Empower ELL newcomers with essential classroom English phrases using this resource pack designed for beginners. Perfect for mastering survival English skills.

Let's dive into some new options to teach vocabulary, for those who have the time and energy to pursue them. In this post and podcast, I'm sharing ten ideas for making the study of vocabulary something students might even look forward to.

Learn how to change a child's inflexible thinking with this collection of tips, books, and activities to develop a growth mindset for kids!

A simple way to teach your students classroom procedures and expectations at the beginning of the school year

Free printable preschool worksheets pdf for teachers and homeschoolers. Fun preschool worksheets for math, English, fine motor skills, and more!

Whether you are in remote learning or in the classroom, you can spice up learning by incorporating science songs into your classroom. If you are distance teaching, I love the idea of starting the Google Meet or Zoom session by playing one of these songs to get your students motivated and engaged for science class. ... Read more

Last summer I added Mo Willems' The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to my classroom library. Of course, this addition was a no-brainer. Willems' books are always super popular, especially Pigeon books. Just as predicted, my students loved this book. It is the perfect length for the beginning of the year, when attention spans are extra short and students need a little break from all the procedural training they are receiving. Since I knew this book would be a hit, I decided to make it the centerpiece of back to school. I created some basic "Pigeon themed" math and literacy activities, as well as a simple craft. I used these activities intermittently during the first week and was able to glean some great info about my new students' basic math and literacy skills, as well as their fine motor skills and listening skills. One of the Pigeon themed activities was a number/number word/counting mini book. Students traced and wrote the numbers 1-10, as well as the number words 1-10. Then students illustrated a picture to go with each number. We broke this activity up over a couple of days. Students took part in a listening activity. Students had to complete a picture according to a series of questions/statements that I read aloud. (If you've every made a glyph with your students, this activity feels really similar.) Students also put together their first puzzler for the year. This puzzler focused on number representations. Students cut and glued the puzzler pieces to tell what number is represented in the box. By the end, students have a completed picture that they can color. I use various puzzlers throughout the year. This the Pigeon puzzler is a great introduction to how to complete a puzzler. Students loved making their simple, one-page craft Pigeons. All that was required was the Pigeon pattern (I used white card stock), scissors, and glue. The class Pigeons made a really quick and cute back to school bulletin board. In addition to these activities, students worked on counting/cardinality, geometry, place value, number bonds, handwriting, the alphabet, rhyming words, sight words, and more. The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! is a perfect springboard for a variety of skills. For a math freebie (from the printables featured above), click on the picture below. This freebie provides practice with ten frames, counting, and number identification. If you have not added, The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to your classroom library, I highly recommend it. There are so many directions you can go with this book. More importantly, your students will love it and be totally engaged. What a great way to start the year, by reading a book that students truly enjoy. :) For more details about the all of the Pigeon inspired activities I used with my students, be sure to click on the picture below. Of course (like most), I'm not certain what this year's back to school days will look like. Whatever the setup, I know I'll be using The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to help me kick off the year. Thanks for stopping by. School Is a Happy Place is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associated Program, an affiliate program that allows this site to earn advertising fees. Please know that all of the recommendations on this site are authentic and come from personal experience.

Get your students thinking like a historian from the get-go with these tips and ideas for your first Social Studies lesson of the year.

Spending the first week of school teaching classroom expectations and procedures is essential for a successful year. Glue is a tricky school supply for many little learners and there definitely needs to be instruction dedicated to teaching learners how to use this tool.Glue BottlesWhen learners are not taught how to use their glue correctly things

Time to inspire and motivate your students with these 4 fun bulletin board ideas that are perfect for schools, classrooms, or libraries!

These engaging strategies to incorporate movement in the classroom are perfect for the fidgety students & kinesthetic learners in your class!

Engage students with exciting trashketball games! Discover fun back to school games for icebreakers, reviews, and learning classroom rules.

These engaging strategies to incorporate movement in the classroom are perfect for the fidgety students & kinesthetic learners in your class!

Classroom callbacks are a technique that teachers use to get the students’ attention in a quick and fun way. Free resource available.

Give your students a taste of adventure with over 20 free digital escape rooms to try at home or at school. Doing distance learning? These are perfect!

Teaching kids about our world, geography, maps, and more. Kindergarten Social Studies Lessons made easy #kindergarten #socialstudies

If you're looking for free printable worksheets for preschool & kindergarten, then look no further. Here are links to all of the printable worksheets that I've created for preschoolers and kindergartners. You'll find cutting and tracing, color by code, and of course everything in between.

Why I don't review the syllabus on the first day of class in high school and what I do instead. Fun first day of school activities and icebreakers!

Back to School Preschool Worksheets with all kinds of great activities for preschoolers to use all year round. Counting, letter recognition and much more.

These printable cutting practice strips are an easy way to help your young learners work on their fine motor and cutting skills. Find more Cutting Practice Packs HERE. *The free download button can be found at the END of this post. Printable Cutting Practice Strips You’ll find horizontal lines, vertical lines, zigzag lines, and ... Read More about Printable Cutting Practice Strips

Recently, I have seen some debates on using centers and the Science of Reading. If you have been a teacher for a long time, centers were a HUGE part of Balanced Literacy. Recently, teachers have shifted away from balanced of literacy to research based Science of Reading. You can read my Science of Reading Post ... Read More about Centers and the Science of Reading

Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don't really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.

Use this first day of preschool handprint craft and activity for your little ones to decorate the room and a keepsake for parents

KINDERGARTEN MATH - UNIT 1 I am thrilled to be sharing this huge Counting and Cardinality Unit with you! This is the math unit we start the year with in kindergarten. The kids love all of the hands-on activities we get to do, and I love how easy it is to keep them engaged.

It's time to go back to school! With the back-to-school season upon us, it is time to start planning back-to-school activities for the first week of school.

Grab our free, clickable Mega List of Themes and Skills for Pre-K & Kindergarten Lesson Plans to see what themes/skills I cover in my classroom all year!

Happy teachers mean happy students. Here is a list of ways to build morale, support teacher wellbeing and have fun as a teaching team at school.

Here's a simple way to teacher less than, greater than: with toys! Free printable included.

You are a great teacher (that's why you're checking out products related to building relationships) and you know how important it is to spend time getting to know WHO your students are before you jump head first into content. This post will give you some ideas you can use to start buildi

It is the first week of kindergarten! What do I teach? I get this question all the time! I am so excited to put together this page together for you. I’m sharing our favorite first week of kindergarten read aloud stories and the free coordinating printables I made to go with them. Plus I will s

Try this easy tinfoil sculpture art lesson in your classroom. Learn more from this blog post.

Pencil Name Craft For Kids | Fun back to school learning idea. Use a free printable PDF template to cut out & make. Great for preschool, pre k & kindergarten.

Tips for Primary Teachers.

Teaching growth mindset can be done with read-alouds! Rosie's Glasses is a great book for this. Get ideas for using this book to teach being positive.

Note: This blog post contains resources from our TpT store and our Amazon Associate store. --------------------------------------------- 1. An animated read aloud of If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff In this book, the story follows a mouse and all the fun and chaos that ensue when you take a mouse to school. It's known for its repetitive and circular storytelling style, where each action leads to another, creating a humorous and engaging narrative for young readers. The book is loved for its whimsical illustrations and the way it sparks children's imaginations as they follow along with the mouse's adventures at school. 2. Engage your class in a variety of activities inspired by the book: Decorate a shoe box as a lunch box. Try your skill with a yo-yo. Write on the chalkboard. Do a simple science experiment. Build a house with blocks. Write a story book. Read the book aloud to a friend. Kick a soccer ball. Shoot a basket. Have a snack! 3. If You Take a Mouse to School Reader's Theater 4. Writing Activity Have the students create their own sentences: If you take a ___________ to school, ______________ will _______________. Free Writing Paper 5. Review of School Rules Complete the sentences: If you take a child to school, he/she will _______________. Examples: listen nicely, raise his hand, be kind, ask for help, put supplies away, follow directions, make new friends, etc. 6. Illustrations Review Examine the illustrations of the boy and mouse getting ready for school. Student may write or discuss what they do to get ready for school each morning. 7. Favorite Animal If you could bring your favorite animal to school, what would it be and why? Students could bring a stuffed animal representing their favorite animal. Students may research facts about their chosen animal, or write a pretend story of their animal's adventures in school. 8. Print All Around Us As students read the book, encourage them to examine the pictures. Notice there a words and numbers everywhere. Encourage students to walk around the room to notice print in the real world. How about at home? At the grocery store? At the movies? Etc. 9. Math Application Shapes, shapes, shapes! There are shapes everywhere in this book. Have students draw each shape they see in the book on a piece of paper or poster paper. Don't forget to find shapes in your own classroom as well! 10. Mouse Puppet 11. Paper Plate Mouse (Alter the Easter Bunny LOL) 12. DIY Mouse Costume Perhaps the teacher could show up to school as a mouse? Wear gray pants and a gray jacket :) 13. Mouse Trap Online Game Mouse Trap 14. Printable Crossword Puzzle If You Take a Mouse to School Crossword Puzzle 15. Printable Task Cards for Center Activities and Games If You Take a Mouse to School Reading Comprehension Task Cards Have a scavenger hunt or play SCOOT! 16. Printable Craftivity If You Take A Mouse to School Interactive Notebook Activity From our Amazon Affiliate store: If You Take a Mouse to School If You Take A Mouse To School Puppet & Props U-Build Mouse Trap Game You may also like this blog post: Shelly Anton is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. ** This means there are Amazon affiliate links in these blog posts. This does not mean you pay a dime more when you purchase a product through the link. It just means I am trying to save you valuable teacher time by making it easier for you to find great resources for your students, and I earn a few cents for my research and time. Thank you for all you do for kids!

Sewing with kids can be just as fun and rewarding as sewing with kids. Get tips on when to start teaching them and what kinds of projects to make.

Using sentence frames to get ell students writing. Click here for more:

Ready to "cook up" a great first day of school? It's easy with this recipe for a successful start to the school year! PREP: ➤ Think about how you will set the tone for your classroom on the first day of school. ➤ Plan to keep students engaged and active. ➤ Prepare to build a positive rapport with students from the first instant that they become a part of the classroom community. INGREDIENTS: ➤ Warm-Up Activity ➤ Get-to-Know-You Activity ➤ Game that gets students out of their seats ➤ Get-to-Know-the-Teacher Activity ➤ Writing Prompt ➤ Extension Activity Once you've gathered your ingredients, you can get "cooking!" (CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE RECIPE!) PROCEDURE: STEP 1: Begin with a warm-up activity. Place an activity on students' desks that they can complete independently. You might try a simple survey or poster. An All About Me poster is a quick way to learn about students. You can even gather them together for an awesome classroom display. Or, a survey is a wonderful way to collect information about students. You might include questions about where students like to sit, their favorite way to learn, and activities that they enjoy so that you can start connecting with students. Another awesome warm-up activity is an "All About You" name tag. Students answer questions about themselves while coloring in a name tag based on their responses. Then, students can place the name tag on their desks to help you learn your students' names. This activity is particularly awesome if you have multiple sets of students. You can collect the name tags and re-distribute them each day during each class while you learn names. Oh, and as a bonus, you can gather them together and leave them with substitute teachers throughout the year! If you'd like to check out ready-made Back to School Warm-Ups, just click here for the poster, here for the survey, and here for the name tags. STEP 2: Mix in a get-to-know-you activity. Give students a chance to share about themselves and learn about their classmates with an engaging get-to-know-you activity. One of my favorites is a doodle-inspired mini-book. Students transform a single sheet of paper into a doodley mini-book all about themselves. After students make the mini-book it's fun to hang them on a clothesline. Then, as students finish their work during the first days of school, you can encourage fast-finishers to grab a classmate's mini-book and learn about him or her. Check out the doodle mini-book HERE. Or, you could have students create this 3-D About Me Activity. Students create an infographic-style book about themselves. After answering some simple questions, they do a little cutting and gluing to create a 3-D "About Me" display. These are especially fun because students can set them on their desks and then everyone can tour around the classroom and learn about their peers. (These are awesome for Open House too!) Learn more HERE. STEP 3: Scatter in an activity that gets students moving. Since students crave opportunities to get up and out of their seats, plan to get your class moving on the first day of school. You might have students complete a scavenger hunt or even play a learning game that requires students to move around. I'm a huge fan of this simple get-to-know-you activity that gets students moving (and you can download it for FREE here.) First, students make paper airplanes. They write their name and 3 interview questions on the wings. Then, students line up shoulder-to-shoulder and launch the planes. Next, they pick up a classmate's plane, find him or her, and ask the interview questions. You can repeat the airplane launch as often as you'd like! Find everything you need to do this activity in this FREEBIE. If you'd like to combine movement and learning on the first day of school, then you and your students will love this Back to School Doodle Infographic. First students fill in the infographic with facts about school. There are 21 facts and you can hide them around the room to get students moving. Then, they put together the infographic to make a fun and doodle-y poster! Check it out HERE. STEP 4: Sprinkle in a chance for students to get-to-know-you (their teacher). On the first day of school, students are very curious about you. They want to learn about you, so you'll want to be sure to share about yourself. You can give a simple biography of yourself, or you might try these easy and engaging activities: Create a teacher interview question along with 4 or 5 prize cards for each student in your class. Then, tape the questions and the prize cards under students' seats before class begins. During class, explain to students that they all have something under their chairs. It might be a question and it might be a prize. If they get a prize card, have students keep it quiet. Then, call on students. They can either read a question for you to answer or reveal that they won a prize. If they won, you might give them a pencil, piece of candy, or a homework pass. You can find all my favorite questions HERE. Or, you might have students complete a "Teacher Guess" about you. First, they predict the answers to questions about you. Then, as you reveal the answers, they earn points for every correct prediction. It's a fun activity that students truly enjoy! You can check it out HERE. STEP 5: Add a fun writing prompt to your back to school activities. A writing prompt is a great way to gather a baseline for students' writing on the first day of school. You might give students a simple prompt about their summer or goals for the new school year. However, I love to add a fun creative writing prompt into the mix. For example, with this writing prompt students select a setting, character, problem, and 3 random objects. Then, they need to work them all into a story. It's fun, engaging, and a great way to see where your students are starting the school year. Find this writing prompt HERE or check out this collection of 10 creative writing activities. STEP 6: Top it off with a review of tomorrow's warm-up. Set students up for success during your next day of school by quickly reviewing what they will need to do when they arrive to class. If you're planning to have students work through warm-ups like these This or That ELA warm-ups where students choose to do the "this" or the "that" activity, then you might quickly review what will be waiting on their desks when they arrive. Taking the time to preview tomorrow's warm-up is a great way to set expectations for students! If you're looking for some daily warm-ups, you might want to check out these This or That ELA warm-ups or these This or That Writing warm-ups! STEP 7: Don't forget to have an extension activity just in case your lesson ends early. I love playing games like "Move If You..." which you can find for FREE HERE. While you may never get to the extension activity, it's a lifesaver if you need it! TIPS: When you're following this recipe for a great first day of school, you might want to: ➤ Greet students at the door and answer these questions for students right away: ➨ Where do I sit? ➨ Am I in the right classroom? ➨ What should I be doing right now? ➤ Also, be prepared to manage students' behavior on the first day of school. Ensure that you have a positive classroom management system in place and ready to use if you need it! Well, there you have it, my recipe for a great first day of school. Be sure to download all the ideas with links AND the FREE airplane activity HERE! CHECK THIS OUT! I've put together a 100+ page guide for back to school for teachers. It includes tips, tools, and printables for classroom décor, classroom organization, lesson planning, community building, and planning the first day of school. It's absolutely FREE! Just click here to sign up. When you sign up, you'll get access to 6 mini-courses that cover everything Back to School including classroom design, organization, curriculum planning, and ways to build a positive classroom community. There's also a TON of exclusive freebies, bonuses, and videos! If you'd like to learn more and sign up, just click HERE. Thanks so much for stopping by, Mary Beth P.S. If you'd like MORE free resources for your classroom, be sure to join the Brain Waves Instruction club!

Have you tried using Collaborative Posters in the Classroom? Collaborative posters are a fantastic way to build a culture of teamwork and unity in your

These first day of school activities and printables are so much fun! Great for homeschooling or traditional schooling and free to print and use, too!

Learn how to create simple models and maps with early years students with this free geography printable!

10 inexpensive rewards to use in your middle school class.