Ahoy Mateys! Let's talk pirates and professional development! Sometimes in life you get really lucky and the book your principa...
There have been so many wonderful book study groups happening this summer, but we were gone for many of them and it just seems like I am now starting to get caught up on all of these fabulous books! I'm starting a little series over the next few weeks to review my favorite take-aways from all of them and calling it What I'm Reading Wednesday! This Week's Book: Teach Like a PIRATE by Dave Burgess When it comes to books for teaching, I *love* reading books about practical, hands-on ways to implement new strategies in my classroom. When it comes to books I read for fun, I *love* reading books that inspire, motivate, and challenge me to do more and be more. This book does all of the above and then some!! I love that this book is divided up into two sections: the first is Burgess' "manifesto" and the second half is full of practical ways that you can start implementing PIRATE strategies in your classroom. In the first half of the book, Burgess explains what it means to "Teach like a PIRATE" and uses the word as an acronym for what it looks like on a daily basis in your classroom. PIRATE teachers show: Click the image to get your free copy of this poster. Each of these sections are defined in a way that not only makes it easy for you to see using in your classroom, but also includes a call to action! This call is what spoke to me the most in these early chapters. I think it is often so easy to get bogged down in the negatives of our profession: tests, data, paperwork, unfair treatment from the media, etc. These chapters challenged me to remember my passion, always seek new challenges, look for new ways to engage and energize my students and my teaching, and more. This half is the perfect back-to-school read to get you "in the zone" to have your best, most positive year yet!! The second half of the book is focused on how you can incorporate PIRATE-ness in your class. Burgess is a high school teacher, but his techniques are easy to implement in elementary school, too! In fact, maybe even easier since our kiddos are younger :) What I love is that he stresses these aren't "one size fits all" approaches, but something you can pick and choose to start transforming the way you deliver instruction. In fact, I bet that if you're reading and/or writing teaching blogs, a lot of what he suggests are things you may do in your classroom anyway, but his lists are far more extensive and out-of-the-box than I could generate as I make lesson plans! One highlight in this second half are the "Hooks" teachers can use to draw the class' attention to the lesson and keep them highly engaged. He goes through tons and offers specific suggestions from his own class to show how these can be done in a variety of ways. Here's a quick list I made that I plan on keeping near my desk so that I can remember to include a hook or two (maybe more!) throughout my day: Click the image to get your free copy of these sheets. The bottom has some empty lines to add new ones that may pop up as you endeavor on this journey :) I also found a wonderful blog post from the 2 Smart Wenches and they have put together and even more handy-dandy list of hooks (on a binder ring, so you know I'm sold!): Click the image above to be taken to their post and grab these for free! As you can see, they participated in a *fabulous* book study put on by Third Grade Tidbits and Rowdy in First Grade that I highly recommend you check out, since they go into each of the chapters in detail. Another fabulous resource is a video that Elizabeth from Fun in Room 4B posted on her Facebook page that really shows you the dynamic personality of Dave Burgess and how his passion and enthusiasm are contagious! I love this conversation put on by Edu All-Stars and I definitely plan on attending one of the #TLAP Twitter chats. Continuing the conversation with educators who are also "PIRATE"s and who desire to motivate, innovate, and inspire is so powerful! If you're interested in Dave Burgess' book, it's available on Amazon: For those of you who have read Teach Like a PIRATE, what was your biggest takeaway? I'd love for you to share in the comments below! Aaaarrrgh!! ;)
Look at the ship. What are the pirates doing? Fill in the gaps with the verbs in brackets. Use the Present Continuous. Then match the descriptions to the numbers in the picture. Key provided - ESL worksheets
A collection of location and mapping worksheets. These resources support the teaching of cardinal and ordinal directions, grid referencing, prepositional words, reading legends and more.
What teaching is not... a visual thought from @SirKenRobinson (speaking at @Bett_show next fri - hurray!) #edchat
Hi, from the Classroom Game Nook Blog! If you have a pirate theme in your classroom, then you will want to snag these adorable prefix and suffix posters to display in your classroom or to use as a teaching tool! Click on the picture above for your free copy! You Might Also Like:Pirate Day Math ... Read More about Prefix and Suffix Posters
Practice the past simple in all forms using a pirate theme. Additionally each square could be used for all forms.A pirate theme to liven things up.Clip art from - ESL worksheets
Do you celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day in your speech therapy room? It is something that I have just gotten into the last couple of years. My students absolutely love it so I will admit that I love it too! Any opportunity to dress up and send my students back to class wearing a ... Read More about Talk Like a Pirate Day is September 19
Social studies teachers can help students personalize history by embracing individualized pathways and oral or local history projects.
Reading Trail:3 difficulty levelsadditional task for fast readerssolution sheetFor other teaching resources click: H E R E !
Was and were chart. Fill in missing words on second chart. Then fill in was or were in the sentences- in the correct form on the dotted lines. There are often more lines than needed. Read about the pirates getting ready for an adventure. - ESL worksheets
The other day in Peace Class, we were talking about why people lie to cover up mistakes. Most students thought it was so that they wouldn't get in trouble, but one explained it just a little differently. She said that she thought it might be to avoid the uncomfortable feeling of embarrassment and her reflections gave me pause. Why does making mistakes cause us to be embarrassed? Aren't mistakes just learning opportunities in disguise? Then, another student asked me something that stopped me in my tracks: Do you ever make mistakes, Mrs. Gruener? The answer, of course, is a resounding yes, but only recently have I learned that it's not the end of the world to admit to mistakes, to ask for forgiveness, to grow from them, even! I love this saying, especially if you replace the phrase things from the past with one simple word: mistakes. Then last night, I participated in a #daretobe Twitter chat about confidence. Is it possible that fear of making mistakes keeps people from living life fully, with confidence? Lisa from Growing Firsties uses this classroom mantra below to keep that from happening with her school family; talk about your confidence-builder. What if we looked at mistakes through a growth mindset lens, as just a natural part of the education process, the journey rather than the destination? What would celebrating mistakes change? Enter Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg. Do you know this book? Check out the trailer: This past January, Workman Publishing launched a campaign with one thing in mind: Celebrating mistakes in this classroom ... because every oops is an opportunity to make something beautiful. Make it your resolution that your classroom and school be a mistake-making place where you foster creativity and work with students to learn, explore, and grow. Then register your school for the Celebrate Oops program {here}. Once you do, you'll receive a kit with a cool poster for your door, some Beautiful Oops stickers and an Educator's Guide. It would feel like a huge mistake to miss this freebie! The author is also available for school visits; clicks {here} for more information about that beautiful opportunity. Want a title to compare and contrast? Click the Willow graphic for a review and a long list of ideas. What was your most recent beautiful oops? How did you celebrate? What did you learn?
One of the most effecitve parts of a lesson plan is the anticipatory set. It can set the mood for interest, enagement, and wonder. But how?
This post is written by Laura Steinbrink. Laura is a high school English teacher and tech coach from Plato, Missouri. Check out her blog, Rockin’ the
National Talk Like A Pirate Day Music Education Treasures highlights ways to celebrate National Talk LIke A Pirate Day in the music classroom.
Kids, well, all people really, LOVE choice! That's why I created these reading choice boards.
Sometimes, to do right by their students, good teachers have to break the rules.
Looking for some creative rules for teaching? These Pixar storytelling rules can help us unlock our creativity in the classroom.Pixar is one of the best
Today, I'm excited to share with you a book that was written by someone at my very own school! I must say that we have the BEST speech teacher ever! She is always sharing her knowledge about words and language with teachers at school, volunteering to come read in our classrooms, informing parents of games and strategies to use at home....I could go on and on. On top of all of that, she is a published author of this wonderful treasure... {Amazon Link} Here's an excerpt from her page about the book... The Pirate Who Couldn't Say Arrr was written by a Speech-Language Pathologist who was inspired by her students. For almost every student who said "wabbit" for "rabbit", they were able to answer the question, "what does a pirate say?" with a ferocious and nearly perfect "arrr!". Figuring there must be a magical connection between pirates and "arrr's" (r's), the author captured exactly what the mouth must do to make a perfect /r/ sound and wrote it into a story. It holds a special place in my heart because I was one of those children who said "wabbit" at an early age and had to attend speech for a year to learn to position my tongue correctly to make the "r" sound. This book would have made it so much fun! But, as a regular classroom teacher, I'm not using this book for that purpose. Another little hidden treasure about this book is that each and every page is written as a limerick! So, when we're studying poetry, I pull this book out and read it. Students catch on to the rhythm of limericks very quickly after the repetition provided in this book. Plus, it's just a fun read! Who doesn't love pirates?? So, if you're looking for a new book to add to your poetry collection, or for "Talk Like a Pirate Day," or for speech/language - check this book out! An InLinkz Link-up
This fun 24-page pack is a fun way to learn about possessive pronouns. It includes an 8.5"x 11" signs for possessive pronouns, a fun small group game, directions for turning that game into an individual center activity, and a fun classroom or hallway hunt all to help students select pronouns. A fo...
A fun warm-up game in which children pretend to be on board a pirate ship.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommies of the world! And a very special thank you to my mommy for being the best mommy EVER! Seriously, best. mom. ever. And now here is the next to last Sche…
Who has...? Ist eine lustige Methode um mit Schülern Vokabelthemen zu wiederholen. Jeder Schüler bekommt ein Kärtchen (falls mehr Kärtchen als Schüler sind, bek
Here are some effective and helpful ways to cope and avoid the Dunning-Kruger Effect and develop realistic levels of confidence:
Learn how to teach silent e words through explicit phonics instruction. Use orthographic mapping, connecting sound to symbol. Learn about the many jobs of the silent e!
worksheet - ESL worksheets
Take a look at all the great activities happening in my classroom this week. The kids are having so much fun!
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.
A look into a high school Social Studies teacher's first year-long experience with gamification. What worked, what didn't, and what's next!
Kristen Logan and Heather Bross, two of the personalized learning coaches from our office, discuss some best practices for leading the work of personalized, competency-based learning at the start of this school year. Read about the importance of intentionality, transparency, and being learner-focused when it comes to vision setting and professional learning. What are some ways education leaders can be intentional about making an impact this school year?Kristen: Just like with students, you wan
This week's plans are a bit all over the place - ar words, Martin Luther King Jr., penguins, and pirates! Click any of the pictures to download the visual plans with clickable links from Google docs. *These visual plans were inspired by my sweet friend DeeDee. **My lesson plan template can be purchased through Ms. M's blog. They are aptly called, "Erica." I wanted to do something to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this week. Thank you Sarah Cooley for your adorable unit. You saved the day! I wish I had time to do the full birthday party, it looks like so much fun. Our phonic element for the week is -ar. I like to do a mini-pirate theme along with the phonic element. In my plans, I have included units by Abby, Jodi, Anna, and me. I have included this listening center log as a freebie in my visual plans. It is the last page of the plan packet. A few of my math centers this week: For more on pirates, check out my post from last year by clicking the image below. Every week, I send home a "Classroom News" page. It is a lot of work when you first start, but as the years go by, I have gotten pretty fast at it and I just copy and paste the "Peek at the Week" from the previous years. If you are not ready to do a weekly news letter, my long-lost shopping sister/friend Michelle Oakes sells a monthly editable one. I really feel it is important to keep parents in the loop. Click below to check it out. Thanks for all who entered the "Share the Love" contest! For info on my penguin packet, check out this post. Have a great week!
This video is perfect for practicing addition in your classroom numbers are adding to 10.
Past? Present? Future? Your third graders can practice telling the difference by playing with these treasure chests full of verbs! Sail on over to my blog to get the freebie! Click on my blog button below. You Might Also Like:Parts of SpeechEditable Writing Mats“Batty” for Bat Literacy ActivitiesFootball-themed games!