First impressions are powerful. Make your first statement to your students a positive one.

Classroom team-building games are a must at the start of a new school year! Here are 16 of my favorite icebreakers and classroom team-building activities!

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.

Teach the scientific method to your students through these engaging science experiments! Check out this blog post to learn more!

Of all the art and science projects that I have done, lemon and watercolor science has been my #1 fave for YEARS! Let's get started.

Create a positive classroom culture in your classroom with these five activities

The first week of school generally consists of getting to know one another, in addition to discussion and practice of classroom procedures and routines. We also got our creative juices flowing by creating summer reflection writing pieces, squiggle stories, and "All About Me" mini-posters. Students are getting to know one another and me, and we are learning to work together to build a successful and positive classroom environment. On Wednesday, I wrote out six questions, all having to do with how to make our classroom and ourselves function to the highest level, on six pieces of chart paper. Students, in groups of three, spent two minutes at each chart, collaborating and responding to each question on a sticky note. After all groups visited each chart paper station, I hung all of the charts up and we discussed each answer and noticed some very interesting trends. Here's the finished product, which you can click on to enlarge: Inspired by Life in 4B To tie into the previous activity, I was inspired by my wonderful teammates, Mrs. Fadden and Ms. Mattox, to develop at class pledge with my students. We reviewed our responses to the above questions, and then we put all of the ideas together to form a cohesive paragraph that we have all agreed will help us to remember why we are here at school and what our common goal is. Below is the rough draft of our class pledge (which I will type up, make pretty, and have all of my students sign): Since we were able to develop a class goal (to achieve success in third grade), I also had each student determine an individual goal after reading the story Matthew's Dream by Leo Lionni. I displayed our "Hopes and Dreams" for third grade near the classroom door, so that we can refer to, and revisit, them throughout the year. Lots of students are interested in learning how to sharpen their cursive skills, multiplication and division skills. I was very impressed by the number of students ready to take on our 40 book challenge! More on that later! Here's our class display of our hopes and dreams for third grade: Lastly, I read a book called Have You Filled a Bucket Today? The premise is that everyone carries an invisible bucket everywhere they go. When your bucket is "filled" you feel happy.When your bucket is "empty" you feel sad or upset. People can fill buckets by lending a helping hand, smiling, being kind, including others in games, and more. People can empty buckets by teasing, being ungrateful, acting disrespectfully, and more. I encourage my students to recognize the actions of bucket-fillers by writing them quick note and sticking it in their bucket display. This helps make everyone feel good. When we feel good, we want others to feel good. Therefore, kindess is passed from person to person. This is our bucket-filling display, complete with ways we can fill buckets and ways we can empty buckets: I look forward to more of these types of meaningful activities that promote teamwork, kindness, and achievement with your child!

The Lord's prayer is a starting point for a productive prayer life. Use this easy tool to get started teaching your children!

Teaching the scientific method with these ten tips will help cement the scientific principles your students need to succeed in science this year - Getting Nerdy

Starting the year off by focusing on these 5 science topics, will almost guarantee smoother labs and more engaged science learners.

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.

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

These 'If You Take a Mouse to School' activities are perfect for your first week of school. We love using Laura Numeroff's books and this one is always a favorite to use at the start of the year. In this blog post you'll find a bunch of different activities as well as free downloads to

Check out these gorgeous Romero Britto inspired art activities...

Learning about the different types of lines in art is a fun & easy place to start teaching about the element of line in art. Start with this free printable!

Hello! I am already seeing lots of posts in Facebook groups asking what to do in the first few days of art class. In this post, I will walk you through what I plan to do this year in my classes. This is very similar to what I have done in other years. First, I start all classes with basic introductions and talking about the room and art class. We go over the rules and expectations. I use a video … Read more... →

Here is the perfect project for the start of the school year: Kandi-Apples.This project will allow students to create a work of art in the Style of Kadinsky.When they are finished, you can make a colourful collective display. This project requires simple materials, and apple models are also included...

window.addEventListener('LPLeadboxesReady',function(){LPLeadboxes.addDelayedLeadbox('w5B9CVVpZM3VM42aCMGWwh',{delay:'5s',views:0,dontShowFor:'3d',domain:'thescienceduo.lpages.co'});}); Let’s get right down to business. As a teacher, you are constantly searching for tools to help engage ALL of your students within your daily lessons. Unfortunately, many of you are also often faced

Check out these beginning of the year science activities to get you started! This post has lots of science ideas and a freebie to engage your students.

Discover hands-on beginning of the year science activities that will excite your students and build the foundation for future science lessons!

Back to School is right around the corner for us and I am SUPER excited to kick of this school year with some fun, hands-on and engaging resources for The

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.

Are you looking for examples of "I do, we do, you do"? This blog post provides examples of it in action in the classroom and in lesson plans.

Kick off the school year with fun Name Games! Foster classroom camaraderie and help students break the ice on the first day.

One of the best ways to get to know your new students is through an interest inventory. I love to collect as much information as I can about my students at the start of the school year. I want to know about their likes, their dislikes, their learning style, and so much more. The Purpose ... Read More about Grab this Interest Inventory!

Ready to rock teaching beginning of year writing in first grade? These early days of writing instruction must be targeted and on point. Click to learn more.

Explore funkylindsay's 6580 photos on Flickr!

Algebra 1 Unit 1 Interactive Notebook Pages, day by day. Complete unit.

It's so important that you are teaching about variables when you teach the scientific method. This post gives you ideas to help your students get started!

Student teaching: Here are 6 ways to make the most of your student teaching experience and four things you'll want to avoid.

Teach kids empathy and compassion through mindful, fun lessons, discussions, and activities that build social awareness and community.

The first lessons you teach set the tone for the rest of the year in the classroom! During the first week of school, your schedule should include a mix of teaching procedures and expectations as well as building a strong classroom community. Unfortunately, introducing procedures and practicing the

First Week Watercolor Portraits 7 comments Back to School, Bulletin Boards, Self Portraits, Tutorials Every year, my second graders paint a watercolor self-portrait. It is truly my most favorite first week activity of all time. After sharing this picture of this year's portraits on Facebook, a sweet reader asked if I had a blog post about them. Well, it dawned on me that while I have shared my annual self-portraits many times, I've never really shared them exclusively in a post. So, here goes! Every year, I have my students paint a self-portrait during the first week of school (an idea I learned while student teaching many moons ago). I hang these portraits in the room, for the entire year. They really brighten up our space and they are such a joy to look at (this is a picture of my students' portraits from last year). I am not an art teacher and I believe that kids should be encouraged to take risks, so when I task my students with painting their portraits, I pretty much let them "have at it." Don't worry, it isn't a total free for all. I do model the process and I also share examples from years past, like the ones shown below. I just make it very clear that I don't expect their paintings to look like an actual photograph. ;) I always begin by pointing out how much of their body/self they will be painting. I tell them to think about the pictures they see in their yearbooks and how those pictures only show people's heads and shoulders. I explain that they will include only their head and shoulders in their paintings. I then show them examples from previous years (sometimes students move and they get left behind, so I have a few on hand). Once the students understand what it is that they will be including in their portrait, I model the drawing process on the board. I discuss how large the head should be in relation to the paper and show them what this looks like. From there, I show them how I draw a neck and shoulders, hair, and facial features. I apologize that I don't have a photo of this, but essentially, I model and narrate the process, one step at a time. And, then...it's the students' turn. I give each student a piece of white card stock (8x10 inches) to work with. Card stock is brighter and thicker than construction paper, and it just seems to hold the paint better, in my opinion. Then, they start their drawing. Sometimes, I have them draw the outline of their pictures with a black crayon (see below). When I do this, there is NO pencil involved. This helps them to really slow down and visualize before they draw because they know that they can't erase. However, this year, I let them draw with pencil first and then they traced over their pencil lines with a Sharpie. Why did I do that? I have no idea, it was just what I decided to do when I was prepping the materials, but the end result was still fab! Once the students draw the outline of their portrait, they get to paint! Using watercolor is a tricky thing for many second graders. They have a hard time always gauging how much water to use, so a discussion about this (and a little modeling) ahead of time is a good idea. Tip: No matter how much explaining and modeling you do, you'll still have a student or two that uses too much water. Let them use a tissue to blot their paper if you notice this happening. I lay the portraits to dry on the floor, in an out of the way spot. They dry within minutes here in the desert. Once they are dry, I flatten them by stacking heavy teacher manuals on them overnight. I could iron them, but my iron and I do not get along. At all. The next morning, I hang them up and admire the sight before me...all year long. :) At the end of the year, it's always fun to repeat this process. You will be amazed at how much growth your students show. Here are a few examples from last year. Amazing, right? We always get lots of compliments on our portrait display, and the kids are always very proud of them. They love seeing if their parents can guess which one is theirs, and it's fun to see how many parents get it right! At the end of the school year, I send the portraits home as a keepsake. Many parents have commented how much they love them, and they are the perfect size for framing! First week self-portraits are a great way to encourage students to take risks, have fun, and learn to use materials. Beyond that, the students take great pride in their creations and enjoy them just as much as I do, and we have something truly magnificent (that they created!) to look at all year long. :) Share It:

Set a friendly tone in your classroom with these 30 "Get to Know You" games perfect for back to school or when welcoming a new student.

Open House ideas. Great activity for students to do to show during Open house.

Here are some helpful tips for name practice in Kindergarten. I also created some freebies for your first week of school.

One of the best ways to stop attention seeking behavior is to share those expectations with your students and following these tips...

We all know and love Kahoot, right? If you do not know about Kahoot then we have a few blog posts with tips and ideas to get you up to sp...

Try these middle school drama lessons and ideas.

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.