Looking for a new and engaging classroom management system for your classroom? I love Secret Student because all of my students buy into this system...
Use magic play dough as a fun activity for the first day of school. Your students will be amazed as they ease their way into a new school year.
Looking for a new and engaging classroom management system for your classroom? I love Secret Student because all of my students buy into this system...
Teaching behavior expectations in kindergarten is important, especially in the first few weeks of school. This often sets the stage for your class for the entire year. For students to fully understand what is expected of them, it is important that teachers address and teach these expectation. I usually spend a lot of time during the first weeks of school teaching student expectations and classroom behaviors. We complete sorts of good choices and bad choices in the classroom and discuss what makes them good and bad choices. We complete these sorts whole group and students also complete individual behavior reflection sheets. These work great during the first few weeks of school or when students may need a review. These include different levels of difficulty beginning with students simply deciding if an actions is a good or bad choice, to a student sort of good and bad choices (this is a freebie at the end of the blog post) to finally illustrating or writing good or bad choices. Also we color an emergent reader reviewing some of the classroom expectations. These can also just be used as little coloring pages when a classroom expectation is introduced. In your classroom, you may want to challenge your students to focus on a certain expectation for a week. Included are posters that would work great for this: These provide a visual and focus for students when expectations are being taught. You can make it a game and provide an incentive if students can meet this expectation a certain amount of times in a week. Once these expectations are taught it is important to keep students accountable to their actions. I have been using a visual think sheet in my classroom that is perfect for this. It is very appropriate for your early learners in pre-k or kindergarten or special ed because it includes pictures for students to show what they did. Students simply color in the choice they made and a better choice they can make. These are great reflections for students, communication for parents and documentation if necessary. You may also want to post these cool down methods where students can reflect on strategies to cool down, instead of getting upset. You can find this entire Behavior Think Sheets and Activities in my TPT store and the Free Good and Bad Choices Student Sort here:
Some of the best ways I've found to help students summarize their learning for the primary classroom. Read more to snag a FREE resource to help you!
Thank you so much for joining me for these five quick tips. Be sure to pin the image below to refer back to this post or to share it with your
Summer has finally arrived for me! And somehow one week of summer vacation has me itching to plan for next school year or at least for the cute pinterest inspired part of starting a new school year. Not so much the actual work part though! Keep reading for some awesome classroom organization ideas! Ready to […]
Got a talkative class? Check out these 5 ways to quiet the chatter!
Looking to go into next school year being the best teacher ever? This post is chock full of 10 practical, helpful tips to help you become the best teacher you can be!
There's a good chance you have a pack of UNO cards at home or in your classroom. Here are 5 math games you can play with them.
Classroom Management is the one thing that can make or break a school year. These 6 tips will get you on the right track to a successful school year.
With so many of my BIG KIDS struggling with fluency, I worked to make it a part of my daily work with students, a Tier 1 intervention that the majority of the class could benefit from. Reading fluency incorporates three main components: speed, accuracy, and prosody, which directly impact comprehension. While I have shared a great deal about incorporating 6-Minute Solutions, here are a few other ways I worked to make fluency fun for my 6th graders.
Teachers work hard all year, summer is the time for them to relax! But incorporate these five simple ideas into your summer break and you're guaranteed to have an AMAZING YEAR!
Books can be an awesome tool for addressing certain classroom behaviors. Here are some fun readalouds for every behavior from tattling to lying to picking your nose – check out this fun list! I provided the links for you to see them directly on Amazon if you want to check them out – some links are affiliate links which means I get commission if you buy from the links, it’s no extra cost for you but I just wanted to let you know! TATTLING Tattling can be a huge issue in elementary school. These books are wonderful for teaching students tattling vs. reporting to cut down on the silly, “He keeps looking at me!” type tattles. A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue is a favorite of mine for teaching kids not to tattle. Josh tattles so much that he wakes up with a tattle tongue! It’s a great book for lessons on when it’s important to tell to help others vs. tell to get others in trouble. I also love Don’t Squeal Unless It’s a Big Deal: A Tale of Tattletales for teaching students the correct way to handle solutions with their peers before tattling. …
Hello! I’m Nicole from Teaching With Style and I’m so excited to be over here on Melissa’s new blog, Inspire Me, ASAP! Melissa has some amazing ideas and her units have come in handy MANY times! When I moved from 1st to 3rd a few years ago, my new team wasn’t as strong as my […]
Teachers, here are 5 things you need to know when planning the last month of school + an amazing FREEBIE of end of the year planning checklists!
Looking for some fun and fresh ideas? These read alouds and activities are great for the beginning of the school year.
If you have read my blog for any time at all, you know I love, love, LOVE Writer's Workshop. I could list fifteen hundred reasons why I love it, but here are my top 3. 1. It gives kids a voice. All dang day kids are trying to express themselves...through chatting, playing, dancing... and we are trying to reign them in. Writer's Workshop is that time where you say "Be YOU!" Write about what you want! They are NOT, absolutely not responding to prompts in writer's workshop. They are taking the skills that you are teaching them and applying it to the topic of their choosing. They feel empowered because they have so much control over what and how they write! 2. Reader's and Writer's Workshop work SO beautifully together. When I read a book for Reader's Workshop I talk about ways we as readers analyze the text, what gives us mental images, how it makes us feel. Then a couple of days later I pull that SAME book out and discuss how the author gave us clues, how he SHOWED us feeling instead of telling us, and how the author made powerful choices with their verbs. 3, The kids LOVE it. My reluctant writers become involved. My kids look forward to it. We can't wait for Writer's Workshop. They aren't scared to make mistakes. They know I won't take a red pen to their work, because I respect their art and their ownership of it. Now I can feel you saying "Okay, okay, Katie! Now what???" First and foremost- beg your principal to buy you Lucy Caulkins Units of Study for your grade level. Next step INUNDATE your students with quality literature. Then focus on setting up your workshop. This is the first year that I didn't jump into a unit of study right away. Instead my students wrote about whatever their hearts desired, just to get used to the format of workshop. They wrote, and wrote, and wrote! I have never had kids so excited for workshop.... kids were writing non-fiction pieces, mysteries, narratives...you name it, they wrote it! This past week we began personal narratives! I am seeing some GREAT stufff I have made a lot of changes in how I am running/organizing Writer's Workshop this year! I have decided to keep all our writing tools in one spot for each table. In this draw we keep our actual folders and little student dictionaries. See below! These books are provided by my school and travel with our kids to each grade level. They have sight words and any other words that they add. These are important for my kids, because I don't spell for them. Period. I do not want my students in a line waiting for me to spell for them OR dependent on me. I want them to use what they know about sounds to stretch words out OR to use the word wall. Here is my Tiny Topics Notebook. I use this to list ideas for my Narratives. My kids each have one of their own. They were THRILLED to get them! We keep them in our caddies so we can grab them whenever we have an idea to write down! Here is a peek at the books that I will constantly reference throughout our narrative writing. I will share more with y'all and my kids soon! Here is a look at what my Writer's Workshop board looks like for school this week! The punctuation posters are from my Convention Camp post in my TPT store. If you take just ONE thing from this post, than I spent my Monday evening well! Good night friends!
Your classroom or theirs? So much is expected of primary aged children in terms of their attainment, progress, personal targets, social skills and extra curricular activities that it seems a daunti…
Once every student has a baggie of Magic Dough on his or her desk, I pass out a copy of the Magic Dough Lab Report. We talk about what it means to
Using positive classroom management is important in establishing a safe environment in which students can learn, collaborate, and create.
Another year is rapidly coming to a close, so I thought I would spend some time reviewing my favorite projects and blog posts from this year. Here are my favorite posts, in no particular order! 15. How to Paint Gorgeous Clouds with Watercolor 14. Clay Castles 13. Postage Stamp Art Project 12. Heart Photography Project with 3rd Grade 11. 25 Amazing Books for Teaching About Art 10. Editorial cartoons are a unit I teach every year. We even were … Read more... →
I remember a few years ago I was teaching second grade. A friend on mine came in carrying AR cards (this was when the school was in full AR mode) and mentioned she was going […]
I remember a professional development session where the presenter projected a piece of text with lots of blanks where words should have been. A quick glance at the format told us that it was a
Let's create beautiful, organized spaces where you and your family can thrive!
Now that you have a bit of background, let’s focus in on how I introduce workshop to my third graders at the beginning of the school year. I hold off on introducing Math Workshop until the second week of school because I like to spend the first week introducing classroom routines, and building a foundation for respect in our class community. The following Monday, the first week of Math Workshop begins. My goals for this first week are completely focused on the warm up, mini lesson, and at your seat rotation of workshop. These goals include:
The first week of school is unlike any other week of the school year. We are tasked with getting to know 20+ students and establishing a classroom community while still teaching them classroom and school procedures and expectations. Oh, and we have to squeeze it all into a week because we hit the ground running
Wondering how to get organized for a new school year? These back-to-school tips, resources, and ideas for teachers are the perfect place to start!
Teaching grammar and punctuation skills are essential in your classroom writing program. Ensure you cover these skills in your daily writing program.
Check out this hands on Charlotte Mason inspired preschool curriculum as an open and go hands on option for all learning styles!
Last week I shared one of my FAVORITE Pixar shorts "Mike's New Car" on Instagram as a way we practiced recording cause and effect relationships in our classroom. Although the number one way our students should practice reading skills is through their own books, my students REALLY enjoy when I throw a Pixar short at them to practice skills with. These shorts are SO SO cute and you can literally find one for EVERYTHING. I had LOTS of requests to share my favorite Pixar Shorts and skills they can be used with in the classroom. My BIGGEST suggestion to you is to simply watch any Pixar short you think you might want to use and decide what skill it would work best for. Most of them work for plot, but seriously just watch them! You will see SO many different ways they can be used! They are AWESOME and your kiddos will LOVE them. I also had lots of requests for the graphic organizers I use with these Pixar shorts in my classroom! I created a pack for you guys that contains over 20 different generic graphic organizers that can be used with any Pixar Short. The file has a PDF version if you want to be able to just print and go, and an editable version in case you'd like to add in some starting points for your kiddos before printing. Click HERE to check out this pack on TPT. Alright... now for the moment you've ALL been waiting for... a list of ALL the Pixar shorts I use and LOVE LOVE LOVE! I know I haven't included every single short out there, so if you see one missing that you love, let us know in the comments! Click here to grab the FULL list of Pixar shorts.
I recently got a new prescription for my eye wear. When I finally got my new cat's eye glasses in, I was amazed at what I was missing. I had glasses before, but they were giving me headaches. So, I figured it was time to start new. My vision was so much clearer afterwards! I could see faces, colors, edges, and life in general more clearly. I recently went through the same experience figuratively as well. I had gone through a situation in my life that put me in the dumps. I felt alone, in fear, rejected, and unclear. I went through a lot of questioning and it in turn, the answers drew me even closer to God than I was before. It made me realize that God's creation itself will let us down. It is temporarily ours. The only thing that is forever it the Creator himself. 2 Corinthians 4:18, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." But, just because He is the only one we can truly trust, doesn't mean that we have to shut down to the world. God doesn't want us to hide under a rock with Him and wait to die. While we are alive, we have to live for Him. We cannot be a hermit full of hate and a reflection of Christ at the same time. Hebrews 12:14–15 "Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." We still have to live and love. Forgiveness is a big part of that. If we just dump people that hurt us... then we will eventually live a sad life alone. And not to mention, God commands us to forgive! Matthew 6:15 "But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." To get through this time... i use my art to heal me. See more of my art I created to heal here... http://tabithaannthelostsock.blogspot.com/2012/04/healing-through-hurt.html As a result of this new vision... I created this art with the poem below... Vision of Peace by Tabitha Seaton I have in my eyes an image of peace. In my life I am taking a new lease. I choose to give the benefit of the doubt as I fill my cup half full from my hopeful waterspout. Some may think rainbows of hope are naive, but I have made a decision to believe. Since my sight has changed with my new pair of glasses, I don't see the same as the populous masses. I focus on seeing differently than those around me, Focusing on the things that praise joyfully. I choose to see the colorful side, with a stronger force driving while I'm along for the ride. These glasses were prescribed when my eyes were at their weakest, They revealed promise to me when my world was it's bleakest. I have witnessed life on the other side of the glass, I have chosen to let that existence pass. I lived in the world of suspicion and fear for an entire wasted year. That side is out of focus and blurred with doubt, I despise what that side is all about. But it's hard to appreciate the calm and serene Without once walking through the destructive scene I could let fear soak in, run, and hide... let destruction eat me inside. I could easily remove the spectacles I wear and consciously decide not to care. But, I prefer to see the peaceful side of the lens, on this my hope depends. This side where my home stands strong all the day long. Where no consuming fire can crumble the song of hope that I mumble, Where I can dance like a child on the green not afraid to be seen. I trust, hope, believe and blessings I receive. I recommend a new prescription to you, if you are seeing grey skies instead of blue. I will gladly share the source of my vision or let you know the root of my decision. But you have to put it on everyday or else your vision will slowly slip away. I just thought it would be fun to share what the drawing looked like before the neutral background. I used a Crayola Colored Pencil 50 pack to add the color. May you be blessed by my work. It is a blessing to create for my Creator!
