Skip to content

Let me help you plan the End of the year! ☀️

FREE LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL LESSON PLANS!
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Facebook Group
  • Free Resource Library
  • TrendingExpand
    • Amazon Favorites
    • Christmas and Winter Resources
    • Enrichment Resources
    • New Teachers
    • Professional Development
    • Homeschool
    • Free TWAMV Resource Guide
Search
Shop Now
Teaching with a Mountain View

Literacy

Grammar & Morphology

Novels & Picture Books

Novels & Picture Books

Math

Anchor Charts

Anchor Charts

Classroom

Classroom

Teaching with a Mountain View
Literacy

Literacy

Teaching reading and writing are two of my passions, and I absolutely love sharing lesson ideas here. From quick lessons to complete units, scroll down to see all the different literacy lessons I’ve shared over the years.


Start With These Posts

  • Using Picture Books to Support At-Home Learning
  • Teaching Character Conflict
  • Best Back to School Picture Books
Literacy Opt In Image

ONE WEEK of FREE Reading Skill of the Day

Enter your information below to receive a FREE week of Reading Skill of the Day!

literacy on the Blog

Select a Topic:

Blog Select_Literacy
  • All
  • Writing (13)
  • Using Pictures to Teach (12)
  • Reading Skills (36)
  • Picture Books (17)
  • Novel Study (21)
  • Informational Texts (7)
  • Grammar (5)
  • Fluency (6)
  • Comprehension (12)
  • Book Recommendations (34)

40+ Best Novels for End of the Year Novel Studies

📚 40+ End-of-Year Novel Study Ideas Your Students Will Love As the school year winds down, keeping students engaged can feel like a challenge. Testing, field trips, and summer anticipation…

Easy Picture Book Showdown Competition for March Madness in the Classroom

For the past several years, I have been inspired to create a March Madness-style Picture Book Showdown for my school (and classroom). It has now become something I look forward…

Implementing Enrichment Binders for High-Achieving and Gifted Learners

Implementing Enrichment Binders for High Achievers and Gifted Students Teachers are the ultimate multitaskers, especially when it comes to differentiation! You know you need to meet the needs of all…

Elevate Your November Literacy Lessons with Engaging Passages & Picture Books

November can sometimes feel rushed between the excitement of Halloween and the upcoming magic of the Christmas season, but it has plenty of exciting themes of its own to integrate…

Beyond the Curriculum: The Best Supplemental ELA and Math Resources for Upper Elementary

Teaching ELA and math in upper elementary can feel like juggling plates… while tap dancing and trying to feed an elephant. You have the curriculum (or lack thereof, in some…

Narrative Writing Mentor Texts

Teaching narrative writing in upper elementary isn’t just about meeting your state writing standards… It’s about empowering your students to tell their own stories and build deeper connections with one…

Literacy Resources

  • 2024 Presidential Elections Math and Literacy Activities | Ultimate Bundle

    2024 Presidential Elections Math and Literacy Activities | Ultimate Bundle

    $9.99
    View cart
  • Analyzing Poetry Lesson Slides | Step-by-Step Poetry Analysis

    Analyzing Poetry Lesson Slides | Step-by-Step Poetry Analysis

    $3.99
    View cart
  • April Spring Reading Skills and Enrichment Task Cards

    April Spring Reading Skills and Enrichment Task Cards

    $3.99
    View cart
  • Author's Purpose and teaching slides with student slide guide

    Author’s Purpose Reading Lesson | Slideshow and Lessons

    $3.99
    View cart
Shop All Literacy Resources

hey, I’m Mary

I’m so glad you are here. I’m a current gifted and talented teacher in a small town in Colorado, and I’ve been in education since 2009. My passion (other than my family and cookies) is for making teachers’ lives easier and classrooms more engaging.

About Me contact me
Instagram
Facebook
Pinterest
YouTube
Twitter
Dad, I’m REALLY sorry about all the F Words in thi Dad, I’m REALLY sorry about all the F Words in this book. 🫣 But seriously, I’ve never had a book recommendation go quite as viral as this one — and for good reason! It’s an epic book. 

This is a book that gives me ALL the giggles (all while actually making genius parallels between feelings and toots, which resonates with basically every kid)!

Comment below, and I’ll send you the link! Unless you’re like my dad and you regard the word Fart as one of the worst in the English language. 😜 Then you should forego this one.
Hot take: not all fidgets and squishees and sensor Hot take: not all fidgets and squishees and sensory tools are created equal. 🙃��

Comment below, and I’ll send you the link to these beauties that I LOVE giving kids to use. 

💖 After years experimenting with these tools (NOT toys) in the classroom, I’ve found that the fidgets I go to the most are these sweet little worry stones. Not the flashy toys that somehow end up flying across the room by 10:07 AM and causing more trouble than they’re worth. 😅

Worry drones have become my favorites because they actually help kids regulate without distracting them.

A few reasons I love them:

✨ quiet and non-distracting
✨ grounding for anxious or overwhelmed students
✨ help busy hands without pulling attention away from learning
✨ no lights, sounds, pieces, or “look what mine does!” chaos
✨ feel age-respectful for older elementary students too

…and as a fantastic bonus, they are virtually unbreakable and easy to sanitize as needed. 😉 

I especially love using them during read aloud, and I offer the to every child before we settle in. 

Would love to know: are your students fidget people too? Or have you found certain ones work way better than others?
Lunges with bags full of books optional. 🤷‍♀️ Bu Lunges with bags full of books optional. 🤷‍♀️ 

But seriously — they usually don’t know what they’re signing up for by having a teacher in their life, but I couldn’t do it without them! My parents and husband are actual angels on earth when it comes to helping me with my classroom (and basically in all other ways, too!!). Who are YOUR designated helpers? 🩷🩷
Teacher Horror Movies: things students say edition Teacher Horror Movies: things students say edition. 🤣🤣 What would you add?!? Of course, these are all in good fun… I love my kids, but I’m also a germaphobe who teaches and expects her students to ask specific questions to describe what they are having trouble understanding. 😜
I am so honored to have my awards handed out in so I am so honored to have my awards handed out in so many classrooms, hanging on countless bedroom walls, and stored away in treasured memory boxes. 🥹🥹🩷🩷 

When I created these end of the year awards for my third graders back in 2010, I never would have thought they would reach so many kids (and hopefully make life easier for so many teachers at the end of the year). 

🌟 If you own this set, be sure to download the MASSIVE update with new and updated award options (autofill is still there, too)! If you’d like to hand these out to your students, comment below, and I’ll send you the info.
I can’t believe this school year is over. 🥹🩷 I don I can’t believe this school year is over. 🥹🩷 I don’t always do end of the year gifts (and teachers should never feel like the have to), but this year it just felt right! 

🔥 For one group, I made “mini s’mores kits” and a s’more keychain and for my others I did these adorable pens! They were both SUPER easy and so cute. Comment below, and I’ll send you links, including to the free Canva template for the S’mores set (the pens come with the cards!) and all the ind for how I put them together.
My favorite way to end the year. 🥹 Comment below, My favorite way to end the year. 🥹 Comment below, and I’ll send you the link to this FREE End of the Year Find Someone Who. Perfect for any day during your last week of school!
Comment below with something your students have be Comment below with something your students have been OBSESSED with this year, and I’ll choose one random commenter to win a set of accomplishment animals to end the year! Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! 🩷🩷 

💡How accomplishment animals work:

Every week, my students take a moment to share a specific success or accomplishment with me and we have a quick conversation about it. They get a little animal (or sticker) and build the cutest little collections over the year — it’s such a fun visual representation of all they’ve accomplished over the year AND such an amazing way for me to learn more about them and connect!
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Links

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Facebook Group
  • Free Resource Library
  • Privacy Policy & Disclosures

Topics

  • Literacy
  • Math
  • Grammar
  • Anchor Charts
  • Classroom
  • Novels and Picture books

Shop

  • Shop Website
  • Shop Amazon
  • Wishlist
  • My Account
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Terms & Conditions

©2023 Teaching With a Mountain View . All Rights Reserved | Designed by Ashley Hughes

Free Mini-Courses

Checkout these totally FREE mini courses for Grammar, Reading Fluency, and Math Instruction!

Enroll Now!

Join Our Teaching With a Mountain View Text Club!

Lost your password?

Review Cart

No products in the cart.

🍪 Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
  • Manage options
  • Manage services
  • Manage {vendor_count} vendors
  • Read more about these purposes
View preferences
  • {title}
  • {title}
  • {title}
Scroll to top
Search
  • Home
  • Get Inspired
  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Free Resource Library
  • Trending
    • Christmas and Winter Resources
    • Amazon Favorites
    • Enrichment Resources
    • New Teachers
    • Professional Development
    • Homeschool
    • Free TWAMV Resource Guide
  • My Account
Shop Now

Literacy

Grammar & Morphology

Novels & Picture Books

Novels & Picture Books

Math

Anchor Charts

Anchor Charts

Classroom

Classroom

Facebook X Instagram

Notifications

Search