Minded Crate Activities, Updated 2013-- On Teachers Pay Teachers

Hello, everyone! I just updated my other post about my Minded crate at my other weblog this evening. The following file is featured on Teachers Pay Teachers (CLICK HERE) and can make a significant difference in how you run your intermediate/upper elementary classroom! If you have ever heard students bemoan, "I'm bored" or "There's nothing for me to do", this crate offers 71 activities students can work on after completing work. Or it may serve as pure enrichment time on a Friday afternoon, whichever you feel works with your students the best. Many of the activities include printable components, which include foldables, fill-in components, and games. Your students will have the opportunity to delve into their areas of talent and make wonderful, memorable products that may inspire them to delve even farther into something they truly want to do. Some of the activities can be completed in one sitting; others may take over a week, but they tap into independent learning styles.

The crate focuses on multiple intelligences and has eight sections-- Math-Minded, Science-Minded, History-Minded, Literary-Minded, Travel-Minded, Art-Minded, Music-Minded, and World-Minded. You need a typical crate from the store, eight durable hanging folders, and plastic bags/sheet protectors/etc. for storage. You will need to cut out some of the activities, but many come ready to go. Make about five copies of each activity provided to start the year, and then work from there. Check-off lists where students indicate the dates they completed activities are included with each section, too, so you know how your students make choices with the crate over the course of the year.

I didn't mention if you should count the completion of the lessons for incentives or not-- it's up to you and depends on your classroom environment. I am likely going to encourage my students to complete at least two activities a month, though-- because of the variant times it takes to complete each. Some take perhaps 15 minutes while a few may take as long as a week or two. If your students have maybe 10-15 minutes a day to dedicate to their choice activity, perhaps during morning work, everything may work out well.

Or you can not use the crate at all and use the 71 activities as enrichment for the whole class. The math section was one I had a tremendous time developing. There are puzzles and mind-benders that may very well motivate your students to think in divergent ways about geometry, fractions/decimals/percents, algebra, and number sense concepts.

I included an optional activity-- a United States state and capital game. Also, the beauty of most of the activities is that they can be completed a countless amount of times.

The activities came straight from my mind-- and if any of these activities have been shared before in any other capacity (and likely some have), I did not use anyone's specific ideas as direct inspiration. I did include spelling/vocabulary word math that I have seen used many times before, but there are activities I included in the file I have never seen before. I also included ideas I used at other times with my students-- a mineral identification activity and a microscopic investigation, which I'm sure you've seen typed out in different capacities online, too.

Overall, I had so much fun compiling this file. The graphics inside are all original (triangle sketches, rectangle/square sketches, etc.).

I know I have promised a video in the past, too. I may be able to finally make it this year! I am sorry about my long delay from blogging and online-- but we all go through changes and take breaks. Thank you for your support!