• Teaching

    FUN Halloween Activities!

    Do you need some fun Halloween activities to get through those hectic days leading up to Halloween? I’ve got you covered with activities for math, grammar, and writing! These are perfect for students in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades. They’d also work well with older students who struggle with certain concepts and need an extra review. These can be used for whole group activities, centers, early finishers, and for your sub folder! 🎃 Halloween Math Skills Review Worksheets 👻 Halloween & Fall-Themed Grammar Skills Review Color by Code Activities Keep students engaged with these fun color by code activities that are perfect to do in the fall and around Halloween. Students practice identifying nouns, adjectives, verbs, and more! You’ll get 10 color by code activities. You can use these as independent practice after teaching/reviewing a skill, complete one or two each week during September and October, and/or put them out for early finishers! Students review nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, contractions, adverbs, synonyms, antonyms, homophones, syllables, and rhyming. 💀 Halloween Writing Activities Bundle — SEVEN amazing resources to get your students writing! Including – 🍬 ESCAPE ROOMS Do you decorate your house for Halloween? Here are some fun ideas to do…

  • Teaching

    Character Education: Create a Positive Classroom Community with Positive Character Traits Fun Activities

    How do you address character education in your classroom? Do you put up a few posters and point out the traits a couple times a year? Are you looking for meaningful activities to teach students what it means to have good character? When I first started teaching in 2001, it seemed like character education was part of our weekly routine. Our district focused on Character Counts! Somewhere along the way, though, it seemed to slowly go away. I have a feeling it was when everything became driven around standardized testing. In more recent years, it seems it’s made a comeback. There are several different books and resources available now, and it’s not hard to implement. However, I think it really depends on the teacher. I’ve seen it. Some, like me, make it a priority and know it MUST be included in our curriculum. Others just don’t seem to care. I truly believe that character education will make a huge difference in your classroom. We want students to be caring, respectful, and responsible, but what if they’ve never really been taught those things? What if we’re just assuming they’re coming into our classroom understanding what a person of good character looks…

  • Teaching

    How to Add Differentiation into Elementary School Writing — Teaching Students How to Write a GOOD 5 Sentence Paragraph!

    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 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…

  • Teaching

    Using Escape Rooms and Scavenger Hunts in the Classroom

    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! Most of these Escape Rooms would be best for 3rd-5th grade.…

  • Teaching

    Teaching 3rd Grade Math ➕ ➖ ✖️ ➗

    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. I’ve bundled all of the math resources in my store to help teachers with all of this. Why bundle? Bundles save teachers money! This bundle saves you almost $42! That’s NOT including the $42 saved with the 12 FREE Task Card Review Games! (You’ll see those below.) That means this bundle saves you $84! 💲 💲 💲 What…

  • Teaching

    Be BACK TO SCHOOL Ready!

    📚 Are you ready for BACK TO SCHOOL? As much as we love our summer break, it’s really hard not to think about the new year that’s creeping up on us. I’m here to make your life easier! Plan ahead, and get ready for an amazing first day, week, and month of school. First off, if you’re new to teaching, this free CHECKLIST might help! It’s just some tips to help you get through your first day. 📋 As you think about the new school year, is your classroom prepared for a substitute? If your answer is no, or you’re not sure, read my post on The Importance of Emergency Sub Plans! During those first few days and weeks of school, you need to make sure you’re keeping students engaged. In addition to establishing the rules and procedures of your classroom, make sure you have some fun activities that students will enjoy working on. I like to have ALL ABOUT ME activities because it’s easy for students to write about what they like. Here are some activities that will help you get through the first few weeks of school, while you’re still trying to establish a routine. Back to School…

  • Teaching

    What is a Growing Bundle? Is it worth it?

    📏 Get a FREE SAMPLE of my 3rd Grade Math Bundle HERE! 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,…

  • Teaching

    Research Report Projects

    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…

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    Morning Work & Spiral Review Activities

    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…

  • Teaching

    The Importance of Emergency Sub Plans!

    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…