Time sure does fly when you’re having fun! At The Primary Peach we’re having a blast! SO much fun, that it’s been a WHOLE YEAR since we first started! We’re so excited, that we’re celebrating! What better way to celebrate with a GIVEAWAY!!! But first…a FREEBIE! (You’re going to want to head over to The ... Read more

We’ve got the ultimate list of boredom busting things to do when kids are bored. Banish boredom right now with these 51 kid-tested fun activities.

I’ll never forget the day I converted to Judaism — after all, it was one of the best days of my life!After years of studying, learning, and teaching, I finally achieved the goal I’d had from the age of 16. But while it was an amazing day, it was also a hard one. The day […]

So, you’re a new pet photographer and you have no idea how to price your sessions. In fact, it’s highly likely you are just going with a very inexpensive session fee that gives away the entire kit and kaboodle, but you are quickly realizing that that is not a sustainable way to do business.

Two teacher work days in and I'm exhausted! I'm trying to get back into the routine and I'm having such a tough time. Because I have such a long commute, I have to get up at 5:00 and I am fighting it with every ounce of my being. I can't count the number of diet cokes it took to get me through the last two days! The good news is that my room is coming along nicely and I'll be ready to go for the first day on Tuesday. Our kindergartners come for a quick Meet & Greet on Monday and I can't wait to meet the kiddos that I'll be spending the next 10 months with! Of course, the first thing I tackled in my classroom was decorating it. Nothing thrills me as much as new bulletin board borders and desk tags! One project I worked on this summer was making an "instant" pocket chart for my classroom jobs. I hung it in my classroom on Friday and and a few colleagues asked me how I made it. They were surprised at how easy it was and headed off to make their own. I thought some of you might like this little trick too, so I thought I'd share. All you need is a box of standard envelopes and a poster or foam board. Here's how you do it... The index cards with the kids' names on them slip right into the pockets and stay put. I used this trick for my Job Chart, but you could also use it for Math or Literacy Station Work Boards, a Dismissal Chart, or anything else you use task cards for. I hope you can use this little trick - I'd love to hear about what you create! Have a great weekend! Update 9/2/12 - For more info on the clipart I used, check out this post.

I'm sharing the music playlist that I use whenever I teach PE

If you have clogged ears, you may have difficulty hearing and discomfort. Here we have listed various home remedies that you can try to unblock clogged ears.

18 Limited Edition Apple-Inspired Shades

Hi friends! I'm SO excited to share with you some of the things that have been working well in my room! My alphabet interventions have been going so smoothly this year! You will be able to read more about my actual small group routine tomorrow since I will be posting that on Kinder Tribe. But today I just wanted to show you two tools that have been rocking my alphabet intervention world. First is "The Alphabet QR Book". I have 3 copies, one for each student in my intervention group. After I call them to my teacher table they know that the first thing they do is grab the iPod and scan the QR code. Then they press play and wait for the audio to start. The audio says "Are you ready to practice the letter name and sounds? Open up to the first page with the apple and place your finger on the first black dot. As we read make sure you tap on each black dot. When you hear the chime, turn the page. Here we go!" Then the students just follow the directions and read along with the audio. The book is about 4 minutes long. This gives me plenty of time to get everyone else settled into centres and I can even pull a student for a quick assessment if needs be! It is seriously like having another teacher in the room! No more waiting around doing nothing or students "reading" books that are way too hard for them as they wait! After we finish the QR book we move on to our intervention booklets (which I will be talking in-depth about over at Kinder Tribe tomorrow). The second intervention tool that has been working well are these personalized take home books. After I assess each student I create personalized books based on the letters and sounds they have not yet mastered. Some books will be very thin and other books will have the entire alphabet. If the student knows the letter sound but not the letter names then I will check the S box but not the N box. This just lets the parents know what they were able to show me during the most recent assessment and what they need to work on at home. I always read the book with each child before putting it in their agenda so that they know how to read the book. We talk about tapping on each black dot as we read. Then it stays in their agenda and it is part of their home reading program. They are asked to read the book with an adult every night to practice the alphabet. Every month I will reassess the letters and remove the letters that they have mastered. The kids love seeing their books get thinner and it really does seem to motivate them! I am throwing a little sale over at my TPT store for all of my alphabet intervention items. They will be 20% off until Wednesday! Click on the images below to see them in my store!

Here’s the deal–I’m weird about music. When my husband and I moved in together, he thought it was SO strange that I had lived most of my life in silence. I NEVER had background music playing and rarely listened to it in the car either. I’m not sure if my home life growing up played ... Read More about Fun Ways to Use Music in the English Classroom

Finally! The Taxonomy of my Music is complete! While I’m working on my Digital Art assignments I enjoy watching my favorite TV shows. I bring this up to help you get a sense for how long it t…

We should want our students to like us, but not because we awkwardly talk about rap music and basketball.

Share the Sweetness151 151SharesFor today’s Literacy Lesson after lunch, we worked on reading comprehension. I built my lesson around the Kane Miller book, I’m a Dirty Dinosaur by Janeen Brian & Ann James. You can snag your own peppy book HERE. They have also just released I’m a Hungry Dinosaur! I can’t wait to get that one! Throughout the… Read More A Toddler Reading Comprehension Lesson | I’m A Dirty Dinosaur

From cozy scarves to the best stretchy joggers, these chic travel outfits will help you elevate your style without sacrificing comfort.

Welcome to our series on social emotional learning in the elementary classroom! We are going to be chatting about some effective strategies and procedures you can easily and quickly apply to your classroom for improvement in student self-awareness, self-control, and social skills. During the month of January, we will cover four different SEL topics. January has always been my favorite month to teach, because I was always able to do a reset with the students I already had a relationship with. We could then really hone in and improve SEL skills to in turn take a deep dive into instruction. The less you are having to stop and redirect student behavior, the more time you have to teach. We know that is more important now than ever. This month, we will cover four topics that I felt were most needed right now that could cover the most behaviors: listening, making good choices, kindness, and resilience. Let's talk LISTENING and FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS. Why is listening important? Active listening is a vital skill in the classroom, as well as in life. You listen to directions, announcements, instruction, conversation, and more. As a student, I was not always the best listener. I tried really hard to listen, but I lacked the strategies to comprehend what was being said. I was more of a visual learner, so auditory was difficult for me. I think we sometimes forget that our students need to be explicitly taught the strategies and skills we expect them to apply. I have found that students need explicit SEL instruction all throughout the year. The problem is that we don't have the time to do that. I tried to think of ways you could easily and quickly incorporate it into your day, because it's so important to keep your classroom running smoothly and to decrease undesirable behaviors. The best time I feel to teach these, if you can, is first thing in the morning, during morning meeting. I have come up with some quick mini lessons, along with quick and fun activities, to teach each SEL topic. This week, we are going to look at some strategies to increase active listening in your classroom. Listening Strategies and Tips Call and Response The first thing you need to have in place is a call and response. I would only do one or two at a time. One that I always do is: Teacher: 1, 2, 3 Eyes on Me Students: 1, 2 Eyes on You When I teach this, I practice it a ton. It is important that students STOP AND LOOK AT YOU. Do not let them continue what they are doing. They will not be actively listening if they are still doing something else or talking while you are talking. Be firm about that expectation and wait until everyone is focused on you. We want to establish a muscle memory of them stopping, looking at you, and listening until you are finished. It's so important to have high expectations here. There are many different call and responses out there to choose from. Just be consistent with one or two for a while before changing to a different chant. Voice Volume and Tone If you know me, you know that I am not loud at all! Ha! I am pretty quiet so I use that to my advantage in the classroom. The lower I talk, the more they have to really listen. I also make sure that I keep a calm tone when I speak. This is also very important to have a calming environment because they tend to mirror what they are seeing. Something that I have found that has helped a ton with listening is buying a microphone headset and speaker. I just got one off of Amazon. It saves my voice and my energy, and I can use a calm tone that students are more likely to listen to. Keep Directions Short and Direct Stick to one-step instructions. Be direct and clear with your instructions, as well. If you can also add a visual, that will greatly help students. As students get better with one-step instructions, begin to slowly introduce more steps. Echoing One of my favorite and most effective ways to give instructions is through echoing. I will say the instruction in a sing song voice. The students know to echo me when I use that voice. Not only does it help them better comprehend the instructions, they also are busy being engaged which cuts down on opportunities to get off task or misbehave. Read Aloud Books The best way to begin a discussion with students about an SEL topic is through a read aloud. We want them to understand why listening is important. It helps us to be a better friend, we learn more, we are more caring, we understand what to do next, etc. I really love the book, The Worst Day of My Life Ever! by Julia Cook. The character in the story is having a very bad day because he chose not to listen to others. Students get to follow along on how those choices affected his day. His mom gives him tips on how to be a better listener and how to follow instructions that students can also apply. (I have made a resource that contains all of the mini lessons for teaching students to be better listeners, along with quick activities for a week focused on this topic.) Two other good ones are Lacy Walker, Nonstop Talker and My Mouth is a Volcano. Songs and Videos I love to incorporate music to help students better remember a strategy. You will get a song I wrote in the unit call "I Am Listening", but I have also linked some classroom approved videos you can show before or during your mini lesson about listening. Be a Whole Body Listener I Am a Good Listener (begin at 1:00) Why is Listening Important? Listening Game The Dance Freeze Song The Listening Game: Cosmic Kids Listening Mini Lessons Incorporate mini lessons into your morning meeting devoted to listening. I like to focus on one topic or skill per week. These lessons are quick and to the point. I also like to create an anchor chart with my students so that they have a visual reminder to refer to. Students also make a mini anchor chart to add to their SEL notebooks. Listening and Following Directions Activities Practice the Strategy For each lesson, I review the anchor chart and sing the listening song to open the lesson and review what we have learned. I then read a portion of the read aloud, The Worst Day of My Life Ever! I do this similar to an interactive read aloud, including text dependent questions that also start discussions about listening. After the story, I teach a new strategy that we then practice. I will take you through each day of this unit. We already covered day one and the anchor chart, so let's move on to day two. On day two, we learn a new listening strategy and then students listen to the story Go Away Big Green Monster. I do not show them the illustrations; they have to draw the monster by listening to the description. This is a fun way to practice active listening! They love to share their monsters with one another. On day three, we learn another listening strategy and play Listen, Draw, Check. You can use this game in all content areas for review. The game is very similar to Battleship. They have to be really great listeners and follow the directions to match my game board, which we check at the end. On day four, I introduce the students to an SEL animal character. Each character is a different animal and has a poem. For this activity, students have to follow the oral coloring instructions and color their Listening Lion. They also get a copy of the poem to trace. Finally on day five, we read the whole story and then discuss what lesson the author was trying to teach the reader. I then assign a writing activity (differentiated sheets included) in which they have to apply what they have learned about listening and following directions. This is a great way to wrap up the unit and assess their understanding. Listening and following instructions are skills that apply to so many parts of the school day, so they are vital to a smoothly run classroom. When you are having to stop and address behaviors, it is draining. Let's set our students up for success by giving them the tools they need to thrive in the classroom. I would love to hear and share with others if you have any great listening strategies! Thank you so much for stopping by this week! Be sure to come back next week for our next SEL skill, MAKING GOOD CHOICES. The following two weeks will be all about KINDNESS and RESILIENCE. You can grab the Listening and Following Directions Activities below or by clicking on any of the photos!

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's after having my 3rd child and living in chronic pain. I am committed to healing from the inside out.

A new school year usually means a new teacher, new expectations, and new routines, so our students sometimes don't respond as we'd hoped when we try to get

I’m really really excited about this new product! One of the things I love about TpT is having an excuse to pull out my lovely Scotch laminator and have an excuse to spend a few minutes laminating, cutting, and assembling the new things I just bought! That being said, there are many times when I’m ...

If you haven’t heard of sketchnotes yet, I’m SO EXCITED to be the one to share it with you in this post. When you teach your students to take sketchnotes, you give them a method for listening to a lecture that will allow them to process and remember it better, while being creative.

The Yellow Brick Road Blog is a website dedicated to providing music teachers with fun education resources for serious music literacy.

I want to help you get all those childhood sentimental items decluttered, sorted, and organized in a way that you can keep on enjoying them more.

Tips for Primary Teachers.