Do you only have 2 days in Madrid? Don't miss the best highlights by using our 48 hours in Madrid itinerary. Including the must-see Madrid sights and more.
A complete 7 day Slovenia Itinerary. We outline exactly what you should see in Slovenia, how to see it and in what order to spend 7 days in Slovenia.
MTHFR gene mutations affect 30-50% of our population, although most of us don't know whether or not we have it. So what is MTHFR, exactly?
As teachers in Australia, we know it is important to integrate First Nations content and perspectives in our classrooms.
If you have too many clothes and don’t know what to do, these tips can help. Find out how to decide what to keep, and what to do if you love all your clothes.
Art Teachers, in your Art Classroom you’re always going to have students finish before the rest, fast finishers, so let’s take a look at some ideas or routines that you can build into your classroom so that students know what to do when they’re done so they don’t have to ask you and so that you don’t have to instruct them on what to do EVERY time.
Not knowing what you want to do with life can feel scary, discouraging and frustrating. Here is what I want you to know and what you can do.
Do you teach elementary music to fifth graders? Are you struggling to teach fifth graders? Here are some tips and tricks to help you out!
Tampere is the Sauna Capital of Finland... and therefore the world! Here's what to do there (saunas + more!)
The ultimate guide to gel printing and the basics of gel printing you need to know - what materials you need and how to make gel prints
Looking for the best things to do in Dubrovnik? You just found them! Dubrovnik is a beautiful city in Croatia. It’s famous for its medieval Old Town, the stunning landscapes, and more recently, for
You don't know what to do on one day in Munich, Germany? Check out this perfect itinerary for 24 hours so you don't miss any activities!
For those who have been following my blog, it's been a full week since I released the post on Depression is For The Weak . ...
Students are stressed more than ever. Sometimes that stress is manifested in the form of impulsive outbursts, anger, meltdowns, crying, yelling, arguing, or other types of emotional release. Kids don't always know what to do with all of that strong emotion and teachers and parents can not always drop everything to help. Kids must learn to recognize and regulate their own emotions, particularly strong emotions. This article discusses encouraging children to manage and regulate their own emotions and behavior. It is a great alternative to clip charts and time out chairs!
Once you become a mother, you may be surprised at the types of purchases that excite you. Bleach pens for tough stains, new carseats, and diapers that were on a…
When it time for kids to do some story writing, often it’s difficult for them to start because either they don’t know exactly how to organize their story or they don’t know what to write about. This FREE Story Writing Pack helps with both problems! *This free printable pack can be found towards the END of ... Read More about Story Writing Ideas for Kids {FREE Pack}
So much Twitter love from my post about my walls this year. Y’all know how to make a girl feel good! I don’t have my lesson plans ready, and am not entirely sure what I’m doing on…
This beautiful Swiss city of Zurich has parks, playgrounds, and plenty of sweets. These are the best things to do in Zurich with kids!
Ogden, the county seat of Weber County, located in Utah and is a year-round travel destination that offers one-of-a-kind outdoor activities
The Cilento Coast is a hidden gem and one of the best places to visit in southern Italy. By staying in Agropoli you'll be able to explore much of the area too.
I asked Aurimas from Go Look Explore to share his top tips for the best things to do in Zurich in 2 days; here is his favourite 2 day Zurich Itinerary.
Looking for the best things to do in Dubrovnik? You just found them! Dubrovnik is a beautiful city in Croatia. It’s famous for its medieval Old Town, the stunning landscapes, and more recently, for
In my last newsletter, I asked you, my readers, if you had any questions for me and one that really stood out was How To Dispose Of Your Old Pillows.
Want to know what to do with an abundance of cucumbers? If you've asked yourself, "what can I do with cucumbers other than pickles?" we've got you covered.
Learn about the top destinations and places to visit in Finland you must not miss if ever you decide to visit the Nordics and learn about its culture!
"I don't know what to do with my life. What should I do with my life?" A lot of people don't know what to do with their lives, and that's okay. It's not a problem.
Lost your voice? These natural laryngitis remedies are fast and effective and will help you feel better ASAP!
Want to learn how you can create your own minimalist travel wardrobe? Follow my packing list and create a travel wardrobe for your next trip!
Tips on how to write a sick day email to your boss and coworkers. Includes a sick day email sample.
I fell in love with the Liguria region where Genova, Italia is. You may not consider traveling to this area, but take it from me, you will want to visit!
When a man ignores you ignore him back no matter how hard it is! Let me help you stick to your decision with some useful tips.
You're in the middle of your writing block during the day and students are sitting at their desks (maybe on the floor or in bean bags dispersed throughout the room) writing. Smoke is coming out of their pencils. They are writing epic stories about dragons, or spaceships -- or something equally as epic. This is your classroom every day, right? (Not) "I don't know what to write about!" (now that's more like it!) At least that's what *I* used to hear a lot. Well, no more. Give even those most reluctant writers something to talk about with "Roll and Write." You can make anything work if you turn it into a game, right? Here's how it works. You give each student a copy of the page below to place in their writer's folders. When they are stuck on what to write about, they simply roll a die three times. The first roll indicates the setting of their story (so if I roll a 3, my setting is a party on Friday night). The second roll gives them a character, and the third roll gives them a plot. The stories can turn out pretty hilarious. It encourages creativity and originality. No three rolls are the same. This freebie even includes a blank 'Roll and Write' sheet for you to swap out new combos every so often. Even that student that hates writing can get on board with a story about a frazzled teacher at the beach last summer that breaks her ankle. Oh shoot - did I just jinx you? I wish you no harm, a teacher needs her summer! :) Grab your freebie here! I'd love to hear about the stories your students come up with! Pin this post for later:
You're off to the city of stars and have 5 full days to spend there? Here's the perfect Los Angeles itinerary for 5 days so you won't miss anything!
Skip the theme parks and Hollywood star walk, we're sharing the best things to do in Los Angeles with kids that you might not know about!
Classroom magazines have become an invaluable resource in my classroom for exposing my students to informational texts. Our language arts curriculum lacks quality non-fiction selections. Classroom magazines, such as Time For Kids and Scholastic News have been great for exposing my students to engaging and current non-fiction material. However, I use to struggle with the best way to work them into my language arts block. This post explains what I have done to make the most of all those classroom magazines. Each year, I am so excited when our magazines start to arrive. However, they use to quickly start pile up, week after week, and I found myself squeezing them in whenever I could. Looking back, I realize that I was using them as filler. My challenge this year was finding a way to integrate them into my language arts program in a way that was more meaningful and focused. So, here are several ways that I have been using magazines in my classroom this year. Focus on Text Features At the beginning of the year, we first spent a lot of time focusing on the parts of a magazine, particularly the text features. We talked about each feature and students identified them in their magazines. Then we talked about the information that can be gathered from different text features, and how they are used to add meaning to the text. Later, my students started “collecting” text features in a packet. We wait until the end of the week, when we are done with the entire magazine, then they cut out the different text features and sort them in their packet, adding to their “collection” each week. They love this!! Focus on Text Structures After several weeks of reading the magazines as a class, we began to focus on the different text structures. Instead of simply summarizing or identifying the main idea, we began to take a closer look at the structure of each text. We talked about the different structures and identified signal words for each type. Now when my students read and respond to each article, there is an emphasis on the particular text structure. Practice Close Reading Now that my students are comfortable with text features and structures, we put it all together to practice close reading. My students use a checklist to read through a text, at least 3 times to identify text features and structure, to find the main idea and evidence, and to truly comprehend what they are reading. Close reading helps students to dig deeper and to understand what they are reading in different ways. Expand Student Vocabulary Reading classroom magazines exposes my students to new ideas and new vocabulary that they might not otherwise be exposed to. They use context clues to determine the meaning of each word. Then they define and draw pictures for each new word to show their understanding, and to help visualize the meaning of the new words they learn. They have developed quite a collection! Talk and Write About Informational Texts Lastly, I use magazine articles as meaningful topics for class discussions and writing assignments. Sometimes, after reading a debate or opinion piece, my students will share their opinions with their classmates, then write an opinion essay on the topic. I also ask them to choose articles to do additional research on, in order to produce an informative writing assignment. It is so important that students use texts to write, and that they learn to refer to texts when providing evidence in their own writing and conversations. The current events and ideas from classroom magazines serve as a great springboards for both conversation and writing. I like to have my students organize all of their materials in reading folder, so that they have all the tools they need when working with non-fiction texts!! If you would like to learn more about some of the resources from this post, check out my Non-Fiction Toolkit in my teacher shop by clicking on the pic below.
Do you teach elementary music to fifth graders? Are you struggling to teach fifth graders? Here are some tips and tricks to help you out!
With its numerous tourist attractions, Tillamook is one of the great cities in Oregon. It is a beautiful city that has so many fun things to
Last week was pretty crappy week, as weeks go. A perfect storm of a bunch of far-from-perfect situations, and let’s just say better times have rolled down in our home. We were prepping for my son to start 1st Grade today. In addition to panic attacking while trying to sort a online account for his milk […]
Stuck at the airport and bored? Here's a complete layover guide with 30 things to do at the airport while there to keep you busy.
There’s a ton of advice on things you should be doing in order to be happy as an empty nester. But there’s not a lot of focus on things we shouldn’t be doing if we want to be happy and successful empty nesters. Here’s a list of 10 things that happy empty nesters don't do. Are you still doing any of these things?
