The Blog
First Day of School Activities for Big Kids
Every time I mentioned Back to School on my Facebook page at least one person mentions that it can’t possibly be time yet! I know, I know! It’s much too soon… but the fact is that it’s coming. In fact,…
Classroom | Back to School | Classroom Management | Classroom Organization | Classroom Prep | Seasonal
Smooth Sailing Back to School Tips: Preparing for the New School Year
It is around this time every year that my classroom to-do list starts looking a little lot overwhelming. I tried separating my lists into different categories like “Classroom Set Up” and “Academics,” and “JUST GET IT DONE!” but I still…
Back to School | Building Community | Classroom | Classroom Management | Seasonal | The Parent Connection
Building Rapport on Meet Your Teacher Night
I can’t believe it’s almost time to start thinking about going back to school! That also means it’s time to start designing your classroom, planning your curriculum, and getting ready for loads of back to school professional development. But, there’s…
Back to School Math Freebie for my Fans!
I know it may feel a little premature to start talking Back to School, but some districts in my area go back toward the end of July. That’s less than a month away! It’s never too early, right? **UPDATE: These…
Cutting Corners with Interactive Notebooks
Teachers never stop working. I know we hear it all the time, but now I have proof! I posted a blog a little over a week ago, about The 5 Changes I made that Saved My Sanity, and that blog…
5 Changes That Saved My Sanity
A week out of school, I am finally starting to feel human again. I’m relishing the moments I have with my kids, and I’m taking some time to do some things for me. But, I also have to say that…
Math Quicks!
I’m just popping in to share a couple little things we’ve done this week! With my “big” kids, we have been working on classifying triangles as well as perimeter and area of polygons. Classifying Triangles Anchor Chart We only spent…
Another Cumulative Novel Project!
I love, love, love finishing up a novel with a project that incorporates as many reading skills as possible. We just finished reading The Westing Game (deemed a favorite by many of my students), and we are also just about…
Teaching Main Idea Vs. Theme
If your students are anything like mine, they have an incredibly difficult time telling the difference between main idea and theme. Before this year, I had always taught the skills in isolation. Main Idea first, followed by Theme a few…
Anchor Charts | Comprehension | Literacy | Literacy Anchor Charts | Reading Skills | Using Pictures to Teach
Using Pictures to Teach Key Reading Skills
I blog a lot about how I use pictures to teach key reading skills, and I’m passionate about their impact on student learning. If you’re familiar with my blog, you have probably noticed students working with pictures in many, many…
Anchor Charts | Literacy | Literacy Anchor Charts | Math | Math Anchor Charts | Novel Study | Novel Study | Novels & Picture Books
Ratios and Mysteries!
Sometimes I’m hesitant to post anchor charts because I don’t have a ton of information or activities to go with them, but I thought I’d go for it anyway! These are two that we have done this week as we…
Fiction Comprehension
We spent a few days before state testing doing some quick review activities for answering fiction comprehension questions. We had spent A LOT of time on nonfiction comprehension over the past several months, but I wanted to be sure we…
