When I first started teaching, I never liked hearing that infamous nine-word phrase that teachers all too often hear from jealous folks who are not in the profession. They say, “It must be nice to have your summers off.” Of course it’s nice to have the summers off… in theory.
Before I get into sharing some classroom organization tips for the end of the school year, let’s pause and reflect. It’s the end of the school year and we all know there ain’t no tired like teacher tired in June. Let’s be honest: your mind is racing with all the
Tis the season to be jolly… and potentially stressed… and possibly broke from spending too much money on gifts. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. This post will share ideas for inexpensive gifts for teacher coworkers that won’t break the bank. Before I get started on that… Have
We’re knee deep into our data unit! I’ve been busy, busy, busy teaching them how to create scaled bar graphs. I tapped into their “we’re giddy for Halloween” energy and created these Halloween graphing resources. These Halloween graphing activities provide hands on practice for classifying, sorting, organizing data, graphing using
If you are a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade teacher looking for a spiders unit or spider activities for elementary students, then you found the right place! This integrated science and literacy thematic unit provides teachers and students with a complete collection of printables for a two-week study of spiders.
You know that phrase, “taking one for the team?” Well, that about summarizes my week in the classroom. Because good gosh do I find bats to be hideous creatures. It physically pains me to look at them. You can only imagine how I feel about reading about their creepy finger/thumb-like things
If you are looking for ideas for how to teach rounding, then you found the right place! Rounding numbers is a math skill that can feel like it is easy to teach. Simply train you students how to circle a number, underline another, apply a rule, etc. Heck, I’ve even
There are so many Halloween picture books for kids that are great mentor texts for young writers. Engaging students through picture books strengthens their writing by providing models of how to write narratives that include descriptive details and interesting word choices. While one of these books is most definitely a Halloween
Easter is coming and the kids are excited! In many schools, teachers can not teach an Easter Thematic Unit. Instead, you can focus on an egg-themed unit. This will make the most of the student’s excitement and motivation using a theme that can easily integrate science, math, reading, and writing.
Rainbows are a popular thematic unit in the month of March and throughout the spring season. They complement St. Patrick’s Day activities nicely. Rainbows can be used with a thematic unit on colors for preschool, kindergarten and first grade. They are perfect for science lessons and experiments relating to color,
Read Across America’s big celebration of National Reading Month in March is a great opportunity to focus on igniting students interest in reading. Share new genres, authors, and topics with students through high-quality literature to get students excited about reading. There are tons of ideas out there for celebrating Read
If you are an elementary teacher looking for animals in winter activities for elementary students, then you found the right place! This post shares read aloud recommendations and literacy activities. Learn all about them below! Animals in Winter Activities Take a peek at the animals in winter read alouds and
