5 Easy Ways to Celebrate Women’s History in the Middle School Classroom

Looking for meaningful (and manageable) ways to celebrate Women’s History Month? These simple ideas help students build background knowledge, explore inspiring figures, and engage in thoughtful activities all month long without adding stress to your lesson plans.

1.  Celebrate Every Day with Mini-Biographies

Bring Women’s History Month into your classroom daily with short mini-biographies and an interactive calendar. 

Each day, highlight a different influential woman and share a few quick facts or accomplishments. Students can respond with a quick write, discussion, or doodle note. 

This consistent exposure builds background knowledge in small, powerful ways. (Grab it here.)

2.  Complete a Meaningful Research Project

Guide students through a structured research project where they learn about an influential woman and create a final project to share. 

An accordion-style book makes a creative and engaging option. 

Students gather information, organize their learning, and create a display-worthy project that can be shared through presentations or a classroom bulletin board.

3.  Profile Inspiring Women 

Choose individual women to spotlight and discuss as a class. For example, students can learn about Malala Yousafzai and her advocacy for girls’ education and equal rights. 

This listening comprehension unit is all about Malala Yousafzai. Students can practice critical skills including listening, sequencing, analyzing, and writing while celebrating an amazing woman in history!

4.  Explore Women Through Poetry

Introduce students to powerful female poets and their voices. Students can read a doodle article about Maya Angelou and then analyze her poetry in this fun resource.

Or set of learning stations as students learn all about Emily Dickenson.

Discuss themes of courage, identity, and perseverance. Students can respond through discussion, written reflection, or by writing their own poetry inspired by these authors.

5.  Try a Creative Mini-Research Project

Short on time? Have students complete a mini-research activity where they create something visual, like a 3D picture frame featuring an influential woman. 

Students research key facts, write a short summary, and design a display piece to showcase their learning. These quick projects are engaging and perfect for hallway or bulletin board displays.

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Celebrating Women’s History Month doesn’t have to be complicated. Whether you integrate daily mini-lessons, poetry, or a larger project, these simple ideas help students learn about influential women and understand the lasting impact they’ve made on the world.

Quick Links

--- Monthly Activities and Calendar

--- Women's History Research Project

--- Malala Yousafzai - Listening Comprehension Unit

--- Emily Dickinson - Author Study and Poetry Analysis

--- Maya Angelou - Poet and Poem Study

--- Mini-Research Project - Picture Frame

I hope you give some of these ideas a try in your classroom!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mary Beth

P.S. Click here to see all the ideas!

Women’s History Month Bulletin Board Idea - Easy to Make!

If you’re looking for a meaningful way to celebrate Women’s History Month without a lot of prep, come make a bulletin board with me.

This simple display highlights student learning, celebrates influential women, and turns your classroom into a mini museum.

Step 1: Create a simple background
Start with solid bulletin board paper and add a border around the edges. Keeping the background clean helps student work stand out and keeps the board from feeling too busy.

Then, add a simple border to your edges. I love these!

Step 2: Add your title
Add a clear title across the top of the board such as “She Made History,” “Women Who Changed the World,” or “Women Who Inspire Us.” 

Large, easy-to-read letters help the display pop and draw attention.

Step 3: Hang a ribbon clothesline
Stretch a long piece of ribbon or string across the board and secure it at each end. This will act as a clothesline for student work. I used a string of pom-poms, because they're so much fun!

You can add one or two lines depending on the size of your board and what students will be displaying.

Step 4: Clip student projects
As students complete their Women’s History Month projects, clip them onto the ribbon using clothespins. 

Watching the board fill up throughout the week creates excitement and gives students pride in seeing their work displayed. (I grabbed my mini-clothespins, here.)

Why this board works

Bulletin boards don’t have to be complicated to be powerful.

Sometimes the simplest displays — created with student work, thoughtful learning, and a little ribbon and a few clothespins — become the ones students remember most.

If you try this in your classroom, grab everything you need HERE.

I hope you give it a try in your classroom!

Mary Beth

P.S. Here's a link to everything you need!

The Best Ancient Egypt Unit: A Simple Guide Teachers Can Actually Use

 

Planning an Ancient Egypt unit can feel overwhelming. There’s so much content—pharaohs, pyramids, gods, mummification, daily life—and only so many days in the schedule. The key isn’t cramming everything in. It’s choosing the right mix of activities that build background knowledge, hit key standards, and keep students actively involved in learning.

After years of designing and refining Ancient Egypt lessons, I’ve landed on a simple formula for a unit that works every time. It’s content-rich, student-centered, and flexible enough to fit a variety of classrooms.

Here’s my step-by-step guide for teaching Ancient Egypt in a way students actually remember.

Step 1: Teach and Review Vocabulary Every Day (Without Worksheets)

Ancient Egypt vocabulary is unavoidable—and honestly, it’s one of the biggest barriers for students. Words like hieroglyphics, mummification, and afterlife can quickly become overwhelming if they’re introduced once and never revisited.

Instead of front-loading vocabulary and hoping it sticks, build in daily exposure and review.

What works best:

--- Visual vocabulary students interact with

--- Repeated use across the unit

--- Low-pressure ways to revisit terms daily

HOT TIP: Doodle-style vocabulary activities are especially effective because students aren’t just copying definitions—they’re processing meaning through visuals, annotations, and personal connections. This makes vocabulary review feel quick, engaging, and purposeful instead of tedious.

Result: Students actually understand the words they’re seeing in readings, stations, and discussions.

Step 2: Teach Ancient Egypt Through the GRAPES Framework

If you want students to truly understand Ancient Egypt as a civilization (not just memorize facts), the GRAPES framework is essential.

A strong unit explicitly addresses: Geography, Religion, Achievements, Politics, Economics, and Social Structure.

Rather than lecturing through each category, hands-on learning stations are a powerful way to let students explore GRAPES independently. Stations encourage movement, collaboration, and inquiry—while keeping students responsible for their own learning.

Interactive elements like posters, visuals, and response tasks help students:

--- Compare aspects of civilization

--- Make connections across categories

--- Stay actively engaged (no passive listening)

This part of the unit often becomes the anchor experience students reference later.

HOT TIP: Turning learning into an interactive representation of Ancient Egypt is especially effective. Check out this interactive sphinx poster for inspiration!

Step 3: Go Deeper With a High-Interest Focus Lesson

Once students understand the big picture, it’s time to zoom in.

Every strong Ancient Egypt unit needs at least one lesson that dives deeper into a fascinating cultural practice—and mummification is always a student favorite.

A focused lesson on mummification and canopic jars allows students to:

--- Apply vocabulary in context

--- Read informational text with purpose

--- Connect religious beliefs to real practices

HOT TIP: Adding a hands-on craft element, like constructing canopic jars, transforms this lesson from “just another reading” into a memorable experience. Students read, extract key information, and then create something that represents their learning.

This is where engagement skyrockets.

Step 4: Reinforce and Review With Meaningful Practice

The final piece of the formula is intentional review.

Instead of test-prep-style worksheets, use activities that encourage students to synthesize information, make connections across topics, and show understanding in multiple ways.

One-pagers and task cards work especially well here because they’re flexible. They can be used for:

--- Independent work

--- Partner practice

--- Small groups

--- Learning stations

--- Review days before an assessment

HOT TIP: This type of review reinforces content without feeling repetitive—and gives you valuable insight into what students actually understand.

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That's it! That's my simple formula for putting together the best ancient Egypt unit. This approach keeps teaching content-rich, student-centered, flexible, and super engaging! Most importantly, it moves away from textbooks and slide decks where students are talked at. Instead, students are reading, thinking, creating, and interacting with Ancient Egypt every step of the way.

Great news! I've put together print-and-teach resources that fulfill every aspect of this formula. Check it out here!

Thanks for stopping by,

Mary Beth

P.S. If you're looking for more ways to make teaching Ancient Civilizations interactive, this blog post is filled with ideas!

Low-Prep Valentine's Day Classroom Ideas

Is there a Valentine Grinch—a grouchy Cupid who rolls their eyes at classroom holidays? If so, I have to admit that early in my teaching career, that was me. Valentine’s Day felt like a distraction from real learning, not something I wanted to build lesson plans around.

Over time, my grouchy Cupid heart softened. I realized that Valentine’s Day classroom activities don’t have to interrupt instruction. With the right approach, a holiday like Valentine’s Day can actually increase student engagement and support meaningful learning—especially when activities are simple, purposeful, and easy to manage.

If I were planning the perfect, learning-rich Valentine’s Day in the classroom, I’d focus on three things.

💗 First, a fact hunt or doodle poster activity to get students moving and thinking. I'd hide different facts around the classroom for students to find and use to fill out a super engaging doodle infographic all about Valentine's Day. (DOWNLOAD HERE.)

💗 Next, a quick Valentine-themed brain break to spark creativity without losing focus. Something like a timed writing prompt or jumbled joke is the perfect way to get kids thinking while still celebrating Valentine's Day. (CLICK HERE.)

💗 And finally, a low-prep Valentine’s Day craft that students will actually use. These FREE Candy Heart Corner Bookmarks make the perfect gift to give to students or serve as an awesome activity to celebrate reading and the holiday. (GRAB FOR FREE HERE.)

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It took me a while, but I’ve finally found a way to embrace Valentine’s Day in the classroom. With a few low-prep, meaningful activities, the day can be both fun and focused on learning.

1. Valentine's Day Fact Hunt and Doodle Poster

2. Brain Breaks and Games with a Valentine Theme

3. Free Candy Heart Corner Bookmarks

Happy Valentine’s Day,

Mary Beth

P.S. Surprise! Here’s another Valentine’s Day freebie—just call me the Cupid of the Classroom.

Please pin! 🠟

3 Common Mistakes Teachers Make When Teaching Parts of Speech (and How to Fix Them)

Teaching the parts of speech can feel like a never-ending challenge. Students confuse nouns and verbs, tune out during grammar lessons, or forget everything by the next writing assignment. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are the three biggest mistakes teachers make when teaching the parts of speech and how you can fix each one with an engaging, year-round resource that blends art and grammar.

Mistake #1: Skipping the Mini-Lesson
Many teachers assign a worksheet or workbook page and hope students “get” nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. But without a short, clear mini-lesson to teach the concept, many students just guess or memorize superficially.  It’s tempting to hand out a worksheet and hope students remember what a verb is. But without modeling and examples, most students just guess.

How We Can Help:
We have a ready-made mini-lesson for you! Each level in our Differentiated Parts of Speech Pop Art Coloring Pages includes clear instructions and examples, making it easy to introduce the concept before students dive into hands-on practice. The color-by-part-of-speech format turns identification into an active learning experience.

Mistake #2: Making Practice Boring or Repetitive
Traditional drills and grammar worksheets can drain the fun out of learning, especially for upper-elementary and middle-grade students.

How We Can Help:
Our Pop Art Grammar Activities transform practice into creativity. Students color vibrant, seasonal designs like apples, snowmen, bees, and ice-cream cones based on the part of speech. It’s self-checking, visually engaging, and keeps students motivated to practice grammar accurately.

Mistake #3: Teaching It Once and Moving On
A single grammar unit won’t make parts of speech stick. Consistent review throughout the year helps students retain and apply what they learn.

How We Can Help:
The All-Year Pop Art Collection includes five differentiated levels, from starter to advanced, so you can revisit parts of speech in small doses all year long. Use them as morning work, centers, early-finisher tasks, or seasonal reviews. Your students get repeated exposure without feeling like it’s the same lesson again.

The Takeaway
When grammar is visual, creative, and consistent, students remember it and even enjoy it. Bring color, confidence, and engagement to your classroom with the Differentiated Parts of Speech Pop Art Coloring Pages – All Year Collection by Art with Jenny K. and me, Brain Waves Instruction. You’ll have everything you need to review grammar all year long without ever hearing “Do we have to do grammar again?”

And we have VERY good news for you. If you'd like to avoid all these mistakes for FREE.  Check out this Parts of Speech Pop Art freebie. Download it HERE.

We hope you have fun teaching parts of speech in your classroom!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mary Beth and Jenny K.

P.S. If you're ready to get students learning ALL YEAR LONG...click here.