Teaching Resources

Welcome to the Leake's Frugal Family Website. Stop by any time to see the latest deals, freebies, and coupons! You'll also find some of our family recipes, our family photos and home movies, and read the latest happenings of John, Anna, our son Camden, and our two feisty cats.

May 11, 2012, at 5:53 pm

Free Microbiology Poster

Visit the American Society for Microbiology to request your free poster – “What is Microbiology?” The poster contains images of common microbes and simple, student-friendly definitions. CLICK HERE to request yours. You’re able to request more than one, so I requested an extra for my coworker. This will look great in my classroom!

May 11, 2012, at 2:26 pm

Half Price Books Summer Reading Program

This summer, children 14 and under can earn money to Half Price Books just for reading! Below are the stipulations for the program:

Read for at least 15 minutes each day for a month. (Grown-ups may read aloud to kids who are still learning.)
Add up your minutes and have your parent or guardian initial each week.
Once you’ve read 300 minutes, turn in your completed reading log to earn your $5 HPB Back-to-School Bucks reading reward for the month.
We’ll award one top reader per age group each month with a TOP READER prize – a $20 HPB Gift Card!*

CLICK HERE to view their website and further information. This is a great program and Half Price Books is an amazing organization that strongly supports literacy and education. I know what Camden will be doing this summer!

May 2, 2012, at 4:28 pm

Free Comic Book Day

Free comic book day is coming! This Saturday, May 5th you can get a free comic book from participating retailers. CLICK HERE to view the Facebook page for this event. There is also a tab on the page where you can search for a participating retailer by entering your zip code. If you happen to be in the Denton, TX area, Hastings Records off of Colorado Blvd. is participating. Yay for free comic books (and for promoting reading). John and Camden are all over this freebie!

April 20, 2012, at 6:00 pm

Free American Chemical Society Kit

Several weeks ago I found a link to the American Chemical Society where science teachers could request a free chemistry kit — Chemistry: Investigating Your World. I completed the info requested on the website and thought little about it afterward. Last week I received an email with my shipping notification. A few days later, this amazing kit with 4 fun labs arrived at my school. I was so surprised to receive such an amazing kit for FREE! Everything necessary to complete the lab activities was included. Chemicals, pipets, test tubes, thermometers, cups, stirrers, plus more! They even included printed labels for each of the individual test tubes and cups the students will use. I am so excited about this kit and can’t wait to try it with my students.

April 21, 2010, at 11:00 pm

Teacher Websites

Ms. Melka’s Science Class Website: This is the website I maintain for my students.

Middle School Science: Great lessons and activities.

The Science Spot: This site has gotten a workout from me during my years of teaching science. It has a ton of wonderful resources.

Science-Class.net: This is also another favorite site of mine. It saved me during my first year of teaching science. Again, full of fantastic resources to use in your classroom.

Digital Library for Earth Science: This is a search engine you can use to find Earth Science related activities and lessons.

November 7, 2008, at 6:11 pm

CAST Convention in Forth Worth

I just spent 2 wonderful days at the CAST Convention in beautiful downtown Fort Worth (CAST = Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching). This is a convention sponsored by the Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT). What a wonderful experience getting to spend time with other science educators! It was also an opportunity to meet a large number of vendors and see products/ideas that can be utilized in science education. I have so many new ideas to use in my classroom! I also spent a small fortune on science toys for Camden. My poor son – he doesn’t stand a chance with me! Everything I want to buy for him has some sort of scientific principle or concept behind it. Anyway, he and I just finished playing with the toys and he’s enjoying them.

July 29, 2008, at 1:29 pm

Great reading resource site

We have been working with Camden over the summer to assist him in improving his reading. The “Reading A to Z” website has proven to be a valuable tool! You do have to pay for a subscription to the site; however, the site has hundreds (if not thousands) of guided readers to print along with handouts, comprehension quizzes, and activities. Not working with younger students (I teach 8th grade), it was so difficult for me to decipher the different reading levels some publishers place on their guided reading books, as they do not seem to follow the same criteria. This site has made it so easy for us to locate books at Camden’s instructional level that coincide with the reading levels that his teachers use.