like and follow me on Facebook and Instagram (rightdownthemiddle). You will not want to miss these upcoming giveaways! 

What Rights Do You Have?

In the United States, citizens are guaranteed certain rights many people in other countries dream of having. What better way to show mastery of these basic rights than with a fun, engaging, hands-on activity! The Bill of Rights Match-Up is just the right center activity to add to your treasure chest of resources. 

The Bill of Rights Match-Up is a great resource to use when teaching a unit on government. This resource contains ten badges with the amendment numbers, ten badges with what each amendment states, a recording sheet, and a handout for the students to illustrate the meaning of one amendment. 

Students will match the amendment number card with the card containing what the amendment states. Once the students have sorted and matched the cards, they record their answers on the recording sheet. In addition to the recording sheet and center cards, there is a printable for the students to choose one amendment and illustrate it so that others will be able to understand its meaning. 

How do I set up centers in the social studies classroom? 

Incorporating center activities in the social studies classroom is really not a hard task. Here are some helpful tips to get you started on setting up centers in your classroom. 

• Designate a specific place in your classroom that will work for your center activities. I always found my centers worked better on a table in the back of the room. It allowed the students an opportunity to transition to the center, work independently, have enough space to spread the activity out on the table, and it was free of other distractions. 
• Choose a hands-on activity that goes along with the unit of study you are going to teach. 
• Print the needed activity pages. If the activity requires pieces that will be used over and over by students, I recommend laminating the pieces for durability. 
• Place everything for the particular activity in one spot, such as an envelop, an accordion file, or a tupperware container. 
• If you have more than one center activity per unit, make sure you label the center pieces so students know which pieces go with each center activity.

What are the benefits of using centers in my social studies class? 

• Students are able to be independent learners. 
• Students are able to explore and learn at their own pace. 
• Students are able to take risks without the fear of failure or not having the correct answer. 
• Students become confident in their learning. 
• Students can express themselves freely in the center. 

What do I do when the students complete their center activity? 

Because students are able to work independently and at their own pace, students will complete the center activity at different times. Always have enrichment work or assignments handy for those early finishers. When all students have rotated through the center, take an inventory of the center activity and make sure you still have all of the parts of the center activity. If you are missing a piece of the center activity, make a note of it so you can replace the missing piece before filing the center activity away to use the next time you teach the unit. This will help you be organized and prepared for the next time you pull out the center activity. Clean the center area. Next, get ready for your next center activity. 

If you teach social studies and do not use center activities on a regular basis, I hope you will consider giving centers in the social studies classroom a try! You will not be sorry you tried!

If you teach social studies, check out the Bill of Rights Match-Up. You students are sure to love it!

Happy Teaching!