Free printable preschool worksheets pdf for teachers and homeschoolers. Fun preschool worksheets for math, English, fine motor skills, and more!
Check out Gracie1862's artwork on Artsonia, the largest student art museum on the web. Don't forget to join the fan club and leave a comment on the website.
Whether you are a new teacher or a veteran, reviewing the foundational laws of our career can be incredibly helpful. Read on to discover.
Got a kid crazy for Mad Libs? This summertime edition of the classic kid's game works on writing "hardware" that kids encounter in later elementary years.
Student strengths start IEPs in a positive way. Here is a list of student strengths to use on your next IEP.
English, foreign language, learn English
Grab a TON of FREE Math Mania Games to strengthen your students' addition & subtraction! Snag easy printable math games for 1st & 2nd grade!
I'm so happy to be hosting our Must Read Mentor Texts Linky for Language Arts! But, do you know how hard it is to just pick one book to talk about with Language Arts??? It's tough!! But we did it!! I'm excited to be sharing a book today that I have used for many years in writing and reading....A cute, fun story about a little dog that causes a lot of commotion! :O) The Great Gracie Chase- Stop That Dog! is a story that all of us pet owners can personally relate to...you know when your pet gets out of the house or out of the yard and suddenly you are having to sprint down the street screaming its name? Searching frantically!!!! Trying to catch it!!! YEP! That's what this little story is all about! This humorous story is written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Mark Teague....I LOVE both of them!!! :O) Gracie is a very good dog and has never done anything naughty. But, Gracie likes a very quiet house and one day, some noisy painters come in and disturb Gracie. Of course, they leave the door open and BAM, off goes Gracie, running down the street!! So, people run after her, trying to catch her, but this causes Grace to run faster and further. Until, finally, everyone gets tired out and once again, Gracie has her peace and quiet, so she just goes on home. ***Warning- this next part is personal- If you don't want to read personal, skip down to the Mentor Text Memo*** ;O) I think I love this book so much because I have so many connections to it. We had a dog just like Gracie when I was growing up. Calm, quiet, always good. But if that door got left open and she saw a chance to run...she ran. Fast. And far. My brother and I would go running after her and she'd just keep running (one or both of us would end up in tears, worried we'd never catch her) and we'd be screaming her name!!! But, it never failed. She'd have to stop and go potty. And that was when one of us would grab and and carry her home. Then, she was right back to her sweet, calm self, like nothing happened. There's just something about that open door... Just this week our big black lab pitbull mix (Piper) did the same thing. My husband had used the lawn mower and when he put it back in the building in our backyard, he left the gate to our fence wide open. Later, he went down to let her out and he said it happened so fast he couldn't believe it. She walked outside a little ways and then she immediately looked left. He said as soon as she looked left, he knew but by the time his brain got his body moving, she was gone. So, 10:00 at night my husband yells at me to get his truck keys because Piper is out and he runs after her. By the time I get my slippers on (yes, slippers, because I was in my pjs ready to get in the bed) I get in the truck and head through the neighborhood. They were all the way in the back. But, you see, Piper is obsessed with getting in vehicles. So, all I had to do was pull up, open the door, and in she went. My husband had ran after her and almost caught her. We think that's only because she's about 9 years old now and so she's slowed down, otherwise, who knows where she'd be. See...the open door...BAM! (But, unlike Gracie from the story, Piper is naughty most of the time, so this was not a surprise.) Ok, personal drama over! I use this book during language arts to teach making connections, cause and effect, and writing a response to literature. First off, I try to get students to make connections. Not everyone is a dog lover, like me. So, some kids have never had a dog. But, most kids have had an experience of some kind with a dog, and so I get them to make those connections first. Every year that I have used this book, every single student has had an experience of some sort with a loose dog. Whether it was theirs, a grandparent's, or a neighbors, they know pretty much what happens when a dog is running for its freedom. So, they can usually make some sort of connection. Then, we work on cause and effect. I feel like there are two different kinds of stories that use cause and effect. One is when there are just different events and there is a cause and then an effect. And then later, there's another cause, with an effect. The second kind of story is where you have one cause, and then a sequence of effects, sort of like a domino effect. I feel like The Great Gracie Chase is more of a domino effect story. Gracie gets upset, she runs. The painter runs after her and then one by one, more people see it and join in the chase. In the end, she gets what she wants. Peace and quiet. So maybe that makes it a circle story too. Anywho, I thought of making a cause and effect sheet just for this book for you as a freebie, but then I decided I'd make a blank cause and effect sheet for the "domino effect" instead, so it can be used for more stories. So, here ya go! (Just click the pic!) Finally, we take all of the connections we've made with this story and we write a response to literature. I usually help them set it up and organize it, and this is how it goes: Click the picture to get the freebie! Students use this graphic organizer to jot down their thoughts. They summarize the story in the first box (which will be the first paragraph). Then, they choose 1 sentence starter from the second box and fill in the blank box (paragraph number 2). For example, "One time when I was younger I had a dog that was just like Gracie. Her name was Sable and she was so sweet and loving..." Then they choose another sentence starter and fill in the corresponding box (paragraph number 3), like "It made me feel really upset and nervous when Gracie got loose because that is always how I felt when my dog got loose...." Finally, the last paragraph they choose one of the sentence starters and fill in the box. Like, "This is a great book because it is action packed. You are on the edge of your seat, wondering if anyone will catch Gracie..." Now, I usually used this organizer in 3rd grade, but it could still work for 4th. I just wouldn't let them choose good or bad to describe the book, they'd have to use better adjectives, and I'd tell them they have to use strong, descriptive words to describe their feelings. I will say, only once did I have a student say he did not like the book. Let me say, though, that he was a very difficult student and had many behavior problems. He said he did not like the book because he once had a dog and then the dog died so this book made him sad. But, he still participated in the writing. He just wrote short sentences and did not recommend the book. So, there is always the possibility that a student may get upset...but at the same time, maybe this is an opportunity for them to write about it and get it out? Of course, there are other great books that can be used for response to literature. If you are a dog lover, and can connect with this book, this could always be your model lesson using Gracie to connect with your experience of a loose dog. Then, the students could use the same organizer, but with a different book for their independent writing. Just a thought... :O) So, now it's your turn!!! (If you have never linked up before you can check HERE for more information.) I can't wait to see what you link up!! And if you aren't a blogger, please leave a comment of your favorite book for making connections and/or response to literature! Amanda For the Linky- Please make yourself a SANDWICH! Please comment on the person who linked up before you and the person that linked up after you. I know everyone puts in a lot of time and effort to these posts and I want everyone to feel the love!!! (Haha, see, you're a sandwich...you know...because you are in the middle of the comments...do you get it?) ;O) Next week's topic- Math
Most often when we discuss thyroid disorders we talk about Hypothyroidism, which is the under-active form. But today we’re discussing the other end of the spectrum, Hyperthyroid or the…
Page three in the series of wss for a booklet of grammar for beginners. - ESL worksheets
Coming off of their autumn-y landscapes dotted with Aspen trees, fifth graders have moved on to seascapes. I've done seascapes for a few years but decided to mix things up this year, combining elements of projects I found here and here. Like that second plan suggests, I use this project to show the kids the work of Winslow Homer. The more I study his realistic oil paintings, the more I appreciate both his talent and dedication to the subject of the sea. This year, the kids looked at some of Homer's watercolors and oils before starting their own. Everyone chose a tempera paint color palette with which to cover a 12x18" sheet of white paper. They loved blending their colors and experimenting with brush techniques to achieve smooth waters or crashing seas. They added some sgraffito if desired. On this day, art class was sponsored by the letter M. For MESSY. On day two, all students painted another 12x18" sheet--this time, watercolors on watercolor paper--for the sky. This day was sponsored by the color blue, a.k.a. an excuse to wear my new blue pants. The 'ocean paper' was torn horizontally to create white waves and surf--so cool! These pieces were layered onto the watercolor paper to make sky and water meet. Lastly, we went over a few origami boat folds. Kiddos had lots of paper and sizes from which to choose. I required them to use differing sizes to demonstrate perspective. I pre-taught my Art Enrichment kids how to do the folds so they could teach the others. Pile-up in the marina! My fifth graders really enjoyed this mixed media approach--when I hear, "this is so cool!" and "woooow!" I want to do a happy little dance (and sometimes my blue pants and I indulge). Some kiddos really went wild with this. I had a few kids 'sink' their ships by ripping them in half, and others made little "S.O.S." flags or named their boats. One of my outside-the-box thinkers asked to use a black Sharpie to draw on the sky; I asked if she'd prefer to paint on clouds but she said she'd like to use the black marker. I said yes and she ended up with this rockin' result, graphic and bold like the rest of the artworks I've seen from her: Gosh I love these kids.
More and more children are experiencing trauma. Trauma directly impacts a student's ability to learn. Here are 4 teaching strategies for traumatized students. These trauma-informed classroom strategies will help teachers to navigate behavior challenges, build nurturing relationships, and keep the classroom safe and supportive.
Being prepared for student IEP meetings takes a ton of prep and ORGANIZATION! There is so much that goes into preparing for a meeting. It is super important that you feel organized and have all your ducks in a row BEFORE the meeting. When I was first starting teaching, I was super nervous before every ... Read More about Getting Organized for IEP Meetings
Art projects that are fun for kids and bring in big bucks for your school auction!
In our latest article, we delve into the dynamic world of full-ride scholarships in 2024. Discover the latest trends, eligibility criteria, and application processes that students need to know to secure these coveted opportunities.
how to teach kids where in the world they live by using simple circles to show the planet, continent, country, state, city, street, home! free printable.
Teaching in special education classrooms can be tricky! We often teach students in a variety of grades and with a variety of needs. We have to figure out how to teach SO MANY standards and IEP goals & differentiate based on each student's needs. Something that has helped me with this SO much over the years is creating scope & sequences for content areas (math, reading, morning meeting, science, social studies, etc). Scope & sequences are also great because they remove the question "What am I going to teach next week?" and ensure that you cover all of the standards/ IEP goals required. What are scope & sequences and how are they helpful? Scope & sequences are also often called curriculum maps. A scope & sequence lays out the content that will be taught (the standards, IEP goals, etc.), the order that the content will be taught & often also includes materials and activities for lessons. They help you plan how you will teach different standards/ skills across lessons and units. If you have boxed curriculum in your classroom, it likely includes a scope and sequence. However, many special education teachers don't have boxed curricula that meets the needs of all of our students... So creating a scope & sequence based on your state standards and your students' needs is a great alternative! Steps for creating a Scope & Sequence: Start by creating chart or document with all of the standards for each grade you teach. I start with one content area at a time. I make charts in a Word Doc for Math, Reading, Science and Social Studies. This year I only have 4th-5th grade, but I also did this when I taught K-5. These charts will help you look at all of the grade level standards at one time. Now it's time to start grouping standards that have similar outcomes/ tasks. Here is an example of how I did this for 4th and 5th grade math standards > I color-coding standards that aligned with each other (i.g. there are multiple 4th and 5th grade standards that relate to money). After I grouped all of the standards with similar outcomes, I identified 13 broad math units. I picked 13 because that would allow me to do 3 week math units, but you can pick whatever number of units that works for your classroom and standards. I know this is harder when you're planning out more than a two grade levels, but it's doable with creativity! Now you're going to create another chart (sorry!) for each unit. I put each grade level side by side for each unit. For each unit, you can include: The standards you're targeting IEP goals you will target Materials you will use or activities to do How you'll differentiate Any other important information or reminders! (I left some of this information off of the scope & sequences I'm sharing due to confidentiality) Creating scope & sequences can definitely take a few hours for each content area (depending on how in depth you make them and how much info you add), but they will save you time in the long run! I pretty much use them as my "lesson plans" and guide for the entire school year, so it saves me a lot of planning time during the school year! If you're looking for math units to use with your scope & sequence, check out this bundle of math units! Each unit includes differentiated worksheets, hands-on centers & digital Google Slides!
Learn the surprising classroom trauma triggers that me be affecting your students. Plus find out what you can do to avoid them.
How to Quiet a Noisy Classroom, are you looking for some new techniques to to bring calm and order back to your loud classroom? I have a few ideas that might help calm that too loud classroom and help to bring some peace and quiet to your noisy classroom.
Tips for using file folder activities in your special education classroom. File folder games are perfect for independent work stations!
Hey fellow unschooling families! As we eagerly prepare for another enriching year of child-led learning, I can’t help but feel a rush of excitement and curiosity for the journey ahead. Unschooling …
I'm so happy to be hosting our Must Read Mentor Texts Linky for Language Arts! But, do you know how hard it is to just pick one book to talk about with Language Arts??? It's tough!! But we did it!! I'm excited to be sharing a book today that I have used for many years in writing and reading....A cute, fun story about a little dog that causes a lot of commotion! :O) The Great Gracie Chase- Stop That Dog! is a story that all of us pet owners can personally relate to...you know when your pet gets out of the house or out of the yard and suddenly you are having to sprint down the street screaming its name? Searching frantically!!!! Trying to catch it!!! YEP! That's what this little story is all about! This humorous story is written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Mark Teague....I LOVE both of them!!! :O) Gracie is a very good dog and has never done anything naughty. But, Gracie likes a very quiet house and one day, some noisy painters come in and disturb Gracie. Of course, they leave the door open and BAM, off goes Gracie, running down the street!! So, people run after her, trying to catch her, but this causes Grace to run faster and further. Until, finally, everyone gets tired out and once again, Gracie has her peace and quiet, so she just goes on home. ***Warning- this next part is personal- If you don't want to read personal, skip down to the Mentor Text Memo*** ;O) I think I love this book so much because I have so many connections to it. We had a dog just like Gracie when I was growing up. Calm, quiet, always good. But if that door got left open and she saw a chance to run...she ran. Fast. And far. My brother and I would go running after her and she'd just keep running (one or both of us would end up in tears, worried we'd never catch her) and we'd be screaming her name!!! But, it never failed. She'd have to stop and go potty. And that was when one of us would grab and and carry her home. Then, she was right back to her sweet, calm self, like nothing happened. There's just something about that open door... Just this week our big black lab pitbull mix (Piper) did the same thing. My husband had used the lawn mower and when he put it back in the building in our backyard, he left the gate to our fence wide open. Later, he went down to let her out and he said it happened so fast he couldn't believe it. She walked outside a little ways and then she immediately looked left. He said as soon as she looked left, he knew but by the time his brain got his body moving, she was gone. So, 10:00 at night my husband yells at me to get his truck keys because Piper is out and he runs after her. By the time I get my slippers on (yes, slippers, because I was in my pjs ready to get in the bed) I get in the truck and head through the neighborhood. They were all the way in the back. But, you see, Piper is obsessed with getting in vehicles. So, all I had to do was pull up, open the door, and in she went. My husband had ran after her and almost caught her. We think that's only because she's about 9 years old now and so she's slowed down, otherwise, who knows where she'd be. See...the open door...BAM! (But, unlike Gracie from the story, Piper is naughty most of the time, so this was not a surprise.) Ok, personal drama over! I use this book during language arts to teach making connections, cause and effect, and writing a response to literature. First off, I try to get students to make connections. Not everyone is a dog lover, like me. So, some kids have never had a dog. But, most kids have had an experience of some kind with a dog, and so I get them to make those connections first. Every year that I have used this book, every single student has had an experience of some sort with a loose dog. Whether it was theirs, a grandparent's, or a neighbors, they know pretty much what happens when a dog is running for its freedom. So, they can usually make some sort of connection. Then, we work on cause and effect. I feel like there are two different kinds of stories that use cause and effect. One is when there are just different events and there is a cause and then an effect. And then later, there's another cause, with an effect. The second kind of story is where you have one cause, and then a sequence of effects, sort of like a domino effect. I feel like The Great Gracie Chase is more of a domino effect story. Gracie gets upset, she runs. The painter runs after her and then one by one, more people see it and join in the chase. In the end, she gets what she wants. Peace and quiet. So maybe that makes it a circle story too. Anywho, I thought of making a cause and effect sheet just for this book for you as a freebie, but then I decided I'd make a blank cause and effect sheet for the "domino effect" instead, so it can be used for more stories. So, here ya go! (Just click the pic!) Finally, we take all of the connections we've made with this story and we write a response to literature. I usually help them set it up and organize it, and this is how it goes: Click the picture to get the freebie! Students use this graphic organizer to jot down their thoughts. They summarize the story in the first box (which will be the first paragraph). Then, they choose 1 sentence starter from the second box and fill in the blank box (paragraph number 2). For example, "One time when I was younger I had a dog that was just like Gracie. Her name was Sable and she was so sweet and loving..." Then they choose another sentence starter and fill in the corresponding box (paragraph number 3), like "It made me feel really upset and nervous when Gracie got loose because that is always how I felt when my dog got loose...." Finally, the last paragraph they choose one of the sentence starters and fill in the box. Like, "This is a great book because it is action packed. You are on the edge of your seat, wondering if anyone will catch Gracie..." Now, I usually used this organizer in 3rd grade, but it could still work for 4th. I just wouldn't let them choose good or bad to describe the book, they'd have to use better adjectives, and I'd tell them they have to use strong, descriptive words to describe their feelings. I will say, only once did I have a student say he did not like the book. Let me say, though, that he was a very difficult student and had many behavior problems. He said he did not like the book because he once had a dog and then the dog died so this book made him sad. But, he still participated in the writing. He just wrote short sentences and did not recommend the book. So, there is always the possibility that a student may get upset...but at the same time, maybe this is an opportunity for them to write about it and get it out? Of course, there are other great books that can be used for response to literature. If you are a dog lover, and can connect with this book, this could always be your model lesson using Gracie to connect with your experience of a loose dog. Then, the students could use the same organizer, but with a different book for their independent writing. Just a thought... :O) So, now it's your turn!!! (If you have never linked up before you can check HERE for more information.) I can't wait to see what you link up!! And if you aren't a blogger, please leave a comment of your favorite book for making connections and/or response to literature! Amanda For the Linky- Please make yourself a SANDWICH! Please comment on the person who linked up before you and the person that linked up after you. I know everyone puts in a lot of time and effort to these posts and I want everyone to feel the love!!! (Haha, see, you're a sandwich...you know...because you are in the middle of the comments...do you get it?) ;O) Next week's topic- Math
