Winter Wonderland

     Where I live winter is very cold and snowy and I love it!  It is a fun time to cuddle up with great books and encourage your students to have fun while learning.  I made this mega pack full of winter literacy centers.  This pack really made learning fun for my students last year and I know it will again this year!

To get this pack click here.

This pack covers long vowels, digraphs, blends, contractions, synonyms and antonyms. 

I also have this huge Valentine's Day print and go pack on sale.  This pack has over 18 activities you can use for morning work, homework, reteaching, etc. all month long.  To get this pack click here.

Have a wonderful winter!  Hope you enjoy it as much as I will!

Jennifer Wiggins

Worry Free Sub Days

Hi everyone! Queen of the Jungle here! At least for now. Next week I might be stuck in bed, sipping chicken soup and reaching for the tissue box.  It seems that colds and the flu are just starting to make their way around at our school. How about you?  Feeling a little under the weather?  Do you want to say no, even if you aren't feeling quite up to par? If so, I bet it's because you dred having to take a sick day and leave your class in the hands of a sub. Am I right?

Sub days are hard on everyone.  It's hard on the administration because they may have to be dealing with discipline problems coming from an ordinarily peaceful classroom.  It's hard on the students because they are thrown off their routine and no doubt missing you.  It is hard on you, because even though you are sick at home, you are worrying about your class and how the day is going. But, most of all, it is definately hard on the sub.  That fearless person who is standing in for you.  He or she is doing their best to teach an unfamiliar group of students, with lesson plans they just found, and deal with unexpected situations, in who knows what kind of conditions.  So, it would seem to be very important to make their day as easy as possible.  For everyone's sake!!

One thing I have always had prepared and left for my subs is a packet of clear instructions for the basic day to day functions of my classroom.  I leave helpful information such as: a class schedule, roster, seating charts, helpful school staff and emergency procedures. I also include information on classroom procedures, the discipline management system and where to find my lesson plans. I also think it is important to include a sub comment page, so the sub can leave notes on how the day went.  For a free copy of my comment page, click the picture below.

I have put together all the things I used into a product I call the Substitute Survival Kit.  It has an editable template that can be customized to any classroom.  I have several themes available in my TPT store.

I place all the updated Substitute Survival Kit pages in the brads of a pocket folder.  In the front pocket, I put several copies of the Sub Comment Page.  In the back pocket, I put a map of the school.  I place the folder in my Sub Tub. 

My sub tub is a big plastic file box where I store 2 or 3 days worth of lesson plans, activities, games, books and worksheets for my sub to use in case of an unexpected absence.  I even include some stickers, pencils and other small incentives for the students. This way, I know anyone can come right in and have an organized day with plenty of activities and work for the students.

As a special treat, I have a Sub Survival Box.  This is a pencil box that I put a few treats in to make the sub's day a little brighter.  I add one or two small snacks, a pack of gum, a box of Tic Tacs, and change for the coke machine.  This way they can help themselves to a snack and cold drink.  So many subs have told me this little box is such a nice surprise.

Being prepared for your sub makes one less thing you have to worry about if you end up having to take an unexpected sick day.  You can stay at home, curl up on the couch, rest and recouperate with less worry about what is going on at school.

Until Next Time,

3 2 1 Exit Tickets

Hello everyone! It's Greg from Mr Elementary Math.  We all know how important it is to know where our students are, but what can we do to help us figure that out?  One strategy that I like to use to determine student understanding are 3-2-1 Exit Tickets.  They are easy to use and can be very informative.

What Are 3-2-1 Exit Tickets?

3-2-1 exit tickets are a way for students to summarize and reflect on a lesson.  I found that it is a quick and effective tool because it provides feedback on what kids have learned and allows you to see questions that they may have about the concept or skill. 

The students write:

 3 - Things that they learned from the lesson

 2 - Questions that still have

 1 - Idea or thought that stuck with them

How Does This Look in the Classroom?

After you finish your lesson, give students an opportunity to review and reflect on their learning by having them record their thinking on the 3-2-1 exit ticket. 

This activity can be completed independently, in pairs/groups or as a whole class. Early grades teachers may allow students to discuss the ideas with a classroom partner and then verbally share with the class.  After the students share with a buddy, the teacher should record student responses on chart paper or the board.

You can find a FREE 3-2-1 Exit Ticket template HERE. 

If you choose to try it out, I would love to hear how it went in your classroom!

Do you have a dream?

On August 28th, 1963, outside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his most famous speech.  In it he described his hope for improvement in the state of or country, and, perhaps, most importantly, for improvement in the way we treat and consider each other. If you haven't heard the speech in it's entirety, I strongly urge you to take a look. His words still ring true today, and though we may hear them and feel disparity over our lack of progress, we can still listen for his sense of hope, latch onto that, and make it our own.

Sometimes conveying the idea of equality and broaching the subject of segregation with young children in a way that they understand can be tough.  But, teaching children to hope for and (better yet) to build for themselves a brighter, more caring community is easy!  Even our youngest students are open to sharing hopes and dreams for the future, and they often surprise us with just how aware they truly are as to what's happening in the world around them and what needs to be done to improve it. 

So, ask your students what they dream of for the future of our communities and our country, because, after all, it is they who hold it in their hands... And it is our job as teachers to make sure they are well-equipped in knowledge, skills, and self-confidence in order to make their dreams come true.

School Gardening

We are fortunate that our school has a school garden. We think of it as an outdoor classroom. Our first grade students have an end of the day science rotation. I teach the first graders about living and non-living things and use the garden for hands-on activities. I enjoy listening to the excitement in children's voices as they discover new kinds of plants and garden creatures.

We also have a composting bin in the garden. The children are currently learning about worms and vermicomposting.

We use EarthBOX® gardens that are housed in front of our rooms and throughout the school.

Lettuce and cherry tomatoes are growing in this box.

This is one of several EarthBOX® gardens that are placed throughout our school. Notice the signs that contain information about the plants.

The signs include QR codes that direct students to videos and additional information about the plants.

I used to order caterpillars and set up a net in our classroom to observe the life cycle of a butterfly. Now we are able to observe the process naturally right outside our classroom door.

We are currently growing milkweed (Monarch butterflies love to lay eggs on the leaves of the plant.), cherry tomatoes (a few green ones can be seen in the background), and strawberries in our EarthBOX®.

If you'd like more information about the garden containers or would like to have your own EarthBOX® garden, click HERE. We use ours all year long!

The site has planting and gardening resources, too. The system is easy to use. Students can plant and maintain the garden. I love the real world application of having one. When the fruits and vegetables are ripe and ready to be picked, it's fun to prepare a vegetable or fruit salad with them. I've found that for some students, it's the first time they've seen or tasted many of the fruits and vegetables we grow.

These are a couple of my favorite classroom gardening books:

 It's Our Garden by George Ancona.

Children learn about creating a school garden.

How Groundhog's Garden Grew by Lynne Cherry

Children learn about planting seeds, harvesting, and eating home-grown food as Squirrel teaches Little Groundhog all about gardening.

I'd love to hear about your school garden and any garden books you find helpful.

Visual Valentine's Vocabulary

Hi everybody, this is Jace from Mr. Elementary and I have a fun, FREE Valentine’s Day vocabulary resource to share with you today. 

Teaching vocabulary around the topic you’re studying, in this case Valentine’s Day, empowers your students by helping them express themselves in greater depth and detail.  It also boosts their comprehension in all of the reading and writing activities you’ll most likely be doing around the topic. 

I created this set of Visual Valentine’sDay Vocabulary Cards to help boost students vocabulary around all of the Valentine’s Day activities you may be doing.  The resource includes both filled out and blank vocabulary cards as well as enlarged cards to hang on a word wall.  The pictures, definitions, and sentences were especially helpful for my ELL students to understand the vocabulary.

Here’s a list of ways you could use these cards in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day.  If you really wanted to make life easy on yourself you could probably plan your whole Valentine’s Day party around them!  (If you end up doing that I’d love to hear how it goes.)

• Create Valentine’s Day Cards: Hang the word wall cards up for students to refer to during writing activities about Valentine’s Day.  Part of my Valentine’s Day party was always making cards and I loved to have the vocabulary up on the wall for students to use and experiment with.  I would just spread out some pieces of Valentine’s Day colored paper on a table, let students pick one and then let them start creating.  I always kept a box of scrap construction paper in my room for students to dig through.  At first I tried to guide my class in making a card but I found it was much more enjoyable for all of us when I gave them the freedom to create their own.
• Valentine Charades: Break your class into teams and give each team several cards from the deck.  They can use the filled out cards or add more vocabulary of their own using the blank cards.  Have teams act out the words for each other to guess.
• Valentine Pictionary: Break the class into teams and let them draw representations of the Valentine vocabulary for their teams to guess.
• Valentine Memory Matching Game:  If you anticipate the class getting a little crazy from sugar overload this might be a good option to quiet them down.  To play just print the cards out single sided. Then either cut them out or have the students cut them.  Place students into groups of 2 or more and place all of their cards in rows face down.  They can play Valentine Vocabulary Memory by matching the side of the card with the word and picture on it with the side that has the definition and sentence.

One last bonus with these cards is that you can even use them as your Valentine for each of the students in the class.  I provided 2 options for a box to store them in and one says, “To: ________ From: __________”  You could (or you could have a parent helper) cut them out and have them waiting for students on their desks when they walk in in the morning.  Tell them they’ll be doing fun activities with them all day and that they’ll get to take them home at the end of the day!

If you’d like to download this set of Valentine’s Day Vocabulary Cards just click this link.  Also feel free to check out my blog at www.mrelementary.com for many more tips, tricks and resources on teaching vocabulary!

February Craft Ideas

Hey everyone! This is Aimee from Primarily Speaking and I'm happy to be back with another  post for the Who's Who and Who's New blog!

This month, I thought it would be fun to share a few craft/bulletin board ideas for the month of February. Can you believe it's right around the corner? Now, I know that there is more to February than hearts and all things love related, but it is my favorite theme to use when putting together our February displays.

This first idea is a simple craft that kids always seem to enjoy. Tissue paper hearts! 

 
They are a classic, but also a great way for students to practice the skills of following directions, attending to detail, and hand-eye coordination.  I plan to have my students make these simple hearts to display on a very small "board" above our classroom sink. This space measures approximately 4x4 feet, so it's perfect for something like this.  It's also the perfect "Fun Friday" craft!

To make these you'll need a heart template.  You can grab the one I used here (it's free).  You'll also need tissue paper cut into small squares.  Use any variety of colors you'd like! 

I cut mine approximately 1 in. x 1 in.  I literally eyeball it as I go since perfection is not necessary.  Tip: you can easily store left over tissue pieces in a zip top bag, just be sure to gently squeeze all the air out.

To attach the tissue paper to the heart template, you'll need some watered down glue.  Just add enough water until the consistency is like a thick milk.

Spread some watered down glue onto the heart and place some tissue paper on top.

Spread more glue mixture on top of the tissue paper.

Repeat until the entire heart is covered.  Let it dry completely.  Then, cut out the hearts and display them!

I have another fun February bulletin board craft that I love to use.  How cute are these little love bots?

I like to pair them with writing and display them on one of our larger bulletin boards.  Usually my students write about someone that is special to them, and when you are seven years old, that someone is usually a best friend or relative.  Either way, the writing always turns out super sweet.

My student always enjoy creating their little bots and are proud to share them with their families once they go home.

You can check this craft and writing project out here.

Thanks for stopping by today, and have fun creating a festive bulletin board with your students!