This general classwork rubric can be used to assess student classwork both individually or with groups/partners. Able to be customized! ...
The idea for the green pen comes from Amy Green. Teacher roams around with some green pens. Completed work gets a green star. (In my class we do hearts.) Author of completed and accurate work can go on to other things of interest or take another green pen and go help/ look over the work of other friends in class!!! Kids become captivated by the idea of getting their hands on a greeen pen, so they start to work harder and faster. PLUS the kids work with more accuracy. They know their FRIENDS are roaming the room, so they want to get their work done right. ((((Teacher heaven- Am I right???? )))) (((purchase a box of green pens from Office Max {here})))) Want more amazing ideas? Want to grab these freebies? Head over to Teacher to the Core and grab up some goodies!
Welcome Back to School! AR Bulletin Board ...
THIS IS A DIGITAL FILE **PLEASE READ** This is an instant download. You will not receive a physical product in the mail. Upon your purchase, you will receive a link to download your order in your email and it will also be available from your “purchases and reviews” tab on your Etsy profile. FORMAT/SIZE This is standard letter size (8.5" x 11"), however, we would be happy to modify the size for you after purchase. ACCEPTED USE You can reprint and utilize digital files for personal or professional use - you CANNOT edit or resell. REFUNDS All products in the Oakwell Etsy Shop are for instant download digital files. I do not offer refunds on the digital files. Once the file is received, the sale is final. I will however, do my best to ensure you are satisfied with your order. If you have problems, I will work to address the issue.
Tame the Paper Monster Series Part 1 Student Papers I have been battling with the paper monster since my teaching career began...
Try these easy sound experiments -- Elementary & Middle School kids will LOVE testing the science of sound with this fun wave experiment to create a 'gong' and explore how sound waves travel!
*A DIGITAL OPTION HAS BEEN INCLUDED FOR GOOGLE SLIDES AND FORMS/GOOGLE CLASSROOM* Be sure to re-download! There are directions and links inside the pdf. Hello, ELA! This resource is a unique way to get your students warmed up at the beginning of your ELA block. Each month contains 4-5 weeks of ELA bell work, which will have a theme around the season, national holidays, or events associated with that particular month. The morning work is focused on ELA 6th Grade Common Core Standards. Each day has a thematic structure to cover language standards as well as enhance vocabulary and comprehension skills. Save money by purchasing the year long BUNDLE! ELA Daily Review 6th Grade {Growing Bundle} Each week follows a predictable and engaging structure: Meaningful Monday: Monday is focused on making meaning. Tasks will focus on synonyms, antonyms, vocabulary words, context clues, and making meaning in a short amount of text. Some tasks may require students to make meaning in the text (inference, message, adages, proverbs, etc.) or build vocabulary skills. Text Structure Tuesday: Tuesdays will have a paragraph that requires students to identify the text structure, signal words, main idea, author's perspective, or vocabulary, or any other question types related to the Craft and Structure standards. Wordy Wednesday: Wednesday is all about working with words. Tasks include working with shades of meaning, homophones, spelling, prefixes, suffixes, roots, and other word skills. Throwback Thursday: Thursday is all about grammar usage and conventions. Figurative Friday: Figurative Friday tasks include working with various types of figurative language including similes, metaphors, idioms, poems, alliteration, structures of poems and more! This ELA + Math Morning Work is available for the following grade levels: ELA + Math Bundles 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade ELA Bundles 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade ELA Weekly Assessments 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade Math Bundles 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 🛑 Are you a member of the TLL Membership? These materials are already included. If you are not a member, click here to learn more. The TLL Membership gives you an all-access pass to hundreds of ELA resources for teachers in Grades 3-5.Let’s connect! The Literacy Loft Blog The Literacy Loft on Instagram The Literacy Loft on Pinterest The Literacy Loft on Facebook I hope this resource works for you! Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with any questions, comments, or feedback. - Jessica
Mock trials offer a differentiated and experiential learning experience. Explore the steps of a mock trial and various mock trial roles.
I teach 4 different math classes a day. It seems as though I am always reviewing key words that *usually* match with certain operations. While introducing variable expressions to my sixth graders, …
We've all seen the clutter that accrues when a student is absent! Papers end up all over the ground, get lost, and need to be reprinted. Get rid of that problem for good with these absent student folders! Simply collect all of the work a student missed while they were gone and put it in the folder! To create an absent folder/binder, simply print this resource, laminate it, and secure to the front of a folder or slide it in the sleeve of a binder - whichever you prefer to send work home in. There is an option to have a student-note taker as well.
I made every one of these printables for my kids and have chosen to share them with you. Most of them are free, those for sale have a ' *' ...
Disclaimer: This blog post contains affiliate links. This allows me to earn a small commission at no cost to you. First, let's examine the current system you have for students to turn in their assignments and how you check for missing work. Do you collect piles of work and tediously check through each one of them, mak
There are three kinds of teacher-decorators: those who were born for Pinterest, those who can’t, and all the ones in between (such as the broke, the tired, and the I-have-no-time-to-decorate). However, making a classroom appeal to middle and high school students doesn’t HAVE to involve serious crafting or expensive, time-intensive projects. Check out these tips from me and Bonnie from Presto Plans as you prepare your classroom for the fall (or at any time of year that you want to give it a boost!) You might also like Sara's more recent blog post, Inside My Farmhouse Classroom Makeover. 1. Have a color scheme (if you can) Sara: My principal gave each teacher the paint for one accent wall, so that shade of turquoise inspired the rest of my blue decor: milk crates, bulletin board borders, etc. It helped unify the room to make it look pulled-together instead of random. I've also learned about the importance of contrast. Even a full-blown rainbow color palette can look clean and cohesive (instead of cluttered) if you pair it with black or white to balance it out. Bonnie: If you are looking for inspiration for colors that look great together, check out this Pinterest board. There are lots of combinations that will help you choose colors when you are shopping for classroom materials. 2. Stick to a few favorite fonts Sara: Just like businesses create a brand, you are creating a classroom “look” or persona that you will be known for... or, at least a mood you will create. (Friendly? Professional? Fun? Minimalist?) Try to pick a few fonts that most of your labels, signs, and other wall-hangings will consistently use. For example, I used the Google font Crushed to make and laminate labels for my whiteboard (see below), along with mint-colored painter's tape. 3. Make your classroom library a focal point Bonnie: Your class library should draw students in and works well as the focal point for any English classroom. Here are a few things you can do to make your library stand out: Give bookshelves a makeover by rolling them a new coat of paint and/or taking the shelves out and attaching wallpaper or scrapbook paper to the back. Put a few floating shelves on the walls near your library area where you can feature particular novels recommended by students. Add comfortable, flexible seating near a library to make it more welcoming. These items can be more expensive, so shop around online or scour garage sales until you find seating that may work. Use old books as decorations! When a book is unusable, find a way to repurpose it. One easy way to do this is to cut out the pages and write a reading-inspired quote in black permanent marker on top of the page. Frame the page and put it on your bookshelf! Sara: If your classroom library is small, nonexistent, or needs some attention, check out this blog post for more ideas about how to strengthen it. 4. Display student work Bonnie: Use student work as decor by making a framed gallery wall. All you have to do is pick up some inexpensive 8x10 frames (check your dollar store) and arrange them on your wall. When you get a piece of exceptional student work, add it into the frame! If you don’t want the hassle of buying and hanging frames, order a pack of mixed color picture mats and use them to frame student work on a bulletin board. Sara: Another way to get student work on display (while also practicing literary analysis!) is to have them complete this Quote Illustration and Analysis assignment; students use Canva (or any tool you wish) to make an inspirational or literary quote come to life. The results are stunning! 5. Use author-inspired decor Bonnie: Find ways to incorporate the authors you will be studying into your classroom decor. You can do this by featuring fun facts or by sharing quotes by the author. For example, I use an interactive Shakespeare Hashtag of the Week bulletin display that exposes students to one quote from a Shakespeare play each week. If you don’t want to make your own, you might even consider assigning an author to each student and having them develop a bulletin display with a biography, fun facts, and quotes that you can swap out weekly. Sara: Don't forget to interject moments of literary ALLUSION or author-inspired inside jokes as well, like my favorite light switch art... 6. Make your posters work together Sara: On at least one bulletin board or section of wall space, add some symmetry or consistency by hanging posters in a similar style (color, font, or other), or by displaying images that have a common theme. For example, check out these posters of stylized quotes to get some English class wisdom on your walls. Bonnie: If you are looking for some ideas of common themes you could use for posters, try some of these ideas that could work in any English classroom: funny grammar quotes or fails, literary terms or genres, author quotes, famous lines from literature, idiomatic expressions, or jokes using puns! To read more about my favorite bulletin board ideas for middle and high ELA, check out this blog post. "English is Weird" poster set 7. Make displays that are EASY to update Sara: Two of my favorite bulletin board spaces were ones that took VERY little effort in updating, so I didn't have the self-imposed pressure to redo the whole thing multiple times per year. For example, my Word Nerd Challenge is quick to update on a Monday morning because all I have to do is add this week's word to the list. (I made each word tile a magnet that can go on my whiteboard!) I also made low-prep Quote of the Week flipbooks of reading and writing quotes, which students often asked to flip FOR me. I used Command hooks and spiral binding to hang it on a cabinet. Do you have additional ideas? Tell us in the comments!
Making shadow puppets is a quick and easy boredom buster. Although, I have always found it a little tricky to use my hands to make shadow puppets, this is an easier way to make shadow puppets with …
Teach kids 2D shapes with these adorable preschool shapes worksheets and activities. All of the basic shapes for preschool are included.
Are you looking for a way to keep your students learning while transitioning in the classroom? Singing is Learning is a compilation of many of the songs and chants that I use during the school year to keep my students focused and learning. Singing/Chanting is a huge part of my management system. I never send my students back to their seats with out a chant to keep their mouths busy and their minds learning. *This is also a great way to get those extra reviews of skills! Included in this 34 page file you will find: 10 different classroom management song posters 6 different writing song posters 4 different holiday song posters 6 different math song posters Each song/chant has also been prerecorded by me or my past classes for you to listen to. The recordings are great for teaching your class the songs. Many are sung to familiar tunes. You will download these songs to your computer. I hope you enjoy this file and the music as much as I do. My parents are always emailing me asking about certain tunes that their kiddos are singing at home. I love that they are sharing the words and that the learning is sticking with them at home. Please email me with any questions at [email protected]
Back in the day when I taught at a public school, I didn’t even think twice about my scope and sequence. This was all provided for me and standardized across
Have a chatty class? Do your talkative students get louder and louder during small groups until it feels like chaos? Do they talk when you'r...
This is an awesome activity to use during the first week of school. You can use it as morning work or as a group activity as you are going over school rules for your class. Be sure to download it here! You Might Also Like:Sight Word StickersLeap Day Fun!Fun Noun and Verb PrintableInterpreting Remainders Handout ... Read More about School Rules Freebie!
Podcasts in the classroom are so fun and engaging! Have you jumped on the podcast train yet?! I have a great system for using podcasts in the classroom...
Teaching American literature: An outline of units of study and engaging activities for a high school American literature course
This past week, we started a new personal narrative writing unit all about my many memorable firsts. I began this unit with a hook to engage student interest--we talked about roller coasters. Who doesn't have a love-hate relationship with a good ol' roller coaster? Especially in a room of second graders, the feelings are unanimous. "Roller coasters are SO MUCH FUN!" We talked about what it was like to go on a roller coaster for the very first time--how that wait in line feels like forever; how when you get into the cart and put on the seatbelt, your heart starts to race; how as the coaster slowly goes clickit-clackity up the tracks, you are thinking "We are going up so high!" and your heart is beating out of your chest; how at the very top it feels like the world stops for just a moment, and then woosh!; how you scream at the top of your lungs as you zoom down the track and loop upside down. I shared my personal story of the first time I went on the roller coaster The Mantis at Cedar Point, and my students were all in. They couldn't wait to start brainstorming! I modeled how to come up with some ideas to get my students on the right track (no pun intended), and put some common experiences down, like the first time I lost a tooth or the first time I rode a bike, to prevent students from getting "stuck" in a writer's block. Students had to come up with at least 3-5 ideas, but many of my students came up with many more. We did lots of sharing out, and then we each circled one idea on our web that we would write about. The next day, it was time to start some serious planning. I created a pre-writing organizer that would not only engage key information like the "who," the "where," and the "when" but also would engage sensory details right from the get-go. We spent the most time on the "Things on the Outside" section as we went through the five senses. What did I see? Hear? Smell? Feel? Taste? I chose to use the idea of the first time I swam underwater, so I wrote down things like I saw the blue water of the pool, I heard my mom cheering for me, I felt the blazing sun, I smelled chlorine and sunscreen, I tasted salty sweat on my lips as it dripped down my face. Then, it was time for our sequencing organizer to get the meat of our story told using temporal words. I can't wait until we are to the revising/editing portion and can dig into these checklists! If you are interested in this "My Many Memorable Firsts" common core aligned personal narrative writing unit, I just uploaded it to TPT. Just click the picture below! Also, get the "Peer Editing Checklist" as a FREEBIE! :) Click the picture below!
Today I thought I’d share a strategy I use to help my students communicate their thinking during the inquiry process. See, Think, Wonder is a thinking routine I use with my students to help t…
By Kathryn Weber In our fast-paced living environment, it’s easy for kids to have a hard time winding down enough to be able to learn. For the mind to be able
Student engagement is my number one goal in the classroom. None of the academic goals can be achieved without student engagement. It is essential! My biggest advice to you is to decrease teacher talk and the time students spend in their desks.I want to share some more specific ways that I keep my students engaged
Print and cut our this hand on construction paper or cardstock! Use any items you'd like to learn about different textures. I used the following: soft - piece of a cotton ball smooth - wax paper rough - sandpaper hard - button (could use pasta, bead, etc.) bumpy - drawer liner **This product is a digital download only. Activity materials are not included.**
Flowers, insects, and sunshine! Just in time for the month of May, and these Transitional Kindergarten May Worksheets! These printables have been a life saver for me! In the midst of distance learning, I have been sending these electronically to my parents to help my TK students continue their learning at home. You can also...
These 3 tips for staying organized when students have been absent are perfect for the secondary classroom.
Included is a rubric to calculate and provide concrete classwork and participation grades for your students! This easy-to-use rubric encourages you to evaluate students based on four different criteria (Classwork, Preparedness, Class contributions, Attitude/Respect toward others). A raw score based on points is then converted into a final grade using an easy to read chart at the bottom of the rubric. Grades can be kept out of 10 points or converted to be used out of 100 points. What's included: -Classwork and Participation Rubric -Guidelines on how to use the rubric - An editable google drive link!
Did you think teaching students to write would be a snap? I mean, you are a college-educated, certified individual. How hard could it possibly be? Well, it’s a challenge, especially when just starting out. In my classroom,
