Giveaways Archives | Jewel's School Gems by Jewel Pastor

10 AMAZING STEM RESOURCES TO TRY TODAY (PLUS A GIVEAWAY!)

May 15, 2018 By Jewel Pastor Leave a Comment

May has always been a special month to me. It’s not only because both Teacher Appreciation Week and Mothers’ Day are celebrated in May, but also because it’s my birth month! To celebrate being blessed with another year of life, I decided to invite a few of my STEM seller friends to help me put together a list of 10 amazing STEM resources that will help you engage your students right to the end of this school year and beyond! Make sure to check out the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post for a chance to win a $50 TpT gift card and ALL the STEM resources listed below.

Pirate STEM Challenges

Arrrrr you ready to earn your Pirate Name? Earn gold bullion by completing these Pirate STEM Challenges and receive a REAL pirate name. Design and construct a Pirate Hat, a Pirate Spyglass, Pirate Weaponry, a Pirate Ship, a Pirate Flag and a Pirate Treasure Map!

STEM School Box Challenges

STEM School Box Challenges is a packet of 10 STEM Challenges that will fit into a school box. This packet contains: Challenge Label, Inside the Box Student’s Directions, Teacher’s Page with the directions and materials, and Student STEM Journal. These activities can also be used for STEAM Activities, Maker Spaces, Tinkering Labs, or After School Clubs. Your students will love designing, creating, engineering, predicting, comparing, building, and reflecting about their challenges. Students will problem solve and think critically as they complete their challenges.

STEM Challenges on a Budget for Grades 2-5

This pack of STEM Challenges on a Budget for Grades 2-5 includes 40 pages. It contains 20 lesson plans accompanied by 20 activity sheets. Each lesson has its own worksheet that is printer friendly in black and white. This pack is made for teachers like you who are on a small budget but want to add a lot of fun to your STEM lessons. Each lesson plan has a picture of the finished product and have been tested in a classroom and can all work. Some of the challenges included are Lego Tower, Spaghetti Structure, Tee-Pee Designer, Pipe-Cleaner Challenge, and Playdough Challenge.

Assembly Line Science Plant Pack

Just in time for Father’s Day, Summer School Fun and a whole lot more, this Assembly Line Science Plant Pack helps your class create a perfect gift for that special someone! Your students will love applying for jobs, getting hired to create a one of a kind special gift to take home, or share with someone! This pack includes everything from applications, assembly line signs, job tags, and printable station activities! What a great way to get your students thinking about what positive attributes they have that would help your company! Your students will line up for some creative science connections!

Rocket STEM Challenge

In this age of space exploration, scientist are looking for efficient ways to create spacecrafts. Let your kids experience what it is like being an aerospace engineer. Get your class excited about blasting off into a new school year with this FUN Rocket STEM Challenge! This resource includes the following: 5E Lesson Plan, Teacher Background, Informational Reading Passage, STEM Planning Sheet, and Rebuild Sheet.

End of the Year STEM Challenges

This End of the Year STEM Challenges include:
1. Mini Golf Course (Hole in One) Challenge! Students must design a Mini Golf (one hole) that can be successfully completed in one stroke (a hole in one!). They must also craft a putter. Certain types of angles and obstacles in the course are required in their design.
2. Balloon Rocket Car Challenge! Students must design a bottle rocket or car that is propelled only by the air escaping from a balloon.
3. Trampoline Challenge! Students must construct a trampoline that can bounce an object (such as a marble) after being dropped from 12 inches (1 ft) high. They must measure the height of the bounce and build the contraption that creates the highest bounce.

Each STEM Challenge has photo examples, a list of materials needed, prediction section, brainstorming section, trials 1, 2, & 3, final results section with drawings, and a reflection section.

Sailboat STEM Activity

The Sailboat STEM Activity is a great way to incorporate the engineering design process into your classroom or program! Many are familiar with the raft buoyancy challenge, and this takes it one step further by adding a sail! Now students must build a boat to hold a specific weight as well as incorporate aerodynamic principles to make it move.

Push and Pull STEM Challenge

This Push and Pull STEM Challenge has everything you need in one unit. This package contains full color posters, a slide presentation about the Inquiry Learning Process, blackline masters for the classroom and a letter home, and a step-by-step guide to setting up your room and completing the STEM challenge.

Bible Stories STEM Challenge BUNDLE Volumes 1 and 2

Have you ever wondered if STEM and Bible stories can be combined? Well, the answer is YES. Try my Bible Stories STEM Challenge BUNDLE Volumes 1 and 2 and see how fun and engaging the study of Bible stories can be when combined with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)!

Each STEM challenge contains a lesson plan; interactive notebook sheets; vocabulary, planning, and reflection sheets; photos of possible finished products; and sheets with alternative spelling.

I created the STEM Challenges included in these bundles especially for our church’s Christian Youth Bible Camp and they were a hit among students of all ages. Kid-tested, I’m pretty sure your students will really enjoy the Bible Stories STEM Challenges included in these bundles!

Do you want to win a $50 TpT gift card and ALL these amazing STEM resources?

Now, here’s your chance to win a $50 TpT gift card and ALL the STEM resources featured above! Two lucky winners will be chosen on the 23rd. The first will win the gift card and the second will receive all the resources featured here valued at more or less $100! I hope you win! Good luck!

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8 RESOURCES THAT WILL BRING MARCH MADNESS TO THE NEXT LEVEL (PLUS A GIVEAWAY)

March 12, 2018 By Jewel Pastor Leave a Comment

It is not just college basketball players who get to have all the fun during March Madness! Teachers are CRAZY busy in March with test prep, St. Patrick’s Day, upcoming Easter holiday, and more! We have put together some fun activities to help make lesson planning a little easier. Plus, follow the Rafflecopter link at the bottom of the page to win a $50 TPT gift card and ALL the products listed below!

Easter STEM Challenge Bundle

Are you constantly on the lookout for resources that promote learning and engagement even during the holidays and near school breaks? Why not try STEM projects for a change! This Easter STEM Challenge Bundle provides hours of engineering fun while making sure your students do their research, follow the engineering design process, and reflect as to what worked and did not work. Your kiddos can design and build an Easter egg basket, an egg launcher, and an egg conveyor belt using simple and affordable materials. You and your students will surely enjoy these Easter STEM activities. Check it out HERE!

Easter Activities Bundle for Autism and Special Education

This set of activities, worksheets and flashcards with real life photos are all you need for an Easter basket! They are great for kindergarten and preschool students as well as for early age and children with autism. Your students will learn the vocabulary, improve alphabet skills, answer questions, and build sentences using words on the topic.

Fool’s Gold – Reading Mystery

This print and go St Patrick’s Day Reading Mystery incorporates a range of ELA skills in one. The main focus is for students to read the text carefully, and reread to complete the activities. Students must complete the tasks after reading each passage to discover clues. Each clue requires students to critically think to decide which suspects they can eliminate from their suspect list. The last suspect remaining is who needs to be arrested for the ‘Fool’s gold.’ There is a video hook included for optional use. It has been designed to ask questions about what is going on. That’s when they must read to find out. It can be viewed HERE.

The Case of The Misplaced Pot of Gold – Math Mystery

This St Patrick’s Day, send your children on a mystery mission to find out where Leroy accidentally left his pot of gold. Completing math questions is required to unlock clues, which will help narrow down a list of locations of where Leroy’s pot of gold is. There is a video hook for optional use to introduce this math activity. A written story is also included in the PDF case file. This fun, NO PREP activity is available in versions for grades 1-6! Find the individual grade links within the video hook product description HERE.

Multi-Step Word Problems

For many classrooms, we are starting to prepare for upcoming state testing. Break this product out this time of year to help students with multi-step word problems. This product allows the teacher to break students into differentiated groups where students can also present how they solved the problem. This product also works with whole class instruction, too.

Sir Gus Unit 5

Many teachers teaching second grade CKLA this year are already reading or about to start Sir Gus Unit 5. This product will help improve and assess student comprehension and grammar skills for this book. In addition, this unit now includes a spelling component.

Countries of the World Research Project

Need to incorporate research writing into your curriculum? This is a perfect product for introducing report writing centered on your student’s choice of country. Students will complete their own mini-book about the country of their choice along with an oral presentation.

Included in this Countries of the World Research project are:

Teacher Directions
I Can Statement Cards
Research Graphic Organizers
Final Draft forms
Parent Letter and
Grading Rubric

Several editable pages are also included so that you can customize the project to fit your needs.

Calculator Word Fun Task Cards

These calculator word fun task cards are a fun and engaging way for your students to practice math computation tasks (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). Do you remember typing numbers into a calculator and then flipping it over to see a word? Maybe you typed in .07734 to see the word hello? Now your students will have the same great memories as they practice math skills, and then check their answers using a calculator. These task cards can be used as a math center, with small groups, for fast finishers, or even as a whole class scavenger hunt. You can use the cards alone, or use the task card answer sheets included. Included are 48 task cards with 24 whole number cards and 24 decimal cards to allow for differentiation.

Do you want to win a $50 TpT gift card and ALL these fabulous resources?

To bring March Madness to the next level of awesomeness, here’s a giveaway that you can join for a chance to win a $50 TpT gift card and all of the resources in this blog post. I hope you win! Good luck!

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MY 20 MOST FAVORITE FEEDBACK ON MY MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHING RESOURCES ON TPT

September 11, 2016 By Jewel Pastor 26 Comments

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As I write this blog post, I can’t help but feel so blessed. After more than two years of being a Teachers Pay Teachers resource creator, I finally gained more than 5,000 ratings and comments! Woohoo!

Believe me, I feel so nervous whenever I hear a feedback notification from my phone. I guess it’s only natural that I don’t want to get negative feedback, but it always feels good whenever I get a good one. I’m so grateful for all the four-star ratings my creations get, but I feel even more thankful to each person who takes time to leave meaningful feedback so I can continually improve my work and be more inspired to do more fantastic resources.

Out of all the more than 5,000 ratings and comments I got, I chose my 20 most favorite feedback on my Math and Science teaching resources. I love how most of the teachers who left these feedback were very specific on the parts that they liked and their students found engaging. I feel so proud reading how my resources made teaching specific concepts so much easier and how my items can be adapted across grade levels. I also enjoy reading how kids found my resources so much fun that they had to stay behind to keep working on them and how my creations encouraged meaningful conversations among students. More than the financial rewards, my heart is filled with joy knowing my Math and Science teaching resources are making a difference in so many classrooms all over the world!

To all the teachers who downloaded my resources and used them in their classrooms, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. Please keep the awesome feedback coming. Please know I read and appreciate them all!

Without further ado, here are my 20 most favorite feedback on my Math and Science teaching resources on TpT (Please click on the images to see the resources in my TpT store):

On August 31, 2015, Candice A. said:

Wow, thank you for making this. I couldn’t have done it better myself. The part I love the most is all of the number sense concepts that are addressed.

On December 22, 2015, Marge H. said:

I homeschool four grandchildren by Skype. This packet is excellent. There is something for everyone. Thanks for all your hard work.

On January 14, 2015, Shauna Harris (TpT Seller) said:

Teaching graphing to second grade will be a snap with this product! Thanks for bundling them and I can’t wait to get into graphing now!

On July 13, 2015, Sarah K. said:

I purchased this towards the end of the year to support my third grade Graphing Unit. It was a big help with re-teaching skills and I’m looking forward to using it throughout this upcoming year to help my students review what they have learned and re-teaching where needed.

On October 20, 2015, Buyer said:

Great resource for 3rd grade common core bar graphs. I especially liked that there were graphs with different scales (some 1, some 100) and the drawing pages were especially useful.

On July 7, 2015, LISA M. said:

Love these!!! I have been using them for extra activities and practice. An excellent package, well prepared!

On September 4, 2016, Nichole said:

I waited until using this product before rating it, because I wanted to give it as honest a rating as possible. Thank you for creating this flipbook. I am terrible at helping students make flipbooks, but your product made it so easy! The students were able to do the actual construction themselves. Please make other awesome stuff!

On July 10, 2016, Stephanie Joyce (TpT Seller) said:

My students loved the format of the flip book as it allowed for use of evidence from their shared reading of the PowerPoint and it also allowed for creative input on their part. Great slides and overall product!

On April 12, 2016, Kathryn W. said:

My 6th graders loved this project! One of my tougher students even stayed behind and told me that he really liked it. Kids were very engaged. Having taught primary and upper grade, I can attest that this resource can be adapted across grade levels. Thank you!

On August 23, 2016, Love Teaching Love Learning (TpT Seller) said:

I used this resource with my fifth graders at the end of the year last year. I love how kid friendly it is! It made teaching the body systems so much easier.

On March 9, 2016, Ashley Hills (TpT Seller) said:

LOVED the PowerPoint! This is my first time teaching this standard and the PowerPoint saved my life! THANK YOU!

On March 15, 2016, Debra C. said:

This is a great resource. The power point is colorful and complete and the coloring sheets are great! I love all of the wheels as the students really enjoy manipulating them as we discuss and review the concepts.

On August 21, 2016, Dolly J. said:

As always, a quality resource from a quality seller! Thank you so much!

On February 23, 2016, Melissa H. said:

This product is awesome! My students were so engaged in the PowerPoint and learned a lot about landforms! The flipbook was a lot of fun and was engaging as well. Thanks for a great product!

On November 30, 2015, Donna M. said:

Thank you so much for this wonderful PowerPoint. It was well-written and the slides were appropriate for my third grade students. My students remained engaged in the lesson from the 1st slide to the last. Thank you so very much!

On March 14, 2016, Eileen C. said:

Excellent! Graphics/photos were engaging and sparked all sorts of conversation from my students. Thank you for sharing!!

On May 3, 2016, Becky A. said:

This was great! Just what I needed to get started with my kiddos on matter. The slides are visually attractive, and the review questions were great. Thank you!

On March 24, 2016, Stephanie J. said:

This PowerPoint has beautiful pictures, is worded very well, and includes all the information needed to teach about insects. Thanks for such a great product!

On May 8, 2016, Kassidy T. said:

This was an absolutely beautiful PowerPoint, and the informational content was meaningful and comprehensible for my students. The true/false was a great way to do a quick check on their learning.

On August 8, 2015, Allison Robinson (TpT Seller) said:

Used pieces of this with my Kinders! They loved it!

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So, there you go – my 20 most favorite feedback on my TpT Math and Science teaching resources! Now, to celebrate this personal milestone of reaching more than 5,000 ratings and comments, here’s a GIVEAWAY just for you! Enter the raffle above to win one of five (5) TpT gift cards worth $10 each! That’s $50 in total! Thanks for reading and I hope you win!

3 FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL ACTIVITIES THAT YOU CAN DO IN YOUR SCIENCE CLASS

July 28, 2016 By Jewel Pastor 28 Comments

To make back to school easier for you, my TPT friends and I decided to offer you tips through our blog posts. We’re also giving away a $25 TpT gift card each that can go towards your back to school preparations! Read my post below on how you can have a great start to your year and find out how you can win.

We’ve all heard it. Set expectations right at the start. Though I agree that classroom management should be at the top of a teacher’s list at the beginning of the year, I also believe that first day back at school should be fun for students. Science classes are no exception. There’s nothing worse than making kids feel that this awesome subject will be borrrrrring because as teachers we failed to provide engaging first day of school activities right at the beginning of the year.

Here are three first day of school activities that I really think students will appreciate in your science class:

1. Secret Code

This activity will surely capture your students’ attention. And why not? Everybody loves a secret! Give each student a copy and see how engrossed they will be in cracking the code! You can also turn the activity into a race to make it more exciting. Don’t be surprised though if the room suddenly becomes too quiet. I suggest giving a prize to the first three students to decipher the message. Everybody knows how fun it is to win something, especially during the first day of school! You can discuss the message with your class and use this activity as a springboard to any activity you have in mind for introducing yourself as well.

3 First Day of School Activities That You Can Do in Your Science Class by Jewel Pastor | Read about three first day of school activities for your science class, grab an all about me freebie, and have a chance to win a $25 TpT gift card! — **Click on the image to see this resource in my TpT store!**

You can easily make your own secret code by turning letters into symbols through the Wingdings font or just grab my A Secret Emoji Code. Not only do you save time, but students will also think you’re cool. You just can’t deny that emojis are the rage nowadays and can easily be connected to STEM/STEAM. Wink, wink.

2. All About Me

Who says all about me activities can’t be hands on? Instead of making your students fill out another all about me sheet this year, why not create an All About Me Cube? You can download the template I have in my Free Resource Library by being a Jewel’s School Gems subscriber.

Print the template out, make multiple copies and give each child a copy. Have each student do a self-portrait and fill out the details being asked for. Have kids color and/or decorate. Each student should then cut the template and assemble the cube. If you have time, let the children swap cubes to learn more about each other. Why you can even do a sharing session in small groups or as whole class. Have a designated place in your classroom where all your students’ cubes can be displayed. If you want bigger cubes, just make bigger copies of the template.

3. Bingo

This one will surely be a blast as bingo allows your students to have fun while learning. Anybody who knows me know I love using bingo for introducing or reviewing concepts. In fact, I have several bingo resources in my TpT store on various science concepts.

My Science Tools Bingo allows you to introduce or review most (if not all) of the different science tools/equipment that your students will encounter in your science classroom or laboratory. Just print out the different cards plus a call sheet or the call cards. Cut out the call sheet or the call cards and put the squares or rectangles into a container. Hand out one bingo card to each child and let the fun begin! You can act as the caller or assign a student to act as one. The caller should pull out one image of a science tool, describe it, let the children guess what science tool is being described, and show it to the class. Your kiddos will then place coins, counters, blocks or something similar on the called image if it is on their card. Once a predetermined pattern (blackout, T, line, U, or square) is made on a card, the child with that card calls out BINGO!

There you go – three first day of school activities that you can do in your science class. Now, to make your first day of school preparations more fun, join my giveaway below through Rafflecopter! All the best and I hope you win!

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Get another chance to win another gift card by visiting It Happened in 3rd. Click on the link or her logo and continue the hop! All the best!

TOP 10 WAYS TO DE-STRESS FOR TEACHERS: PART 2

May 16, 2016 By Jewel Pastor 15 Comments

Here is Part 2 of my list on the Top 10 Ways to De-stress for Teachers! Happy reading!

Read Part 1 here.

6. Grab a cup of coffee or reach for that snack. I know many will say that food shouldn’t really be used to deal with stress, but let’s keep it real here. Who doesn’t love having that occasional treat to feel better, especially after a long tiring day?! Certainly NOT these educators:

Judith M Darling: Before I retired in Alaska, I would head for Vagabond Blues coffee shop in Palmer, get a caramel latte, sit by a big window and relax while looking at the mountains and watching people walk by. I miss those days very much.

Sara E.: A nice hot cup of tea and some peace and quiet to work on my TpT products before my kids come home. A Coke Zero, a bowl of popcorn and some ‘fixer upper’ are also a fave.

Sheena Lannin: Curl up on the couch with a good book and chocolate! Or red wine and chocolate! Or a cuppa and chocolate! Notice a theme here?

Karen Walkup Hester: I’ve gotten in the habit of stopping at Sonic and getting an ice cream cone to enjoy on the way home. Probably not the healthiest, but I sure look forward to it!

7. Enjoy music. The calming power of music is well-known. It can relax the mind, absorb attention and provide much-needed distraction. These teachers can attest to the soothing power of music:

Chrissy Webster Hutzel: I play clarinet, tuba, and sax with a bunch of retirees in an accordion band. We rehearse weekly and perform two to three times a month at nursing homes, retirement homes, churches, and Oktoberfest celebrations. So much fun!

Joya Crawford: My favorite thing to do is turn up the music on my drive home and sing along as loud as I can… Gets all the stress out! My first couple years of teaching I had a mix tape I listened to every day on the way home. Yeah I just admitted I’m old…

Keri Powers-Pye: My 2-year-old and I turn on the Baby Einstein Pandora station and dance like fools around the living room! Our personal favorite is the reggae version of Five Little Monkeys.

Sally Bondelevitch DeCost: I have a cup of tea, turn on mindless TV, and surf the net then, once a week, I sing with my singing group. Singing always makes me feel better, and I love the people in my group!

Jeanine Arlotta Schneider: I love listening to the spa station! Relaxing music always helps me!

Chris: Playing guitar and having a beer. Then, crash.

8. Read a good book. Reading can actually help reduce stress faster than other methods. According to a research, just six minutes of reading can help reduce stress levels by more than two thirds. Take it from these teachers:

Crystal Lee Gillespie: I like to read novels. Getting caught up in a good book takes my mind off a stressful day. I especially love being able to sit outside and read when the weather cooperates.

Najda Zada: This one’s a tad boring, but most often I’d like to give myself a “me” time by reading a book or scrolling through my phone with a cup of tea.

Joey Pastor: I go to the gym, read a good book and sleep!

Stacey Carlson: A good book, a cup of tea, and a few yummy treats.

9. Walk or play with a pet. While having human friends to talk to and do fun activities with is awesome, having a pet is also actually quite beneficial. Pets are great stress relievers. Owning a dog, for example, is found to reduce blood pressure, boost feel-good chemicals in the brain, and decrease stress hormones. These teachers prove the fabulous benefits of having a dog:

Michelle Stern: Spending time outside with my dog is relaxing and soothing.

Tracy Willis: Hiking trails with my dog, Gracie.

Christine Barnett: I usually take 10 minutes when I get home to sit and cuddle with my dog! Pets are such great stress reducers. Just 10 minutes with her calms me down!

Lori Mcdonald: I walk my dogs who are so happy to see me, they can’t get to me fast enough. They love me unconditionally.

10. Do what makes you happy! At the end of the day, I believe it’s important that we do whatever makes our hearts sing. I think we should do whatever makes us forget the stresses of the day (as long as it’s not doing drugs, of course! LOL!). You might get some ideas from these teachers:

Karen Crawford: I love to dive into a Dollar Store or Target Dollar Spot (Retail Therapy). Yahoo!

Kelly Rivett: A hot bubble bath with candles flickering and a movie going on the ipad. Or simple window shopping trip to the mall.

Jackie Clarke: After the children have left, I make a cup of tea and reflect on the day as I plan for the next.

Meghan McLane Mathis: Lately, I’ve been focusing on trying to accomplish something else UNRELATED so I can get that feeling of successful accomplishment that I didn’t get in class that day. Sometimes I’ll clean up the kitchen, mow the lawn, pull some weeds, fold the pile of laundry that’s been sitting in the laundry room since the weekend before, or even vacuum a room or two. It isn’t “fun,” but a lot of time I can’t have “fun” yet because I’m still stewing over what happened at school. By getting SOMETHING accomplished, my brain can relax a bit. Maybe today was a mess in class…but my stovetop is spotless!!! From there, I can do something more enjoyable. Sit on the back porch and read a book, watch a dumb TV show, play with my kids, etc.

Jennifer Booker Smith: I knit, and a teacher-heavy Stitch n B* group has kept us all sane, and probably made us better teachers. It gives us a “safe” place to vent and we get useful feedback for the issues causing us stress. (“Safe” because we don’t work together.)

Alisha Hughes: This year back at full time work has been out of control! (As I take deep breaths) I actually scooter part way home each day to catch the ferry. Great way to destress and even better when there is a sunset. I also play PS4 or puzzle games which takes my mind completely off work. A glass of red wine helps, too.

Personally, going to the mall, eating some sushi, and buying toys and clothes for my toddler relax me. Some days, it’s just taking a walk around our farm, feeding the chickens, watering the plants, or chasing my daughter in her mini-playground. I also enjoy meditating, reading my Bible, and praying.

There you have it, my teacher-friend! I hope you got some ideas to make your days more relaxing and less stressful! Thanks again to the wonderful teacherpreneurs who shared their de-stressing tips. Just click on their names to be taken to their TpT stores.

Now, to add some more feel-good chemicals to your brain, let’s do a GIVEAWAY!

Enter the giveaway through the Rafflecopter app for a chance to win a $25 TeachersPayTeachers gift certificate! This is also to celebrate my second TpT anniversary tomorrow (such a blessing!). The winner will be announced on my birthday on the 23^rd of May.

Happy de-stressing and I hope you win!

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