Getting your classroom ready for students is such an exciting time! You want to make everything perfect. An inviting classroom creates a room full of happy and engaged students! Real life pictures around the room helps your students make connections when learning basic concepts. These real life color posters are a great addition to your
Looking for some fun middle school activities to incorporate in your math lessons? Trying to come up with fun ideas that fit your curriculum? Here are 20 great activities and project ideas! There are three main themes to the activities listed below: real life, food (perfect for those hungry pre-teens!), and creativity. The instructions for all activities can be easily modified for students in Grade 6, Grade 7, and Grade 8. If your child is home-schooled, or you are just looking for additional home learning tasks, then these activities are perfect for you! All of the materials can easily be found in your home.
Transforming an ordinary classroom into an inspiring and engaging learning environment can significantly impact students' motivation and enthusiasm for ...
HOMESCHOOL ROOM ESSENTIALS: HOW TO SET UP YOUR HOME SCHOOL LEARNING SPACE Whether this is your first year homeschooling or you need virtual school must haves, homeschool room essentials and homeschooling items can help set you up for school at home success!
Classroom callbacks are a technique that teachers use to get the students’ attention in a quick and fun way. Free resource available.
An escape room in the classroom is a super fun way to engage your students in any topic. Make one easily with the worksheet you already have!
I don’t know about you, but I can always use more classroom management tools! This was my first year back teaching after 2 years off. In some ways, I felt like I was starting over, and in some ways, I felt like a veteran teacher! Anyways, after the year was over, I knew there were […]
These three icebreakers for teens will make the first class, youth group, or club fun for everyone, even the introverts.
Our Mondrian Art Project for Kids is perfect to teach art in the classroom. It's easy and free! Kids will love their Mondrian masterpiece & will proudly display their beautiful artwork on glass.
As secondary teachers, when it comes to decorating we often don’t know where to start. Sometimes, we just don’t have the time or energy to devote to another long project with possible m…
Are you looking for a calm classroom theme? I have five beautiful and unique classroom decor bundles that will help create a peaceful, engaging, and beautiful home away from home in your classroom! These five bundles will be a perfect way to create a calm classroom vibe!
This spring is presenting new challenges for teachers all across the country. Some of us are getting ready to go back to the classroom for the first time this year. Some of us have been in person all year, but we are about to get new virtual kids. Some of you have been in the ... Read More about Classroom Management and Expectations
DIY Sensory Rooms: Have you ever thought about creating a sensory room or space for your child, but thought it would be too expensive or you would need to dedicate an entire room? We know that sensory rooms have a huge calming effect on our children, so, we challenged a couple of moms (and two behav
This product includes decor for an Environmental Science classroom. A fake Instagram account was created called "Mother.Nature" and various posts both helpful and harmful to the environment were created. This product includes 32 "Instagram posts" and then the title "What If Earth Had Instagram" that can printed and cut out to decorate your classroom. ***PDF Not editable Digital File ONLY -- Best if printed in color :)
I posted about these songs about a year ago on my Instagram feed and so many of you asked if I would be putting these in my TPT shop to sell. At the time, we had only written three, and I just didn't feel like that was enough to make a whole resource with. Since then, I have been working on writing new transition songs that are sung to some of our kids' favorite tunes! Singing CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT SONGS AND CHANTS during transitions makes moving from one thing or place to another almost seamless. Songs and chants keep students engaged, focused, and excited to learn, which in turn will save valuable instruction time. It also helps eliminate unwanted behaviors by giving your students the structure, consistency, and support they need. Most of the songs included are parodies of popular songs most kids will know. The words have been changed to help students transition in a positive manner. I printed the songs on cardstock and laminated them. I used a binder ring to attach the set together to hang on my board for easy access. There are also three different color options included. :) Let's go through a little breakdown of when and why we sing each of these songs: The Carpet: We sing this when it's time to transition to the carpet. I start they song, they join in. They have to be on the carpet in their assigned spots by the end of the song. Works like a charm every single time! I even added in some little hand motions that end the song with their hands in their laps. All I Do Is Freeze: We mostly use this when students are working in groups or with a partner. Sometimes, I need them to stop what they are doing, so that I can give them a direction or clear something up. It's a great way to get their attention! Clean Up Chant: This one is pretty self-explanatory. I do not instruct them when it's time to clean up; I just start the chant. You may want to add a timer to it afterwards if you need them cleaned up in a certain amount of time. Let's Line Up: Will kids ever get over Frozen? Probably not. If yours are still obsessed, too, they will love this line up chant. It gets them lined up quickly and without distractions, which saves so much time! Back to My Seat: We sing this when we transition from the carpet to their seats. We usually sing it a couple of times to give them plenty of time to make it to their seats. It's a really quick song! Partner Up: This song probably takes the most practice. Anytime you need students to get with their partner, you can sing this song. It also reminds them what to do when they are with their partner. Learning Math is Awesome: Sing this song to signal that it's time to begin math. I can guarantee it will get stuck in your head afterwards. Sorry. We Can't Stop Reading: This song can be used to kick off your reading block each day. It gets them excited about books and where those stories will take them! Quiet Time: I may or may not have sung this one the most. It works so well! I sing it in a calm, quiet voice, in which students will mirror. It immediately calms the room. Sing it a couple of times if needed! See!: I had to incorporate some Taylor Swift in these songs. We want students to be proud to share their thinking and comfortable talking with a partner. We also want their partners to be respectful and value what they are saying. This song is great to sing before students share with a partner or to close out a lesson by sharing what they learned or took away from the lesson. I just added some NEW songs!!! Like It Was: This is another clean up song. You could sing this one at the end of centers. It's really good about reminding students to put everything back in its place. Good For You: This is a song that you can sing as a class to celebrate someone! Maybe someone had a really great idea or accomplished something amazing, you can sing this to pump them up! We're Amazing: I am all about incorporating mindfulness into our day, so I knew I needed to create a song that encompassed that. This is another one that is going to take some practice to get down, but you can always display it as you sing. Some of the songs might take lots of practice to get down! But don't give up! After you sing it over and over, you will eventually get it. You will sing them to the tune of the chorus from the songs. I have added links to the actual songs in the PDFs. You just click the blue arrow at the bottom of the page. Always check these first NOT in the presence of students. I have gone through them to make sure they are safe, but you never know when things can change. A few of these parodies are straight from my students. I asked them what songs they wanted me to write transition songs for, and these are what we came up with. This group in particular had difficulty this year with transitions because they were all best of friends and LOVED to talk, which in turn got them distracted. I LOVED that about them, but we were losing valuable time trying to get refocused. Once I introduced a song or chant for them to do while transitioning, the difference was crazy! It keeps your learning environment positive, too, which is super important. You can check out the resource by clicking HERE or on any of the images in the post. Let me know how your students do with these songs or if you need another song added! I love your feedback! Happy transitioning!
The ultimate list of classroom management strategies, organized into verbal and non-verbal strategies, parent communication tips,rewards and prizes, games, brain breaks, and visual strategies.
Setting up a kindergarten classroom at the beginning of the year can be an exciting, yet overwhelming. Whether you are a student teacher, or this is your last year teaching elementary school, I'm here to share
Free printable preschool worksheets pdf for teachers and homeschoolers. Fun preschool worksheets for math, English, fine motor skills, and more!
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...
14 years ago I walked into my very first art room, full of so much excitement but also feeling totally overwhelmed wondering where to even begin!?
And the award for best classroom goes to…
I know how much you LOVE FREEbies because I love them too! Make sure to share these free deals with all of your family and friends!
Classroom Management: Using a WOW Board No comments Classroom Management, student recognition, WOW board Have you heard of the WOW board? This tool is not a brand new idea, but I only started using it last year. And, I intend to keep using it! Using a WOW board is a great (and super easy) way to recognize individual students and reward their choices, achievements, and efforts. It is also a great way to boost self-esteem too. What is it? The board is simply a table that is printed onto poster sized paper. The table is labeled with letters along the bottom, and numbers along the side, creating cells. It is laminated so it can be used again and again. I printed my board using the standard poster size setting on our poster maker. I know that some schools may not have a poster maker, but there is no rule that says your WOW board has to be poster sized! How do you use it? When you see a student making a smart choice, setting a good example, making gains, or whatever you feel should be recognized, they add their name to the board. They can choose any space they want and write their name in the selected space. Many WOW boards have 100 spaces, but I like for it to fill up quickly, so my board has only 25 spaces. Since I use other means of recognizing students, like reward tags, I didn't want a board with 100 spaces. Since the board is laminated, students can use an Expo Vis-a-Vis marker to add their name. This makes it easy to erase and start over when we're ready to do so. What do you do when the board is full? When the board is full of students' names, I choose 5 students to receive a "prize." Really, they get to choose a classroom reward coupon. Prize buckets and I don't get along (#clutter). The classroom rewards cost me nothing and the kids love them. You can find all sorts of classroom reward options on TPT. Then, I erase the board and we start filling it up again and the cycle repeats. How do you choose the winners? I usually just pick five random cells and write them on a sticky note, without looking to see whose names are in those cells. For example, I might write down A3, C4, B5, D2, E1. I call out the cell number and identify the name of the student written in that cell. They're a winner! You could write all your cells (i.e. A1, A2, A3, etc.) on color tiles, small slips of paper, or anything else you can fit into a small bucket. Then, when it is time to choose your winners, you just pull a tile, slip of paper, etc. out of the bucket and match it to the name in that space on your board. Using a Wow board is just another way to recognize your students and motivate them to do their best. If you'd like to give it a try, you can download my free template. If your school doesn't have a poster maker, don't dismiss the idea of using a WOW board. You could easily print this on regular paper and just use a smaller sized version. The kids will still love it! DON'T FORGET IT, PIN IT! Share It:
1 million years ago (ok, actually 14) when I walked into my first art room there was absolutely nothing in it. Other than tables and chairs, there were no supplies, no white board, no decor. Nada. I had taken a job at a brand new beautiful school which certainly had it’s perks (clean, brand new, not having to inherit a
Setting up an IEP work bin system can feel overwhelming! Here are some easy ways to do it so that your students can quickly work on goals!
Brain breaks are a great classroom management tool to use regularly in your classroom. Brain breaks are short, 1 to 2 minute, activities that can…
Classroom management is one of the most important things a teacher can master. Here are 2 kindergarten classroom management ideas that work!
Grab your set of 9 poster prints for classroom decor! Decorate your classroom with posters that are cute with a purpose.
Inside: A peek into dozens of Spanish classrooms, of all kinds, shapes, and sizes! A well-designed room won’t make or break your teaching. Oh, but it can make a difference in how you and your students feel. Some of you have very limited options, and very tight budgets. There’s some serious classroom eye-candy here, but the
Lucky Duck {A Classroom Community Routine} No comments Classroom Community, Classroom Management, Classroom Routine, Daily News, Lucky Duck, Teaching Ideas Teachers spend a great deal of time building classroom community at the beginning of the school year, but really, this is something that should go on throughout the year. I'm so excited to share with you a tried and true favorite community building activity of mine: Lucky Duck. I have used this routine in my classroom for many, many years. It dates all the way back to my student teaching days (almost two decades ago). I'm going to break down how "Lucky Duck" works in my room, but please know that it can be modified and used in a million different ways. So, feel free to tweak and customize these ideas to meet your needs and teaching style. What is Lucky Duck? Lucky Duck is basically the student of the day. Each day a new student gets to identify as the Lucky Duck. When you're 7, it's a pretty big deal. How does it work? Each day, after school, I select a new Lucky Duck. I have a small tray with my students' names printed on them. I rotate through the stack of names and place the daily name up on the board using the sign pictured below. Doing this right after school means that it's all set up for the morning (when there are always a million and one distractions). These are the names in their little container. You can easily cut up index cards or cardstock to write students' names. You can grab my sign here for FREE (you'll need to handwrite your students' names). Rotating through the stack of names means that each student gets the chance to be Lucky Duck several times throughout the school year. Tip: Don't want to mess with a sign and name cards? Then, just write it all on your whiteboard. Same effect and the kids will still love it! Once I identify the Lucky Duck, I place a rubber ducky on the student's desk. When the kids walk into the room in the morning, they can see who the Lucky Duck is by either reading the board or looking for the rubber duck. What does the Lucky Duck get to do? What I'm about to share is what makes this such a big deal to my students. Daily News First, they get to share some Daily News. Usually, I ask the students a question and they have to answer by restating the question. You can grab a similar set of questions here (freebie). I write their statement on a piece of 12x18 construction paper using the this format: ______ said, "_________." I don't rely on the question cards 100% of the time. I often times invite the students share any random thought they'd like. This love this. Daily News is so great for learning how to write the date (long and short) and how quotation marks work. It's also great for talking about parts of speech, capitalization, phonics, or whatever your teacher heart is drawn to in the moment. I frequently ask students to identify compound words, words with a specific number of syllables, words that rhyme with ___, to identify nouns or verbs or adjectives, we discuss capitalization and commas in a series, and so on. Daily Cheer Second, the Lucky Duck gets to pick the cheer of the day. I have a collection of Dr. Jean chant/cheer cards. They choose one from the designated box and we use it throughout the day. Sorry, no pic but if you search Dr. Jean chants on TPT you can find some great freebies! Calendar Third, they help lead calendar. Again, no pic. I really have got to get better about snapping pics in my room! Anyhoo, we use a digital calendar which can be manipulated using a special pen for the whiteboard (I do not have a smartboard, it's just some pen that connects to my projector/computer and has some sort of magical powers I do not fully understand). The Lucky Duck leads us through the calendar slides and calls on people to share answers. They also get to prompt them to show their whiteboards. In my classroom, we use the signal, "3-2-1 show!" when using whiteboards. I never thought that being able to say those words would be such a hit, but they are. Haha! Daily News Part 2 Fourth, the Lucky Duck gets to decorate/illustrate their Daily News. They can do so in their free time, or during reading group time that day (if their group isn't meeting with me). At the end of the month, I put all the Daily News pages together into a special book and add the books to our classroom library. They absolutely love reading the Daily News books over and over again. They enjoy seeing their own pages, and delight in reading about their classmates. This allows them to learn more about each other and find commonalities. As you can see, the book doesn't look special, but I'm telling you, they are always the most popular books in the classroom library. The cover is simply two pieces of colored 12x18 construction paper with the simple title written in Sharpie. I have started laminating the covers due to the popularity of the books. Line Leader Finally, the Lucky Duck gets to be the line leader for the day. Enough said, we all know that's like the BEST classroom job/privilege in the whole wide world. This routine is a beloved one. The students absolutely love being Lucky Duck. They all get their moment to shine (several times throughout the year), and they get to know more about one another through Daily News. When we sit on the carpet to hear what the Lucky Duck has to report, the students are at full attention. It's an easy way to help students feel special while fostering community in the classroom. The only cost involved with this routine is the one time cost of a rubber duck. Mine cost like $3 on Amazon. Can't beat that! I hope you enjoyed reading about this special routine. Please share your favorite ways to build community throughout the school year in the comments below. DON'T FORGET IT, PIN IT! Share It:
Get started with a preschool question of the day in your classroom! These fun questions will make your morning routine meaningful and fun!
Hey, friends! Last week, I shared with you the Pirate Gallery, which was one of the three galleries where my student's work was featured at our school wide art show. Today I'm sharing with you our Glow Gallery, the HIT of our art show. Each student had at least one work of art on display with my kindergarten friends having THREE works of art featured. Whew! Here is one side of the gallery with the lights off and the black lights on. And here it is with the lights on. Still just as beautiful, says me! I thought I'd take you on a tour of this gallery, complete with lights we used, projects each grade level did and supplies that work the best for black light. So, let's go! I LOVE going through art shows, don't you?! So much happiness and color, baby, color! Full disclosure: This is a spare classroom. I had the luxury of having an entire room to dedicate to the gallery. I spent one entire day with the help of a parent covering the window and setting up the displays. The artwork was simply hot glued to the wall. The best way to do that without damaging the artwork or the walls is to add a flat bit of masking tape to each corner of the artwork on the back. Then add a small dot of hot glue to the tape and stick to the wall. When taking the art down, simply give the work a gentle tug and it will pop right off the wall. My kindergarteners created three pieces of art for this gallery. The first were these clay slab fish. You can find this lesson here and in my clay book! They also made these fun snails from cardboard pizza rounds. They started by painting a spiral with a bingo dauber. Then they added color with fluorescent oil pastels and fluorescent paint (details on supplies in a moment). From there, they were attached to a paper towel tube and antennae were added. So cute! More details on this lesson soon, I hope! Some of my third graders made these amazing plaster and paper parrots! I think they are one of my favorite projects from the show. Another lesson which I hope to share with you soon...the kids loved making them! And they were so striking in the black light. But also great with the lights on. Let's talk supplies for a minute because it's important you use the right stuff. * Sargent Brand Fluorescent Oil Pastels * Jack Richeson Fluorescent Tempera Cakes * Fluorescent Liquid Watercolor (optional) * Fluorescent Tempera Paint (optional) The last two we didn't use...we just stuck with the oil pastels and tempera cakes. But I will be getting the other paints for next year. In a pinch, when time was running short, we did use fluorescent poster board and bingo daubers for some of the drawings. We did this because I only had one 30 minute art class with the kids before the big day...so we worked with the time we had. I wanted to insure that every kiddo had a work of art in this special room. On the night of the art show, we did have a couple of teachers at the door to act as Black Light Bouncers as I knew this room would be busy. I didn't want a crowded room to ruin the experience for the kids or have any artwork potentially be damaged. We did have some glow face painting happening which was also fun for the kids. More details on all of the crazy things we had happening at our art show in a future post. Let me walk you thru who made what! By the way, each of these 2D works of art took only an hour (or two 30 minute art classes for me) to complete. Some first graders created the octopus (by following along with here) while some of my first graders drew the crab...a guided drawing lesson of mine. I'll be sure to share that with you too. I have a lot of sharing to do! Some second graders created the GIANT angel fish by following here while others created the octopus on the neon paper due to time limitations. My third graders made the sea turtles and my fourth graders made the sea horses. Now, let's talk lighting because that is the true key. It's the reason I avoided doing a gallery like this for so long because I just didn't have a clue what lighting to get. We ended up purchasing three kinds and I'll tell you, this one was easily my fave. Starting out, one is all you need IF you block out all the light in the room, making it completely black. We left the gallery up for several days because my admin loved it so much, she called in nearly everyone in the district to drop by and see it. Even with the lights on, it was stunning. Have you done a black light gallery before? What tips do you have? This was my first so I'm sure I have A LOT to learn. I would love to hear from you! Super excited to start our black light gallery projects next year...even if it's MAY and I'm on summer break, ha!
How do you plan to create a calm classroom environment? Here are 5 tips to help you to create a space you and your students will LOVE by...
Learn how to make a simple classroom tree using cardboard and tissue paper with this easy tutorial!
A simple way to teach your students classroom procedures and expectations at the beginning of the school year
Come check out these classroom lighting ideas to reduce headaches and even spark creativity in learning. The lighting in your room should match the task!
I used to spend so much time looking for the perfect read aloud books each month to read to my students. I have finally compiled a list on this blog post to save you so much time searching for books your students will love. I have even created FREE book companion activities you can pr
Easy student sticker reward system that is great for classroom management! Sharing how my students earn stickers and more!
Practice fine motor skills with this free fall craft! Looking for acorn crafts for preschool students? This acorn printable includes 5 pages of acorn activities
