Every day I am given 100 minutes of uninterrupted language arts time in my schedule. In that time I must plan out how to get everything done. My goal is to

Take a G and an E and O, And add a little R-G-E, To a W-A-S-H, I...N...G If you add 2,000 pounds, That makes a ton, So what have you got? You've got a lot!

Do you have a newcomer student in your classroom? Here are some strategies for supporting newcomer ELLs in their elementary classroom...

Choosing a theme for your classroom can be both exciting and challenging. What best represents your personality? What would the students choose? Some teachers choose not to have a theme and may use a color scheme instead. Summer vacation is a perfect time to plan and organize for the upcoming school year. There are so many resources to use online to help you create a classroom that is both inviting and conducive to learning. Listed below are some of my favorite themes with creative sayings to display classroom materials and highlight students. Dog Theme - Students and teachers love dogs! What a wonderful way for students to make personal connections with their classroom. Even for students who are not dog owners, these cute and adorable animals brighten up any classroom. "Barking About ______" is a title that can be used in a variety of ways. Highlight a subject area or activity on a bulletin board. Just add student work and this board will be something to bark about. "Top Dog" can be used to describe a student of the week or month. You can create a bulletin board highlighting students for their accomplishments. "Dog-Gone Good ______" is another title with endless possibilities. You can add words such as students, work, behavior, readers, writers, scientists, etc. This title will fit perfectly on a bulletin board in your dog themed classroom "Paws"itively __________" is a wonderful play on words for a dog theme. You can add so many different words to highlight students, subject areas, and classroom activities. "You've been Spotted ________" can be used for so many different bulletin boards. Ideas include: reading, writing, working, behaving, and following class rules. Click below for a free dog theme poster: If interested in more dog theme decor, click below: Dog Theme Classroom Decor Hollywood Theme - I have used this theme in my classroom for several years. You can actually check out pictures of my Hollywood classroom on my blog. I love the idea of the students becoming stars of their classroom. If you like to coordinate your room with certain colors, then red, white, and black will really stand out in your Hollywood themed classroom. Some ideas that you can use on bulletin boards to spotlight students, activities, and lessons include: "Spotlight on ___________" can be used for almost any idea. Students love to see their work spotlighted and this helps build their self esteem. "Now Featuring/Playing __________" is similar to "Spotlight on _________." You can highlight students, specific lessons and/or activities. "Wall of Fame" can be used to motivate students. If students complete an assigned goal then their name can be added to the Wall of Fame. Students become more motivated when they realize that their hard work will be acknowledged. "Starring ___________" is another idea with endless possibilities. You can add your class name, grade level, or a description such as super students. "A Star is Born" can be used to spotlight a student of the week. Students can bring in baby pictures of themselves to add to this bulletin board. "Meet the Cast and Crew of ___________" is a perfect way to add your teacher name. This board should be displayed at the beginning of the year. "Look Who's Popping in ___________" can also be used at the beginning of the year to introduce the new students of your class. I used it in my classroom for Accelerated Reader. The students "popped" as they earned points. "Hollyword" is a wonderful title for your word wall. I used a wipe off board to display my words and hung the sign above the board. "Stage Crew" can be used as the title of your helpers bulletin board. I labeled the helpers with all Hollywood themed names. Click below for free Hollywood themed homework passes: If interested in more Hollywood Theme decor, click below: Hollywood Theme Classroom Decor Jungle Theme - Another favorite theme that I have used in the past. There are so many possibilities with this theme that it makes it easier to decorate a classroom. I am wild about a jungle themed classroom. "Wild About __________" can be used by adding any subject. Student work can be displayed according to the subject that was chosen. "Roaring About _____________" is very similar to "Wild About ___________." You can add any subject or topic. Add student work and the board is complete. "You've Been Spotted _____________" reading, writing, behaving, and working are just some of the ideas that you can use with this board. "Swinging into _____________" just needs the grade level added to it. You have a perfect bulletin board for the beginning of the school year. "Welcome to the Jungle" can be displayed on your door. Perfect addition to your jungle themed classroom. "Rules of the Jungle" can be included with your classroom rules. It is important for students to be able to read the rules and review them often. "Exploring ____________" is another topic that can be used with any subject, topic, or lesson that you are teaching. Click below for free jungle themed hallway passes: If interested in more jungle themed classroom decor, click below: Jungle Themed Classroom Decor Farm Theme - Love this theme for primary classrooms! The main color of this theme is red and the animals bring along many other colors to brighten up a classroom. Some ideas to include in your farm themed classroom: "Mooooving Along in ________________" can be used to highlight a grade level, teacher's class, or subject area. Just place a drawing of a cow and the board is all set. "You've Been Spotted __________" is a great title for spotlighting a specific activity. Ideas include reading, writing, behaving, following directions, and completing homework "Down on the Farm with ____________" just needs the teacher's name added and you can use this at the beginning of the school year to welcome your students. "Round Up for _____________" is perfect for any subject area or topic taught. Add student work and the board is complete. Click below for a farm themed reading certificate: If interested in more farm themed classroom decor, click below: Farm Themed Classroom Decor Pirate Theme - Students love this theme. The colors include mostly red, black, and white. Where do you mostly find pirates? Sailing on the blue ocean under a blue sky. So blue is also another color that can be added to your pirate theme. Listed below are some suggestions to enhance your classroom: "We ARGH..." is a wonderful starter sentence and the possibilities are endless. We ARGH following the class rules. We ARGH prepared for class. We ARGH excited for school. We ARGH ready for ____ grade. We ARGH readers. We ARGH wishing our classmates a happy birthday. Add your own words to this sentence starter and your pirate themed bulletin boards are all set. "____________ is a real treasure!" is another heading you can use on bulletin boards. Add different subjects in the blank and you can use this to display your students work. "You ARGH top crew!" can be used to highlight the student of the week. Display these words on a bulletin board to showcase one particular student or a group of students. "Sailing into...." can be used for the beginning of the year. Just add the grade level or teacher's name and you have a title ready for your back to school bulletin board or classroom door. "Gold ___________" can be used to spotlight students. "Gold Readers" can be used to motivate students with a reading incentive program. "Gold Mathematicians" can be used to display outstanding math work. You can use this sentence starter to highlight students who are displaying academic success, positive behavior, and/or showing acts of kindness. Click below for a pirate themed top crew certificate: If interested in pirate theme classroom decor, click below: Pirate Theme Classroom Decor Hope these ideas help enhance your classroom! In the comments section would love to hear about your classroom themes and any additional ideas that you have.

Take a G and an E and O, And add a little R-G-E, To a W-A-S-H, I...N...G If you add 2,000 pounds, That makes a ton, So what have you got? You've got a lot!

This blog post features a contraction anchor chart. Plus, two free concentration games are provided... one contraction game for lower elementary and one for upper elementary!

Teaching grammar and language art skills can be a challenge for anyone. How do you hit all of the skills...effectively? How do you know your students are

As language teachers, our goal for our students is to be more proficient in the target language when they complete our course than when they began. We probably have other goals for our students (being more kind, more empathetic, more responsible, more culturally aware), but all of these objectives fit into the overarching mission of…

One of my favorite language arts lesson to do in teaching students about synonyms. Using the idea of a "synonym roll," every year my students are extremely engaged by the lesson. Want a terrific synonym lesson complete with the outlines for the cinnamon rolls themselves? Here is my lesson plan typed up along with 36 words with synonym examples, 3 different sizes of rolls, and a synonym brainstorming page for students. Synonym Roll Lesson Plan You can also head over to my TPT store and download the outlines.

Read about eleven different ways to meaningfully incorporate art in ELA class. Keep the focus on students' learning, not their artistic abilities.

Using Bloom's Taxonomy every.day. was one of the best things I did for my students.

Here is a collection of eight class discussion techniques to structure classroom discussion and ensure all students' equal participation.

Kostenlose Diktate für die 3. und 4. Klasse für den Deutsch-Unterricht an der Grundschule zum Herunterladen als PDF und zum Ausdrucken.

Have you ever wondered if a gifted language arts curriculum could be a good fit for your homeschool even though your kids aren't necessarily gifted?

Changing nouns from singular to plural can sometimes be tricky for the elementary student. This free, printable Plural Rules Poster will be a big help in reminding your child of all the plural rules! Its graphics are cute, and it's neatly laid out.

Analyzing character traits is a key fiction reading skill that is needed for successful comprehension. In most cases, authors do not just come out and tell readers the traits that a character possesses. By teaching

Try this simple tip to make the Memory Game meaningful and more than just a matching activity. Deb Hanson of Crafting Connections shares playing tips and freebies in this post!

This past week, we learned about synonyms. The kids really grasped the concept by mid-week! I am excited to see them start using synonyms...

Are you looking for some fun and engaging apostrophe activities? This blog is filled to the brim with fantastic ideas and resources.

Learn Creative ESL Teaching Notes and Ideas.

Some of you may know that I have the mother of all multi-level classes this year: 6th-12th grade, 1st-7th year Spanish. I asked parents and students for grace during the first few weeks as I figured out how to meet everyone’s needs, and they did. We are now finishing up week four, and I have a…

Fairy tales are old stories told and retold again, but do they deserve a place in a modern language arts curriculum? Besides the fact that the Common Core standards require exposure to fairy tales, there

Ideas and materials for assessing English Language Learners. Help get an idea throughout the year of your students language level.

HAVE YOU EVER....needed something and wished you had it right on hand?! This resource is for you! I'm telling you- I looked at the CCSS exemplar texts for poetry and knew I needed to kick my butt into gear to get my kids ready for some rigorous poetry but still have a meaningful experience! I set out research public domain poems that would be great and challenging for my students. This resource saved my poetry teaching. The ones with our reading series (if any!) are small and not given much attention!!! This was a huge wake up call. I chose to study this in December not April (National Poetry Month) because we need to get in the vocabulary surrounding poems and practicing the skills used to analyze much longer before state testing. I LOVE fun rhyming poetry but obviously that was not going to get my students to where they needed to be - much to my dismay :( This labor of love is packed with so many truly great poems by classic authors - just ready for students! Check out the many uses below. Comparing 2 William Blake poems (hello CCSS.RL.9 - SO TRICKY!!) There are more comparisons included as well! For the few poems I couldn't include the text there are QR codes (and just web links!) to reach these poems! This made CENTERS a breeze for poetry month!! The questions are tricky but I let them work with pairs at centers for plenty of practice as a class, in pairs, and independently as well. Here we are comparing "The Eagle" by Tennyson and "How Doth the Little Crocodile" by Lewis Carroll. This was one we worked on as a class so they understand the vocabulary in the question and what it was asking. We brainstormed ideas together and they wrote the paragraph answer in their notebooks which I went around and checked as their exit slip while they moved onto reading rotations (spelling choices, grammar, literacy skill) Click any of the pictures to get more info! This is truly something that saved my poetry unit and really vamped up the rigor! Check it out if yours could use some updating too! The sheets work great for CENTERS, homework, independent class work, assessments, and I included answer keys for all sheets along with small copies for interactive notebooks! Below is another sample page of the type of questions and poem selection. We spent about 3 weeks in December on poetry studying and analyzing while creating some of our own.

This Language Arts Interactive Notebook is filled with over 30 pages of hands-on grammar activities for grades 4-8. Activities including everything from diagramming to figurative language.

The figurative language anchor chart shared in this blog post includes a cooperative activity. Visit this post to download the FREE materials and replicate this interactive lesson in your upper elementary classroom!

Teaching grammar and language art skills can be a challenge for anyone. How do you hit all of the skills...effectively? How do you know your students are