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BrainyCats Learning

Our store focuses on resources for math, ELA, and US History, for students in grades 4 - 8. Many of the resources are designed for beginning-intermediate level English Language Learners. The goal is to provide resources with simplified language that still allow students to understand grade-level academics.

Our store focuses on resources for math, ELA, and US History, for students in grades 4 - 8. Many of the resources are designed for beginning-intermediate level English Language Learners. The goal is to provide resources with simplified language that still allow students to understand grade-level academics.
Super Bowl 2018:  Informational Text and No-Prep Activities
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Super Bowl 2018: Informational Text and No-Prep Activities

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This resource includes an assortment of math, reading, writing and critical thinking activities, all involving different aspects of the 52st Super Bowl on February 4, 2018. It's perfect for upper elementary and middle school students who need activities that allow them to review concepts while engaging them with the excitement of the big game. Activities include: Logic Puzzle: use the clues to figure out the team mascot and average points per game for four new teams that entered the NFL in 2034. Informational Text: The Pope of Football. The Super Bowl trophy is named after coach Vince Lombardi. This informational text details events from Lombardi’s life. Comprehension questions for “The Pope of Football”. Two Word Searches with Hidden Messages featuring the Eagles and Patriots starting players Make the Score: Students must figure out what combination of touchdowns, field goals, and point after touchdowns resulted in a given score. Did They Make the First Down? Students read a scenario and must determine if the team was able to move the ball at least ten yards in four plays. Great practice for integer addition! Scrambled Mascots and Cities: Students unscramble place names and mascots and match them together in this fun word puzzle. Predictions: Students use statistics from this year’s Super Bowl teams to predict the winner and final score of the big game. Students are also given sentence starters to justify their predictions. Create Your Own Team: Students can take a break from calculations and reading and exercise their creativity by creating a team name, choosing team colors, and creating a logo to put on their team helmet. Expository Prompt: Students write an expository prompt in response to one of Vince Lombardi’s quotes. A prompt analysis, pre-writing activity, rough draft, editing and final draft sheet are included. Answer keys for all activities ********** Looking for Informational Texts with comprehension questions and no-prep activities with the same theme? Need a last-minute lesson for your sub> Looking for a way to perk up your students on Friday afternoon with some engaging and educational activities? Check out some of these products: Myth and Superstition : Informational Text, Readers Theater, and More Benjamin Franklin: Informational Text and No-Prep Activities
100TH Day of School with Benjamin Franklin: Informational Text and No-Prep Activities
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100TH Day of School with Benjamin Franklin: Informational Text and No-Prep Activities

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This Benjamin Franklin - inspired twist on the more traditional observation of the 100th day of school, gives your middle school students a little education with their fun. (Or, maybe, a little fun with their education!). The no-prep activities in this packet all have to do with the $100 bill and Benjamin Franklin, and differentiated levels make them are suitable for 5th -8th graders. There is also a self-reflection journal that allows students to analyze their performance in the first 100 days. This 100th day, make it all about the Benjamin Franklins! Activities included are: Math word problems with answer keys. (Two sets: one with one-step problems and one with two-step problems) Informational Text: Text about Franklin’s accomplishments. Two different reading levels (app. 600 and 900) with comprehension questions. $100 Words: Find out how much your name is worth, and try to discover some $100 words. Franklin Quote Completion Challenge: Let your students step into Benjamin Franklin’s shoes and dispense words of wisdom based on his well-known quotes. Quote match: After coming up with their own endings to the quotes, students can try to match the actual beginnings and endings. Quote- Libs: Like the popular story fill-in game, but with Franklin-inspired quotations Creative Writing Prompt: What would you do if you found $100? Find the Difference: Examine twelve $100 bills and find the one that is not like the rest Find the Match: Examine twelve $100 bills and find the two that are identical. Reflection on the First 100 Days: Students think about what they’ve accomplished in the first 100 days, and what they would like to accomplish before the end of school.
Pi Day 2017: No-Prep Art, Math, Figurative Language and Writing Activities
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Pi Day 2017: No-Prep Art, Math, Figurative Language and Writing Activities

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Celebrate Pi Day with these fun, no-prep activities that focus on the number (and its homophone) in a variety of ways that will engage and educate your elementary, middle, and even high school students. Activities in this resource:Activities in this resource: Agamograph: This engaging art project shows the word and symbol for Π when viewed from one angle, and the approximation 3.14 when viewed from another. Discovering Pi: Students measure the diameter and circumference of circles to determine the value of pi for themselves, them use their discovered value to predict the circumference of a circle they draw. Pie Idioms: Students use context clues to predict the meaning of idioms that include the word “pie” Hidden Message Pi Word Search: Students find the names of people throughout history who worked on calculating the value of pi. When they are done, the unused letters will reveal a quotation about pi. Uncovering Pi: Use PEMDAS to find the first ten digits of pi. Memorizing Pi: Create a story to help memorize the first ten digits of pi.
Valentine's Day 2018:  Math, Writing, Science, Informational Text and Other No-Prep Activities
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Valentine's Day 2018: Math, Writing, Science, Informational Text and Other No-Prep Activities

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Everyone adores Valentine's Day. With candy, fun, and a chance to take a break from the books , it has everything your students love. With this resource, you can let your students enjoy the Valentine's Day while completing a variety of activities that keep them learning and engaged Activities in this resource include: Love Among the Robots: Students use logic to determine which members of the Robotics Club exchanged cards and what type of candy they shared on Valentine's Day. Famous Couple Match-Up: Build student background knowledge with this activity that requires students to match up famous couples in history and literature. While the students are cutting and matching, you can lead a discussion about each pair. Equivalent Fraction Match-Up:: Students “repair” the broken hearts by matching equivalent fractions to bring the left and right pieces together. Valentine’s Day Make-a-Word: Challenge your students to use the letters in Valentine's Day to make as many words as possible. Informational Text: Valentine’s Day celebrations around the world. Comprehension Questions The Language of Love: Students match different ways to say “I Love You” with the correct language. It’s Not Valentine’s Day: Students can stretch their creative muscles and enjoy a break from “mushy love stuff” by creating new celebrations for February 14. Circulation Station: Students read a paragraph about the process of circulation in the body and use the information given to label a diagram of the heart. Heart and Blood Word Search: Students search the grid for words related to the heart and blood
Addition Grid 45: Math Puzzles to Develop Algebraic Thinking
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Addition Grid 45: Math Puzzles to Develop Algebraic Thinking

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Help your students practice addition and subtractions, sharpen their logic skills, and strengthen their problem-solving abilities with these Addition Grid puzzles. There are ten different sets. Each set contains an EXPERT level puzzle, an ACE level puzzle, a NOVICE level puzzle and an answer key. These puzzles are perfect for early finishers, homework, centers, cooperative learning, extra credit, and even times when you need a fun but educational activity at the end of the week. Because they reinforce basic skills and have simple instructions, they are suitable for many grade levels, and students of varying degrees of English fluency. The Novice, Ace, and Expert levels help you differentiate for the variety of abilities in your classroom. In addition to practice with basic number facts, the puzzles also encourage development of skills needed for algebraic thinking, such as thinking backward, solving for an unknown, and eliminating solutions.
Groundhog Day 2017:  Informational Text and No-Prep Activities
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Groundhog Day 2017: Informational Text and No-Prep Activities

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Groundhog Day 2017 is on February 2. Treat your students to some quick and educational activities to celebrate the day. From an informational text telling about the ancient origins of Groundhog Day to a maze requiring the students to use all four arithmetic operations on two and three- digit numbers, your students will have a chance to review skills and learn some interesting facts along the way. Activities: Informational Text: The Origins of Groundhog Day Comprehension Questions Math Maze: Help the groundhog find his shadow by finding the answers to basic two- and three-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems. Groundhog Day Word Search Make-a-Word And, don't forget that Super Bowl Sunday is right around the corner!! Super Bowl 2017: Informational Text and No-Prep Activities
Number Sense:  Problem-Solving and Vocabulary Connections
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Number Sense: Problem-Solving and Vocabulary Connections

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The problems presented in the worksheets are similar to those on the third grade STAAR math test, making this packet ideal for math centers, seat work, early finishers, and older students who need extra review over the basics. It is so important for math students to have a sense of what a reasonable answer is and how to connect the words in a math problem to the process needed to find a solution to the problem. This packet, originally designed for middle school students new to the US and the English language, guides students through everyday vocabulary terms that can give hints about the arithmetic operations needed to solve problems. Different ways of finding a solution are also presented, including using number lines and drawing models. The packet includes: MORE or LESS Activity Sheet: This page helps students develop number sense by thinking about how the expected solution compares to the original amount. MORE or LESS Problem-Solving Activities: These five pages use the problems on the activity sheet to explore problem-solving strategies, vocabulary connections. Graphic Organizer: Students can keep track of their vocabulary connections on the organizer. Operation Sets (14 pages, total): Each of the four basic operations is explored in these sets of worksheets. The first sheet in the set guides students step by step through solving a problem, while subsequent sheets gradually hand over more and more responsibility to the student. The final sheet in each set requires the student to work independently. Answer Sheets: Answer sheets have been included for all activities.
Make 13:  Math Puzzles that Develop Algebraic Thinking
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Make 13: Math Puzzles that Develop Algebraic Thinking

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Help your students practice basic operations, sharpen their logic skills, and strengthen their problem-solving abilities with these “Make a Number” puzzles. There are thirteen different sets. Each set contains an “expert” level puzzle, a “novice” puzzle with hints, and an answer key. These puzzles are perfect for early finishers, homework, cooperative learning, extra credit, and times when you need a fun but educational activity at the end of the day of before vacations. Because they reinforce basic skills and have simple instructions, they are suitable for many grade levels, and students of varying degrees of English fluency. ” The Novice and Expert levels help you differentiate for the variety of abilities in your classroom. In addition to practice with basic number facts, the puzzles also encourage development for skills needed for algebraic thinking, such as thinking backward, solving for an unknown, and eliminating solutions.
NCAA Tournament:  No-Prep March Madness Reading and Math Activities
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NCAA Tournament: No-Prep March Madness Reading and Math Activities

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Final Four, Elite Eight, Sweet Sixteen. In March, conversation is peppered with all these terms as focus shifts to the NCAA basketball tournament. Use the excitement surrounding thispopular sporting event to engage students in activities that provide practice in revision, math, writing and reading comprehension. In addition, this resource contains word puzzles, which are great for strengthening student focus, spelling, and problem-solving abilities. Activities in this packet include: Reading Passage and Comprehension Questions: History of the tournament Revision Passage and questions: The Gonzaga mascot Basketball Idioms: Students use context clues to determine the meaning of common idioms derived from the game of basketball. Creative Writing: Students will create an appropriate mascot for fictional Earhart University (named for Amelia Earhart), and will write a paragraph to describe the mascot and why they chose it. When done, they will illustrate their paragraph. Two Word Searches with Hidden Messages Word Criss-Cross Puzzle Blank Tournament bracket: Students can research game outcomes, fill in the bracket and predict the outcome of future games Math Madness: Gracie has spilled coffee all over the paper with the statistics from the Elite Eight games. Students must use math to help her reconstruct the chart.
Elephants in Trees:  Math Puzzles to Develop Algebraic Thinking
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Elephants in Trees: Math Puzzles to Develop Algebraic Thinking

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Younger students can develop algebraic skills by working on these problems, while older students who already take algebra can use the problems to review systems of equations. This resource contains four 8.5” x 11” posters with one problem each, to be used in math centers or for a get-up-and-move classroom activity. The posters are available in black and white or color. In addition, there is a sheet with all four problems on it which can be used for individual work. A separate sheet, for recording work and answers, is also included, as well as the answer key.