Our grade level won a prize from our PTA one time. It was an escape room. A mom got it all set up, and while she had the best of intentions, it was way too hard for the third graders. Add in the fact that the first class that got to experience it ruined it for the other two classes at recess, and it just wasn’t successful. I do think escape rooms and scavenger hunts can be successful activities to add to any classroom. You just have to make sure the puzzles are age appropriate. I’ve taken a few courses to help me put together the best resources I can. I’m having a lot of fun making them, and I plan to make many more in the future. These types of activities work great for reviewing important concepts, practicing reading comprehension, or working on team building skills. They also can be planned as a reward or end of year activity. All you have to do is familiarize yourself with the puzzles, print, and copy. That’s it! See below for some FUN activities you can do with your class today! I’ll continue to update this page each time I have a…

Third grade isn’t just about memorizing multiplication and division facts, although those are VERY important. Teaching 3rd grade math means you’re introducing and expanding on rounding, fractions, telling time, elapsed time, perimeter, area, quadrilaterals, mass, two-step word problems, subtracting across zeros, and more. Add in the fact you have to DIFFERENTIATE because students are all at different levels, and it can become very overwhelming… for both the teacher and the students! What helps? SPIRAL REVIEW Spiral review doesn’t have to look the same for every activity. It doesn’t have to be something done at a certain time of day. A lot of teachers do a review in the morning to get the day started. That’s a great option. But for me, it’s sprinkling in spiral review all the time. Students MUST understand these basic concepts before moving on to upper grade math. Do you have students who finish EVERY assignment, test, and activity quickly? Spiral review is great for those early finishers. They get meaningful work, and this leads to fewer distractions in your classroom. Do you have math centers, but you aren’t sure what type of activities to do? Any math review worksheets will work! Do you struggle with…

A couple of years ago, I decided to bundle together most of my math resources. They are perfect for review, assessments, early finishers, and holiday & seasonal fun. I started with 32 great products already available that are perfect for 3rd grade, and they would work great for older students as review or for those who struggle in math. But I had several more resources I wanted to create. I’d been putting off making my bundle because I knew there would be more resources to come. That’s when I came across information on GROWING BUNDLES! Basically, a growing bundle is a bundle of resources that will grow. You purchase the bundle at a lower price, as it’s growing, and you get all future resources that are added for FREE! That’s right….. FREE! When a new resource is added, the price of the bundle goes up, but not for those who’ve already purchased it. You can search for growing bundles on TPT. Most sellers explain what’s already available, what still needs to be created, and when new resources are expected to be added. I’ve purchased some growing bundles recently, and I’m so glad I did! I go back to My Purchases…

How do you feel about research reports in your classroom? Does the thought of teaching students how to research and complete a project seem daunting? It doesn’t have to be! Get students excited about researching a topic and completing FUN activities. Below you’ll see two projects that are perfect for helping students understand how to research. The activities included are great for DIFFERENTIATION, where students who struggle will still be able to feel successful in the process. Your students who need a challenge will also benefit! Animal Research Project – Outline, Written Report, & Google Slides™ Teach your students how to write a research report with an outline! Students complete graphic organizers for an animal research project with fun extension ideas, including a Google Slides™ project, pennant/banner, speech, & poster. Students will learn how to fill out an outline before writing a 4 paragraph final draft report. All of the extension activities use this same outline! What’s Included? Planets of the Solar System Research Project Help students research the planets of the solar system! Fun Google Slides™ project included! Graphic organizers guide your students to find specific facts. This is a fun research project where students display these facts on…

Morning work/spiral review activities for students can really help set a routine for your classroom and make the day run smoothly. When students know what is expected of them as they walk through your classroom door, they’ll be ready to learn and set up for a successful day. Having daily or weekly spiral review of key math, language, grammar, and writing skills will help students retain important information needed for your classroom and the next grade level. Spiral review activities that are repetitive allow students to understand the directions. They’ll get right to work and know what’s expected of them. This leads to fewer questions and distractions as you start your day. Sentence Writing Practice and Grammar Spiral Review/Morning Work This resource is a year long spiral review practice for writing sentences. It will help your students write better sentences. Students practice how to restate the question, proofread, expand sentences, and write the question when the answer is given. These activities span over 36 weeks. ~Each week includes the following : *RESTATE THE QUESTION – Students are given a question. They must answer in a complete sentence and restate the question in their answer. *PROOFREADING – Students practice using proofreading…

Sub plans are necessary for a classroom to run smoothly! Being both a teacher and a substitute, I can’t say that enough. I’ve been in classrooms where I have no plans, and I’ve been told to make copies of random pages left. Substitute teachers have a lot to deal with, especially if they’re new to your classroom and school. ARE YOU PREPARED FOR A SUBSTITUTE? Get this FREE CHECKLIST to make sure your classroom runs smoothly while you’re gone! WHY YOU NEED THESE SUB PLANS I learned a long time ago that I hated having to head in to school at 5 a.m. to leave decent sub plans when I had a sick child. So, I created Emergency Sub Plans, and everyday I left a day’s worth of work (with instructions and answer keys!) on my desk/front table. My Emergency Sub Plans Bundle allows you to leave everything you need for the substitute to have a successful day in your classroom. The only thing you need to do is print and make copies. Instructions and answer keys are already done for you! When one set gets used, you simply get out the next set. Any not used can be kept…

It’s time to read with your students!  What are you doing to ensure students are comprehending the stories?  Are you following the weekly guide in your reading curriculum TE?  If you are, I know that can get monotonous.  You need to keep students’ attention.  But how? Easy… you give them Response to Literature activities!  What are some activities you could complete? activities before you start reading – examples include looking at the cover and chapter titles visualization – have students draw and color something from the story; have them compare with their classmates to see similarities and differences setting – think about if the setting changes and if all settings are equally important characters – there are so many activities – character development, character traits webs, acrostic poems, comparing characters problem/solution author’s purpose summarize the story unanswered questions at the end letter to the author or illustrator compare stories – Is there another story that’s similar?  Have students read a different story from the same author? story’s message – moral/lesson; what the character(s) learn text connections – text to text, text to self, and text to world storyboard – students write a sentence or two for main events and draw a…

Do you find it hard to teach students writing? ✔️ Do you expect students to know how to write a paragraph when they enter your classroom? ✔️ Have you been told to differentiate for students, but you’re not sure how to do it? ✔️ LOOK NO FURTHER! 😊 For years I taught 3rd grade. Each year the students came to us knowing less and less about how to write proper sentences. When I’d started my first year in 3rd grade, we were able to work with the students on writing multiple paragraphs. After several years, we had to work on teaching them how to write a complete sentence. I knew I had to change the way I taught writing, so I decided to focus on teaching students how to write a GOOD 5 sentence paragraph and about paragraph structure using the following guide: But what do you do if some students can write a paragraph and others can’t? You differentiate❗ At first, all students will write on the same topic, but you can differentiate how they get to the final draft. Some students will need sentence frames to help organize their five sentences. Others will get to the point where…

Let’s face it, the last few weeks of school can be chaotic! Everyone’s ready for summer break, but as the teacher you still have to plan everyday to keep the students engaged. You need SEVERAL end of the year activities! What type of activities are best? A lot of teachers love giving activities where students reflect on the school year and what they learned. Memory books are a great idea. I especially love keeping their beginning of the year memory book so they can compare how much they changed throughout the school year. Keeping students engaged will lead to fewer behavior issues at the end of the year. This packet is great for early finishers. It could also be sent home as a summer packet. Another great option is using flipbooks. These don’t take as much time as a memory book, but they can still be a fun keepsake! Blast Off To… are some of my favorite activities since I love anything space-themed. With these activities students get to reflect on what they did throughout the school year, and they write about what they’re looking forward to in the next grade. There are several options! Since students are REALLY looking…

The simple answer? EASY! Teaching about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln for Presidents’ Day doesn’t have to be daunting for you or boring for your students! These resources are perfect for 3rd/4th grade. They could even work for your 2nd graders who need a challenge, or 5th/6th grade students who may struggle with comprehension. Having several activities can be a lifesaver in the classroom. Some of the activities are perfect for the whole class (maybe reading aloud the reading passages). Others offer great team building activities as students work in groups (escape rooms)! And, what about those early finishers? How about color by code and summary activities? These activities could easily work in your classroom for the first few weeks of February, allowing your students to learn all about these American presidents! Students compare/contrast the two presidents. I’ve included one with lines and one without. These resources could easily give you three weeks of activities! GET THE BUNDLE AND SAVE BIG! Looking for other activities for the winter months? Check out Beat the Winter Blues! Engaging Review Activities to Meet ALL Students’ Needs!